Golf at Rio Membres

Denny sabotaged my golf game yesterday.

We had gone to the Rio Membres Golf Club, which is the only game in town in Deming, New Mexico. Earlier in the week we stopped by to check on the availability of tee times only to discover they had torn up the first hole to install an irrigation system and they were also overseeding the greens on both the front and back nines on alternate days. That left Friday open as the only day to play all eighteen holes.

I guess the grounds crew still hadn't quite finished with the first hole on Friday morning so folks just played holes 2 through 18 and were coming around to play 1 and then leave when we arrived at the first tee, so we paired up with three folks who just needed to play the first hole to finish their round. The lady and her husband peeled off when they finished the hole, but the third gentleman asked if he could play along with us and we agreed.

Over the next few holes we chatted and after he mentioned that his wife had driven to Farmington (which is quite a distance away) I asked if she had to go there for work and he simply said "she went to bury a kid". Okay, there's a conversation stopper for you. When I said I was sorry he said that the kid was a drunk and a druggie and died in a car accident and from his tone I gathered there had been a bit of an argument between he and his wife about going up to Farmington. Sometimes it's surprising what a complete stranger will tell you. What I found ironic was that this gentleman flat out reeked of stale beer himself.

The conversation turned back to the Deming area and golf and we were having a pleasant afternoon when Denny suddenly grabbed his back and grimaced. I thought he pulled something in his back but he continued to play so I figured he worked it out, but on the ninth hole after I finally started hitting some decent shots he told me we had to quit playing as he was in too much pain. We made our excuses to our new acquaintance, who tried desperately to get us to stay for a beer(!) but when Denny climbed into the passenger seat of the truck while I returned the golf cart I knew he was in some serious pain. Pain, sweats and nausea; his classic symptoms for a kidney stone. So I bit back the smart-aleck remark on the tip of my tongue about him wimping out just when I started warming up because I have learned that kidney stones are to a man what childbirth is to a woman.

Of course, by the time we arrived home he was fine again. Grr. And yes, I'm kidding because I know the pain is sporadic and if it is indeed a kidney stone it may take up to a week or more to clear his system. It's the timing that gets me. Of course, if he could control it he would have come up with the symptoms on our geocaching day, especially after learning that it is snake season here. Hmm, I better not give him any ideas...