Jeff,
I too had one of those GITK experiences this golfing year. My game has never been that good (as many posters here have witnessed in person)...but with a little help this year (from a friend and co-worker, no less) I've made some very positive changes in my swing.
Anyways...this same friend takes me out one day after work to play a quick nine at anearby course...it is nothing special, or famous, or highly memorable...just a local course laid out on some land near the Huron River. So I've never played there before, and Mike is "guiding" me around as we go, kind of like a caddy.
We really did not take any time to warm up, hit balls, putts, and the like...just a few practice swings on the first tee and away we go. Well I end up striping my first tee shot and it instantly puts me at ease. We are walking and chatting the whole way around, simply hitting golf shots as we go (we are playing the back-nine BTW).
* I make a nice par on the par-5 10th just missing a birdie putt.
* Scrambled to a double on the par-4 11th after a drive that barely stays in bounds.
*On 12 I hit my tee shot long (a par-3) and fail to get up and down for a so-so bogey.
* 13 is a shortish par-4 that I hit a perfect drive and approach and make the birdie putt.
* 14 follows the same pattern as 13, but on a par-5...miss the green with my second, chip on and make a putt for birdie.
* 15 was my only true "blow up"...took a disasterous 7 on a par-3 without any penalty strokes (don't ask).
* Back on track on the par-4 16th with a great drive and approach again narrowly missing my birdie putt.
* On the 17th tee Mike informs me that the hole is a "mere" 310 yards and that I'm hitting the ball so well I should go for the green. I normally hit a good drive in the 240-250 range, but what the hell? I line up along the tree line down the left and figure to draw it over this line up near the green...called my shot, and nailed it. Down near the green I find my ball about one yard off the putting surface on the left of the green, and pin is somewhyat back right...I nearly drove the green! A beautiful pitch and run later and a tap in birdie is mine.
* 18 is the #1 handicap hole on the course (which Mike remembers to tell me!) playing 485 yards and a par-4. I once again hit a seemingly beautiful drive, but it fades a bit left. When I get to my ball I realize that I hit another 300 yard drive and have about 185 to the green. I hit a solid 5-iron to a spot similar to the previous hole (just short and left, pin is back and right). From there I visulaized the chip on the previous hole and let 'er rip. It comes off clean, rolls across the green like a putt, and drops in the hole from the high side for a final hole birdie.
I never looked at the scorecard till it was over and realized I had shot a 39 with 4 birdies! I have never had more than 3 birdies in an 18-hole round of golf before that, and ended up with 4 in 9 holes!!! What a feeling I had that day...like I could do no wrong and simply stepped up and hit golf shots where I wanted them. I know it was a fleeting moment in time, but it is rounds and experiences like that which keep me coming back to this crazy game...