well we have another event behind us, thank goodness. this was certainly a fun round, with some really regular guys! the more i play golf with groups the more i appreciate the game and friends. most of you know it was a tad bit cool yesterday morning, my mercury was right at 27 when i left the house. we already knew there was going to be a frost delay, so meeting at the farmers market restaurant was more of a leisurely breakfast than a bite to eat before the round. i had never eaten there before and was quite surprised at the size of the place as well as how busy they were. the staff was absolutely regular! great service, lots of smiles and the awesome food didn't hurt much either. during breakfast i think we solved the gun control problem along with many of the other pressing issues our country faces. we have a new regular guy who was introduced to us by the lawnmower guy, i did not get to play in his group, but look forward to the next time he gets to play...he will be know as the colonel. i do know that the colonel managed to pull in a closest to the hole, which is a great thing on your first event! meaning of course, there is now a target on his back.
the regular folks at lonnie poole had the frost delay under control; they shot gunned everyone and got us out as soon as it was safe to walk on the greens! a great group of professional guys working in the pro shop, hats off!
both of our groups started on #11 and the game was teams, front - back - overall and closest to the hole on all 5 par 3's... the closest to pins went to the colonel, the marine, the air force guy, the insurance guy and myself...we all rock! the teams were once again very fair and it was extremely close. the lawnmower guy's group managed to edge the concrete guy's group out by one hole, winning one side and the overall. the course was in great shape and the greens were rolling good, but extremely difficult to read, or at least everyone in my group had challenges. there were several 3 putts and even a few 4 putts...no names will be given...other than i think i four putted at least one.
when you play lonnie poole, you really don't even realize that you are in the middle of raleigh, except for the fact that you can see the skyline from several holes. it is a very long course and would probably be a great venue for a professional tournament. i do remember seeing 3 baby fawns on one of the holes and could hear the resident hawks screaming at us several times. i think the only way it would have been better is if the pirate would have brought some beer!
i think the group is on the grow and looking forward to our next event, which will be at chapel ridge on february 9, if you are interested, shoot me an email and i will make sure you get in on all the fun. i have played chapel ridge a couple of times in golfweek amateur tournaments and always had a good time; they boast to have the best greens in the area.
until next time, don't forget to golf your balls!
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Friday, January 11, 2013
olde liberty
well it's a rainy day here in the downeast portion of nc, so thought i would let you guys know about the round from yesterday. this was one of those hey it's going to be a nice day lets play rounds.
the marine sent me his weekend schedule and listed a few options of when he could play, thank goodness we went with yesterday, otherwise we would have ended up sitting in a clubhouse somewhere drinking cold ones...which may have been a better scenario than yesterday.
after we decided on yesterday i sent the cow farmer a text to see if he could play and since he is membered up with the fred smith courses we chose olde liberty. after some back and forth got a 0920 tee time. i totally forgot that i would be up the night before late working with my west coast clients, so not much sleep for me; while working i get a text from the cow farmer...he is sick...not his normal mental sickness, a real physical sickness. he was hoping to be better the next day but i had some concerns. unfortunately he was unable to attend this round, due to not being able to be more than about 25 - 30 feet away from a bathroom...gross details will be withheld due to some of you probably have weak stomachs and might not find it as funny as i do.
so we arrive at olde liberty, this being my first round there, found it to be like numerous courses in eastern nc. built with great plans of having a golfing community, large houses and all the amenities...but seems like the course got built and then the housing market collapsed. i can think of few others that are in the exact same situation: formerly known as fords colony...golf club of rocky mount, formerly know as innsbrook...scotch hall preserve and one of every one's favorites cutter creek.
the marine was on the practice tee whacking away at range balls when i pulled up, he told me the clubhouse had informed him that we could go when ready...i think there were 5 cars in the lot. so i hit a small $5 bag of balls and off to #1...the marine mentioned that the group of 6 gentlemen who were heading for the #1 tee box as i went into the clubhouse to get checked in were not going to let us play through and would be slow...or at least that is what the pro told him.
we pull up to the #1 tee box and 4 of the six are about 180 yards from the tee and the remaining two have not even teed off yet? seriously that was like 25 minutes from when they got to the box? after another 10 minutes of waiting we went back to the house to get permission to start on #10...permission granted...off we go again.
those of you who are familiar with this course and know its history...closed, reopened and all that mess, heard bad things, heard good things...well the layout is awesome, it is l...o...n...g! some really nice scenic holes, just enough sand to make you cuss and a little less water, did notice one interesting thing...since i did spend quite a bit of time "at the beach" there was at least 3 different types of sand? first one i was in was a red coarse sand...and plenty of it in the bunker, the second one was a white sugar like sand...like you find in florida and yet another had some nasty brown sand and was a bit scarce, nevertheless it was interesting. the marine found the bunker on the first hole (#10) and found it again and yet another time and one more time for good luck...all in the same bunker. i think he said he got a 14 on that hole, but we only play trip max, so not too bad.
fairways were in pretty good shape for this time of year, the rough was iffy. in some places the rough was just thick bermuda (dormant) and in others it was wet red clay, the later was horrible to play from.
greens were in very nice shape, again for this time of the year, apparently they had spray painted them? not sure but nice and green. the ball rolled well, no hopping or bouncing and they were not too fast and not too slow.
overall a great time on a nice course, i will certainly go back, especially since the cow farmer handled the greens fees! he is such a good guy...nothing better than free golf!
just one word of caution if you do decide to go play olde liberty, there is a square parking area behind the clubhouse (single wide trailer), well it is not a parking area, the marine got chewed out by the super for parking his cart there...apparently that is their grand ball room, you know the area for events and wine tastings...not very regular.
don't forget to check out the upcoming events, next scheduled event is at lonnie poole, but there is now an events calendar on the right side of the blog. until next time, don't forget to golf your balls!
the marine sent me his weekend schedule and listed a few options of when he could play, thank goodness we went with yesterday, otherwise we would have ended up sitting in a clubhouse somewhere drinking cold ones...which may have been a better scenario than yesterday.
after we decided on yesterday i sent the cow farmer a text to see if he could play and since he is membered up with the fred smith courses we chose olde liberty. after some back and forth got a 0920 tee time. i totally forgot that i would be up the night before late working with my west coast clients, so not much sleep for me; while working i get a text from the cow farmer...he is sick...not his normal mental sickness, a real physical sickness. he was hoping to be better the next day but i had some concerns. unfortunately he was unable to attend this round, due to not being able to be more than about 25 - 30 feet away from a bathroom...gross details will be withheld due to some of you probably have weak stomachs and might not find it as funny as i do.
so we arrive at olde liberty, this being my first round there, found it to be like numerous courses in eastern nc. built with great plans of having a golfing community, large houses and all the amenities...but seems like the course got built and then the housing market collapsed. i can think of few others that are in the exact same situation: formerly known as fords colony...golf club of rocky mount, formerly know as innsbrook...scotch hall preserve and one of every one's favorites cutter creek.
the marine was on the practice tee whacking away at range balls when i pulled up, he told me the clubhouse had informed him that we could go when ready...i think there were 5 cars in the lot. so i hit a small $5 bag of balls and off to #1...the marine mentioned that the group of 6 gentlemen who were heading for the #1 tee box as i went into the clubhouse to get checked in were not going to let us play through and would be slow...or at least that is what the pro told him.
we pull up to the #1 tee box and 4 of the six are about 180 yards from the tee and the remaining two have not even teed off yet? seriously that was like 25 minutes from when they got to the box? after another 10 minutes of waiting we went back to the house to get permission to start on #10...permission granted...off we go again.
those of you who are familiar with this course and know its history...closed, reopened and all that mess, heard bad things, heard good things...well the layout is awesome, it is l...o...n...g! some really nice scenic holes, just enough sand to make you cuss and a little less water, did notice one interesting thing...since i did spend quite a bit of time "at the beach" there was at least 3 different types of sand? first one i was in was a red coarse sand...and plenty of it in the bunker, the second one was a white sugar like sand...like you find in florida and yet another had some nasty brown sand and was a bit scarce, nevertheless it was interesting. the marine found the bunker on the first hole (#10) and found it again and yet another time and one more time for good luck...all in the same bunker. i think he said he got a 14 on that hole, but we only play trip max, so not too bad.
fairways were in pretty good shape for this time of year, the rough was iffy. in some places the rough was just thick bermuda (dormant) and in others it was wet red clay, the later was horrible to play from.
greens were in very nice shape, again for this time of the year, apparently they had spray painted them? not sure but nice and green. the ball rolled well, no hopping or bouncing and they were not too fast and not too slow.
overall a great time on a nice course, i will certainly go back, especially since the cow farmer handled the greens fees! he is such a good guy...nothing better than free golf!
just one word of caution if you do decide to go play olde liberty, there is a square parking area behind the clubhouse (single wide trailer), well it is not a parking area, the marine got chewed out by the super for parking his cart there...apparently that is their grand ball room, you know the area for events and wine tastings...not very regular.
don't forget to check out the upcoming events, next scheduled event is at lonnie poole, but there is now an events calendar on the right side of the blog. until next time, don't forget to golf your balls!
Sunday, January 6, 2013
what a great start to the new year
well the marine and i got the new year started off with a bang! just had to go play somewhere... trying to avoid embarrassing myself at lonnie poole, so i got a good deal on golfnow.com for the river golf club in bunn, nc - not bad only $25 per player.
those of you who have read my good bad and ugly post know that i am not a fan of the service received at this course, but in their defense the guy who checked me in was a pretty nice guy! when i started to load my clubs on the cart, i remembered that i was going to add another category in the gbu, and that was carts and their condition...it would be toss up between the river and bull creek on who has the dirtiest carts...lol. it really doesn't bother me, but these things look like they were purchased brand new in 1970... and again just like bull creek, i love to get a bucket of range balls that i just paid $5 and they are all muddy...what exactly is the $5 for? picking them up? it sure isn't for cleaning them...come on guys, how long and how much could it cost to clean them off? whatever...
the course was obviously a bit wet, it has rained so much lately i was considering purchasing some gopher wood to build a large boat. even with the wet conditions the course was really not in too bad of shape, the greens look good but were deceivingly slow, as evidenced by numerous putts coming up way short for both myself and the marine.
like most rounds with the marine, we solve the majority of the countries problems and wonder how these solutions are not as evident to the folks who actually could make some changes. the conversations get a bit more in depth when the round starts to fall apart, and when you realize that this is just a practice round and not really serious golf...well that is when we usually have a few cold ones, but it was mid 40's for most of the round and bag bottle was no where to be found?
long story short...we have no way to go but up! really looking forward to then next couple of weeks, supposed to get warm and lonnie poole is coming up fast. until next time, don't forget to golf your balls.
those of you who have read my good bad and ugly post know that i am not a fan of the service received at this course, but in their defense the guy who checked me in was a pretty nice guy! when i started to load my clubs on the cart, i remembered that i was going to add another category in the gbu, and that was carts and their condition...it would be toss up between the river and bull creek on who has the dirtiest carts...lol. it really doesn't bother me, but these things look like they were purchased brand new in 1970... and again just like bull creek, i love to get a bucket of range balls that i just paid $5 and they are all muddy...what exactly is the $5 for? picking them up? it sure isn't for cleaning them...come on guys, how long and how much could it cost to clean them off? whatever...
the course was obviously a bit wet, it has rained so much lately i was considering purchasing some gopher wood to build a large boat. even with the wet conditions the course was really not in too bad of shape, the greens look good but were deceivingly slow, as evidenced by numerous putts coming up way short for both myself and the marine.
like most rounds with the marine, we solve the majority of the countries problems and wonder how these solutions are not as evident to the folks who actually could make some changes. the conversations get a bit more in depth when the round starts to fall apart, and when you realize that this is just a practice round and not really serious golf...well that is when we usually have a few cold ones, but it was mid 40's for most of the round and bag bottle was no where to be found?
long story short...we have no way to go but up! really looking forward to then next couple of weeks, supposed to get warm and lonnie poole is coming up fast. until next time, don't forget to golf your balls.
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
the good | the bad | the ugly
well we have 2012 safely behind us now, don't think we are falling off any cliffs and the mayan calendar was incorrect...phew! seems like we are always having some end of the earth threat, wonder what is next.
thought i would put together a list of the highs and lows of the past year in regards to golf...my favorite subject.
last year i played a lot of regular courses with regular people running them, but a few tend to stand out in my memory...and many of you know i don't usually remember a whole lot about courses or rounds. for instance the cow farmer can tell you what club he hit on an approach shot into the 17th green at any given course last year...seriously. i couldn't tell you what club i hit the last hole. for some reason i can remember who has the best hot dogs, coldest beer and the friendliest staff...probably has something to do with my background?
so on to the awards...
golf courses -
*** the good - tobacco road
** the bad - preserve @ jordan lake
* the ugly - riverwood
food -
*** the good - duke
** the bad - riverwood
* the ugly - tigers eye
staff -
*** the good - siler city country club
** the bad - prestonwood country club
* the ugly - the river golf club
with the format i have chosen, unfortunately a lot get left out, but it was either sink or swim.
tobacco road was in the best shape, has the most demanding holes and it is just awesome.
the preserve @ jordan lake is not too bad, but we played in some really crappy conditions and they should have not even let us out.
riverwood is just ridiculous, the greens are too fast for the undulations...used to be good, but now it is on the bottom of the list.
duke has the most awesome chicken salad sandwich on the planet.
riverwood serves you cold buns with a hot dog...really? and now if you want chili you get a little paper ramekin with a spoonful of chili.
tigers eye...you have to wait like 45 minutes to get the special...which was a hamburger?
siler city country club is run by regular folks, good course, good hot dogs and just a pleasure to play.
prestonwood is run by non regular people, don't think i saw one smile or had one person be polite the entire time i was there.
river golf club, not sure if i just catch them on bad days, but the dude behind the counter should be a taxi dispatcher...not someone in the hospitality industry.
well there you have it, my take on the entire year... this list would not be complete without mentioning the absolutely awesome regular guys i have had the pleasure of meeting playing golf with and becoming friends. as you know everyone has a nick name based on their job and or life...some may not sense to you, but once you meet them you will begin to understand how they acquired the nick name.
i encourage everyone reading this to come out and play a round or two with us, you will have a ton of fun and meet some really great folks...2013 will be better than 2012 and until the next time, don't forget to golf your balls!
thought i would put together a list of the highs and lows of the past year in regards to golf...my favorite subject.
last year i played a lot of regular courses with regular people running them, but a few tend to stand out in my memory...and many of you know i don't usually remember a whole lot about courses or rounds. for instance the cow farmer can tell you what club he hit on an approach shot into the 17th green at any given course last year...seriously. i couldn't tell you what club i hit the last hole. for some reason i can remember who has the best hot dogs, coldest beer and the friendliest staff...probably has something to do with my background?
so on to the awards...
golf courses -
*** the good - tobacco road
** the bad - preserve @ jordan lake
* the ugly - riverwood
food -
*** the good - duke
** the bad - riverwood
* the ugly - tigers eye
staff -
*** the good - siler city country club
** the bad - prestonwood country club
* the ugly - the river golf club
with the format i have chosen, unfortunately a lot get left out, but it was either sink or swim.
tobacco road was in the best shape, has the most demanding holes and it is just awesome.
the preserve @ jordan lake is not too bad, but we played in some really crappy conditions and they should have not even let us out.
riverwood is just ridiculous, the greens are too fast for the undulations...used to be good, but now it is on the bottom of the list.
duke has the most awesome chicken salad sandwich on the planet.
riverwood serves you cold buns with a hot dog...really? and now if you want chili you get a little paper ramekin with a spoonful of chili.
tigers eye...you have to wait like 45 minutes to get the special...which was a hamburger?
siler city country club is run by regular folks, good course, good hot dogs and just a pleasure to play.
prestonwood is run by non regular people, don't think i saw one smile or had one person be polite the entire time i was there.
river golf club, not sure if i just catch them on bad days, but the dude behind the counter should be a taxi dispatcher...not someone in the hospitality industry.
well there you have it, my take on the entire year... this list would not be complete without mentioning the absolutely awesome regular guys i have had the pleasure of meeting playing golf with and becoming friends. as you know everyone has a nick name based on their job and or life...some may not sense to you, but once you meet them you will begin to understand how they acquired the nick name.
i encourage everyone reading this to come out and play a round or two with us, you will have a ton of fun and meet some really great folks...2013 will be better than 2012 and until the next time, don't forget to golf your balls!
Saturday, December 29, 2012
wil mar
last round of the year today...i played so bad i am not going to play again until next year! okay that was lame. wil mar is tucked away in north raleigh...i had heard the name but never played the course, so when the marine made the invite i jumped. of course i did not know that it was going to rain the entire night before our tee time and that it was going to be in the high 30's...well more like 40.
nice little course, not able to comment on condition because it was basically flooded today. i like the layout, you have to think your way around the course, some demanding tee shots, long par 3's and 2 par 5's that are over 500 yards. greens were in very good condition and quite fast for this time of the year and being saturated.
i am looking forward to going back to wil mar when the conditions are a bit better, but even with these conditions it was a good time.
i hope everyone had a great christmas and i wish you a happy new year. 2012 was a great year, but 2013 will be better. would like to get 2013 kicked off the end of the january with a group going to lonnie poole, a couple of foursomes would be great, so watch your inbox for details...until then don't forget to golf your balls.
nice little course, not able to comment on condition because it was basically flooded today. i like the layout, you have to think your way around the course, some demanding tee shots, long par 3's and 2 par 5's that are over 500 yards. greens were in very good condition and quite fast for this time of the year and being saturated.
i am looking forward to going back to wil mar when the conditions are a bit better, but even with these conditions it was a good time.
i hope everyone had a great christmas and i wish you a happy new year. 2012 was a great year, but 2013 will be better. would like to get 2013 kicked off the end of the january with a group going to lonnie poole, a couple of foursomes would be great, so watch your inbox for details...until then don't forget to golf your balls.
Monday, December 10, 2012
remedial math needed
once again the stage was tobacco road, and for a good reason - it is awesome. the kind of course that just makes you think all day and gives you lots of great scenery. the weather forecast was for partly cloudy skies and a temp of around 70 degrees...on my way to the course i drove through some rain...ugh! did not even want to play yet another round in the rain, but it was just mother nature saying, "psych". it was foggy most of the way there so i just hoped the sun would come out and burn off the fog...which it did on about the 4th hole. we were drenched in sun the rest of the day.
i finally got my shafts replaced and have not had a lot of time to get used to them, so I did have some off the tee fears, which really diminished after the first drive. but as usual on the tobacco road course, it is all about placement, not distance. if you don't stay in the fairway or land shots in the appropriate places, you are in for a long day and a high score.
since this group had handicaps as low as 3 and as high as 23, decided to play a couple of different games to help level the playing field. front nine was a team event, them against us, counting your two lowest scores.
i finally got my shafts replaced and have not had a lot of time to get used to them, so I did have some off the tee fears, which really diminished after the first drive. but as usual on the tobacco road course, it is all about placement, not distance. if you don't stay in the fairway or land shots in the appropriate places, you are in for a long day and a high score.
since this group had handicaps as low as 3 and as high as 23, decided to play a couple of different games to help level the playing field. front nine was a team event, them against us, counting your two lowest scores.
team 1
lawn mower guy
marine
pirate
air force guy
team 2
concrete guy
insurance guy
me
now i have to give props to the concrete guy, he played from the tips, now that is what i call a stand up move, so it is obvious that he is a regular guy...lowest handicap and plays from the tips. as the air force guy would say in his best john houseman impression..."well played concrete guy, well played" and the best impression is adequate at best.
the foursome teed off first, so we followed and kept them in sight most of the day, but could really not tell how well they were playing. i was keeping score and driving the cart...two things that i am never allowed to do, but on this day i only missed one hole on the card and kept all 4 wheels on the ground...however, there was on instance on #13 when the insurance guy reached over and grabbed my forearm and said too fast, too fast... i assured him that since the cart paths were dry, he was safe.
so as the round progressed through the front nine, i thought we may have a chance, at one time we were 3 under, mostly due to back to back birdies by the insurance guy! when we arrived at the #9 tee ( i hope you are starting to see a pattern on the ninth hole, i am) we were even and thought for sure we would need a birdie to possibly win. the concrete guy crushed a drive into the forest on the right, the insurance guy hit the fairway...as usual and i drilled one down the left side into the grass bunker, leaving myself about 115 in to the pin. i will not go into the details of what happened after the tee shots as it would certainly lessen your opinion of all three of us, but we did finish 14 over.
the front nine is done and its a new 9! we lost $10 on the front and would have won if we would have bogeyed the hole...go figure...but we are not thinking about that...now it is individual play and we are playing for skins and the closest to the hole on the two par 3's. our back nine is not too bad, but we could just not score, it seemed like all 3 us were on the bogey train...which in this format was a train to "pay me some money".
i will say that the negative side of formats with more than 4 is that you miss out on all the stuff going on in the other group, and from what we heard after the round, we missed quite a bit. the first par 3 that was eligible for a closest was number 14, with a front right pin and now card to be seen on the green, we decided we only needed to hit the green to get some $$. concrete guy went left, insurance guy went wet and i went left in the sand. first thing i thought was...carryover! next par 3 will be worth double...until we arrived at the green to find a card placed ever so neatly pin high, tucked up against the fringe, with the marines name boldly printed on the card...
carding only a few pars on the back we all just figured this round was toast. the last par 3 was once again a dismal failure for us, we could see the card this time, which was neatly placed about 10 feet left of the stick, by the lawn mower guy.
after the round we all gathered in the clubhouse and had a cold one to figure up the scores...this is where the remedial math part comes into play. i think that in my spare time (like i have any of that) i will go back to school and take a high school math class...i think it took us an hour to just figure out who got what. and with the team score pretty easy to figure, it only left paying 2 closest and 4 skins.
now i was not going to mention this, but after rolling this over in my head again and again, i know why we had such a difficult time...there was one guy sitting at the table who would quietly give math answers...that were incorrect and they went unchallenged until the lawn mower guy got out a calculator. i think it ended up correct, the marine possibly is short $3, but i will get back to you on that after the math class.
going to be an event at lonnie poole in raleigh, the n c state course in late january, if you want to play let me know. i should have the math class done by then, so no worries there. i will send out an email with dates and tee times to those who express interest, and until then don't forget to golf your balls.
Monday, December 3, 2012
# 9 @ #5
okay, a little confusing title but it will make sense as you read on.
as you know there are a few of us who play cga events and as you also may know a few of us won tournaments this year.
i won a 4ball event with the cow farmer at prestonwood
i won a 4ball event with the marine at 12 oaks
the marine won a singles event at greensboro national
so as a "treat" we were all invited to play in the year end cga champions event at pinehurst #5; which quite frankly put me in a rather tedious position. i won with two different partners and they would not let a single play in the 4ball event. decisions, decisions. i made my decision the only fair way i could think of...play with the first person i won with - the cow farmer. i was extremely glad when the marine won at gbo national, so he would be able to play in the big event as well!
it worked out well, the marine played in the singles event on saturday and the cow farmer and i played on sunday. i also feel like it was an honor and a priveledge to just be able to play in this event, so up at 0500 to drive to the cow farmers ranch and then off to the meca of golf, the holy grail if you will, the pinnacle of...well you know what i mean. team golf is fun and at the same time a royal pita if you don't play well, and i had not been doing so. i was a bit nervous because you certainly don't want your partner to carry you around the course. the cow farmer and i get along great and i always enjoy playing golf with him, a good friend and a person that just gets along with everyone...so that all sounds great but in reality it adds pressure to the game, because i did not want to let him down. and if you have not figured it out yet, i know how to pick a partner!
we obviously had the inside scoop since the marine had played the day before, so i felt a little more prepared...the whole pinehurst thing can be a bit on the intimidating side. the weather was great, the other team that we were paired with was awesome, a couple of old geezers that had high handicaps, but super regular guys. i would say the course was very nice, not a big "wow" factor, but a challenging course that was in pretty good condition. we played from the white tees, which brought a lot of trouble into play, so if we ever go back, would probably move back to the blue tees. as the round progressed we both seemed to be playing about average, with moments of brilliance. the cow farmer hit a 3 hybrid from around 215 to about 2 feet, out of the rough, which carded him a birdie net eagle. i had 2 birdies that netted eagles...and as far as the rest of the round went, i will not bore you...except for #9; our next to last hole. we both kind of thought that we may be in the hunt and possibly could scare place. only two holes left, just need to stay even or take net birdie...no pressure, none whatsoever. i stand up on the tee box and proceed to pull a driver out of bounds, the cow farmer pipes one right down the middle! i play my provisional ball and put it about 20 feet from the first one...now i don't like to brag about my superior driving abilities, but i very seriously doubt anyone reading this could put two balls within 20 feet of each other...not just out of bounds, but across the road and in some dudes driveway! so knowing that was covered with such a great drive from my partner, i just shook my head in frustration and moved on. we get to the cow farmers ball and determine that he is 147 from the pin and about 130 to the front edge. he decides to play it safe and go to the middle of the green versus shooting at the pin that was neatly tucked behind a bunker that was previously a rock quarry i think...deep! i agree that is the smart play...go get it! so the cow farmer proceeds to fan it out to the right and short...into the cavernous bunker. from the bunker he skanks it across the green and down the hill, he then pitches it up to the top of the hill, he then pitches it on the green and two putts and ends up with a 7 net 6. we have determined that our stellar play on this hole was our demise. but one could argue that it may have been the par 3, the one that i landed my tee shot on the front edge with a back pin, leaving myself a 45 foot uphill putt, that i hit so hard it ran off the back of the green and up a hill, but i did manage to two putt from there.
so although there were as mentioned before moments of brilliance there were also moments of wtf? we ended the round 78 net 65...thinking we should slam the trunk and make the pilgrimage back to reality. but we opted to stick around and see the cards come in...and in they came oh so slowly...i wanted a cheeseburger so bad, i almost bought one there for $17.50. i did notice one thing as the cards came in...we were the lowest net? could it be? could we have pulled off a miracle? could we have actually earned the coveted silver plate? the cow farmer was not optimistic, i secretly was hoping everyone else had the worst round of the year...oh to bring home the hardware would have been such a grand thing to do! my wife would be proud, my kids would jump for joy, the small town i live in would have a parade, i would be on the front page of the local newspaper, on tv...there could even be a possible endorsement from one of the major club manufacturers...okay, that's not happening, but at least i would be happy.
and of course to bring me down to reality once more, the last score card the last two cards that come in are 64 and 65...damn! i am not going to disneyland! but we did t2 and get to have a ton of fun...but we were beat by one freakin stroke...so yes #9 would have been the hole to have played well on, we would have won.
it was a great weekend! not only did we place, but the marine came in second as well! so over the winter there will certainly be golf played, but secretly we will all be preparing for next year, we all want the silver plate.
here are a few quick snapshots of the resort, course and the tournament:
as you know there are a few of us who play cga events and as you also may know a few of us won tournaments this year.
i won a 4ball event with the cow farmer at prestonwood
i won a 4ball event with the marine at 12 oaks
the marine won a singles event at greensboro national
so as a "treat" we were all invited to play in the year end cga champions event at pinehurst #5; which quite frankly put me in a rather tedious position. i won with two different partners and they would not let a single play in the 4ball event. decisions, decisions. i made my decision the only fair way i could think of...play with the first person i won with - the cow farmer. i was extremely glad when the marine won at gbo national, so he would be able to play in the big event as well!
it worked out well, the marine played in the singles event on saturday and the cow farmer and i played on sunday. i also feel like it was an honor and a priveledge to just be able to play in this event, so up at 0500 to drive to the cow farmers ranch and then off to the meca of golf, the holy grail if you will, the pinnacle of...well you know what i mean. team golf is fun and at the same time a royal pita if you don't play well, and i had not been doing so. i was a bit nervous because you certainly don't want your partner to carry you around the course. the cow farmer and i get along great and i always enjoy playing golf with him, a good friend and a person that just gets along with everyone...so that all sounds great but in reality it adds pressure to the game, because i did not want to let him down. and if you have not figured it out yet, i know how to pick a partner!
we obviously had the inside scoop since the marine had played the day before, so i felt a little more prepared...the whole pinehurst thing can be a bit on the intimidating side. the weather was great, the other team that we were paired with was awesome, a couple of old geezers that had high handicaps, but super regular guys. i would say the course was very nice, not a big "wow" factor, but a challenging course that was in pretty good condition. we played from the white tees, which brought a lot of trouble into play, so if we ever go back, would probably move back to the blue tees. as the round progressed we both seemed to be playing about average, with moments of brilliance. the cow farmer hit a 3 hybrid from around 215 to about 2 feet, out of the rough, which carded him a birdie net eagle. i had 2 birdies that netted eagles...and as far as the rest of the round went, i will not bore you...except for #9; our next to last hole. we both kind of thought that we may be in the hunt and possibly could scare place. only two holes left, just need to stay even or take net birdie...no pressure, none whatsoever. i stand up on the tee box and proceed to pull a driver out of bounds, the cow farmer pipes one right down the middle! i play my provisional ball and put it about 20 feet from the first one...now i don't like to brag about my superior driving abilities, but i very seriously doubt anyone reading this could put two balls within 20 feet of each other...not just out of bounds, but across the road and in some dudes driveway! so knowing that was covered with such a great drive from my partner, i just shook my head in frustration and moved on. we get to the cow farmers ball and determine that he is 147 from the pin and about 130 to the front edge. he decides to play it safe and go to the middle of the green versus shooting at the pin that was neatly tucked behind a bunker that was previously a rock quarry i think...deep! i agree that is the smart play...go get it! so the cow farmer proceeds to fan it out to the right and short...into the cavernous bunker. from the bunker he skanks it across the green and down the hill, he then pitches it up to the top of the hill, he then pitches it on the green and two putts and ends up with a 7 net 6. we have determined that our stellar play on this hole was our demise. but one could argue that it may have been the par 3, the one that i landed my tee shot on the front edge with a back pin, leaving myself a 45 foot uphill putt, that i hit so hard it ran off the back of the green and up a hill, but i did manage to two putt from there.
so although there were as mentioned before moments of brilliance there were also moments of wtf? we ended the round 78 net 65...thinking we should slam the trunk and make the pilgrimage back to reality. but we opted to stick around and see the cards come in...and in they came oh so slowly...i wanted a cheeseburger so bad, i almost bought one there for $17.50. i did notice one thing as the cards came in...we were the lowest net? could it be? could we have pulled off a miracle? could we have actually earned the coveted silver plate? the cow farmer was not optimistic, i secretly was hoping everyone else had the worst round of the year...oh to bring home the hardware would have been such a grand thing to do! my wife would be proud, my kids would jump for joy, the small town i live in would have a parade, i would be on the front page of the local newspaper, on tv...there could even be a possible endorsement from one of the major club manufacturers...okay, that's not happening, but at least i would be happy.
and of course to bring me down to reality once more, the last score card the last two cards that come in are 64 and 65...damn! i am not going to disneyland! but we did t2 and get to have a ton of fun...but we were beat by one freakin stroke...so yes #9 would have been the hole to have played well on, we would have won.
it was a great weekend! not only did we place, but the marine came in second as well! so over the winter there will certainly be golf played, but secretly we will all be preparing for next year, we all want the silver plate.
here are a few quick snapshots of the resort, course and the tournament:
clubhouse and putting green
learning center
clubhouse up close
payne stewart
plaque for payne stewart
donald ross (l) and other dude (r)
#2 18th fairway
#2 18th green
croquet (wtf)
seriously, this is a sport?
main pro shop
2014 us open shop (where i spent my gift card)
maniac hill
we won! (not so fast young man)
Have fun, life is short, play golf with good friends and don't forget to golf your balls!
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