regular golf guys: # 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:

clubhouse and putting green