A Four Time Loser Will Eventually Win

Written on 2-3-12

    After playing today, my recent record is now 0 and 4.  Bruce has beaten me twice, and now C.J. has beaten me twice too.  I had it within my grasp in three of those losses (the one when C.J. beat Bruce and me with only one club was a blow-out because C.J. is awesome with one club and I/we gave him too many strokes), but I let the other three slip away.  Oh, and of course Bruce and C.J. earned their victories, too. 
    When Bruce beat me the first time, it was the Escalating Skins Game, one of my favorites.  It all came down to...

the last hole, and it was there that I made a fateful and poor decision.  All I had to do was hit the fairway on #9.  I could have done it with my 8-iron probably.  That was the last bonus, and I was ahead enough after hole #8 that hitting the fairway would have ended it in my favor.  Why did I not do that?
    I chose my 5-wood instead, and my thinking was I would do both; I would hit the fairway and still have a chance to win the hole in case I missed left or right.  I ended up doing neither.  I pulled my tee shot into the ditch.  Bruce ended up in the ditch also, but he was farther up and he was able to swing his way out and advance his ball.  He did his best (not on purpose) to give me a chance.  He flubbed/chunked a couple of shots on the fairway and because of that it came down to two putts from about the same distance for a tie.  He had about fifteen feet from the left side of the hole, and I had about the same from above and behind the hole.  It was here that he showed his true character and earned his victory.  He made his putt.  Mine, however, slipped down the slope and missed by an inch on the left.  I had double blown this hole, and Bruce had won in dramatic fashion.
    Then just last weekend he beat me again, this time on my birthday.  What a terrible gift (wink, wink).  It came down to the last two holes this time.  We were playing the Reverse Handicap Game again.  On the front nine, I had 14 points from hole #1, C.J. earned 32 points from holes #7 through #9 (Bruce and I pushed the points from hole #8 for C.J. to snatch them away on #9).  Then C.J. left.
    Bruce and I continued.  The score was Bruce 44, Pat 14, and we chose to continue the game to see if I could come back, or if he would keep or extend his lead. 
    I started well.  I made it interesting.  I won holes #10 through #12 with two pars and a bogey.  I earned 31 more points and took the lead by one point!
    He took back the lead with the smaller points on holes #13 and #14.  On #13, he made a putt from about 25 feet for a birdie.  It was amazing!  He was smiling, and so was I.  Then he made about a 12 footer with about eight inches of right to left break for par on #14.  His putter was really working on those two holes. 
    We tied with two bogeys on #15 and two pars on #16.  It came down to #17 and #18.  My tee shot went right where I wanted it to, but when I got to my ball, it was stuck in a divot on the fairway.  Ack!  A Payne Stewart curse (thankfully he eventually broke that curse wide open)!  I did not; this was the first time with the game on the line where I had to deal with swinging my ball out of a divot.  My approach, sadly, shot out high and right, clipped one of the big cottonwood trees and ended up behind all the bushes and trees on the left side just over the ditch.  I ended up with a 7, and it was over at that point.  Bruce earned a bogey.  I lost the last hole, too, with another high score (terrible tee shot to start) while Bruce earned yet another par.
    On the bright side, I did earn three of the bonuses when we played the Escalating Skins Game.  Bruce earned none.  The final tally on that match was Pat, $280K, Bruce, $290K.  Hmm, it was closer than I thought.  I shot a 47 to his 44.  Good game!
    In the Reverse Handicap Game, it turned out like this: Pat, 45 points, Bruce, 94.  Hmm, not as close as I thought.  Good game, Bruce.  C.J. earned 32 points before he left.
    Then C.J. beat me again today.

More on that beating next time...

    Good news, though. I did win a football game I came up with last weekend for the Super Bowl, I earned another birdie, and Pat (last name) and I tied Bruce and C.J. in a best ball match play today.  So, I am on the board this year with a win and a tie, a tie where I was scrambling all over the place to help win or push holes.