Also written on 7-22-18.
Yesterday was the big Robbie Ward Tournament, and I assembled a great team. Bruce, C.J., and Mike were my playing partners, and because we did so well, I’m going to do another hole by hole breakdown.
Hole #16-I lost a ball right away when I attempted to drive the green. We used a shot that went onto the fairway right at 100 yards away. Our second best shot ended up on the fuzzy collar on the front side, and my putt from there hit the hole (our last attempt), but it was a tad too hard, so it popped out on the other side. We got a par.
Hole #17-The hole was on the back side, so we were fortunate to get a par after hitting the front of the green and making a long comeback putt for our par; Bruce made that one. Still even after two.
Hole #18-We used Mike’s drive instead of Bruce’s. Bruce’s was closer, but we had a tall cottonwood blocking that second shot, so we chose Mike’s instead. My 5-iron put our ball on the right side of the green and on the collar. Everyone’s putt over the hill on the green, except Mike’s, rolled way too far beyond the hole. Bruce made the birdie putt from the right side of the hole, the one that stayed on the green. We were under par for the first time.
Hole #1-Bruce’s tee shot put us...
on the fairway just short and left of the cottonwood. My new 9-iron put us in a spot where we could putt from below the hole. We used up one mulligan to try for the birdie, but we chose to settle for a par. Still one under.
Hole #2-C.J. had the best tee shot. Our big breaking putt from left to right failed to drop, so we got another par. This was an interesting part of this tournament. We were told at the beginning meeting that par was our “friend.” That meant that whenever any team was going for par they could just pick up and write down the par score. They did that to expedite play, and it worked, but we all thought that it was strange. We all agreed it should have been bogey that should have been our “friend.” Not one of us complained at all, however, when the tournament ended on time.
Hole #3-We used Bruce’s drive and approach. My skulled, low approach ended up being pretty close to being closer than Bruce’s, but it rolled to the collar. We used a mulligan to let me putt once more, but my second attempt was too hard, and it bounced out of the hole on the other side, similar to the putt on #16 (accurate, but too much speed). We got another par to stay at one under.
Hole #4-We used C.J.’s tee shot again. Mike found the right speed and line from just off the collar on the left side to get us to two under. I didn’t even get to putt on this hole. Cool!
Hole #5-After my tee shot, Bruce said, “And there’s the one we’ll use.”
C.J. chose not to tee off. Bruce’s second shot put us in a position on the collar just to the right of the hole. Mike nearly holed it for an eagle on this sandy green. We got another birdie to get us to three under.
Hole #6-Nobody won the $10,000.00. Darn it. My tee shot went left and nearly hit the lady witnesses, Dede and some other lady I didn’t know. We got up and in from the back middle. C.J. had the best tee shot again, so he gets the credit for the majority of our par three tee shots and scores. Good job, C.J.! Our club length allowed us to improve our lie, and we had a conversation about that later on hole #12. This par kept us at three under.
Hole #7-Although my second shot got us closer to the hole, we all agreed C.J.’s second shot was in a better position, only 70 yards away and on the fairway. Mine was behind the tree that has always guarded the green there. We had three shots from our fairway position that ended up within ten feet, C.J.’s, Mike’s, and mine. Bruce hit a rare stinker on his approach. The closest was only three feet away, so we made that to get to four under.
Hole #8-My drive on #5 was good, but this tee shot was great! We were up on the hill on the right side just off of the fairway, and we could see the green and the flag from 132 yards away. Bruce’s approach put us to within three feet for a tap-in eagle. It helped that the hole was cut about midway down in the bowl. We went from four under to six under just like that!
Hole #9-We could have/should have used my drive over on #3’s fairway. It had a clear view of the flag, but it was farther away and another group had teed off right after my ball settled into its place on their fairway. We chose to use Bruce’s, and it worked out just fine. C.J. got his ball on the fuzzy stuff on the back left side of the green, but the hole was on the right side. It was my putt that ended up getting closer, but we “wasted” two mulligans trying to make the tricky four-foot putt for par. After stopping at the pro shop and clarifying the whole “par is your friend” thing once more, we got our two mulligans back, because we didn’t have to use them after all. We had three mulligans left for the remainder of our back nine after that clarification. Still six under after this hole, though.
Hole #10-Bruce was the only one to hit the green. The putt was to a hole location that was more toward the back on the right side, and it was a tough left to right putt with lots of break and downhill slide, so nobody made the birdie. We stayed at six under.
Hole #11-Bruce drove his ball just right of the green, and it was my ugly, skulled pitch that almost went in for an eagle. It stopped a couple of inches short, and it proved once again that it’s not a game of “how," it’s a game of “how many,” so we earned another birdie here. Seven under with four holes left to play.
Hole #12-I’m glad I am writing this, because I didn’t feel I contributed as much as my teammates, but I definitely did my part. This was my best drive of the tournament, in my opinion. I hit a high draw that landed and then rolled up to a spot just off of the green on the left side between the bottom two tiers. Bruce said he couldn’t match that, but then he nearly did. His ball stopped 20 yards short of the green and on the fairway. The cup was on the middle tier on the left side. Mike nearly gave us another eagle, so we had him use a mulligan to try again. His second attempt was also extremely close and respectable, but it fell short. We were eight under after this hole.
The conversation about improving our lie with a club length came up, because we could have moved our golf balls onto the green. Mike said we shouldn’t, but I reminded him that we had already done that on hole #6. He said he felt okay with that, though, because it wasn’t really specified on the rule sheet. Being honorable men, we chose not to improve our lie on this shot, though.
Hole #13-Once again, it was Bruce’s drive and approach that got us on the green and in a stellar position for another birdie. This putt was straight and around 14 feet away. Thankfully, it wasn’t just my driving that helped our team during this round; I was the one who managed to make this putt for another birdie. We were nine under with two holes to go after this hole.
Hole #14-Bruce had the best tee shot, but we were left of the green and pitching. When everyone’s pitch missed, we let Bruce try one more time with our second to last mulligan since he came the closest the first time. He got it closer, but we walked away with a par on this hole. Still at nine under.
Hole #15-This was mostly Mike’s and C.J.’s hole. We never found Bruce’s drive, but he knocked his ball right over the cottonwood where he was aiming. I tried to swing too hard and barely made contact with my attempt. Mike’s drive put us in the first cut of rough, but C.J. carved out an approach that put us on the green with a mostly straight putt from around 18-20 feet this time. Bruce and I left our putts short, but they were tracking. Mike got his first putt past the hole, and he barely missed on the right side, so I asked him to use the last mulligan, and darned if he didn’t make it to get us to ten under for the tournament! That ended up making the difference.
Our score of 60 was good enough for a third-place finish out of eighteen teams. Another team was also at ten under, but we must have won the scorecard playoff, and I’m betting it was the birdie on #15 that won it. Thank you, Mike! We all ended up with $25 gift cards to either Ruby’s or Rubia’s. I ended up with three raffle prizes, because Bruce and C.J. gave me their tickets. I am about to text everyone to ask them to save them for a dinner out with everyone and their wives some night after we get back from Cancun.
Until next time…
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