B/G Club Scramble Part 2

Written on 7-28-19.

Hole #15-I was the last to tee off again, but I had less pressure for this tee shot, because we had two on the fairway already.  I chose to wait, because the group ahead of us was still on the green.  After they left, though, another group was on the green on #16, so I hollered at them to let them know I was going to go for #15’s green.  They politely hid while I went for it, and I made one of the best driver swings of the day here.  My ball flew high and over the cottonwood, and Mike thought it would be either on the green or just short of it.  

     It took us a while to find it.  It wasn’t on the green, in the hole, or in one of the bunkers.  I noticed it in the weeds between the first bunker and the green, though, so we were a short chip away from the hole.  The scramble format helped, because we were able to place our golf balls and improve our lies.  Sadly, our best shot went over the green and stopped on the fringe, and I believe that was my shot.  We let Roger use a mulligan here to get it closer, but his club went under his ball and barely advanced, so we took mine instead.

     I was the first one to go, and I chose to putt it.  Amazingly, my ball hit the stick and dropped in.  We all hooted.  I had hogged all of the shots for this birdie, but I am choosing not to count it as an official birdie for this journal, because I certainly improved my lie for the shot from the weeds.  Eight under after ten holes.

Hole #16-I drove really well on #11 and #15, putting my golf balls right next to the greens and pin high for those, so I thought I might as well give it go on this hole, too, so I did.  Jeff Newland is the newest manager of the pro shop and the course after retiring from teaching this past year, and he showed up in a cart to watch us all tee off.  I went last again, and I did...

aim left and hit it hard once more.  It mostly went straight, though, so it headed toward the left side, and I wasn’t positive it had enough oomph to make it over the water and the junk. 

     It did.  We found it just off the green again, and we had a much better lie than the hole before.  We even had some green to work with, so we were set up well.  Terry, our neighbor from Wyoming who lives here in Kokopelli, was waiting to tee off on #15, so he came up to say hello, see what we were doing, and give us a hard time.  I left my pitch short, and it barely dribbled onto the green.  I don’t remember who had the best pitch, or who made the putt, but we got another birdie here.  We were now nine under after eleven holes.  

Hole #17-We did not play the par three holes well, and Mike even said at one point, “The par threes are killing us.”

     We got a birdie here, though.  Mike put his tee shot just off the green on the left side, and then somebody chipped it close enough for a putter stick and a birdie.  Ten under after twelve holes now.

Hole #18-Of course I tried to cut the corner.  My ball flew much farther right than I wanted, though, so once again I wasn’t sure if it had made it past the out of bounds.  It had.  Mike found it in the newly marked hazard area, but we chose to play it right out of the hazard anyway.  
     It was just around 100 yards to the flag on the right side, and we heard from Jeff both before and after that we could take a free drop out of there if we wanted that option.  We didn’t, though, because we were so close.  Dropping would have put us farther away.  My approach put us right of the hole with an uphill putt, so that’s what we chose.  Shawn’s ball hit the green, too, but his was a bit farther away and above the hole.  Despite four tries and another mulligan, we did not earn an eagle, but we did get our birdie, so we were now eleven under after thirteen holes.

Hole #1-They had orange cones set up for a par three tournament that was coming up, and although I didn’t aim for them, my ball rolled right in between them.  They were past the cottonwood and on the right side of the fairway, but they were in the taller grass.  I believe it was this hole that Roger called me a “beast,” because I had driven it so far.  

     We were left with 145 yards to the flag, and after watching my teammates come up short with their 9-irons, I chose my 8.  I pulled it a bit, but it did get closer than the others.  We were left with a chip shot from the left side to the hole that was cut on the front right side.  It had some downhill to it, so we just had to hop our golf balls onto the fringe and let them slide down to the hole.  Mike went first, and he almost made it.  It stopped less than a foot above the hole.  Roger went next, and he holed it!  Then Shawn and I tried just for fun.  Shawn’s went past the hole, but mine went in just like Roger’s!  I teased Roger that it wasn’t such a hard shot after all when we got to the next hole.

     To get a birdie on this tough hole had to give us an edge on all of the other teams.  I felt the same way after hole #9.  How many teams managed to get a birdie on this longer, tougher, par four that day?  Hardly any, I would bet.  Twelve under after fourteen holes.

Hole #2-This was all Shawn’s hole.  His tee shot was above the hole, but it was closer than any other, and he made the putt, too. 

My tee shot, however, did hit the flagstick, and that was really fun.  We all saw it and heard it, and it was my 8-iron.  It bounced off and rolled to a spot on the collar well below the hole.  Because it was farther away, and it had some rough stuff to go through on the green, too, we chose Shawn’s.  Thirteen under after fifteen holes.

Hole #3-We used Roger’s drive, but it did have some tree trouble, and it was just off the fairway on the left side.  It was just around 90 yards away, but some low-hanging branches impeded our approach.  Shawn hit a low 7-iron, and it bounced before the flag that was on the bottom tier and stopped at a spot around a free throw’s distance away.  My sand wedge got my ball just off the green on the left side and on the correct tier, but it was farther than Shawn’s.  Then Shawn claimed two holes in a row (even though we used Roger’s drive on this one) by being the first one to putt and the last one to putt, too.  He aimed about a foot out to the right, he said, and his ball rolled and broke directly into the hole.  Amazing!  Fourteen under after sixteen holes.

Hole #4-We hit the green on the left side, but none of us could make the putt that went over a ridge and broke from right to left.  We remained fourteen under after seventeen holes.  Only one more to go.

Hole #5-My tee shot may have been better than Roger’s, but we will never know.  It was on the fairway on #1, but some guy picked it up when we went over to go find it.  Mike said we should let Roger feel good about his drive by using it, so I laughed and that’s what we did.  His was on the left side of the fairway, but we had a ways to go still.  Roger made up for not hitting his drive as far as mine, though, when he hit the best second shot that rolled to a spot just about even with the hole and just off the green on the left side.  Each of us had to choose between putting or chipping, and Mike wasted no time by putting his.  His line was right, and despite a tiny valley on the fringe that he had to go through, he almost made it.  It was just short by a foot or so.  We were out of putter sticks and mulligans for this last hole.  

     I was third to go, and I chose to putt like Mike did.  Incredibly, it rolled in for our eagle and our final score!  We got it to sixteen under for a 56!

     Mike talked about how he would be a bit embarrassed to turn in our scorecard, and I said I wouldn’t be, but that was before we got it to 16 under.  When it was time to actually turn it in, though, I was a bit embarrassed.  Nobody said anything, though, and if they did, it was mostly comments about what an impressive score it was.  

     Third place shot a 60 and took third only after a scorecard playoff.  Second place shot a 58, so we won easily by four strokes.  That eased my mind a bit about the teeny tiny controversy about the silly “putter stick” on hole #8.  When we shook hands and did our man hugs after finishing on #5, our 18th hole, we were smiling and laughing together, and we bonded over our great round and day together.  It was something special and rare, and we all knew it.

     Mike had to work some more giving out prizes, so he didn’t sit with us during lunch, but Shawn and Roger and I sat at the same table to keep the camaraderie going just a little bit more.  We enjoyed our Rubia’s enchiladas, beans, rice, and chips and salsa while we waited for the raffle drawing and our prize.  I had time to quickly buy $5.00 of raffle tickets, but I didn’t win anything.  Roger and Shawn both got baskets from The Olive Garden, though.  That was about as rare and lucky as our birdie on #1, I thought.  

     We all received these huge, glass mugs that have the Boys and Girls Club graphic on them, and they also say 2019 First Place Golf Tournament.  Inside was a gift card to Golf Galaxy/Dick’s for $100.00.  I am pretty sure that’s the biggest golf prize I’ve ever won.  I have not spent it yet, and I am debating in my mind what I might want to spend it on.  A new golf bag?  A range finder that works better from farther away?  New golf gloves?  More golf balls?  It’s a wonderful problem to have.  

     That’s it for now.  It’s 6:19 on a Sunday evening, and I am going to have dinner and spend the rest of the evening with my wife.

Until next time…