White Pine Controversy and Dueling Three-Foot Putts

Written on 7-20-24.

     B is resting next to me on our bed.  It’s 12:06 on a Saturday, and we drove home from Kanab yesterday.  B cleaned out the camper on the inside this morning while I slept.  I plan on washing the outside after watching The Open and getting some writing done.

We had a fantastic trip while launching the Edgertons on their six week adventure to British Columbia.  We went to the Great Basin in Nevada.  Then we went a little farther to Ely (ee lee), Nevada to stay at the Cave Lake Campground and play golf at White Pine.  

We went our separate ways a couple of days ago after having a final lunch together in Ely.  We had so much fun with them, and we felt satisfied knowing our last big trip of the summer was a winner.

On to golf…

I played with Herman (not his real name) twice before the trip. I am determined to play at Pinon Hills as much as possible to earn my money’s worth from my membership again.  I did really well getting rounds in last season, and I hope to do it again this season.  I am about halfway with my rounds now.

Three of the four nine hole rounds went the way they typically go.  Even on nine holes, Herman can beat me by as many as ten strokes.  He makes pars and I make bogeys.  On one round, however, I was able to tie him.  I actually beat him once before on the front with a score of 44 to his 46.  For this round, I finished with a par on hole #9 to match his 43.  It was marvelous.

Not only did I tie him, but I was able to...

 outdrive him on a few holes, too.  Specifically, I can remember longer drives on #3 and #8.  My relaxed “true swing” can really generate some whipping power.

Eric and I had a blast playing at White Pine.  Once again, summer golf with a buddy and not a care in the world made it so much more enjoyable.  We went over when we were ready, so it was an pleasant, relaxed morning, too.  

I read the reviews about this course online, so I wasn’t expecting much.  Someone said the greens were patchy in places, and that was true, but that never affected our play.  I just thought it would be a lot rougher than it was.  I pictured greens from the South Forty in Cortez.  

We had plenty of time, so we shared a small bucket to warm up.  We never had to wait on anybody, and nobody waited on us (except the lady in the pro shop).  We saw a few groups on the back when we were on the front, but we felt like we had the entire course to ourselves.  Before we took off to play, we wet our towels using a hose and a spray gun near the shop.  We didn’t think anyone would mind, and we were right.

I am over at the Edgerton’s, and it’s 7:27 now.  I am watering their grass and trees while they are gone.  Belinda came with me to hang out for this first time.  I am off to change the water, but I will be right back.

I am thinking about doing a hole by hole analysis, but I don’t think it warrants that.  I will get right to the controversy and go from there.

When we came to hole #7, it was a very close match.  I had 14 points.  Oh, we were playing the 1, 2, 3 Points Game again.  He had 13 points.  We had pushed the points for winning the hole for two holes, so this hole was now worth nine points.  I won the long drive on this par five.  It was an uphill, dogleg left adventure.  My approach was just off the green on the front, and I left my birdie putt well short.  Eric hit the green in regulation, and he rolled his putt to about four feet, leaving it short, too.  Not a gimme, for sure.  My par putt was short, also.  I still had about two feet.  To finish my bogey putt, I had to reach across his line.  It was a bit awkward, so I asked, “Will you give me this one?”

No answer.

“Will you give me this one?” I asked again.  It was a straight, uphill putt.

No answer.

Since he didn’t say anything, I went ahead and took my stroke.  It missed!  I was shocked.  Not so much that I had missed, but that he hadn’t given it to me.  He said he hadn’t, because it was worth nine points.  I get that.  Then he changed his mind as we climbed into the cart, and he told me it was good for a bogey.  Now, we were pushing 12 points for the next hole, the par three #8.  It was the gentlemanly thing to do, I thought.  I would have given him the putt without thinking.  If I had marked and lined it up, I wouldn’t have missed.  It just shows how competitive we are.

He had the honor, and he swung a beauty.  It was on the green to the left of the hole, but he would need to lag it well to earn his par.  My ball ended up closer, but it was just off the green on the front side.  I came on first, and I made a good roll with my putter.  It ended up right of the hole about three feet away.  Eric’s putt stopped just outside of three feet on the opposite side of the hole.  I pulled the pin, and he went first.  It lipped around the hole and stayed out by an inch.  With lots of pressure for those 12 points, I steadied myself and made mine.  I think he chose to go first thinking that if he had made his, the pressure would have been too much for my putt.  Either way, I had burst the bubble.

I won the next hole with a par, so the front nine scores were Pat: 30, Eric: 17.  I also was leading in stroke play: 44 to 46.

We had a pleasant lunch out on the deck.  I learned that the lady who helped us and served us our lunch was the wife of the head pro, Randy Long, and that they had owned the golf course for twenty years.  Her name is Lori.  She said she would put hot dogs on the roller for us when we started out, and we joked often that they would be burnt by the time we made the turn, but they were delicious.