Jim Stewart posted on August 12, 2012 07:00
Last Tuesday, I played to an eleven on a very challenging 428-yard par four. A formidable hazard cuts across the fairway starting about 275 from the tee and continues for about 25 yards. To clear it from the tee, you have to drive it at least 300 yards. I can’t do that anymore. Even when I could, it was a rare event. But because I can still hit it 270 every once in a while, I always play this hole, which runs downhill to the hazard, with a 5-metal to lay up. I’ve birdied it once and parred it a few times, but for me, bogey is a good score.
So with that expectation, I was in a good frame of mind when I reached that tee box. Here’s what happened:
|
Stroke
|
Club
|
Result
|
Reaction
|
|
1
|
5-metal
|
off the heel; just past women’s tee (whew!)
|
Are you kidding me?
|
|
2
|
5-metal
|
hard sclaff; 20-yd. advance
|
Ow!
|
|
3
|
4-iron
|
duff, 10 –yd. advance
|
What?
|
|
4
|
4-iron
|
into tree; 15-yd. advance
|
Aw jeez
|
|
5
|
4-iron
|
topped; stops just short of hazard
|
Are you kidding me? Ow! What? Aw jeez.
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|
6
|
7-iron
|
open-faced lateral, extreme slice
|
At least it cleared the hazard
|
|
7
|
9-iron
|
dead center into tree, net gain 15 yards
|
Stoic grim silence
|
|
8
|
PW
|
duff, net gain 20 yards
|
More stoic grimness, smoke from ears obscuring view
|
|
9
|
60-deg. LW
|
over tree, pin high, on collar, 20 ft. to hole
|
Blessed relief, the clubface has been found
|
|
10
|
P
|
putt is on line, but three feet short
|
Focus uninterrupted
|
|
11
|
P
|
putt dead center in the hole
|
Sardonic head shake, rueful muttering, tentative laughter
|
I just marched on, sighing repeatedly, trying to catch my breath, to the the following par 3, which I bogeyed. That was okay with me. My playing partners, knowing me and my past indescretions, were relieved that I had found the available humor buried in the disaster, much like rubies in a solid waste treatment facility. We all commiserated. We’d all been there. By the time I got to the end of the round, I knew what my writing topic this week was going to be. It’s certainly not a silk purse, but it’s not a sow’s ear either.
Shivas commented on something patience offers:
" Yes, worlds within worlds right in front o’ our nose. Think about the times ye really concentrated upon a thing, did ye see it change in front o’ your very eyes?" ~Shivas Irons