I couldn't find anyone to join me today.
My Dad was busy. One brother was working and the other brother just had a baby. Sean was working, Tyler was in Florida, Gavin had an unexpected change of plans, Rickie had plans with his brother, Murph was being a Dad. I'm not close enough to anyone else to ask them on short notice to join me. Maybe that will change in the future. Should I cancel? Should I just stay home and enjoy a day of rest?
Maybe I should just walk it alone.
Now that's an idea!
I've been coming off a three day high. I unexpectedly got invited to play at Pinehurst #2 in two weeks. My twitter mentions and notifications are still going crazy. I had appeared on my favorite sports podcast "The O.G." on Thursday to talk about my unexpected invite, and Golf Digest found the story and wrote about it for their website, which I found out about on Friday. It's been a cool week.
Reality was setting in, though. In two weeks, I was going to play one of the most famous courses in the world. I was going to play a course that the greats had walked. I was going to play the course that Payne Stewart had his famous finish to win the US Open, just a couple of months before his untimely death. And there was no way I was going to show up just to suck. So I had to get some work in.
I had played 9 Thursday afternoon. I started with a par, and then the wheels came off. Too many triples, too missed whiffed shots, and a 54 was the result. That wouldn't do. I'm not someone who likes to play golf alone. Well, no. That's not true. I do like playing golf alone - I just don't do it enough to really recognize that I like it. Plus, what if something crazy happens and I ace a hole, and I have no witnesses?
Despite my uneasy feeling, I got up, went to the course, told the pro shop that I was the only one there for my tee time and I was going to walk it.
On the first tee box, there was no wait. I had the hole to myself. The first hole at the Cardinal Country Club was a par 5, and I was playing from the white tees. A few outings ago, I had "figured out" how to hit my "new" driver (a used Ping 10.5 G30 that I found on eBay right after Christmas.) A good start off the first tee box was crucial.
So, of course I hit the ground and I only hit the ball about 100 yards.
Frustrated, I pulled my push-cart past the senior and ladies tee boxes and found my ball shortly after. I pulled out my 3 wood, a gift from my father-in-law last year. For months, this was my best club. But for some reason, this club had no longer been reliable. And it proved unreliable for me again, as I shanked it off the end of the club face and into the woods right of the fair way.
I let out an exasperated sigh and took the walk of shame into the woods. I had a pretty clear opening from where my shot was, even in the wooded area. I had about 170 yards left. I pulled out what was my favorite club of the past two or three rounds, the Ping Hybrid 5 iron. I dug in my stance and swung away, hoping to miss any trees.
I definitely missed the trees. I basically missed the ball. I had connected with the very top of the ball and the ball scurried away about 30 yards in front of me.
What a no good, horrible start this was turning out to be.
My 8 iron got me out of the woods and I chipped on to the green with my putter - but overhit the ball and ended up past the flag. My bogey putt was downhill and even my tap with the putter sent the ball scurrying down the hill. I two putted for a triple bogey and I pondered if I should just turn around and go back to the car.
I decided to keep going, but if I was still miserable after the fourth hole, where the parking lot was in sight, then I would just walk off then, and live to fight another day.
The 165 yard par 3 2nd hole was a favorite of mine. Last July, I was inches from my first ever hole-in-one. My grandmother famously (at least in our family) had her own hole-in-one in July of 1993. She tells me the story every time I see her. She's the only one in our family to get a hole-in-one. I'm determined to add my name to that list one day. But today was not that day, Again, I topped the ball with the 5 hybrid and ball went far enough to go off the tee box. I was able to hit the ball just short of the green with my 8 iron, but misjudged my chip with my putter and didn't hit the ball hard enough. I was barely on the green and two putted for double bogey. Missed opportunity - it should have been a bogey at worst.
The 3rd hole, a short par 4, had a creek that ran across the middle of the fairway, about 215 yards into it. I had only driven over the creek a couple of times in my life, and none since my reintroduction to golf in 2022 (a hiatus that had lasted basically 8 years to that point, where I would play about 5 times in those 8 years). Most of the time, I was have the misfortune of my ball rolling into the creek, and if I didn't, it meant I either hooked it left, back towards the second tee box, or sliced it far right into the 7 hole fairway. Today, none of those things happened. I hit my first good shot of the day, straight down the middle, which it stopped just short of the creek. A sigh of relief escaped my lips. Maybe I didn't forget how to play golf after all.
To call myself a good golfer would be a fabrication. Ive broken 100 maybe once in the past two years. But every now and then, there are shades of a good golfer to be found in my game. I just had to put them together at the same time to be successful. I skulled the ball over the creek and the green with my 9 iron, but chipped on close and putted in for a bogey. Bogey golf for me is successful golf. My theory is that if I can play bogey golf, then that's a 90 over the course of 18 holes and I can live with that.
I hit my driver off the tee box on the fourth hole what felt like a mile. It felt incredibly good. I checked the distance when I arrived to the ball and I had hit the ball close to 250 yards. For the hundreds of times I had sliced a ball into the brush on this hole, it was cathartic to be able to see my ball go straight down the middle, and a long ways at time. My second shot, a 170 yard bomb with my 5-hybrid, went far left - which is fair, because I was aiming that way, but I was expecting a small slice to come out of it. I walked over, and I decided to try my hand at one of the wedges Sean had gifted to me a month ago. I took a shot with the 52 degree, hoping to hit it over the bunker and on to the green, but was short. Short of the bunker too. I didn't hit it clean. My second shot landed on the green, and even though I two putted for double bogey, this double bogey felt different. I had some great shots mixed in with some bad and thats different than all bad shots. I decided I should at least finish the nine, and then make a decision after that.
I piped my driver straight down the par 4, 5th fairway, and my ball traveled another 240 yards. My 8-iron got my to the dance floor, and I two putted for my first par of the day. Pride is not the word I'm looking for, but it's close enough. I had worked hard for that par. Sean and I had talked many many times about eliminating three putts from our game. Learning to lag the putt close enough to hole to tap in, or sinking easy 3-5 foot putts. I was able to sink a 5 foot putt for par and it's indescribable what that did for my confidence. Too many times (and many more to follow, I'm sure) the golf would find a way to lip out. My own personal form of progress brought a smile to my face.
I walked over the 150 yard par 3 6th hole and I waited for the two older gentlemen to finish. I love watching other people play golf. It's a reminder that my best and worst abilities are not better or worse than anyone else. That we are all just regular golfers, and we're just trying to get better with every shot.
I topped my first shot and I knew why immediately. I rushed through my shot and didnt take my time. The adrenaline from the par was still coursing through my veins and it cost me another shot at the ace. I was able to recover with an 8 iron to right off the green, and two putted for another perfectly acceptable bogey.
The gentlemen ahead of me had waited for me after they hit their tee shots on the 7th hole and asked if I would like to play through. I noticed one of them wore a hat that indicated he was a Navy veteran. There was no way I was going to have these two wait for me to play. I would be happy to wait for them, even if it took me a little longer to finish. I politely declined and thanked them for their service and told them to have fun and to take their time - that my legs would probably appreciate the break. As I waited on the tee box, I looked over to the 3rd hole, and noticed that one of the golfers had hit his drive into the 7th fairway. I gave him the thumbs up to go ahead and hit his shot and that I would wait for him as well. He hit a stinger that some how bounced over the creek and rolled onto the green, slowing down and stopping about 5 feet from the hole. It was ugly, but it was beautiful. His partner had pitched his more conventionally onto the green and had about a 10 foot putt.
My driver did not fail me once more and my drive traveled, with a small slice, about 220 yards. My 5 hybrid got me 50 yards short. I chipped on with the 60 degree wedge and two putted for another bogey. On the eighth tee box. I hit my drive 260 yards and landed left of the cart path, 170 yards from the green. The 5 hybrid got me to the fringe of the green. I misread the putt, and what should have been another par ended up being a 3 putt bogey. Which...again, was fine with me. Better than the triple bogey I started with.
As I approached the par-5 9th tee box, I contemplated if I should complete 18 or pack it in after 9. I was feeling great. I had a +3 over the last four holes. And I knew that I needed to get my legs and body in shape quickly so I could walk all 18 at Pinehurst #2. But I also knew that today may not have been the day to try. So I resigned myself to finish the 9th hole and call it a day.
My drive has become the most consistent part of my game. Straight down the middle and about 250 yards. I was still 290 yards from the green, and I pulled my 3 wood out. I needed to figure out what has gone wrong with this club, but answers didn't come. I got too much ground and the ball only traveled about 120 yards. Another day to figure that one out. My 8-iron got me short of the green, with a bunker in the way. I decided to try the 60 degree wedge, and I killed the ball all the way to the woods behind the green. That was my birdie attempt, and at that point, I figured a par or bogey would be out of the question.
I had a bad lie in the pine straw and didn't feel like my wedges would do my much good. So, I did what I was always taught to do in situations like this. I grabbed the putter and used the Texas wedge. It rolled fast, slowed down going up the hill to the green and rolled past the hole. It stopped about 8 feet past. Bogey was back in play.
With the putter already in hand. I walked to the hole. I appreciated that the hole was on the back of the green today - most days, I felt like it was at the front of the green, which sloped downhill and made any putt from behind nearly impossible. This putt was mostly level and a straight shot. I stepped up to it, and stroked the ball, walking it in for my fourth straight bogey and a 9-hole 48 to end my short round.
It was a bad start, but I'm so thankful I didn't stop. The exercise I got was more than worth it at the very least. The +4 over the last five holes was the best golf I had played in a long time. This was exactly what I was hoping to do.
I'm hoping to get another nine holes in Monday afternoon. I'm already lining up playing partners for the next couple of weekends. But most of all, I am just hoping I can do everything I can to enjoy this journey to Pinehurst #2. Good shots, bad shots, and every shot in between.
