DUEL AT THE DYE CLUB 2014

My final putt of the day was about 12 feet, slightly downhill, breaking gently left to right…at least I think it was left to right, might have been right to left…after more than 5 ½ hours on the golf course, left, right, up, down, don’t mean that much to me. In any event, I stroked it perfectly, and watched with wry disdain as it curled into the hole, making a golfer’s favorite sound: kerplunk. It doesn’t really sound like that, but it’s the best I can do.

Why disdain? Well, it was the only putt of any length I had made all day and it was for a 6…on a par 3. Sure the 7-foot comebacker for par on No.16 (496-yard par-5) was good, but I shouldn’t have hit the first one that far past the hole in the first place. And, I would much rather have made the 8-footer for birdie I had on No.17, after lofting a soaring 7-iron onto the narrow green.

To put it mildly, it was a tough day for me on the Dye (Pete) Course at Barefoot Resort. I am quite sure the course is more than worthy of the “Course of the Year,” designation it received last year,

 and was a pristine venue for Golf Channel’s Big Break Myrtle Beach (to be aired this fall). However, I was far too busy marveling at my psycho-emotional breakdown, to pay enough attention to the intricacies of the Dye design.

You would think that playing a track that has regularly been named one of the nation’s “Top 100 Courses” by Golf Magazine, Golf Digest and Golfweek (according to the course website), that I would pay a little more attention, huh? Like I said, it was a tough day on the links for me.

How tough was it? At one point, perhaps after the first couple of holes, I turned to my playing partner Neil Bertholf and said, “I really have played golf before, and I’m sure that will be evident before the day is over.” Barely. Neil and I played with Eric Vaughn and Henry Zeberkiewicz, and I am pretty sure that I hit more strokes than any of my playing partners. Neil had me down for a 99, but I believe I carded 100…from the member tees!!!

Henry Zeberkiewicz & Eric Vaughn

I tried not to think about the fact that Henry, despite being more than 10 years my senior, outdrove on almost every hole, or that Eric did so as well…with a hybrid! I guess I shouldn’t mind being outplayed by Henry, given that Henry is carrying a 6.6 index and has played this tournament more years than I have played golf. I did card a 44 on the back nine, so it wasn’t all bad.

Stan Mahaffey- Event Organizer

The one-day event, organized by Stan Mahaffey of Jonesboro, Louisiana, was one I’d certainly play again, and I’ll bet the 148 others who participated would as well. Kudos must be sent out to Head Golf Pro Jeff Diehl and his staff, who managed to get the course ready for play, despite several inches of rain late yesterday. They even let us drive the fairways.

Jeff Diehl- Head Golf Professional

That took a lot of guts and accommodation from the staff, as conditions were definitely soggy. Imbedded balls and standing water were not uncommon. I suspect that time considerations were at play and that we would have had cart-path only restrictions on a normal day. Heck, the round was already almost six hours!!!

Our original intent was to play the Duel at the Dye Course to become familiar with the course where the championship round of the World Am will be played on Friday. 

If I don’t find a different frame of mind by tomorrow morning and hold onto it for a few days, I’m afraid today will be the only look I will get at the Dye Course this time around…at least as a player. Steph and I might still want to get some shots of the final day.

Ok, that’s about it for today. The tourney begins in earnest tomorrow, and we’ll report back then. As always, thanks to Steph for the photos, and you can check out additional photos here. 

T.A. & Steph