SOUTHWEST FLORIDA MEN'S AMATEUR- ROUND 1 AT EASTWOOD GOLF COURSE

Additional photos can be seen here

It’s way late, or way early, depending on how you look at it, for me to be playing golf. Typically my golf season runs from the end of April to the beginning of October, but I could not resist the temptation of the Southwest Florida 

Men’s Amateur in my own backyard, being played this weekend at Eastwood Golf Club and Fort Myers Country Club. Besides, it will be an excellent tune-up for my first foray into the world of West Florida Amateur Tour competition on 12/1.

You couldn’t ask for more ideal weather conditions with temperatures in the 70s on this crisp fall day in Southwest Florida. I wasn’t sure what to expect heading out to Eastwood for the first round, given my two practice rounds the days before the event. Playing most of my recent golf at The Hideaway, with its lush, carpet-like fairways and greens to match (the paspalum effect), one can develop a false sense of security.

Chipping and putting before teeing off this morning, I realized that reading and putting the greens at Eastwood was going to be a challenge. I practiced putting for 20 minutes, and didn’t feel any more comfortable when I finished than when I started. Oh well, maybe I’d hit it close and wouldn’t have to worry about it.

I guess I took that discomfort to me to the first tee, because I was first of the tee on No.10, our starting hole, and I proceeded to dump my first shot in the water. I will spare you the gory details of that opening hole, but the bottom line is that I began the tournament with a quadruple bogey 8! Uh, can you say, “Shell shocked?”

For the first five holes on the more difficult back side, including another quad on the par-3 13^th (another two balls in the water!), What I was doing out there did not resemble golf, and I had to struggle to get a grip on my mind and emotions. I had to keep reminding myself that it wasn’t how you started but how you finished that counted most. Hey, what else could I say to myself at that point? I had already shot myself out of the tournament.

Well, I was able to get my act together after Steph paid me a visit on the green on No.15 green. After playing the first five holes 13 over par, I managed to post nine pars on the final 13 holes, playing those holes just five over par, 

despite my continued discomfort on the greens. Oh, one of those strokes was due to moving my ball inadvertently. I guess if I don’t have at least one episode of mental flatulence in a tournament round, I wouldn’t know what to do with myself.

Anyway, I had the best score of our group by two strokes on the second nine, but I had done so badly on the first nine that my 90 was still three strokes worse the third best score in our foursome. That third-best score was 

posted by Rick Petersen, who notched the best score on our first nine with a four-over 41. But Rick faltered a bit, coming in with a 46 on the second nine. He still sits in 6^th-place in our flight.

J. Keith Cramsey, my “quad-city” cart partner, holds 4^th place in our C-Flight (11 – 13 handicap) after shooting 86 despite two quadruple bogeys. He had a tough back side as well, shooting 46, but he had only three blemishes on his card on the front side. Perhaps most gratifying for Keith was his birdie on the final hole. He had had multiple attempts that scared the hole but refused to fall. He’s in the hunt, but six shots back of the leader.

Interestingly enough, Pete Soom’s 85 was the best score in our foursome…and he is in the D Flight (14 & up handicap). Guess the handicapping was a tad off target in this instance. In fact, our C-Flight leader (Mark Johnson) shot an 80, while the D-Flight leader (Tom Watkins) shot 77. Go figure. Pete, sits in 2^nd-place in D-Flight, courtesy of his back-side 45, and front-side 40. Frank Seiler and Daniel Johnson shot 87 to tie for third in Flight D.

As for the big hitters in the Championship Flight (0 – 4 handicap), Jake Sherwin and Mike Andre are tied for the lead with 3-under 69s. Both players posted six birdies that were offset by three bogeys. Griffin Hanson had just one bogey on his card, and was the only other player under par, shooting a 2-under 70. Rokki Rogan and Kaleb Johnson are just three shots off the lead with their even-par rounds.  

The A-Flight (5 – 7 handicap) was led by Matt Hight who posted a 7-over 79 and leads Phillip Everhart by two shots. Jo Jo Fortini is third, three shots behind the leader. B-Flight (8 – 10 handicap) leader James Cole posted a nifty 39 on the back side and a plus-two 37 on the front side. Toby Schwetje (79), John Phelps (80), and Ron Puder (80) round out the top-three in Flight B and are well within striking distance of the lead.

All in all, it was a terrific day of golf at Eastwood Golf Course and I’m looking forward to redeeming myself tomorrow at the newly renovated Fort Myers Country Club (FMCC). Most of the talk around the practice greens this morning was about the new look and feel of FMCC, and by just about all accounts, the renovation is a hit. I’m looking forward to playing something that looks and feels like golf before my sixth hole of the day! Until next…