TA's TAKE ON GOLF: 2015 WORLD AMATEUR HANDICAP CHAMPIONSHIP: DAY 2

Entrance to Long Bay Country Club

Spooky on arrival at Long Bay

Day 2 of the World Amateur Championship (our first day of play) at the Long Bay Golf Club in Longs, SC began in a haze and ended in a haze. The former was external- nature at work or play; the latter internal- a reflection of my state of being by the time our 5 1/2-hour round had ended.

It did look like this at 8:30am Tuesday

Ah, but why jump from beginning to end as though that’s all that matters? What about all the delicious drama in the middle? It won’t take you long to figure out why I would rather focus on the middle. Ahem.

T. A. with Jim Gropp, Garry Owens, & Anthony Johnson

Before I get too far along, I should introduce my playing partners. Anthony "Rumble" Johnson of Virginia, the closer of our foursome, shot 85 and tied for 11th; Jim Gropp of Florida, “The Big Easy” of our group, whose putter worked better than Ernie Els’ today, posted 84 and tied for 8th); and Garry Owens, my uninformed cart partner from North Carolina took a hard 99 and tied for 44^th. We began on Hole #3 and ended on #2.

Garry in one of his least favorite spots...until
later in his round

These guys were cool! We enjoyed our time in the sweltering sunshine (Thanks Steph, Sandi :-)!), we hit quite a few shots that drew swaggering smiles and compliments, and a few too many that drew frowns or a sardonic smiles of imperfection. I forgot to warn Garry about the “T.A.-cart-partner-curse.” I didn’t want to tell him that riding next to me spelled a tough day ahead. Hey, why ruin his round any earlier than necessary? Garry hung tough though, bouncing back from some high numbers to post a series of pars coming home.

Jim teeing off on #5

Jim’s silky smooth swing was reminiscent of Ernie Els, and he dropped some clutch putts out there. Both of his birdies were from at least 10’, and I know he made multiple pars with clutch medium-range putts. Jim started our round off with a birdie on Hole #3, dropping an uphill 20-footer in the cup with a rattle. He struggled the rest of the front-9, failing to notch par on any of the six, but he played the following seven holes in 2-over par, including his birdie on #13. I think Jim was running out of gas near the end, but he didn’t give up anything more than a bogey.

Anthony closing out an impressive par on #18

Anthony got off to a rocky start as well, and was 9-over by the time we had played nine. A couple misses on short putts early cost Anthony a few strokes and spots on the leaderboard. Ah, but the way he finished added leverage to those who believe that it’s not how you start but how you finish that matters most. Despite bogeying four of his next five holes on his final nine, Anthony finished just 4-over on that nine. He closed with four pars on some difficult holes.

Yours truly boosted the credibility of those who maintain that “you can’t win the tournament on the first day, but you can surely lose it.” But let me dwell on something pleasant before we get to the less than thrilling. After opening with a bogey and three consecutive doubles (I'm getting to the good stuff), I played the par-5, seventh hole (the fifth we played) in five (usually par-5s are my nemesis), and made an all-world par on the par-3 eighth.

Anthony putting on #8

Why was that par 0n #8 “all world?” Number 8 is a relatively short par-3 (147 yards), but there is a yawning bunker left of the green and water left of the bunker. There's another bunker to the right, and, beyond the right bunker, mounds and moguls of rough, about five feet higher than the green surface. Can you guess where I ended up?

#8 Green

Considering the facing breeze, and thinking I’d rather be long than short, I pulled my 6-iron and promptly pushed the ball out to the right, right into that rough on the side of one of the highest mounds above the green. We got a chuckle out of my predicament with the ball ridiculously above my feet, in rough that had given us fits all day, a green sloping away just past the bunker that was directly to my left, with another bunker on the other side of the green, and water beyond that. Oh yeah, I got this.

On the hill at #8

The guys were jeering at me, “Oh yeah, we know you got this (chuckle, chuckle).” Dang right I got this. "I showed Phil how to hit this shot” (more chuckles). I step to my ball, envision a spot on the fringe, and swing the 62-degree wedge Chris had given me. I looked up in time to see the ball hit the spot and trickle to about eight feet past the hole. Ah, now the applause... That might have been the best par I have ever made. But then, I have a short memory. Oh, I did, obviously, make the putt.

#13 Green

Those two pars started a nice run, allowing me to play nine holes in just 2-over. Among those was my other shining moment: the birdie on #13. The 13^th is a 125-yard, island green, par-3. There is a potential bailout to the left, but there isn’t a ton of room there.

Close but no cigar. Someone else hit it to 4 inches

Anthony put his ball in the bailout area, Tim floated his to about 12 feet left of the flag. I thought my 9-iron might not get me there with wind in the face, so I hit my 8-iron…a smidge thin, and I’m feeling a touch of concern... The ball comes to rest and two or three feet from the flag. Phew!

View from 13th Tee

Jim nails his 12-foot putt dead center cut for birdie, Anthony gets up and down for his 3, and I step up. The guys are going, “Yeah, go ahead and put it in,” as though there is any doubt. I calmly drilled it. My first…and only (so far)…birdie of the World Am.

Par-5 #15

There were other good things, like my par on the par-5 15^th (our 13^th of the day), but I could tell my focus was beginning to wane. I scratched out bogeys on the next two holes, but the wheels came off the 18^th hole (our 16^th).

2nd shot on 18

I placed a nice drive in the middle of the fairway, made the wrong club choice, and a few bad shots later (including three putts), I posted an unsightly 8 on the card. Ouch! I think I finished the next two holes in a state of shock, and added another three strokes above par to my tally.

Chris Capps

But ya know, I must be playing too much golf with Chris Capps, because I’m turning into an optimist. Yikes! I’m more familiar with myself as a realist, with a slightly pessimistic twist. In any event, I think my penchant for the positive today allowed me to make it through posting plus-nine strokes in the last five holes. Had I just played bogey golf over that stretch, I would have turned in a respectable score. I know, I know, "So what did you shoot?"

Despite my “yo-yonic” round and a 90 on the card, I’m still middle of the pack. On the bright side, since I am leaning toward that positive thinking thing, I’m tied for 21^st and am ahead of 18 players with lower handicaps, there are only five players ahead of me with a handicap equal to or higher than mine, and, most importantly, there are still two days of tournament golf to play!

Another look at #18, my derailer

I can’t go just hog wild on this positive thing now. Realistically speaking, there are 20 guys ahead of me and I am 11 shots behind the leader, who shot a 78, which, by the way, is a number I have never shot! My objective, my second objective, now, is to make it into the top ten. My first priority is to play as well as possible and enjoy the experience. I’m sure I enjoyed about five of the 5 ½ hours we played today.

I may have shot myself out of the tournament, but I haven’t shot the tournament out of me. I’ll be right back at it tomorrow, trying to eliminate those snowmen in September, in South Carolina, no less (temps at 90˚ and index that had to be over 100). I've gotta wish Jim and Anthony good luck as they are still within reach of the lead. Garry, I'm hoping we can climb the leaderboard to a place of respectability.

Just so you know, in addition to not having a part of me here really impacts what I produce. Wish you were here Babe! To those reading this, I bet you miss Steph's photos. I know I do! Thanks for sharing the journey!