Balls Magazine Year 2, Volume 4 (25 overall)

As you may remember, I let you know about my first tournament win of the year and my lowest score differential ever in Volume 2. Today, I’m going to tell you about the very next tourney I played with my club.

This month’s tournament was a two-person team Scramble. In this format, both players tee off and then pick the ball that is in best position. They pick up the other ball and then both hit from the chosen spot. This continues until the ball gets in the hole. It tends to produce lower scores as you have two chances to hit the ball well every shot.

For this particular tournament, you could choose your playing partners although you were restricted in that the handicap difference between the two players could not be more than ten strokes. You could also get randomly paired. I got randomly paired.

The ten stroke difference helps so that one player doesn’t dominate the scoring and that both players contribute. There was also a rule that you had to use at least five drives off the tee from each player.

I met my playing partner as I finished my putting practice prior to the round. He is a nice guy with a unique name and he works in The Industry. No, not porn, the other one. He is a 31 handicap index, just like me.

We had a little difficulty getting a golf cart but we eventually commandeered one right before we were supposed to tee off. Not exactly the smoothest start to the round, but that’s how it goes.

We carried that positive attitude into the first hole and we needed it because it was cold, threatening to rain, and the ball wasn’t going very far. We hit short shot after short shot and eventually got to the green. At least we didn’t go off into the thick rough. We ended up starting with a 6 on the Par 4 which was not bad for an individual 31 handicap index player as this was the #1 Stroke Index hole (toughest) but not good considering this was a Scramble.

The second followed a similar pattern as we were struggling to adjust to the conditions. However, we did do a little better and scored a 5 on another Par 4. We were keeping it in play, which was keeping us in the game.

I really should say that my partner was keeping us in play. I hit a couple of good shots, but he was carrying me. I didn’t say anything, but I knew I needed to step up my game.

I made up for not contributing on the first two holes on the Par 3 third as I hit a beautiful shot out of the green-side bunker that set us up for a Par.

Then I went right back to getting carried. We managed to score a Bogey 5 on the Par 4 fourth, a Bogey 4 on the Par 3 fifth and a Bogey 6 on the Par 5 sixth. The Bogey Train was rolling.

Again, ordinarily, we would be very happy with these scores individually but this was a Scramble. Bogey Golf was not going to get it done.

The other team that was in our foursome was made up of two older guys that had handicap indexes in the teens. They were also struggling at the beginning but quickly started heating up. At one point they mentioned that they were playing to their handicaps which, if you know the system, means they were playing pretty well. My partner and I figured that if we could stay within six strokes of them, we’d be in decent shape.

Something clicked on the Par 4 seventh. I hit a good drive, which we took, and then I hit a beautiful second shot that ended up just on the fringe of the green. A pitch and a putt and we had a Par.

At this point, we started really ham and egging it. He would hit a bad shot and I’d hit a good shot. Then I would hit a bad one and he would hit a good one.

We got another Bogey on the Par 3 eight but finished the Front Nine with a Par on a long Par 5 and we got to The Turn at a 42, four strokes behind the other team.

Then it was Bloody Mary time!

My partner had hurriedly paid for the cart when we were starting, so I thought I’d start paying him back by getting him a beer while I got a Bloody. Little did I know he had gotten a BUCKET of beers to prepare for the Back Nine. Fueled up, we hit the Tenth hole full of confidence. And alcohol.

The Tenth is a longish Par 4 and we got a textbook par. My game was heating up as his was dropping off a bit. Remember: Ham and Egg.

To say we went on a streak is an understatement.

We went Par, Par, Par, Par, BIRDIE, and Par on the next six holes.

The other team was making jokes about us being sandbaggers and 31 Handicap My Ass!

It was glorious. We were truly in the zone. The good vibes were infectious and we both started hitting good shots instead of relying on the Ham and Egg.

The Seventeenth is a relatively easy Par 3 but neither of us, for the first time all day, hit a good tee shot and we ended up with a Bogey 4.

As we headed to the 18th, we were now even on the raw score with the other team, who had continued to play well. I hit my best drive of the day after my partner hit the fence, my partner hit a good second and third shot, and we were set up well for short approach shots into the long Par 5 green.

I hit mine onto the green about thirty feet away on a flat line to the hole. My partner hit his about twenty feet away also on the green but on a slope. The question now was which ball to pick.

With the benefit of hindsight, we probably should have picked mine as it was a level putt and we probably had a better chance of making it, but we picked his. We missed both par putts and settled for Bogey.

Still, our incredible par streak on the Back meant we finished with a 36 (one over par!) in The Back and an 8 over 78 for the 18 holes.

The other team finished with a par and that gave them a total of 77 for the day. However, thanks to our team handicap of 15 (the sum of our individual handicap indexes divided by 2), our 78 turned into a 63 while their 77 turned into a 68. We had beaten them. Now, had we beaten anyone else?

We turned in our scorecard and then went to our cars to put our clubs away. I finished first and went back to the scorer’s table where they had big posters showing everyone’s scores.

We had won our flight.

PROS

I split our winnings of $200 with my partner.

I had a damn good Bloody Mary.

I got really good experience scoring low. The more comfortable I feel scoring low, the more I will be able to do it

CONS

It was cold but by the time the round was over, I didn’t feel the cold at all.

OVERALL RATING:

Since this tourney was a Scramble, it does not affect my Handicap Index. However, I earned points towards the Club Championship and some good money.

I may be in the top ten in the standings after this.

Things are going well going into the meat of the golf season. I’m going to do my best to keep it up.

See you next time.