On June 8th, I had the opportunity to play The Governor’s Club outside Chapel Hill, N.C. in a captain’s choice golf tournament. This is a Jack Nicklaus Signature Course and if you ever have a chance to play, don’t think twice, just go. The course is divided into three distinctive nines: The Mountains, Foothills and Lakes. If I need to do any more explanation on these, stop reading this now. This course is golf at its best in that good shots are rewarded, and poor shots punish you. The greens rolled true all day, and the view on the tee box of mountains # 9 is one of the best, if not the best, in the triangle. The club had hosted their member-guest over the weekend and was in phenomenal shape and they left the Sunday pins for us.
While this course deserves more praise, that is not what I wanted to vent about. I wanted to discuss integrity in golf. I remember a line from the movie in Bagger Vance in which the young caddie quoted Bobby Jones saying, "When you cheat in golf, the only person you're cheating is yourself." There had to be some cheating going on during this event. When registering for the tournament, you are asked to submit names and handicaps for each player. Each team’s handicap is then added up and 15 % of the total gives you the strokes your team is getting. My team had myself (a 20 handicap), two twelve handicaps, and a three handicap, adding up to 49. Take the 15 % and you get us getting 7.4 strokes for the round. You can also buy mulligans for the event, providing an opportunity for, “Bubba,” the greatest player in golf, to come in and correct errors. We came out of the gates smoking and were eight under after nine holes. We then hit a par streak that lasted six holes before finishing strong. We finished at eleven under and adding the 7.4 strokes we were getting got us to a net 53.6. As we entered the clubhouse, we were in fourth place already!! We sat around and just laughed at the scores we saw being posted in front of the room. Three foursomes came in with nets in the 40’s, and the winning score was a 43.9.
We started talking on the ride back to Charlotte about how you could get to that number. If that team shot 18 under, that would get them to a 54. Getting to a 43.9 from there, you would need the foursome to have an average handicap of 16.75, which is essentially bogey golf. One of our teammates was on the range between two of the winners and said that one of the guys was hitting balls so fat, he got hit in the chest with a clump of grass on the follow thru!! I guess he was just getting the bad shots out of the way on the range! These pins were the most tucked pins I have ever played in a captain’s choice tournament. They were the pins that were used Sunday for the member-guest. If the flag was red (meaning front of green) it was no more than four paces on. Many pins were tucked on shelves, behind bunkers or near water. I thought we played pretty well, but left a few putts out on the course. I do not see how anyone could get to that low a number without, well…..let’s just say being creative in adding up their strokes. I was always told if it looks like a duck and sounds like a duck, then it’s probably a duck. This foursome must have been quacking all the way home!
RANDOM THOUGHTS FROM THE WEEK
· I am holding off on saying he’s back, but damn, Tiger Woods looked good Sunday. If he is hitting fairways with the driver, he’s is the runaway favorite at Bethpage in two weeks. The hesitation is a result in not Tiger’s results, but his competitors. As he was closing strong, everyone else was collapsing faster than the economy. I am still waiting on someone to go shot-for-shot with Tiger to see how they both respond. Every time you think someone is ready to, they fold. Golf needs Tiger and a CONSISTENT rival would bring golf back in a hurry. Well, guess who is coming back this week at Memphis….
· Phil Mickelson. Lefty has decided he can come back after spending some time with wife Amy, who is recovering from breast cancer. It was refreshing to see a pro athlete put everything on hold to be a dad and husband when needed. This event will also mark the return of John Daly. John is bringing his colorful pants with him this weekend. Just tune in Thursday or Friday if you have questions about the colors on your television. He will not let you down.
· Congrats to the Tar Heel Baseball team. Four College World Series in Four years is impressive. Mike Fox just keeps the program on its upward path. They have been so close the last two years, so hopefully they can finish the deal this year. GO HEELS !!
· Do you think the Panther are playing, “Where’s 90?” during summer-school activities?? Last time I saw him, he was sitting courtside at a Nuggets-Lakers game.
· I think TNT does a good job with their NASCAR coverage, but man do they get the shaft when it comes to the races they cover. The coverage begins at Dover, which is normally a pretty good track. Pocono and Michigan could be the two worst races of the year and they get them back-to-back then go to the road course at Sonoma. New Hampshire is after that then they get Daytona and end in Chicago. ESPN takes over the following week at the Brickyard!!
· WWE’s Monday Night Raw will be at the Time Warner Cable Arena Monday Night June 15th. I plan on going and that could be a focal point for next week…Great people watching event!!!