Sunday, May 17, 2009

The Thrill of Victory, The Agony of the Feet

We missed the cut.

By one stinking stroke.

I accept full responsibility. I will never forgive myself for voicing doubt over the amount of break on number four during the first round. At that point Lindsey was one under par and putting beautifully (she is ranked number three on tour with 28.462 average - not bad for a "rookie"). She saw two balls, I saw less.

It was two.

Then she was left with a downhill slider that didn't slide and in less than a minute went from one under to one over. It's just not fair.

Lindsey recovered from my blunder quickly, however, parring all but one hole on her way to an opening 38. A second 38 on the back put her in a solid position for Saturday.

Unfortunately that 38 on the back nine could have easily been a 36 or better.

Why? For starters the skies parted and we had over an inch of rain late Friday. Lindsey was just ready (as in already starting her backswing) to hit her approach shot on 15 when the horns sounded. Lightening, wind, heavy rain, hail, you name it, it was headed our way. As a result over 70 players had to complete the first round Saturday morning.

At 7:00am Saturday morning.

The temperature was a brisk 51 degrees the next morning, and it was made even brisker but an 18 mph wind straight out of the north. Lindsey hit her storm-interrupted approach shot, off a water soaked fairway, into the wind --- 20 feet from the cup. Expecting slow greens after all the rain we had, her first putt went a little long. No problem - Lindsey sank 4 and 5 footers all tournament (no wonder she's 3rd in putting), but this one rimmed out. From birdie to bogey. And an indication of how the day was to go.

So, we finished round one a little after 8:00am Saturday. Then, an an hour and a half later we started round two. Temperature still in the low 50's. Winds still in the high teens. Oh, and to compound misery (although we were playing in Kansas), we started on the back nine, by far the tougher of the two nines. Then it was bad bounces, no bounces, poor bounces, cruddy bounces, lip outs, you name it. Shortly after we started round 2 Lindsey had a shot absolutely clear a bunker, then hit a mound and bounce straight back into the sand. It's just not fair.

So, no thrill of victory.

Not this time.

Lindsey is a great competitor and as soon as she gets a decent caddy she'll do fine. As for the agony of the feet - my dogs are barkin'. My thighs are tingling. My quads are quivering. Well, you get the idea. I'm not real sure I could have gone another round. But, I figure I didn't do to badly for an old geezer of 64 with two grandkids (one of which will be a teenager this year). And, fortunately for me, a wonderful lady of 63 with two grandkids (one of which will be a teenager this year), picked up the bag for the completion of the first round so I only had to carry 18 and not 21 plus. Thanks, Sweetie. Now we're both pretty beat, but we just have this one question...

Anybody need a caddy?

1 comment:

Ken Schmierer said...

I need someone to carry wine from my kitchen to my couch... I will give you full credit and you can keep any loose change you find along the way.