Thursday, October 25, 2007
Fry's Electronics Open- Sunday
Mr Science at the FEO:
There were whitecaps on the lake next to 18 today, gusts to 30 MPH, they said. After about 2 hours, they called all the standard-bearers back to the trailer. I don't know how many were lost in the wind, and are now in Kansas, or maybe OZ. The group behind us had particular difficulty. They called for a ruling on the 4th green. Later, when there was a backup on the 7th tee and they caught up to us, Bob Estes said that it was because the wind had caused a ball on the green to move. (Did I mention that I eagled that hole, the 7th?) Later, I heard on the radio that Bob had a penalty stroke on 10, when the wind moved the ball while he was addressing it.
I had Tom Pernice, Jr., D.J. Brigman, and Bo Van Pelt. All of them had their troubles in the wind, but mostly played pretty OK. Each had one blow-up hole that really hurt.
Tom made a 7 on the par-5 4th hole, after hitting driver from the fairway for his second shot, into the desert and under a tree. He got it out of the tree into the rough, then chipped it into the left bunker, which has an 80-foot lip. I know that because I was in that bunker when I played the hole. He even had a little bit of a downhill lie. He made a great chip from the right side of the green, up over a ridge and down cozy to the pin, for a 1-putt double bogey. Then he made another double on 12, with a tee shot into a bush under a tree in the desert and a relatively unsuccessful chip-out into an even worse lie under another tree, still in the desert. But, he had 5 birdies and shot 72, not a bad score today. The lowest was 68. He told his caddy later it was a bad idea hitting driver from the fairway. On 12, he hit out of turn because DJ, who had the honor, was in the bathroom. He was about to address the ball when DJ arrived at the tee, and later Tom said he shouldn't have hit that drive after DJ got there. So, he blamed both his double bogeys on mental errors.
DJ had his double bogey on 9. He had birdied the first hole, then made 3 pars before bogeys on 5, 7, and 8. His tee shot on 9 rolled off the right side of the fairway into the 2" Bermuda rough on a steep slope. The marshal had to show them where the ball was, because he and his caddy walked right by it without seeing it. He got it out of there to the fairway, knocked it on and 3-putted. Shot 75, only 2 birdies. He's from Albuquerque. This is from his web site http:
//www.djbrigman.com/ but they put the story on the scoreboard, too:
Marisa Maez, DJ's wifeMarisa is a television news anchor in Albuquerque at KOAT Channel 7. DJ washed dishes at the Route 66 Diner to pay for her wedding ring.
DJ caught a bad break on 17 when his approach stopped just at the top of the hill (the pin was up on the top tier), and rolled back down and off the green, just like Badds on Wednesday. Cactus was in the Shotlink tower on 17, and saw two of those. He said he tried to be extra quiet so as not to disturb those golfers. DJ cursed the hole, and threw his glove (a good alternative to throwing the club, I'd say) but he got up and down for par.
Bo had a 7 on 17. His approach shot went across the cart path to the right of the green, and his first chip hit the curb and bounced back into the desert, giving him another try at the same shot. He wasn't short this time, and it rolled off the green on the other side, down into the collection area on the left. Other than that, he had 3 birdies and 4 bogeys for 74.
He had a 3 on the 7th hole, the same as I did, only his was just a birdie and mine was an eagle.
There were whitecaps on the lake next to 18 today, gusts to 30 MPH, they said. After about 2 hours, they called all the standard-bearers back to the trailer. I don't know how many were lost in the wind, and are now in Kansas, or maybe OZ. The group behind us had particular difficulty. They called for a ruling on the 4th green. Later, when there was a backup on the 7th tee and they caught up to us, Bob Estes said that it was because the wind had caused a ball on the green to move. (Did I mention that I eagled that hole, the 7th?) Later, I heard on the radio that Bob had a penalty stroke on 10, when the wind moved the ball while he was addressing it.I had Tom Pernice, Jr., D.J. Brigman, and Bo Van Pelt. All of them had their troubles in the wind, but mostly played pretty OK. Each had one blow-up hole that really hurt.
Tom made a 7 on the par-5 4th hole, after hitting driver from the fairway for his second shot, into the desert and under a tree. He got it out of the tree into the rough, then chipped it into the left bunker, which has an 80-foot lip. I know that because I was in that bunker when I played the hole. He even had a little bit of a downhill lie. He made a great chip from the right side of the green, up over a ridge and down cozy to the pin, for a 1-putt double bogey. Then he made another double on 12, with a tee shot into a bush under a tree in the desert and a relatively unsuccessful chip-out into an even worse lie under another tree, still in the desert. But, he had 5 birdies and shot 72, not a bad score today. The lowest was 68. He told his caddy later it was a bad idea hitting driver from the fairway. On 12, he hit out of turn because DJ, who had the honor, was in the bathroom. He was about to address the ball when DJ arrived at the tee, and later Tom said he shouldn't have hit that drive after DJ got there. So, he blamed both his double bogeys on mental errors.
DJ had his double bogey on 9. He had birdied the first hole, then made 3 pars before bogeys on 5, 7, and 8. His tee shot on 9 rolled off the right side of the fairway into the 2" Bermuda rough on a steep slope. The marshal had to show them where the ball was, because he and his caddy walked right by it without seeing it. He got it out of there to the fairway, knocked it on and 3-putted. Shot 75, only 2 birdies. He's from Albuquerque. This is from his web site http:
//www.djbrigman.com/ but they put the story on the scoreboard, too:Marisa Maez, DJ's wifeMarisa is a television news anchor in Albuquerque at KOAT Channel 7. DJ washed dishes at the Route 66 Diner to pay for her wedding ring.
DJ caught a bad break on 17 when his approach stopped just at the top of the hill (the pin was up on the top tier), and rolled back down and off the green, just like Badds on Wednesday. Cactus was in the Shotlink tower on 17, and saw two of those. He said he tried to be extra quiet so as not to disturb those golfers. DJ cursed the hole, and threw his glove (a good alternative to throwing the club, I'd say) but he got up and down for par.
Bo had a 7 on 17. His approach shot went across the cart path to the right of the green, and his first chip hit the curb and bounced back into the desert, giving him another try at the same shot. He wasn't short this time, and it rolled off the green on the other side, down into the collection area on the left. Other than that, he had 3 birdies and 4 bogeys for 74.
He had a 3 on the 7th hole, the same as I did, only his was just a birdie and mine was an eagle.
