Sunday, June 22, 2008
2008 US APL Sectional Qualifying
No, I didn't compete, nor score, nor assist . . .
I just unwittingly signed up to play Saturday Afternoon AFTER the tournament. So the main story line here is the difference between playing in 2 hours at Sanctuary yesterday in 113 degree heat vs. the 4 1/2 hour round at Cave Creek in 115 degree heat . . . .
brutal golf, I am sure you will agree, if you admit such an oxymoron as "brutal golf" . . . especially for those competitors, who were still walking . . . 8^0 . . . one of our 4some quit after 9holes . . . he was walking with a handcart, but it was too hot for him . . .
we were the first group out after the tournament . . . I don't know if they seeded the tournament with these awful afternoon tee-times for the, um, er, expected non-contenders, or what . . . but on the par3 #13 we had to wait a while while the entourage in front of us looked for lost balls -- one has to wonder, even with the longer-than-usual rough, how tournament contenders could lose balls on a par3, but eventually one very unhappy young fella came walking back toward the tee, bouncing his golfball on his wedge . . . when he dropped the ball along the way, he just flipped it back up in the air and started bouncing it again without even really breaking stride . . . I mean, he's hitting a wedge 165 yds . . . this is a young man of great talent having a bad hole . . . he hit his 3rd shot, by my count, onto the left front corner of the green, off the hump by the bunker there, so that it kicked straight towards the hole . . . I tho't sure he'd salvage 4, but he missed that short putt too . . .
then on #16, we had to wait again, as we could see the entourage walking back and forth thru the long rough left of the fairway . . . right where I try to thread my tee shot thru to cut the corner and leave a good look at that green . . . sure enough, the same young man had to come back to the tee to hit again . . . we told him that we tho't we had seen his Nike ball in our fairway coming up on #15, where he'd apparently not looked, and he wanted to go back and look for it, but the marshal warned him he might be close to his 5 minute limit already, so he hit -- I think -- a provisional with the idea that he could have a quick look over there afterwards . . . I am entirely uncertain about the official rules in this area . . . apparently, he hit exactly the same shot as before, from his exasperated ejaculation, but to us it was an amazing shot: a concussive blow with a trajectory over the great tree that guards the inside of the small dogleg left on that hole.
both courses' greens had been aerated recently: Sanctuary's had been top-dressed, but if Cave Creek's were, it was so long ago the sand had disappeared . . . both were disagreeably difficult, to me, but I guess Cave Creek was good enuff for competition, as deemed by the AGA -- I can't find any media coverage of it that might include player's comments, which would have been interesting to me . . .
the tournament played #2 and #16 as par4s, with the tees moved up to the white's position . . . I still didn't reach either in 2, due to errant driving, which I attribute to the heat, the slow(ish) play, and my golfing companions less-than-perfect golf etiquette . . . I know, I know . . . one should not be distracted, and they were nice enough guys, and who am I -- club thrower & curser that I am -- to throw, er, uh, clubs at them . . . what can I say . . . it's hard enough for me to keep the poodle on the leash, if you know what I mean, without such distractions.
I wound up with a 44-46=90, no birdies, 6 missed birdie putts, 1 lip-out birdie chip, 3 pars, and a buncha missed par putts, I say due to the greens condition, but I had loose driving to blame, too, plus a tendency to back-slide into chunks & blades with my irons at inconvenient times, too.
I just unwittingly signed up to play Saturday Afternoon AFTER the tournament. So the main story line here is the difference between playing in 2 hours at Sanctuary yesterday in 113 degree heat vs. the 4 1/2 hour round at Cave Creek in 115 degree heat . . . .
brutal golf, I am sure you will agree, if you admit such an oxymoron as "brutal golf" . . . especially for those competitors, who were still walking . . . 8^0 . . . one of our 4some quit after 9holes . . . he was walking with a handcart, but it was too hot for him . . .
we were the first group out after the tournament . . . I don't know if they seeded the tournament with these awful afternoon tee-times for the, um, er, expected non-contenders, or what . . . but on the par3 #13 we had to wait a while while the entourage in front of us looked for lost balls -- one has to wonder, even with the longer-than-usual rough, how tournament contenders could lose balls on a par3, but eventually one very unhappy young fella came walking back toward the tee, bouncing his golfball on his wedge . . . when he dropped the ball along the way, he just flipped it back up in the air and started bouncing it again without even really breaking stride . . . I mean, he's hitting a wedge 165 yds . . . this is a young man of great talent having a bad hole . . . he hit his 3rd shot, by my count, onto the left front corner of the green, off the hump by the bunker there, so that it kicked straight towards the hole . . . I tho't sure he'd salvage 4, but he missed that short putt too . . .
then on #16, we had to wait again, as we could see the entourage walking back and forth thru the long rough left of the fairway . . . right where I try to thread my tee shot thru to cut the corner and leave a good look at that green . . . sure enough, the same young man had to come back to the tee to hit again . . . we told him that we tho't we had seen his Nike ball in our fairway coming up on #15, where he'd apparently not looked, and he wanted to go back and look for it, but the marshal warned him he might be close to his 5 minute limit already, so he hit -- I think -- a provisional with the idea that he could have a quick look over there afterwards . . . I am entirely uncertain about the official rules in this area . . . apparently, he hit exactly the same shot as before, from his exasperated ejaculation, but to us it was an amazing shot: a concussive blow with a trajectory over the great tree that guards the inside of the small dogleg left on that hole.
both courses' greens had been aerated recently: Sanctuary's had been top-dressed, but if Cave Creek's were, it was so long ago the sand had disappeared . . . both were disagreeably difficult, to me, but I guess Cave Creek was good enuff for competition, as deemed by the AGA -- I can't find any media coverage of it that might include player's comments, which would have been interesting to me . . .
the tournament played #2 and #16 as par4s, with the tees moved up to the white's position . . . I still didn't reach either in 2, due to errant driving, which I attribute to the heat, the slow(ish) play, and my golfing companions less-than-perfect golf etiquette . . . I know, I know . . . one should not be distracted, and they were nice enough guys, and who am I -- club thrower & curser that I am -- to throw, er, uh, clubs at them . . . what can I say . . . it's hard enough for me to keep the poodle on the leash, if you know what I mean, without such distractions.
I wound up with a 44-46=90, no birdies, 6 missed birdie putts, 1 lip-out birdie chip, 3 pars, and a buncha missed par putts, I say due to the greens condition, but I had loose driving to blame, too, plus a tendency to back-slide into chunks & blades with my irons at inconvenient times, too.
