Last Golf Blog for a while, Promise!

Nick and Patrik seemed to be done with the scramble so they challenged us to a match we’d played before that appeared on www.rawvegas.tv. In that match we were getting killed through 8 holes but stormed back to a one point win. The match pits Patrik and Nick against me and Christian. The three of them play the blue tees, 6866 yards, while I play the white tees 6292. I got to the range early because we took a day off on Saturday and I wanted to be sure I could hit the ball. Even one day off often has an effect on my game. When I got to the range I pulled out my60 degree wedge and literally shanked the first eight shots! Christian wasn’t there yet so I had to figure it out on my own.
After about 30 balls I started hitting the ball “ok” but didn’t feel great about the match based on how the range went. The format for the match was pretty simple. Every hole there would be 20k on the total team score, and an additional 20k if one player had the lowest score. So for example, if Christian made 4 and I made 6, that counts as 10. If Nick made 5 and Patrik made 5, we’d get one point. We’d tie the team total with 10, but Christian would win a point for us with the low man score. Hole #1 started well with both me and Christian making par and they both bogeyed the hole so we were +2 points. We got scooped on Hole 2 so it was back to even and stayed that way until hole #5 where Christian made his second double bogey and was 5 over after 5. A bad start for him and we were -2. On Hole #6 everyone hit the green which is surprising as it’s the toughest hole on the course. I was the furthest from the hole, about 40 feet. No problem, dunk, I drained the putt and birdied the hole. They all missed their birdie putts so we were back to evens. It stayed that way until #9 where they got a point and so we were down 1 point. We had the option to press, as discussed prior to the match, but I didn’t think we were the favorites so I declined to press. Too bad I didn’t! We went on a tear on the back scooping #10, and #11, getting a point on #12, scooping #13 and #14! That put us up 8 points at 20k a pop. We lost on on #16, scooped #17, and got scooped on #18 for a total of +7. As usual we played an “emergency” nine holes and they pressed the bet to 30k a hole. I also had a 5k bet with Jimmy, who was caddying this time, and we went double or nothing on the back. I texted by buddy Ted, who was also betting 5k a point from home and told him we are playing more and asked if he was in. What a freaking nit! He’s like, “Nah, I’ll take a win.” What a joke this guy is, my goodness. I forced him to continue betting with us. He’s sitting on his no playin’ ass at home making money and he wants to quit us now. My goodness, does the man have no shame? The extra nine me and Christian were en fuego and we couldn’t be stopped. Scoop on #1, 1 point on #2 and #3, scoop #4 and a point on #5 for +7.
On #6 I made a moronic move. I had a four foot bogey putt and thought that everyone was in for par so I just kind of stabbed at it, saying, this putt is meaningless. Doh, Nick made a bogey and I cost the team a point. I just don’t miss four footers.
On #7 Christian did miss a 4 footer for a scoop, but we got one point anyway, back to +7. We got scooped on #8 and I literally almost eagled 9 with my 70 yard approach lipping out of the hole. I then goofed and missed the birdie put so we all pushed on 9. Christian played awesome. In one stretch playing -2 for 18 holes. We made five birdies on the day and they made zero. I know Christian used to be a really good player, but until this match he has yet to really put it all together and it was fun to watch.
As for me, I’m getting a lot better at gambling at golf. Christian has improved my swing, but more importantly, he taught me that you can’t fix things in the middle of a round. You have to go with what you got and fix the rest on the range. I didn’t feel like I “had it” for this match but still scored well. I kept it super simple, a very easy tempo, compact swing, and kept the ball in play. That, and draining bombs on the green. So that’s that for the golf blogs, promise! I am going to golf today, just with the boys over at Spanish Trail since TPC Summerlin is closed on Mondays. Aside from that I’ll be signing some books, writing a column tonight, preparing for the Weekend at my place this coming weekend, and I’ll try to play some online. I may, highly unlikely, even go to the Bellagio one night and play some poker. Instead I’ll mostly play a bit online when I have some time. It’s awesome being home and I want to cherish every minute of it because in mid-September it looks like I’ll be overseas for a full month. Not looking forward to being away that long, but hey, that’s the way the schedule falls so I don’t have a choice really. ]]>