Some knucklehead was joyriding at Topstone golf course in South Windsor, CT where I'm a part-time member of a golf league.
Fortunately, I was still able to make a birdie when I played this hole the following day.
http://www.courant.com/community/south-windsor/hc-south-windsor-golf-course-0820-20100819,0,733176.story
Topstone's a nice track when there aren't upside down cars in the bunkers.
Friday, August 20, 2010
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Two Stroke Penalty on the PGA
The organization dedicated to growing the game of golf managed to take a step backward this past weekend with the unsettling conclusion of the 2010 PGA Championship.
On the 18th hole of the final round, with a one stroke lead, Dustin Johnson appeared to have just missed a putt for a scrambling par that would have secured him the title. Settling for bogey, he would still have a chance for victory in a 3-man, 3-hole playoff, or so he thought. Instead he was assessed a two stroke penalty for grounding his club in a bunker on his second shot, leaving him two strokes back and out of the playoff.
It was one of those instances where I'm sure casual fans said, "huh?" (or stronger) as the situation seemed unfair. It made a bit more sense to seasoned golf fans like me, but I think the situation could have been avoided. If you're still confused, I'll break it down for you and provide three keys to remember for both the PGA and players alike.
The PGA Championship is sponsored by the Professional Golfers Association of America, the club professionals who teach golf and run golf courses. The PGA's stated purpose is to grow the game of golf, which is ironic, since I can't imagine the conclusion Sunday made many new golf fans.
The rule that Dustin Johnson violated is pretty straightforward. All but the most hackneyed hackers know you can't ground a club (as in set on the ground) in a bunker or other hazard. The problem is that Whistling Straits where the event was held is not your average venue and the final hole of the final round of a major championship is a unique setting and situation.
Whistling Straits is a spectacular course set on the edge of Lake Michigan sculpted in the style of the great links courses of the British Isles. A shout out to my buddy Howie who played it recently and sent me the yardage book (best yardage book ever, seriously), which I referred to frequently as I watched the coverage over the weekend. While it's a dazzling layout, to me it loses points because it's not authentic, as that landscape was created by bulldozers and earth movers, not mother nature, a fact you could see whenever the camera shots from the Met Life blimp pulled back to reveal farmland on the neighboring property. My buddy CJ, aka Kid Philly, said it reminded him of a great course we used to play in Denver called Murphy Creek -- I agree.
One unique attribute of Whistling Straits is that it has, literally, countless bunkers. Some are huge and some are tiny, but they're everywhere, with an estimate of 1,200 across the property. Given that there were also 50,000 people attending the event, it's inevitable that fans ended up standing in or walking through many of the bunkers that were far removed from the fairways.
The PGA of America made the curious decision that the bunkers where fans walked through (outside the ropes, as it were) would still be played as hazards (meaning you can't ground the club), and not simply as waste areas, where players play the ball as it lies as they would in any other spot on the fairway or rough.
So when Dustin flared his drive on the 18th, he didn't realize that he was in a bunker. He was surrounded by thousands of fans, and while the ball was lying on sand, it was hard-packed, with footprints, wrappers and people all over it.
It never occurred to him that he was in a bunker so he followed his usual routine (usual for the last hole leading a major with 5,000 people surrounding him forming a tunnel the size of a bowling alley to hit through on his approach to the green) and grounded his club (though Dustin must have admitted to this, because I never saw that definitively on the replay).
As he walked off the green with a 5 (soon to be a 7), a PGA official grabbed him and gave him the news that there might be a problem -- understatement.
So here's my advice/comments in no particular order.
1) PGA, what were you thinking having the bunkers outside the ropes played as hazards? While I believe they were in good faith trying to preserve the integrity of Pete Dye's design, as they stated, I believe that decision was misguided and naive.
That would never, ever be done on any other course. You would either keep people out of the bunkers (impractical at WS) or play them as waste areas (better option -- no offense Pete).
When I say naive, I think that rule would have been fine for a practice round, but clearly the PGA had not thought through the circumstances of having so many people around (as you might, say, on the 18th hole of a major) that the bunker itself was not readily identifiable.
To its defense the PGA warned the players this would be the rule with its daily briefing sheets and this is where Dustin lost some sympathy points by confessing he never reads those. Hey, I don't read half my emails. Maybe they should text these alerts to the younger players.
Food for thought on the 2015 PGA and 2020 Ryder Cup, both scheduled to be held at WS: get rid of some of those bunkers and keep people out of them, or play them as waste areas.
2) Thanks Rules Official -- Not. Yes, Dustin had a rules official walking with his group, who I didn't realize until tonight actually had gone up to the spot in the "bunker".
The official said in an interview on golf channel he was focused on getting the crowd under control so Dustin could play his shot, but boy it would have been nice if he'd said before doing crowd control duty, "By the way, per the local rules sheet, you know you’re in a bunker, right?" He seems like a sincere guy and I kind of feel for him, though he stretched credulity with me when he said it never occurred to him that Dustin wouldn't realize he was in a bunker. I bet the cheeseheads who had been standing there for two hours didn't realize they were in a bunker as some thought they were at a Packers game.
I think in the unique situation of a major those rules officials need to be more proactive and even responsible. Yes, golf is great because players themselves enforce the rules, etc. etc. But, the PGA goes to the trouble of having a rules official with every group and roving uberofficials can be summoned as well, so it's not like they've completely handed the reins to the players.
Golf will never move to an officiating model like football -- where if the ref doesn't throw the flag, there's no penalty -- nor should it. But let's put some of the responsibility on them to monitor and control these situations to make the call before there are problems.
Oh, and when that rules official meets you at the green and tells says you "may be" be penalized (or DQ'd, or whatever the case may be) there's no "maybe" about it -- your (Retief) Goosen is cooked. Sometimes you catch the officials on the mikes, and they're empathetic and folksy, almost reassuring: "Let's just go in to the trailer and take a look at the TV replay." Bull -- the jury is in (or out?), and the verdict is signed, sealed, and delivered. They've made up they're mind and you're not leaving that trailer until you change your score to what they say it is.
3) The TV replay is not your friend. This is really a corollary to number 2 and while the TV replay was not instrumental in the Johnson situation, TV will always be used against you and not for you. Players have been penalized when TV viewers spotted something and called in, but it's never going to be used to bail you out.
A case in point is Dustin Johnson -- at Pebble Beach. As Dustin Johnson was melting down in the final round of the US Open, playing the 3rd hole, he hit his drive way left near the 16th green and went into a lateral hazard. There was nowhere else his ball could have been, but because no one saw the ball enter, it couldn't be assumed to be in the hazard. Thus instead of being able to take a drop at that spot, he had to declare a lost ball and go back to the tee.
Now, in this instance, the spot near the 16th hitting two would probably have not been much better than hitting three from the tee, and in the end of the day mattered little. But while I'm sure a TV replay could have been used to see if he'd grounded his club in the bunker or some such, they're not going to use a blimp shot to locate where the ball landed.
Going back to the situation at the PGA, it's interesting that when CBS used its golf trax gizmo to show where the ball landed, it actually indicated (correctly, it turns out) it was in a bunker, and I heard (but don't remember) Jim Nantz said the same thing. It's ironic because as soon as they showed the ball in the crowd, it looked like it was on a bare patch of dirt, and neither Nantz, Nick Faldo, or David Feherty suggested it was in the bunker.
So the lesson is while TV doesn't lie, it's not going to used to back your side of the story.
Conclusion:
It's too bad this PGA will be remembered for the Dustin Johnson saga, because it was a thrilling afternoon, with the likes of Steve Elkington, Rory McIlroy, and Zach Johnson all in the hunt, not to mention the great play of Martin Kaymer, the eventual champion who battled Bubba Watson in the playoff. And Dustin Johnson's own solid play may be forgotten too, as he exorcized the demons of his final round struggles at Pebble Beach.
Once the incident happened, the PGA got it right. Given the rules they'd set out, there was no choice but to penalize Johnson, but it seems like the PGA could have avoided the situation with a common sense course set up and more proactive officiating.
I'm not a proselytizing golfer -- other than the fact I don't want to see courses struggle financially, I'd rather see them less crowded than more. But it is too bad that on what could have been a day to showcase some of the best young players and the excitement of golf, the PGA had to defend its conduct of the championship. Upon review PGA of America, I'm afraid there may be a problem. "Let's just go in to the trailer and take a look . . . ."
On the 18th hole of the final round, with a one stroke lead, Dustin Johnson appeared to have just missed a putt for a scrambling par that would have secured him the title. Settling for bogey, he would still have a chance for victory in a 3-man, 3-hole playoff, or so he thought. Instead he was assessed a two stroke penalty for grounding his club in a bunker on his second shot, leaving him two strokes back and out of the playoff.
It was one of those instances where I'm sure casual fans said, "huh?" (or stronger) as the situation seemed unfair. It made a bit more sense to seasoned golf fans like me, but I think the situation could have been avoided. If you're still confused, I'll break it down for you and provide three keys to remember for both the PGA and players alike.
The PGA Championship is sponsored by the Professional Golfers Association of America, the club professionals who teach golf and run golf courses. The PGA's stated purpose is to grow the game of golf, which is ironic, since I can't imagine the conclusion Sunday made many new golf fans.
The rule that Dustin Johnson violated is pretty straightforward. All but the most hackneyed hackers know you can't ground a club (as in set on the ground) in a bunker or other hazard. The problem is that Whistling Straits where the event was held is not your average venue and the final hole of the final round of a major championship is a unique setting and situation.
Whistling Straits is a spectacular course set on the edge of Lake Michigan sculpted in the style of the great links courses of the British Isles. A shout out to my buddy Howie who played it recently and sent me the yardage book (best yardage book ever, seriously), which I referred to frequently as I watched the coverage over the weekend. While it's a dazzling layout, to me it loses points because it's not authentic, as that landscape was created by bulldozers and earth movers, not mother nature, a fact you could see whenever the camera shots from the Met Life blimp pulled back to reveal farmland on the neighboring property. My buddy CJ, aka Kid Philly, said it reminded him of a great course we used to play in Denver called Murphy Creek -- I agree.
One unique attribute of Whistling Straits is that it has, literally, countless bunkers. Some are huge and some are tiny, but they're everywhere, with an estimate of 1,200 across the property. Given that there were also 50,000 people attending the event, it's inevitable that fans ended up standing in or walking through many of the bunkers that were far removed from the fairways.
The PGA of America made the curious decision that the bunkers where fans walked through (outside the ropes, as it were) would still be played as hazards (meaning you can't ground the club), and not simply as waste areas, where players play the ball as it lies as they would in any other spot on the fairway or rough.
So when Dustin flared his drive on the 18th, he didn't realize that he was in a bunker. He was surrounded by thousands of fans, and while the ball was lying on sand, it was hard-packed, with footprints, wrappers and people all over it.
It never occurred to him that he was in a bunker so he followed his usual routine (usual for the last hole leading a major with 5,000 people surrounding him forming a tunnel the size of a bowling alley to hit through on his approach to the green) and grounded his club (though Dustin must have admitted to this, because I never saw that definitively on the replay).
As he walked off the green with a 5 (soon to be a 7), a PGA official grabbed him and gave him the news that there might be a problem -- understatement.
So here's my advice/comments in no particular order.
1) PGA, what were you thinking having the bunkers outside the ropes played as hazards? While I believe they were in good faith trying to preserve the integrity of Pete Dye's design, as they stated, I believe that decision was misguided and naive.
That would never, ever be done on any other course. You would either keep people out of the bunkers (impractical at WS) or play them as waste areas (better option -- no offense Pete).
When I say naive, I think that rule would have been fine for a practice round, but clearly the PGA had not thought through the circumstances of having so many people around (as you might, say, on the 18th hole of a major) that the bunker itself was not readily identifiable.
To its defense the PGA warned the players this would be the rule with its daily briefing sheets and this is where Dustin lost some sympathy points by confessing he never reads those. Hey, I don't read half my emails. Maybe they should text these alerts to the younger players.
Food for thought on the 2015 PGA and 2020 Ryder Cup, both scheduled to be held at WS: get rid of some of those bunkers and keep people out of them, or play them as waste areas.
2) Thanks Rules Official -- Not. Yes, Dustin had a rules official walking with his group, who I didn't realize until tonight actually had gone up to the spot in the "bunker".
The official said in an interview on golf channel he was focused on getting the crowd under control so Dustin could play his shot, but boy it would have been nice if he'd said before doing crowd control duty, "By the way, per the local rules sheet, you know you’re in a bunker, right?" He seems like a sincere guy and I kind of feel for him, though he stretched credulity with me when he said it never occurred to him that Dustin wouldn't realize he was in a bunker. I bet the cheeseheads who had been standing there for two hours didn't realize they were in a bunker as some thought they were at a Packers game.
I think in the unique situation of a major those rules officials need to be more proactive and even responsible. Yes, golf is great because players themselves enforce the rules, etc. etc. But, the PGA goes to the trouble of having a rules official with every group and roving uberofficials can be summoned as well, so it's not like they've completely handed the reins to the players.
Golf will never move to an officiating model like football -- where if the ref doesn't throw the flag, there's no penalty -- nor should it. But let's put some of the responsibility on them to monitor and control these situations to make the call before there are problems.
Oh, and when that rules official meets you at the green and tells says you "may be" be penalized (or DQ'd, or whatever the case may be) there's no "maybe" about it -- your (Retief) Goosen is cooked. Sometimes you catch the officials on the mikes, and they're empathetic and folksy, almost reassuring: "Let's just go in to the trailer and take a look at the TV replay." Bull -- the jury is in (or out?), and the verdict is signed, sealed, and delivered. They've made up they're mind and you're not leaving that trailer until you change your score to what they say it is.
3) The TV replay is not your friend. This is really a corollary to number 2 and while the TV replay was not instrumental in the Johnson situation, TV will always be used against you and not for you. Players have been penalized when TV viewers spotted something and called in, but it's never going to be used to bail you out.
A case in point is Dustin Johnson -- at Pebble Beach. As Dustin Johnson was melting down in the final round of the US Open, playing the 3rd hole, he hit his drive way left near the 16th green and went into a lateral hazard. There was nowhere else his ball could have been, but because no one saw the ball enter, it couldn't be assumed to be in the hazard. Thus instead of being able to take a drop at that spot, he had to declare a lost ball and go back to the tee.
Now, in this instance, the spot near the 16th hitting two would probably have not been much better than hitting three from the tee, and in the end of the day mattered little. But while I'm sure a TV replay could have been used to see if he'd grounded his club in the bunker or some such, they're not going to use a blimp shot to locate where the ball landed.
Going back to the situation at the PGA, it's interesting that when CBS used its golf trax gizmo to show where the ball landed, it actually indicated (correctly, it turns out) it was in a bunker, and I heard (but don't remember) Jim Nantz said the same thing. It's ironic because as soon as they showed the ball in the crowd, it looked like it was on a bare patch of dirt, and neither Nantz, Nick Faldo, or David Feherty suggested it was in the bunker.
So the lesson is while TV doesn't lie, it's not going to used to back your side of the story.
Conclusion:
It's too bad this PGA will be remembered for the Dustin Johnson saga, because it was a thrilling afternoon, with the likes of Steve Elkington, Rory McIlroy, and Zach Johnson all in the hunt, not to mention the great play of Martin Kaymer, the eventual champion who battled Bubba Watson in the playoff. And Dustin Johnson's own solid play may be forgotten too, as he exorcized the demons of his final round struggles at Pebble Beach.
Once the incident happened, the PGA got it right. Given the rules they'd set out, there was no choice but to penalize Johnson, but it seems like the PGA could have avoided the situation with a common sense course set up and more proactive officiating.
I'm not a proselytizing golfer -- other than the fact I don't want to see courses struggle financially, I'd rather see them less crowded than more. But it is too bad that on what could have been a day to showcase some of the best young players and the excitement of golf, the PGA had to defend its conduct of the championship. Upon review PGA of America, I'm afraid there may be a problem. "Let's just go in to the trailer and take a look . . . ."
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
A Good Walk (Un)Spoiled
"Golf is a good walk spoiled," is a famous quote attributed to Mark Twain, which is why it's ironic that last week I enjoyed a magnificant 9-hole walk at Soaring Eagles, a course located at Mark Twain State Park.
I was finishing up a long day of driving (about 400 miles) and meetings (three) all across New York having left the house before 6 am. It was about 12 hours later and I was a little more than an hour from Ithaca, my overnight destination. I figured I still had almost an hour and a half of daylight, plenty of time for a quick nine if I could find a course and the energy. So I pulled over in Corning, NY and googled my way to Soaring Eagles which is near Horseheads (not made up), NY, with the help of a very helpful pro shop attendant.
Though the signs directing to me to the course all said Mark Twain State Park, I didn't see much evidence of the park itself, but that was OK, I was there for the golf. It was a perfect set up as the course looked great, and was beginning to clear out on what was turning into a beautiful evening.
I couldn't see anyone on the first two holes so I teed off with two balls, and though a threesome in carts (I walked for both the exercise and the irony) started following me on the second hole, I was able keep ahead of them playing two balls all the way around.
It's not a flashy course, but I loved the layout. There are no major elevation changes but it is very rolling terrain with several holes on the front nine cut through the trees. And though a couple of them are tight, the accuracy required is balanced by the fact they're short.
The first two holes are fairly open with the main feature on the par-4 first being a green carved into a hill that slopes left to right, almost foreshadowing the rest of the nine. The second is par 4(tips)/5(members) that is open on the tee shot but where the terrain starts to roll as the landing area of the tee shot is a steep upslope. I was pleased to make four 5's with my two balls on the first two holes.
The third hole features a fairway that traverses two cross hatched hillsides, the first coming in from the left and followed by another cutting in from the right. By pushing my tee shot(s) right I had a blind shot to the green, but from the center or left side of the fairway it provides an unobstructed look into the green.
The fourth is an uninspired uphill par 3, but is a nice pallate cleanser for the next three holes, one of the nicest stretches of tree-lined holes I've played.
Five is a short par 4, not super tight with a very rolling fairway to a shallow elevated green. While rolling fairways are interesting visually, I'm not normally a fan, as they're tough to play, but they fit perfectly on this course. Five is a good example of where the rolling fairways work nicely, because assuming you can find the fairway on this 350 yard hole (which I didn't), you'll have a short approach to a green. Though the green is raised on a shelf and shallow in depth, it has no bunkers, so it's an important part of the hole's defense to have a downhill lie on the second shot.
The par 3 sixth is a postcard hole over an inlet of water from the left guarded by a huge tree (an oak, I think) on the right. The helpful woman in the pro shop referred to it as being down by the canal. I didn't see a canal, but to the left of the sixth beyond the trees marking the boundaries of the course was an open expanse of marsh and water with a highway (I assume I-86/Rt. 17 which I'd come in on) in the distance. A beautiful spot and in an evening of golf zen, it was a shakura (pretend zen word) moment.
Seven is another great short par-4 (328) that twists right to left through the trees with a pond guarding the far right side of the fairway. Even with two decent tee shots, I still don't know the right play, as my 4 hybrid tee shot which looked good off the face drifted too far right and my second shot was blocked from the right. I took driver on my second tee shot and cut as close as I could to the trees on the left guarding the corner of the dog leg. Without any draw to it, that shot went through the fairway on the right, though it was far enough to have an open look at the green.
I butchered the rest of seven and on the seventh green I had another tinge of disappointment as it provided a view of the back nine, which looked wide open, less mature and not nearly as interesting as the front. I'd like to go back sometime with the hope of proving myself wrong.
The eighth is the mirror image to seven playing as a dogleg right through a deep valley guarded by some tall trees at the dogleg and a pond (same one as on seven) on the right. I didn't hit enough club and had blind second shot(s) from down in the hollow. It's a short hole where you really need to hit driver and probably need to move it left to right. Almost as good as the previous three holes, the tee shot was partially blind which I didn't like.
At nine the course emerges from the trees as it's a sharp dogleg right giving the players options to play to the fairway to the left which is fairly open or try to carry the trees on the right for a shorter approach. Playing two balls, I played it both ways, and my first drive was a low bullet to the left, which actually went through the fairway and found a downhill sloping lie in the rough. My second shot was a big cut which cleared the trees not quite reaching the fairway, but provided a nice angle and a short shot into the green.
I muscled the first ball on the green and two-putted and with the bolder second ball I hit a wedge to four feet and made birdie. Not making worse than double (and I had a few) I had a 42 and 45 on the par 35, not bad given my recent form.
Once I made it to Ithaca, I topped off the evening at one of my favorite college haunts, the Nines for some deep dish pizza with my nephew Patrick, who's going to be a junior at Cornell.
But on the ride to Ithaca as I replayed my one hour twenty minute nine (actually 18) in my head I thought how my nine hole walk sure beat hitting the gerbil wheel at the hotel. Unexpectedly discovering a great new course like Soaring Eagles, and finishing with a birdie, made a for a good walk indeed.
I was finishing up a long day of driving (about 400 miles) and meetings (three) all across New York having left the house before 6 am. It was about 12 hours later and I was a little more than an hour from Ithaca, my overnight destination. I figured I still had almost an hour and a half of daylight, plenty of time for a quick nine if I could find a course and the energy. So I pulled over in Corning, NY and googled my way to Soaring Eagles which is near Horseheads (not made up), NY, with the help of a very helpful pro shop attendant.
Though the signs directing to me to the course all said Mark Twain State Park, I didn't see much evidence of the park itself, but that was OK, I was there for the golf. It was a perfect set up as the course looked great, and was beginning to clear out on what was turning into a beautiful evening.
I couldn't see anyone on the first two holes so I teed off with two balls, and though a threesome in carts (I walked for both the exercise and the irony) started following me on the second hole, I was able keep ahead of them playing two balls all the way around.
It's not a flashy course, but I loved the layout. There are no major elevation changes but it is very rolling terrain with several holes on the front nine cut through the trees. And though a couple of them are tight, the accuracy required is balanced by the fact they're short.
The first two holes are fairly open with the main feature on the par-4 first being a green carved into a hill that slopes left to right, almost foreshadowing the rest of the nine. The second is par 4(tips)/5(members) that is open on the tee shot but where the terrain starts to roll as the landing area of the tee shot is a steep upslope. I was pleased to make four 5's with my two balls on the first two holes.
The third hole features a fairway that traverses two cross hatched hillsides, the first coming in from the left and followed by another cutting in from the right. By pushing my tee shot(s) right I had a blind shot to the green, but from the center or left side of the fairway it provides an unobstructed look into the green.
The fourth is an uninspired uphill par 3, but is a nice pallate cleanser for the next three holes, one of the nicest stretches of tree-lined holes I've played.
Five is a short par 4, not super tight with a very rolling fairway to a shallow elevated green. While rolling fairways are interesting visually, I'm not normally a fan, as they're tough to play, but they fit perfectly on this course. Five is a good example of where the rolling fairways work nicely, because assuming you can find the fairway on this 350 yard hole (which I didn't), you'll have a short approach to a green. Though the green is raised on a shelf and shallow in depth, it has no bunkers, so it's an important part of the hole's defense to have a downhill lie on the second shot.
The par 3 sixth is a postcard hole over an inlet of water from the left guarded by a huge tree (an oak, I think) on the right. The helpful woman in the pro shop referred to it as being down by the canal. I didn't see a canal, but to the left of the sixth beyond the trees marking the boundaries of the course was an open expanse of marsh and water with a highway (I assume I-86/Rt. 17 which I'd come in on) in the distance. A beautiful spot and in an evening of golf zen, it was a shakura (pretend zen word) moment.
Seven is another great short par-4 (328) that twists right to left through the trees with a pond guarding the far right side of the fairway. Even with two decent tee shots, I still don't know the right play, as my 4 hybrid tee shot which looked good off the face drifted too far right and my second shot was blocked from the right. I took driver on my second tee shot and cut as close as I could to the trees on the left guarding the corner of the dog leg. Without any draw to it, that shot went through the fairway on the right, though it was far enough to have an open look at the green.
I butchered the rest of seven and on the seventh green I had another tinge of disappointment as it provided a view of the back nine, which looked wide open, less mature and not nearly as interesting as the front. I'd like to go back sometime with the hope of proving myself wrong.
The eighth is the mirror image to seven playing as a dogleg right through a deep valley guarded by some tall trees at the dogleg and a pond (same one as on seven) on the right. I didn't hit enough club and had blind second shot(s) from down in the hollow. It's a short hole where you really need to hit driver and probably need to move it left to right. Almost as good as the previous three holes, the tee shot was partially blind which I didn't like.
At nine the course emerges from the trees as it's a sharp dogleg right giving the players options to play to the fairway to the left which is fairly open or try to carry the trees on the right for a shorter approach. Playing two balls, I played it both ways, and my first drive was a low bullet to the left, which actually went through the fairway and found a downhill sloping lie in the rough. My second shot was a big cut which cleared the trees not quite reaching the fairway, but provided a nice angle and a short shot into the green.
I muscled the first ball on the green and two-putted and with the bolder second ball I hit a wedge to four feet and made birdie. Not making worse than double (and I had a few) I had a 42 and 45 on the par 35, not bad given my recent form.
Once I made it to Ithaca, I topped off the evening at one of my favorite college haunts, the Nines for some deep dish pizza with my nephew Patrick, who's going to be a junior at Cornell.
But on the ride to Ithaca as I replayed my one hour twenty minute nine (actually 18) in my head I thought how my nine hole walk sure beat hitting the gerbil wheel at the hotel. Unexpectedly discovering a great new course like Soaring Eagles, and finishing with a birdie, made a for a good walk indeed.
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