I was told that this game is a simple game!

The Mental Side of Things
#21

Nice Marshal! I still suspect my Uncle foot wedged my blind uphill approach in the hole on a par 4 in a similar situation. No helpful Marshal here though. For my sliced approach to have gone in, it would’ve needed a carom off a house near the green. Which i guess could’ve theoretically happened, but seems really unlikely.

I was totally disoriented on that hole, and I’m not a fan of blind shots anyway. Especially as bad as i played then. Got to the green, tromping through the uphill rough/weeds the whole way, can’t find my ball, and my cart-riding Uncle pulls the, “Is this yours? I found it in the cup.” Uh-huh, sure thing Santa… He meant well…

(Of course, I stuck the 7 wood approach on the next hole, a 185 par-3 to within 5 feet. Such is golf.)

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#22

I remembered that course Marshall was sitting in his cart behind the green. No funny business there.
I believe you really go the H-I-O, and your uncle was not trying to swindle you for a drink.
I played with a guy who duffed his tee shot on a par 4, then he topped his long approach shot and somehow rolled up on an elevated green and disappeared out of sight from us. We looked on the green and especially behind the green and found nothing, then, someone peaked into the cup and there it was. He won 4 skins on that shot.
My father’s golf buddy was not a good golfer. One time he hit a slice on a par three and bounced of the root of a tree and went on the green , rolled into the cup. In Asia, that cost him about 2 grand to buy drinks for everyone on the ground and a fat bonus for the caddies. He was not very happy that day.

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#23

It wasn’t a hole in one opportunity. I’d gotten him onto Pebble, and it was the 11th there. Uphill drive, sliced, of course, into the cabbage, and I’d been alternately topping and slicing everything since a monster drive to the immediate base of the hill on 6. (Which placed me so close to the slope, all i could do was mid iron it somewhere to the runup before the green. Maybe. Because it was yet another blind shot.)

So, i was pissed, frustrated, and resigned by that point, and i think he was trying to cheer up his nephew. I appreciate it.

Weird round. Besides that stuck approach to 12, which was a total sucker pin, on the front right lobe, closest to the tee, and narrow. Not that i cared. [Digs out yardage book] “That pin is 185. This is my 185 club. Hit it.” Something to that complete faith in what you’re doing… But besides that, i chipped in from the Tom Watson location on 17. That one, we all saw. Didn’t have his rough though. And those greens are tiny! It’s only a couple steps from that little mound to the hole. Still though…

Neat course; I’m going back. I just want to be good enough to enjoy Spyglass this time. And try Bayonet, of course.

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#24

They do not screw around when it comes to drinking traditions over there. I’ve read stories about guys taking out hole-in-one insurance to cover the gifts and tabs.

Me, I’m like, it’s only money. I’ll make more. But if I’m buying Macallan 25 for everyone, I’m getting a glass too. (Even if I’d rather have Glenfarclas 21. Or get to try Port Ellen 30)

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#25

3 decades+ ago, it costs about 2 thousands U.S. to cover the drinks, I heard it’s a lot more than that in Japan. Typical insurance ( some golf course including the insurance in the green fee, $2 ?) the H-I-O insurance was also popular in the Europe back then.

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#26

I remember those tiny greens; was a shock actually seeing them in person. They looked much larger in the Tournaments on television. Most of them sloped, precision approach shot will be crucial to score low over there.
I still think your H-I-O was well deserved, That will be a good conversation topic to ask your uncle one of these days.

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#27

I’ve had 3 aces, I never bought drinks, but I did my my playing partners a box of balls of their choice. I think the balls are a much better thought to have them sign the witness papers in the clubhouse

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#28

You’re a good golf buddy, the box of golf balls cost a lot more than a few drinks and your friends must appreciate your gesture.
I had discovered that, this game indeed is not a difficult game only after I had lost my youth and the potential to be better than good (regionally speaking).
I enjoy being on the golf course whether my score is close to my supposed index or much higher. I’m milking the time I have left to walk the golf courses; and soon I would probably prefer to ride a golf cart.
Like some of the guys in my group expressed, we don’t know how many years we have to golf, so enjoy every minute on the golf course. One of the younger members passed away last year (he was younger than half the guys in our group) a practicing neurologist soon to be retired. I had no idea since we have a big group, and we don’t see everyone each time we’re out. It was a total shock to have learned his passing.
We’re a bunch of guys from 50-90 years of age who love to golf so the only common theme is golf, not many of us will go to everyone’s birthday party or summer evening BBQ (80+ members).
It is an easy game, with the endless chase for perfection, which might have a moment of glory but won’t stay long.

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