An Amazing Shot
Summer 2022
Andy

How bad a golfer am I

Yes, most of you will realize this is a rhetorical question as you have witnessed my prowess on the links for many years.

Some of you may remember that day in Manhasset at North Hills CC, when I decided to pick up for a max 8 after I would have been dropping 7 to hit 8 from behind the tee box where I had started that difficult par 4. But that accomplishment may have just been eclipsed by an even greater feat just a few weeks ago.

Playing the beautiful Country Club of Rochester on a bright, sunny, Friday afternoon, I came to the short, up-hill par 4 #3 hole, only 5 strokes over par for the start of the round after my usual double, triple bogey start.

There is a small creek about 100 yards in front of the tee box. A creek that contains more than a few very large rocks (metamorphic, I believe).Two large bunkers frame the fairway on each side before the hole climbs steeply to a well-protected blind green. But I digress ...

I selected a 3-wood for my tee shot, planning to stay short of those bunkers. It was a solid hit (or so I thought) but as it approached the area of that creek, it disappeared from sight. Perhaps, I hoped, it was just beyond the creek.

As my cart driver host and I approached the tee box side of the creek to search out the missing shot, our forecaddy, a young lad, came running back to assist us.

"No". he said. "Your ball hit a rock and bounced back there", as he pointed to a whispy heather area just 30 yards in front and to the left of the tee box. With his help, we found the unfortunate ball quickly, and it seemed very playable to me. Certainly a shot with which I have familiarity.

Perhaps (no doubt) it was a bit of laziness that led me to believe the 3-wood still in my hand was still the proper club selection for this shot. Unfortunately, I no longer have the strength required to blast through that tall grass stuff and the clubhead turned significantly in my hands as the ball came out EXTREMELY right of my target line. I did strike it solidly. Unfortunately, my cart driving host was parked in that area of ball flight and a resounding crack confirmed that I had either killed him, or worse, spilled my drink by hitting the cart. Fortunately neither happened.

With the help of that young lad we searched in vain for the errant ball in and around the cart but it had vanished completely.

Realizing that this hole was not going to be a positive impact on my score, I told the host to just move ahead to his ball, safely alongside the right side bunker, and I would drop from there. No one can disparage me as not knowing proper etiquette at fine golf courses.

As my caddy was suggesting distance to our next target, he stopped suddenly and exclaimed with great excitement, "OH MY GOD! LOOK WHERE YOUR BALL WENT!" Very briefly I maintained hope that somehow my ball had ricocheted over 180 yards forward to the fairway, but that was not the area of his great discovery.

You know those sand jugs they attach to the side of the golf cart so that you can fill in divots? Yes, the ones with small cylindrical openings from which the dirt/sand mixture is poured. My ball had entered into that opening and was firmly inside that opening before the neck of the jug. Much laughter and amazement ensued from our foursome.

My now favorite caddy suggested that I drive the cart greenside and dump the contents there, a suggestion I welcomed as sound advice. Unfortunately, the ball was not lodged as solidly as I thought and didn't last the uphill drive in the neck, but rather slipped into the base of the bottle where I believe it remains to this very day.

I took a quadruple bogey on that hole but parred the very next downhill par 3, showing the great depth of my game.

 
I've never had a hole in one, but I think that shot may have been more impressive.

A