10 under and closest to the pin

That was our team's score at the end of the day. The best news is, I didn't suck. Well, I didn't really, really suck. Let me tell you about the day.

After spending far too long frantically arranging the pick-up of my youngest son's new Alienware computer (the one he's taking to college) from FedEx Ground, I found myself running late. An hour behind schedule, I picked up my daughter-in-law and sped off toward The Highlands Golf & Country Club in Post Falls, ID. We arrived about 15 minutes before check-in. Plenty of time! I went in and got my rental clubs (remind me not to do that again - they weren't even a matched set!) and paid for some range balls. Shannon (my daughter-in-law) and I went to the range in search of my oldest son and the rest of our team. We didn't see them so we just set about hitting balls. I pulled out a 7-iron and started banging balls. As expected, my first few attempts were pathetic. I couldn't get the ball in the air to save my life. But a few more whacks and suddenly the shots were flying high and straight. I was amazed. I still had it! Over ten years since I'd played and my swing was still there - for the most part. It kept going back into retirement every few shots, and required a lot of concentration to coax it back into action, but it was still there. I had hope. I kept banging the 7-iron until I felt fairly confident with it; then I pulled out the driver. The last time I attempted to play golf, I couldn't hit the driver to save my life. I expected nothing better this time. Was I in for a surprise! I actually hit it decently! Oh, I had my share of pulls to the left, shots that didn't get very far off the ground, and some slices, but at least half the shots were acceptable. They'd play. I was ecstatic. This was better than I had hoped for. I had even gotten some compliments from some of the guys on the practice tee (Shannon and I were the only females) about what a nice swing I had and how far I hit the ball. Just like the good old days! Suddenly, time was up. It was time to get into our carts and head to our tee-off hole. D-Day.

The tournament was a scramble. All four team members hit their tee shot and the best one is selected. Then all four team members drop their ball where the best shot landed and hit from there. Again, the best shot is selected. This pattern is followed for each shot until you put the ball in the cup. To prevent the team from being carried solely by the great player(s), you have to use at least two tee shots from every person on the team. That meant that at least two of my tee shots had to be playable. Given my performance on the practice tee, I wasn't worried about being able to contribute.

My team consisted of 3 guys (my oldest son and two of his friends) and me. Our "ringer" was Stu. Stu is an amazing golfer. He plays scratch golf. For the uninitiated, that means he plays at or below par. Apparently, just last week, he played The Highlands and shot 6 under. I was sufficiently impressed. On the same tee with us, but playing first, was my daughter-in-law's team, consisting of her, her office partner, and two friends of his. Here's a shot of the gang (sans me).
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Shannon's team teed off first. They had at least two decent shots from which to choose. Then it was our turn. Tommy went first. His drive went to the right, into the trees. Then Dana. He hit it pretty well, right of middle. Then Stu. Stu knocked the ball dead down the middle in perfect position. Then it was my turn. What a joke. That swing I had on the practice tee had fled in fear. It was nowhere to be found. My shot went left and low. This was not a good sign. Okay, "first tee jitters" I told myself. I could only hope that was the case. My second shot was not horrible, but it didn't help. I was beginning to believe that the practice tee and the course were actually in two different dimensions. Again, Stu carried us. I think we all putted and came close, but I think Stu put it in the hole. This was pretty much the way every hole went. We all hit our tee shots; Stu's was the best. We all hit our fairway shots; Stu's was the best. At least when it came to putting we all contributed pretty evenly. I made some great long putts and blew some short ones. Tommy and Dana made their share, and Stu made more than his share. I did finally have some pretty respectable tee shots, and easily found two of mine to use. At the end of the day, without mulligans, we were 10 under. We blew a par 5 that we should have eagled, and a par 4 we should have birdied, but we had a blast.

The teams that won were over 20 under. They had bought mulligans and "string", which we did not. Mulligans meant they could have a "do over" on as many shots as they had bought mulligans. The string thing was new to me. If you had a putt, for example, that missed the cup by the length of the string or less (about 18") you could count it as good if you had bought string. Geez, we had several of those! But we played without gimmicks and finished just 3 back of Shannon's team, that had bought 6 mulligans. I didn't feel too bad about our performance. I hope Stu didn't mind playing with such a hacker. He didn't seem to. He was very congenial, and I enjoyed talking with him about his business (roofing contractor), his education, golf background, etc.

Oh, one more thing: on an 86-yard (for women) par 3, I hit a sand wedge to the very front edge of the green. I didn't know, until we got to the green, that this was the "closest to the pin" contest hole for women. Well, there were no names on the card yet. I put mine on it since, though I was 15 feet from the cup, I was obviously the closest so far. It was a hole where you had to fly over a big gully that may have intimidated some people. Miss it short and you're in the gully; miss it long and you're OB. Well, apparently, no other women hit the green, because I won "closest to the pin"! I'd never have expected that! I got some nice prizes, including a $20 Starbucks card. At the dinner they had drawings - and I won again! So, I made out. It was a really fun day. Thanks Belfor for a great tournament, and thanks Stu for carrying my sorry butt for 18 holes.

There is only one downside to my playing in this tournament. I have the golf bug again. I don't know how I'm going to do it, or afford it, but I have to find a way to start playing regularly again. I still really love this sport, and I want my swing to come back permanently.