It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.  Late Wednesday afternoon found our now infamous boys teeing off the back nine at St Andy’s with MulliganPatty and Stick187 aka Mike, starting yet another wild Misadventures of John and Sean.  The wind was howling from atop the 10^th tee blowing from east to west out of the cold Atlantic. Recently crowned Master Patty was the first to throw down the gauntlet, driving the 10^th green with her tee shot, her WGT baseball golf ball coming to rest a mere 5 feet from the hole. I couldn’t help but notice the look Patty tossed the group…She had turned back the clock and in an instant she became Helen Reddy and we heard her Roar, she had been posting score’s too low to ignore recently. Patty nailed her putt for Eagle, Mike for his birdy and John and Sean were left struggling for their pars. As we headed off to the short but undulating 11^th hole you could see Patty strutting off the green with her minions in tow.

 

   Patty had the honors, courtesy of her near albatross and promptly launched a lackluster shot some 23 feet from the cup on this par 3 green.  The three other members of the foursome followed suit and all settled for pars. The group then headed to the short 12^th hole buoyed with hopes of a tailwind.

 

   Patty led the way with a confident stride as she was feeling quite like that Famous British golfer Laura Davies. She steeled herself over her tee shot, determined to negotiate the hurricane force tailwind. Settling for a lesser club and opting for her 3 wood, her shot came to rest in some fescue 48 yards to the right of the pin. Mike was next and misjudged the tailwind, his ball stopping just short of the green. Sean had the best drive, catching the lip of the pot bunker which fronts the green and watching it bounce away and coming to rest with a perfect look at the pin. Prindeville, clearly a sand lover from Arizona, found a bunker and was buried fried egg style. Patty then landed a beautiful approach shot out of some deep fescue and found the green, stopping some 10 yards away. Mike’s second shot after his Herculean drive traversed the length of the green and stopped four feet in front of the pin which he later dropped for a birdy. Prindeville’s bunker shot from the fried egg lie came to rest miraculously atop the “wall” behind the pin seemingly defying gravity by not rolling back. John’s putt jerked wildly off the putter as if falling off a table, leaving him with a sizable putt which he made for par. Patty, still brimming with confidence rolled in her birdie to go -3 and the expat from Ecuador rolled in his 4 footer to go -2.

 

   It occurred to the Arizonan that something was amiss. Thinking hard, he realized that in fact, Master Patty hadn’t suddenly become Laura Davies but that Sean had slyly set up this round from the forward tees! The 13^th hole, one of the more difficult holes on WGT, greeted us with a 10 mph tailwind. Mike stepped up with a drive that found the small area in front of the bottleneck there. Sean, opting to take a safer route, pulled out his 3 wood and landed in the oval area just in front of the fescue. “That’s the Legend area” he declared, smiling. John’s drive got caught in what could only be described as a strong gust and sailed left into the rough. When Patty stepped up, you could see the wheels grinding away as she mentally calculated the wind and presented the longest drive of the foursome, landing safely within the bottleneck. Routine approach shots and missed birdy putts resulted in Pars for the group.

 

   As we headed to the 14^th tee, talk was lively about the standings. Patty still sitting on her Eagle at -3, Mike had worked for two birdies for -2, John had been see-sawing and remained at Even and Sean had settled for two birds up to this point for -2. Hopes were high for a tailwind on this Par 5 and they were not disappointed.

 

   Looking from the short tees, with a 11 mph wind blowing from their backs, John and Sean looked at each other with a gleam in their eyes, both salivating for their chance to “go long”. Mike was first up, driving safely into the center of the fairway. Sean stepped up with his G20, savoring the moment…here was his chance to go for the long edge of this par 5 beast…but it was not to be this time…pulling his tee shot, he watched his Nike ball sail to the left edge and plant itself into the rough. Nutz! Patty then teed off with a beauty, landing snuggly up tight with Mike’s ball. John couldn’t stand it any longer. He sprinted to the tee, pointed to the back of the fairway and announced “I’m going for it”. As we watched his ball arc up…up…and left…Sean put his arm on John’s shoulder and said, “Looks like you’re over there with me, Buddy” and John’s ball landed with a thud in the rough close to Sean’s.

 

   Sean was first to attempt redemption out of the rough and taking dead aim…landed his second shot 4 yards from the pin! John tried to duplicate the shot but his ball couldn’t quite hold the green, rolling off the back for a 14 yd flop. Mike then fired his second shot from the fairway, only to go long, winding up with John and then, Patty…sigh…Patty did her best and everything was looking great, until the great wall rose up and said…YOU SHALL NOT PASS! Her ball slammed into that wall in front of the green and literally stopped dead, 24 yds from the hole.

 

   As Sean was waiting for the rest of his party to join him on the green, he had plenty of time to fuss and fidget over his 12’ putt for Eagle. Which way was it breaking, how had should he hit it, was there any ground wind to deal with? His brain was working overtime, grinding out the calculations, all the while watching his group and their shots. There was Mike from the back fringe landing to 7 feet, Patty who flopped up and coming to rest 5 feet from the pin, John with his flop, equaling Patty’s and resting at 5 feet. Now it was Sean’s turn…he nervously hovered over his ball, his head on a swivel as he drew an imaginary line from the cup to his ball, ball to the cup…his putter tapped the ball and all eyes watched his golf ball drain to the bottom of the cup for eagle! He jumped up and shouted “YEEEEE HAWWWWWWW” which was very inappropriate being on the ancient course and somewhere, you could sense Old Tom spinning in his grave.

 

  After Mike putted for his birdy, John stepped up for his 5’ putt and just shaved the edge of the hole, missing by a fraction. You could hear him mutter something in Spanish and Sean stepped in a little closer…”What was that, buddy?” “Nada” John said. Patty took aim for her birdy and we watched her ball circle the entire cup!!! There were no more birdies to be had on that hole.

 

The 15^th proved uneventful with the group all taking pars and Hole 16 brought birdies to all but Mike who barely missed his putt by 8 inches. This set the stage for the notorious 17^th tee, staring at the buildings in front of us. But what’s this? A tailwind of 13 mph??? Oh Boy…here we go again and one by one, our group hit into the left rough and fescue…damn. The good news was that with the short tees and strong tailwind, there were short iron shots to be had onto the green. Sean hit his long and to the left, stopping 12 yds on the green. Patty came up 19 yds short, but still on the green. John hit a fantastic shot from the rough and landed 5 feet from the cup!!! And Mike’s shot from the fescue made a bee-line for the right side, landing in more fescue 14 yds away. His flop from the 30/40 fescue landed 1 yard from the cup and stopped…well done from there, Mike. Patty was next with a 56 foot putt over some of the most treacherous green WGT has to offer and she successfully navigated that putt to come to rest 8 feet from the cup. Very Nice, Patty. Sean lined up his 36 foot putt and taking dead aim, drilled it into the cup for birdy. Resisting the urge to shout again, he calmly whispered “woo hoo” and watched the others putt for their pars.

The 18^th tee was a welcome site as the foursome was beginning to tire. Everyone promptly drove their balls safely onto the fairway and set up for easy chips up onto the slightly elevated green. Sean, Patty and John putted around for pars and Mike was the only one who finished with a birdy.

 

Walking off the green, you could hear Sean say, “Come on everyone, the first round is on me, Guinness for everyone!” and off in the distance you could hear the ghost of Old Tom saying “Thank God, that’s over with!!!”