As the morning fog lifted from the historical course, you could see the early sun rising and setting the fairways on fire, as the sunlight caused the dew drops left behind to sparkle brilliantly like jewels. The stage was set. Our dynamic duo, John and Sean, were waiting patiently at the first tee, discussing the up-coming day. They were chosen to be commentators for the biggest event ever seen in club history. The showdown between reigning three-time champions Team Fore Players, consisting of Weekirk aka Scott, MulliganPatty aka Patty, Coyote223 aka Jody, Rskinn aka Bob and the up-and-coming contenders, Team Sub Par, consisting of Jack11138 aka Jack, Brbnk55 aka Eddie, Justacowboy aka Thomas and DubEssa aka Tracie.

 

Tension was in the air, as the early morning sunlight began to burn off the remaining moisture on the greens, making them hard, slick and fast. The first group to arrive on the tee was Team Sub Par, eager to get things underway. They huddled together, nervously chatting away, no doubt discussing strategy. Bouncing golf balls on wedges and flipping tees in the air like silver dollars, they kept eye-balling the clubhouse, waiting for their opponents. Little did they know, Team Fore Players was a little busy signing autographs on golf balls, towels, tee-shirts and anything else that was presented to them to sign. Finally, they made their way to the first tee. It was agreed that the groups would be split in two and the first group would consist of Scott, Patty, Jack and Tracie. Second group would be Jody, Bob, Eddie and Thomas.

 

Before the first ball was hit, handshakes and introductions were given and somewhere off in the distance, you could hear Ole Tom whispering “Oh no, not again…not my precious golf course!” John announced that the ladies would tee off first, while Sean was stuffing his mouth with a breakfast burrito, washing it down with some strong coffee. Being reigning champs, Patty teed off first with a beautiful drive that sailed into the middle-left of the fairway, landing about 30 yards in front of the channel that guards the green, famously known as Swilcan Burn. Next up was Tracie, not one to be outdone, followed with a great drive of her own, landing only 36 yards from the cup…”Hmmph!” you could hear her say, “Nuthin to it”. Scott and Jack were next to tee off, and everyone was safely on board so they took off to find their balls, with John and Sean in tow.

 

Everyone set up for their second shots and all executed their approach shots with ease, landing within 2 yards of the cup. John and Sean looked at each other…”This is gonna be EPIC” they said. As the group was crossing over the small channel, you could hear the second group teeing off. “Hey Sean, why don’t you stay here and cover the second group’s approach shots, then catch up?” John said. “Sure, sure, John…ok”. Just at that moment, you could hear the whizzing of a golf ball and we looked up just in time to see it streaking right for us. John dove to the right, Sean just stood there, frozen, watching the golf ball zeroing in on him. It zipped by him, missing him by inches and off in the distance you could hear, “Um……FORE?” John gathered himself and scurried off to find the group on the green while Sean sought refuge behind a small bush nearby. “So that’s how it’s gonna be, huh? These guys are taking Dead-Aim” you could hear Sean say.

 

When Sean caught up with John on the second tee, John reported that all had made their birdies. Sean reported the same and the two groups met on the tee, congratulating each other for a fine start. As everyone’s attention turned to the Second Tee…you could hear murmuring from the two groups, it seemed that nobody liked this hole and to make things worse, there was a typical 18 mph crosswind to deal with. Tracie and Patty found the fairway with little difficulty, but when Jack stepped up, the crosswind caught his ball and sent him left, narrowly avoiding what is known as Cheape’s Bunker…”Whew, that was close” he said. Scott was last to hit and after watching Jack’s shot, over compensated a little, flirting with the fescue on the right side of the fairway. Jack’s second shot was a nice attempt but landed about 6 yards from the cup, safely on the green. Tracie’s approach landed on the green, but just a little short and catching the downside of the hill on the green, rolling to a stop 14 yards from the cup. “Here we go…” she mumbled. Patty was between clubs and opted to back off the longer one with full back spin. This proved to be the right choice as her ball landed safely to the right, rolling only a few yards. Scott had caught some 20-25 rough but mastered a beautiful shot to the green that immediately took off and rolled some 42 feet from the cup.

 

Putting resulted in 1 birdie, 3 pars and it was off to the next tee. As each group progressively hit, the scores see-sawed back and forth and by the turn, you could see some wear and tear on our boy’s faces. Sean said, “Man, all this running back and forth is getting to me, I’m thirsty!” To this John replied, “FIRST ROUND IS ON ME” and gestured for the drink cart to catch up to the two groups. Upon arrival, everyone ordered up their favorite refreshments and we reviewed the scorecard for the Front 9. The tally showed that Team Sub Par had a 4 shot lead on Team Fore Players! Someone from the Champ’s Group said, “Awrite guys, let’s take it to them on this Back 9”.

 

The second group teed off first this time. With a tailwind and a favorable hole location, the 10^th green was an inviting Eagle opportunity, ripe for the taking. 330 yards with a 20 mph push and everyone was eagerly awaiting their turn to attack. Jody was first and nailed a beauty as we all watched his ball roll up to the front of the green about 2 yards past the cup. Bob walked up confidently to the tee and without any warning, launched a perfect ball, perfectly lined up to the pin but landing a little short and rolling left, into the collection area there, only a few short yards from the edge of the green. “Nuts!” he proclaimed and stepped back to watch the others. Eddie was next, smacking the golf ball with a resounding THWACK and we watched as his ball landed within inches of the cup, then rolled to the middle of the green. Last but not least, Thomas teed up. He gave a little swagger before his drive and when his driver face met the ball, we heard the sweetest sound of contact and watched in amazement as his ball landed just in front of the green, took a couple of short hops and came to rest 1 yard from the cup! He turned around to face the group with a grin from ear to ear and said, “Looks like E-time for me!”

 

Bob’s flop shot from the edge of the green was a thing of beauty, landing one foot from the cup and stopping right there. We all waited next for Eddie to line up his long putt. He took his time, reading the break and looking for imperfections in his line. Hovering over his ball, we all held our breaths as we watched his putter pull back and send his ball for a ride. Rolling along to the cup, John had enough time to nudge Sean and said, “5 bucks says he drills it.” Sean said, “You’re on” and we heard that familiar  KERPLUNK as Eddie’s ball found the bottom of the cup! As everyone was congratulating him, Sean turned to John…”um, pay ya next Tuesday, buddy?” John just laughed, “Yeah, sure…I’ll just add it to your account”

 

Jody was lining up his putt for his Eagle and just as he was about to hit, we heard a burst of laughter from the second group…sending his putt just a tad left, shaving the edge of the cup. Next up was Thomas, who deftly tapped in his putt for Eagle and we were left with two birdy putts. The next par 3 resulted in ho-hum pars for everyone and we were off to the 12^th tee.

 

At 294 yards, some might consider this an Eagle hole, as well, but with a 21 mph headwind, those hopes quickly flew away. Our group was lucky to get away with a birdy or two and pars. Once again, as the group progressed, birdies and pars were made with a few bogeys thrown in for good measure. The group behind us was seemingly well matched and experiencing the same success and pitfalls as the first group. Rumors started that Team Fore Players had caught up and that the game was even, but it was yet to be proven.

 

As our group stood at the 18^th tee, named after Ole Tom Morris himself, we marveled at the beauty of the expansive fairway, all of us knowing what lay in front of the green, aptly nick-named the Valley of Sin. By now, there were crowds of people lining the street on the right side and you could see someone in every window and balcony of each building. With 348 yards, the green was not makeable on the drive, due to a wicked 20 mph crosswind from right to left. We waited for the second group to catch up to us and when they did, there was still chatter about the match being close. Little did everyone know, that John and Sean had had a chance to compare scorecards and it was clear what was about to happen.

 

The magic of the 18^th tee was short and fleeting as our groups teed off and finished with birdies and pars. Everyone wandered off to the pub for a friendly ale or stout while John and Sean stood outside and re-lived the day.

“Everyone played splendidly today” said Sean.

 

“Yup, they all should be proud, but we have to announce the winner” said John.

 

“Let’s wait a little bit, let them get a little tipsy first” said Sean.

 

“Naw, I’m PARCHED!  I can’t wait any longer, let’s go in” said John.

 

As we entered the pub, the chatter stopped and all eyes were upon us as we casually sauntered up to the bar and ordered a few Guinness’s. John did the honors. “Attention everyone, ATTENTION…we’d like to say that everyone played great rounds today, it was very exciting to watch, however only one winner can be proclaimed…so with that said, I would like to congratulate…”

 

“TEAM SUB PAR WINS” yells Sean!!! John quickly hurls his hat at Sean for stealing his thunder and the two teams get together to shake hands. Sean shouts “Drinks are on me!!!” then winks at John and quietly says, “Lend me 40 bucks, would ya buddy?” John just shakes his head and pays the barkeep. Once again, somewhere close to the 18^th green, you could hear Ole Tom whispering on the wind, “Yeah, that was a good one, one for the books”.