After the Ike in June, I didn't play for about two weeks. The next time I teed it up at Metropolis, I hit my drive on the 1st hole out of bounds deep to the right which didn't upset me a bit since I had just played three rounds of highly competitive golf at the highest level I've been able to play, four strokes out of a tie for 5th along with some of the most respected golfers in the area. But whatever caused that ball to sail off to the right would show up much more frequently in the latter half of the summer, making golf an even tougher challenge than usual.
So I decided before the tournament to take a lesson from one of the pros at Metropolis, the first lesson I've taken in over 5 years. Keith and I spoke around the chipping green for a solid 90 minutes, while I took a couple swings here and there. We didn't focus for a minute on any mechanics of the swing- grip, posture, alignment...nothing. Instead we focused solely on course management, shot process, and overall outlook. Typically, after this "couch session," I went back to the range and started hitting the ball well again back on the range.
The following day in the quarterfinals, I was matched against the #8 seed who had qualified by a stroke the day before. After winning the first hole, I three putted to tie on 2 and to lose on 5 and 6 before finishing the front nine 1 up. Richard was playing solid steady golf, and with the pressure off temporarily, was executing well as I struggled. Somehow, I found myself down 2 through 13 and the inevitably repetitive thoughts (2 down 5 to go...need to get something going). But then I had to sink a tricky ten footer for bogey to tie 14, tied 15, and ran badly to tie 16. 2 down two to go. Time to win holes.
I won the 17th after a good 3 wood down the middle, a gap wedge to 10 foot on the fringe. Richard missed the fairway and then to the greenside bunker left. One down with one to go. I took out the driver and hit probably the best drive of the summer, sailing high and fading decisively around the dogleg straightening out with the hole. Richard hit a lazy hook down the left which took some bounces towards the treeline, and knocked off a tree trunk right back in the fairway, 70 yards behind me. Pressure on. Richard took out his hybrid and hit a nice looking shot which could have trickled in, but instead rolled along the edge of the bunker and onto the back edge of the green.
I had 132 yards and took out a 9-iron and hit a shot I am very comfortable with: a three-quarter swing producing a low and controlled line drive which takes two bounces, checks, and rolls. I hit the shot crisp, but knowing I needed birdie, my first thought was GO! Then Chester my caddie yelled SIT!!! I knew it would probably be right on target. It settled about 8 feet short right on line. Richard putt from the edge to just over three feet and it was time to make it happen. I rolled the putt true and it fell right in the middle of the hole. Time for a playoff.
I hit a nearly perfect 3 wood right down the middle on the 1st hole. Richard hit a similar tee shot as 18, staying too far to the left. He was unlucky to be directly up against a tree, unable to take a normal stance or swing, but was able to advance the ball 50-80 yards to just over 200 yards in the right semi rough. I was in the middle of the fairway, 248 yards away, with the pin in the front right- facing the shot in the video from a few yards further right:
For no good reason other than the fact that I enjoy trying to hit the hardest shots I am capable of hitting, I took out my driver. Other options, both superior, included 3-wood to just short and left of the green and 5-iron to about 80 yards. Rationalizations aside, it was a poor decision to hit the driver and one of the worst outcomes resulted from the decision. Off of the downhill lie, I hit the shot thin and trailing to the right, and settled in the fairway bunker, 40 yards short of the green. Walking up to the bunker, I saw I was on the upslope, further complicating the shot. I was concerned with hitting the bunker shot thin and hitting the ball 50 yards over the green (very possible in this situation), so instead I chunked the shot, about 10 yards outside of the bunker, leaving me about 30 yards from the hole.
Meanwhile, after my failed driver attempt, Richard decided to lay up from 215 yards, putting himself to about 50 yards in the fairway. His next shot settled on the green about 12 feet away. My chip shot was not an easy one as I needed to hug the front greenside bunker in order to aim at the hole. A miss here and I very likely tie or lose.
This is when the process is key. Stick to your routine. Shot characteristics first. How far? Contour of green? Wind? Where should I land the ball? How far will it roll? Where do I want to play my next shot from? Where can I miss and be ok? in jail? Select the club after visualizing the shot. Enter pre-shot routine placing extraneous thoughts of hunger, a new pain in my left shoulder, the cute girl watching me from behind me and to the left, my family watching, the pros, and assistants relaying what was happening on walkie-talkies back to the proshop and clubhouse...to their upright and locked position in a brain side compartment. If the process is disrupted, must have kill switch to reboot. This process went off smoothly, and I hit the club which went right on the desired line but lower than I expected. Luckily, it landed shorter than I expected, and cozied up to about 6 feet above the hole.
Richard missed and I made, and I had come back to win from dormie on the 17th hole. We shook hands and sighed several breaths of satisfied relief. I won the semifinal match 4&2 against Marc who I defeated last year in a similar situation being down 2 with 3 to play, and the finals 6&5 against Danny, a really nice guy who has improved a half dozen shots in the past year. If he continues to improve at that rate, he'll be a vey tough opponent.
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