A birdie in every round would be nice but its hard thing to come by especially for vertically challenged guy and a short hitter like me. When it came it was not really expected compared to the way it presented itself. Some birdie came coated with luck. In golf it would be wrong not to expect the unexpected and as in life, good things often come when you least expect it and the outcome is often stranger then fiction.
I was badly roasted by the time we finished the front nine - two snowmen and many doubles. After a horrible slice on the ninth hole my ball found it way into the watery grave. I took a penalty drop and lashed the ball with my wood three into the green. The ball found its way into the sloppy side of the left bunker. I recall my coach told me that a bunker shot should be three times harder than normal and the weight distribution should be on the left leg. No problem there as the lie seemed to be tilting right to left. I was not careful though as my swing did not penetrated beneath the sand. My Sand wedge found the equator of the ball instead. It lashed out of the bunker, found another bunker and completely overran it and rolled the next green. Must be lots of octane in the ball. The result? An eight! Or in the normal Sunday lingo, a snowman! No? Throw towel. Another 53 on the front nine. Just when everything seems fine, calamity strikes.
That left me fuming but no tantrum. I consider myself a real golfer (tonyemma.blogspot.com). The journey to the next tee box for the next nine was an agonizing but also an analyzing one. A golfer would just strike a smile and move one. For me, its time to change tactic. Rethinking and re-adjust, re-do re-format and a reformation. LOL. As the course was getting tighter it was time to hit with purpose and accuracy rather than distance without aim. So my weapon of choice was a 20 degrees hybrid. Simple but straight. But if everything were to work according to plan every single time, human race would loose their problem-solving ability. My score was far from good, a word that do not sound so good. My score did not reflect my ability of play – not that I put unrealistic standard on my ability. A bogey, double bogey etc was the common score. Maybe I should just whack a driver on a par 5. As long as I remember the drill I should be better sooner rather than later. One thing is certain. My slice is (almost) as uncommon as snow in Las Vegas. So what the heck? So I tool my S-Yard driver and got the setup right. At least that was what I thought. Swing from the inside along the aligned stance and follow through as though my life depended on it. The ball flew from the tee along the correct draw path but turn too much to the left. That was a hook! At Siena Golf School Range it would be the desert. On Sarawak Club golf and Resort it was moving on the left tarmac at 85 MPH on hole 14 towards the unfriendly native territory infested with crocodile. My flight mates indicated that the ball might have found the water. At that point, my interest on the game was an all-time low. Lost the first nine, one down and a potential nightmare ahead! Then I recalled the negative thoughts. My last game on this hole last week yielded was an eight! Not again. But in golf every shot is unrepeatable right?
As I retraced the way my ball rolled, I was met with a pleasant surprise. Astonishing. The ball was save. It was held by few blade of grass on the edge of the pond slightly inside the hazard. That means no grounding of club. A shot one would seldom practice at the driving range. The game presented and demanded a unique hitting skill in this situation. That’s the beauty. I took my 7-iron, adjust my stance along the limited space. An inch of moment I would have the pond waiting for my fancy golf wear. The ball was higher than my feet and I remember on that situation one should choke slightly to make sure that the club is level to the ground. I swing along the inside path and managed to hit the ball clean. It jerked and flew upward toward the cloud and dropped about hundred metres to where I wanted it – middle of the centre. Momentarily I was in cloud-nine. No done yet as my third shot would require a more focussed head. True enough the ball settled on a hard bare ground. With 150 metres to go and a water drain waiting at just before the green, my next aim was to hit above the pin.
I took the same 7-iron, a club I have used in practice a thousand time at the range and prepare for a draw stance. With calmness and motivation I drilled the ball straight. I did not hit it clean and instead hit right at the equator of the ball but with enough velocity that it actually dropped shot of the green but with enough pace to climbed it way up and settled about 10 feet of the pin for regulation on. Bad shot good result. I’ll take it. For golfer, that was one of the best sights to behold. Walking to the green still 150 metres away with a putter in your hand. In my case it was a Ceiri made Heavy putter, 750 gram 303 steel! I did not think much of the consequence if I miss the putt. After I read the line, I putted it straight into the hole for a birdie! That putt was the game-changer for me. I was 4 up immediately. My nemesis told me so as I was not very concern what a winning putt could brings. When you play golf your flight member should do the talking. And as the script would have it, the rest of the holes were just a walk in the park. That was the last duty for my S-Yard driver. No more driver but Hybrid straight drive in the middle. At the last par 5, I split the fairway and won the longest drive (LD) not because I hit long but my drive was the only one on the fairway 175 metres from the tee-box and still a good 300 metres to the pin! LOL. The other three guys just shot them selves on the foot and loose their way! For the approach shot, my pitching fell short and flew straight into the green side bunker. What a waste and followed by my bunker shot that felled 20 short of the pin to give me an uphill putt. All I need was a double to win. I took my time and made sure of the correct line break. I just drilled the ball left of the hole since the elevation presented a left to right break but not much. My ball rolled up and settle on the left lip stayed there for a millisecond and hurtfully (for my nemesis) rolled into the hole for a nice bogey! Game over. I’ve just turned a nightmare round into a 5-hole win! Thank you very much.
