Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Hacker's World

It was back to the local links to try and get the game on some sort of track.

Between an ugly four-letter word (work), one not belonging in a family newspaper (work), or to be used in mixed company (work), and the heat, its been tough to get any playing time in.

However, my partner in crime, David Wagnon from Little Rock, came down and we attacked the links at Prescott Country Club Sunday morning. It had to be in the morning because of the 1 oclock start for the mixed couple tournament.

Davids work from the tee was consistent all day, while mine was spotty. Part of the problem is I began thinking about how I was setting up when preparing to tee off  and thats always a bad thing. While his opening drive went down the middle of the fairway, mine sliced over toward the driving range.

My second shot, though, was well struck and could have had a chance to make the green had it not went through a bunch of leaves. Anyway, we eventually reached the green, where I managed to three-putt for a seven.

The second hole saw Davids drive go down the right side, as did mine. The end result of this venture was scores identical to the first hole, 7-6, in Davids favor.

This is basically how the front nine went. We were both consistent, but not in the way we wanted. We could either put, chip or drive, but not all on the same hole. However, I was more consistent in chipping the ball to the green.

Anyway, we finished the front nine with David posting a 50-56 lead.

I decided to change my tactics for the back nine. My idea was to simply see the ball and hit it. My drive from the ninth tee was solid and down the right side of the fairway. Davids was more in the center of the fairway.

My drive left me 175-yards from the green. I took out my trusty 7-iron and crushed the ball, sending it on a perfect trajectory toward the green and a possible birdie  except for the fact it hit some leaves and fell short. Wound up with a bogey, which was all right.

On 10, Davids drive went in the woods on the right, while mine hugged the tree line. He sent his second shot to the front of the tee-box on three, while I mis-hit mine, sending it into the trees. I chipped onto the green, but had a long putt for par, while David overshot the green completely.

I two-putted for a six, while he wound up with a seven, as we headed for the 11th tee.

We both hit solid drives, leaving the ball short of the green. I chipped on, missing a birdie by a couple of inches, then missed my par putt for a bogey. David wound up with a five.

On 12, Davids drive went down the middle of the fairway, while I caught the back of my driver and sent my shot off to the right. But, I made up for it with my approach shot, as I crushed a 3-wood, leaving the ball off to the right of the green. It took David two more shots to catch up.

While I chipped on in three and was looking at a birdie, it didnt happen, as I lost the ability to putt. We both ended up with seven.

At this point I lost my swing and had fits on the next three holes. On 15, I mishit my drive, but managed to get some decent distance. This was followed by muffed shots with the 3-wood and 7-wood. Getting frustrated I grabbed my 6-iron and crushed the ball, sending it over the pine tree and leaving it about 30 feet from the green.

That 6-iron shot turned things around for me, though I lost the hole 6-8.

On 17, Davids drive left him in front of the green, while mine left me to the left of the green. I chipped on, again missing birdie by inches, while he muffed his chips. I ended up with a bogey, while he doubled.

Davids drive on 18 went down the right side by the trees, while I sliced mine over the trees on the left. His approach left him in good shape, while it looked like I was handcuffed.

However, I grabbed the 4-iron out of the bag, knowing I tend to slice it. The initial idea was to loft it over the trees, getting the slice to carry it toward the green. This didnt happen. I connected well. The ball got about 12-15 feet in the air, took a hard left and followed the cart path between the trees, leaving me about 20 feet off the green to the left. I chipped onto the green, leaving the ball about two-feet short, but made par.

I won the back nine 53-54, but wound up five strokes behind David for the day at 104-109.

Still, it was good to hit the links and get some work in. Part of the problem for both of us was simply not having played much of late. Hopefully this will change if the weather ever cools down.

And, golfers, remember this, thinking and driving dont mix.