Like a Cheap Suit – Results from the Member-Guest

Last week, we shared the story of my re-engagement of competitive/member-guest events (“My Nemesis Revisited”), after a year and a half hiatus.  Today’s post highlights the results of our efforts.

Starting on the 604 yard, par 5, 8^th hole, in our final/fifth nine-hole “best-ball” match of the weekend, playing against our Flight’s second place team, I confidently approached the tee box, having parred the 8th hole in the practice round and again in our first match.  I placed the ball on the tee, went through my protocol and proceeded to push my drive into the right fairway bunker.  Taking a six iron, I barely removed myself from the bunker as my ball rolled into a small hole.  My third shot, with a five iron, dribbled some 75 yards down the fairway.  With little to lose, I pulled out my three-wood and advanced my 4^th shot no more than 125 yards, followed by a reasonably solid four iron, which landed just shy of the green.  Now, in need of an abacus to add up my strokes, I bladed a wedge, rifling my sixth shot across the green and down an embankment.  At this point, I elected to place my ball in my pocket, taking a slow, painful walk back to the cart with my tail between my legs.

Note:  In “best ball” events, golfers are grouped together in teams of two that play together in the same foursome. Each golfer plays his own ball throughout the round, but after each hole, only the best score for each team is recorded and counts as the score for each team for that hole.  The matches are handicapped, allowing players of different proficiency to play against each other on equal footing.  Each hole is worth a point, for a total of nine points in a nine-hole match.  One point is awarded for winning a hole; a half of a point is awarded for tying a hole.

While I was chopping it down the fairway, my brother was hanging tough, crafting an incredible fourth shot landing six feet beyond the flag.  As John awaited his par putt, Len, an 18.1 handicap, having arrived on the green in four strokes, rolled in his 75 foot putt for par (net birdie with a stroke), to win the hole.   To boot, Len did a bit of a happy dance, cackling up a storm, stopping over for few celebratory fist bumps, wanting everyone to join his party.  As we heading to our second hole, I took a moment to reflect on our/my auspicious start…to say the least, I was a bit cranky!

After halving the second hole of the match, things went from bad to worse, losing the third hole of the match when Len rolled in a 25 foot putt for a natural birdie, subsequently losing the fourth hole of the match when Len, once again, made a 10 foot putt for par (net birdie with a stroke), followed by a loss at the fifth hole of the match when Len rimmed out his 50 foot birdie putt, settling for a natural par.

As we approached the 6^th hole of the match, we were on the cusp of complete annihilation as the match stood at 4 ½ Bad Guys, ½ Good Guys!

Fortunately we won the 6^th hole of the match, losing the 7^th hole of the match, having parred the hole, while our friend Len made a 6 foot clutch par putt (net birdie with a stroke).  We won the 8^th and 9^th hole of the match as my brother, on the 9^th hole, got up and down from a nasty greenside bunker with an amazing second shot landing two inches from the flag.  Final score: Bad Guys 5 ½, Good Guys 3 ½!  A morale victory of sorts!

Len (as I am told), a legitimate eighteen handicapper shot a smooth 40 (gross), proclaiming his score was the best ever nine-hole score at Naperville Country Club.  As my buddy Joe often says, “We just make everyone better!”

Note:  Len had a partner however his partner was not a factor due to Len’s lights-out performance.

Lowlights:

• After the second of our five rounds, we were one of fourteen teams with the lowest point totals in the entire 72 team field, thus qualifying our team for a slot in the “Throw Up Pool”, a separate side pool which runs concurrently with the actual tournament. Each team in the Throw-Up Pool (and only in the Throw-Up Pool) has a clean slate for the final three rounds, with the team scoring the most points in the final three rounds, winning a $500 pot.
• Due to the number of teams in the field, the Club did not have enough fore-caddies to cover the entire field for the final nine-hole matches. The available fore-caddies were assigned to the teams with the most points.  Needless to say, we were not assigned a fore-caddie for our final nine-hole match…we were on our own!

Final Results:

In-Flight:

We finished fifth out of our six-team Flight with 19 points (42.2% of the available 45 points).  In-Flight scores were 27.5, 25.5, 24-, 20.5, 19- and 18.5.  Len and his partner remained in second place.

Field (72 teams):

Eleven teams finished with lower scores than our team and three teams finished with identical 19 point scores.

Throw-Up Pool:

We finished in 7^th place out of the fourteen teams with a total of 13 points.  The Throw-Up Pool winner had 17 points.

Overall Grade:

C/C-

Compared to previous years, where my performance was downright frightful, I played more consistently with far less stress as my scores were relevant for the majority of the holes, and I came away feeling as if I made a contribution to our overall team effort. 

Competitive “best ball” golf is very different than social golf. First, your performance directly impacts your partner.  If you play well, you take pressure off your partner, allowing them to be more aggressive. If you play poorly, your partner is playing by himself against the other team, which, I am told, can get old in a hurry.  Then there is the performance of your competitors.  They can make your life relatively easy with marginal play (which we have rarely witnessed) or they can perform miraculous acts (which we routinely witness), ruining your best work (case in point, Len)!   Playing at home with friends or hitting balls on the range without consequences, is a far more palatable situation.

All in all, a good time was had, which is something I haven’t said in a long time after a tournament of any nature.  Just not sure if I will be invited back, as my brother could easily find a prettier skirt!

If you are enjoying our weekly posts, we’d be eternally grateful if you’d spread the word.  Thank you for following Bad Golf Guy and be sure to check us out on Instagram.

The back nine can only get better!