At age 67, there are not many more athletic achievements ahead for me. But golf handicaps are the great equalizer in terms of competition, and if you have a good day against your own standards, you might win a dollar or two, or even a trophy. But in order to win an event at a gross score, you pretty much need to be playing on a team of good players.
Yesterday, at Shuttle Meadow Country Club in Berlin, CT, a classic Willie Park layout, our ragtag foursome started well, sagged in the middle of the round, and regained a little momentum by the end. Yet even when my son Tim sunk a 12-foot birdie putt on the last hole we played in the shotgun charity event, we never imagined our -1 score of 70 would get a sniff of even third place in the gross competition.
The 1st hole at Shuttle Meadow Country Club in Berlin, CT
For sure, we had no chance in the net competition. Our 'D' player had an awful day and only on two holes was he still in play by the time he made it to the green. (In neither case did he contribute to the net score.) Our 'C' player sculled his tee shot on the first hole, a par three, through tall grass and rough and up onto the green, 15 feet short of the hole. From there he made his putt for a birdie 2 and a net 1. That seemed like a good omen...for two more holes, after which we all sprayed our tee shots into the wind on a par 4 named "Bottle" and posted a gross and net 5, a deadly score when you are competing against 26 other foursomes. (After his initial birdie, our 'C' player had said, in jest, "OK, I'm retiring now..." and he pretty much did the rest of the way.) It only got worse on the 18th hole, the tenth one we played, when the pin position at the very back right of a green that rises a good 10 feet from front to back, gave us fits and led to a gross/net bogey 6.
Tim was our "ringer," a last-minute substitution for a friend who tore a ligament in his thumb three weeks before the event. Tim contributed four birdies against his 1 handicap -– the event was played at 90% of full handicap -- and I pitched in a few pars. Still, the only thing we thought we might win was longest drive; Tim's drive on the 10th hole was 270 into a stiff wind. But at awards time, the announced winner was someone else who, as the emcee shared, "once held the U.S. record for the fastest golf swing." I saw him later and he told me his drive was measured at over 300 yards.
When they announced third place for team gross at par 71, we knew we were in the money. On a match of cards –- we parred at gross the five toughest holes -- we were announced the winners; our prizes were $100 pro shop credit each. I spent mine on a shirt and hat. I would have been happy with just the recognition.
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The charity golf event, which is held within a couple of weeks of Fathers Day each year, benefits the Fatherworks program at The Village for Families and Children in Hartford, CT, where I have served as a board member for the last 12 years. In a nutshell, Fatherworks encourages young men who have fathered a child to step up to the responsibility of fatherhood and provides them with the tools to be a supportive, nurturing parent. Each year at dinner after the golf, a father The Village has worked with shares his story about how The Village has helped him define his role in relation to his children and, in so doing, has redefined his role as a man. The stories are both riveting and elevating. Fatherworks is a good cause, and if you get anything of value from this blog, I would be grateful if you considered a small donation to a great cause at The Village for Families and Children. [Click here] Thank you.
