@Grambom2 and I were joined on a beautiful Sunday afternoon by @RDUAccountant for our round of 16 matchup at Pine Hollow. I was giving Mark 1.
Hole 1, par 4 - I lead off with a solid tee shot that finds ends up in the right rough before Mark tops his. He has to punch up just past where my tee ball was but both of us would miss just short of the green from there. A good chip for him and a poor one for me led to the hole being tied with bogey.
Hole 2, par 5 - A snap hook into the trees/hazard had me put the mini driver in timeout for a while. Mark pushed his drive way right but stayed in play, I proceed to make a mess of the hole and he won it with bogey to go 1 up.
Hole 3, par 3 - Mark ends up in the grass bunker just right of the green with a tough downhill pitch, but I fail to take advantage and pull my iron way left. We both end up missing lengthy par putts but both make 4 footers for bogey to tie the hole, Mark stays 1 up.
Hole 4, par 4 - Mark’s tee shot slices into the right rough and I get just past the fairway bunker. We both hit the green, but he leaves his long birdie putt well short and makes bogey. I two putt from 15 feet to tie the match.
Hole 5, par 3 - We both end up long of the green, and with a back pin we are left with delicate downhill chips running out toward the water. Mark goes first and hits a solid pitch that rolls 8 feet past the hole, but I hit one of my best shots of the day and burn the edge, leaving a tap in par. Mark’s par putt missed so I go 1 up.
Hole 6, par 4 - both of us play to the lower left part of the fairway, my approach finds the right side of the green but Mark chunks his short of the bunker. His next shot finds the green, but I two putt for par to go 2 up.
Hole 7, par 4 - My tee shot finds the fairway and it looks like Mark’s will as well, but he clips the top of a tree and gets a really tough kick left into the hazard. He has to drop and would go on to make double, I get up and down for par to go 3 up.
Hole 8, par 4, Mark gets a stroke - a bad bounce puts my tee shot into the fairway bunker, Mark hits a “get way right” ball into the fairway bunker on 9. I come up short, but Mark has to pitch out of the bunker and punch through the trees to our greenside bunker. He would make 7 and my bogey puts me 4 up.
Hole 9, par 4 - two pushed tee shots put me in the fairway bunker and Mark in the right trees. He goes first and hits a good punch to the rough left of the green, I have a really awkward stance in the bunker and catch the lip. It leaves me 80 yards from the green and I would miss just short, Mark’s chip runs past the hole into the fringe. Neither of us can get up and down, and an ugly hole is tied with doubles. I make the turn 4 up.
Hole 10, par 4 - two hybrids towards the right side of the hole leave mid-irons into the green. Mark catches his heavy and bounces into the short bunker, I have to chunk and run mine out of a buried lie in the rough and it runs out long of the green. His downhill lie makes a good bunker shot run out 15 feet past the hole and he would make bogey, I make a 4 footer for par to go 5 up.
As we walk to 11 tee, I am 5 up with 8 to play having won 6 of the past 7 holes. Back on the 9th tee after his tee shot found the trees, Mark had declared the match over, and it was starting to look like before long it would be. Narrator’s voice: it was very much not over.
Hole 11, par 4 - I get a good break off the trees to stay in the left rough, Mark hits his best drive of the day well down the fairway. I catch mine a little heavy from a tough lie and come up short in the bunker, Mark hits what looks like a good approach but a little too much spin catches the ridge and rolls off to the right. Both our third shots would end up on a similar line, mine about 18 feet and Mark about 10, both with severe break. Mine rolls over the edge and leaves a tap in bogey, but Mark’s putt is in the whole way and he makes his par to cut my lead to 4 up.
Hole 12, par 4 - Mark’s hybrid ends in a good position on the left side of the fairway and I fan an iron to the trees right. I make a really bad decision and try and punch mine towards the green but get rejected by a tree and leave myself in a similar position with my third. I am successful in the second attempt and punch up to the greenside bunker, but it doesn’t matter as Mark makes a very comfy par to cut my lead down to 3 up.
Hole 13, par 3 - Mark’s tee shot is straight at the flag and Cormick and I think we may get some free drinks after the round, but it goes just a little too far and ends up on the top level with a very tough putt upcoming. My tee shot was on the front part of the green and again I burn the edge for a conceded par, Mark’s first putt rides the hill and leaves a 10 footer coming back for par. Again, its in the whole way for a great two putt par to tie and keep the lead at 3 up.
Hole 14, par 4 - Mark tops his tee shot again, but again I can’t take advantage and fan another iron into the trees right. He hits a fantastic second to thread through the trees and leave about 80 yards for his third. I think I have my ball and a relatively straightforward punch towards the green, but its not mine. I walk ten yards back and find it among the rocks in the hazard. I take a drop and try and hit the miracle shot through/over the trees but get rejected again, continuing to make a mess with my next punch rolling over the green. It wouldn’t matter though, as Mark stuck his wedge to five feet and made an outstanding par to cut the lead to 2 up.
Hole 15, par 3 - a long wait on the tee of the long par three with the lead shrinking. Mark thins a hybrid that rolls out over the green, but I hit my best shot of the day to 15 feet. His chip doesn’t take the hill as much as he wanted and is left with a 15 footer of his own for par, but I keep burning edges and leave the door open for him to tie the hole if he can make it. But he pushes it right to take a bogey, I have stopped the bleeding and am now dormie 3.
Hole 16, par 5 - I find the fairway, Mark catches a little bit of a tree branch but stays out of the fairway bunker. We both lay up and have about 125 yards in, he misses short right and I find the green but have a long birdie putt. Mark chips up to 6 feet and I roll mine over the edge of the hole a few feet past, but when he misses his par putt he concedes the match for a 4 & 2 win.
Mark rebounded from an ugly front nine with some incredible pars on the back to make the match much closer than it could have been. Things were moving quickly for a minute, and for once I was grateful for the slow play ahead of us on 15 tee giving me a chance to calm down after a frustrating stretch from 12-14. It wasn’t always pretty, but we are on to the Elite 8!
, but I didn’t have to dig into that bag of tricks. Those secrets might be up for sale on the black market for next year if anyone is interested in purchasing. We did consume enough alcohol before and after the round to lead to a) me leaving my cc at Elijah’s after dinner b) The Better Rudd having to make the 3hr drive home without any copilot as I slept 3/4 of the way. Word on the street is that Josh checked out the back of his eyelids for quite some time afterwards too.