@birdsong and I teed it up yesterday evening at Beckett Ridge Country Club, a course that had over the years turned into a dog track but is now coming back from the dead quite nicely. This was his 3rd match and my 2nd match in Pod 3. I’ll save you the details from the first 14 holes and take you to the 15th green where I was 3UP with 4 to play, and things started to get interesting.
Hole 15
I reached the green safely in regulation with a decent look at birdie, while Todd’s slightly long approach shortsided him over the back. Todd’s chip stayed above the hole and left him a decent sized par putt, while I nestled my birdie attempt close for a comfy par. A miss from Todd here meant the match would be over at 4&3, and a make would keep the match alive. Todd made a confident stroke, walked the putt in early, and we headed to 16 dormie with me 3 up with 3 to play.
Hole 16
The 16th is a par 3 that was playing 175 into the wind. I put it on the top back of the green while Todd shortsided himself again, this time in the bunker. Since I was further from the hole, Todd had the matchplay savviness to have me play first, and I hit an awful putt that left me 10+ feet for par. Todd’s bunker shot ran out and left him with a downhill putt that was outside my par putt. Knowing he needed to make it to extend the match, he put another great stroke on it and once again walked it in with confidence. I missed my par attempt, and we headed to 17 still dormie, with me now 2 up with 2 to play.
Hole 17
Todd went first on this dogleg left par 5, hitting a 3 wood into the left rough that didn’t hurt him at all. My driver didn’t cut off as much of the corner as I was hoping, went through the fairway, and nestled down into the deep rough. Todd hit a solid iron down the fairway leaving him a great look at the green. My hack-job layup attempt was yanked left behind a row of trees and gave me no chance to reach in regulation. Todd put his approach onto the back fringe, and I failed twice to punch one up around the trees. After making a mess of the hole and missing a putt from the fringe to salvage an ugly bogey, I conceded the hole and we headed to 18, once again dormie, now 1 up with 1 to play.
Hole 18
A slight left-to-right par 4 finisher, Todd went first and unfortunately hit a hook when he was trying to hit a cut. My drive split the fairway and left me a short wedge into the green. We searched and searched for Todd’s ball but couldn’t find it in the dry ditch with long rough and dead mown grass, and the valiant comeback came up just one hole short. It was awesome watching Todd battle back those last few holes and drain some incredibly clutch putts when the pressure was on.
Good Morning Everyone. All the matches from this weekend that have been shared here have been added to the standings list. With these updates, we have our elimination rounds field nearly set!
Tad was dominant tee to green. Really enjoyed watching him drive the ball brilliantly. Enjoyed getting to meet everyone - golf lovers and even better people. I’ll look forward to future events.
I played it a few years back too and I remember the bunkers all being rock solid with no sand, the greens were burned out and cracking in spots, the fairway/rough was not in good shape, etc.
Since then all of the bunkers and surrounds have been redone and looked really nice, all the greens have come back and rolled pure, fairways were green and healthy and in good shape for the most part, rough was thick and lush, etc.
The facilities though are still pretty bare bone; they’re running the “pro shop” out of an RV since they tore down the condemned clubhouse. Cartpaths/parking lot still need redone, but its clear they’re putting the money into the course itself before they unload on the paths/building/etc.
Believe Pod One is now complete. @ryan.palm defeated @St.rappeo72 6&5 on a cold rainy night at Lake View Country Club. Golf was uninspiring overall, but we finished out and was quite happy to get home to dry clothes!
I’m going to give people until noon-ish to report any more matches that were played over the weekend, but after that @smithburger and I will be trudging through the weeds to make up a match play bracket for the Round of 32!
Despite many attempts and generous offers from @Greenthumb a lot of life stuff got in the way of us getting out there. Happy to concede and allow the leaders on to the next round.
Thank you @Collya and @JakeFromStateFarm for pipping up early. Looks like we just need to confirm pods 13 and 16 and we’ll get the bracket math underway.