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Last week I posted a plea for three GolfWRXers to join me at Bethpage Black on August 1. I thought I would receive plenty of PM's offering me cash, equipment, and first born children for a spot in the foursome. I mean, how often do golfers get to play one of the hardest courses in the world under tournament conditions?
Truth be told, I twiddled my thumbs for days waiting for a PM to hit my inbox. It wasn't until the last minute that the foursome was completely full. Of course I (Vince) was playing. I'm from upstate New York, about 2 hours north of the city. But I needed people to play with.
The first member to contact me was Carlo (drpino), a highly regarded and well respected marshall in these here parts. He told me he was also from "upstate New York." Funny how anyone outside of New York City refers to themselves as an upstater, even if they only live an hour north of the City (as in Carlo's case). Next in was Chris (ProBowler), from the great state of Maryland. Chris just moved into the senior divison in life, recently turning 50. He also brought a fellow bowling friend along for the trip, James. James doesn't play golf as often as he likes. He plays either 5-7 times a year or 5-7 times a month....I can't remember exactly which it is but either way it's less than some of us play in a week. James is not a GolfWRX member so the Bethpage trip was more about recruiting him for the site than actually playing golf, but I digress....
So the foursome was set and everyone embarked on the journey to Bethpage...
When we arrived there were plenty of scattered showers in the area. Our group weatherman (Chris), with the help of his weather gadgets, assured us that we would be fine during the round. We hit some balls and got loose, albeit with every club but our drivers. The Bethpage driving range is not large enough to contain our massive 400 yard drives, so we stuck to irons and hybrids. This posed a peculiar problem for James, who was gaming a brand new driver given to him by Chris.
After a clinical exhibition of pure ballstriking on the range, we made our way to the first tee, ready to conquer the Black.
Our group finished in 5 hours exactly, teeing off at 11:30 and finishing at 4:30. There were many highlights from the day. Here's a quick rundown
But our real weatherman, Chris, politely shows us a different radar. Compared to what Carlo reported, it looks like this:
Always trust the professionals, it didn't rain at any point during our round.
And here's the damage
Truth be told, I twiddled my thumbs for days waiting for a PM to hit my inbox. It wasn't until the last minute that the foursome was completely full. Of course I (Vince) was playing. I'm from upstate New York, about 2 hours north of the city. But I needed people to play with.
The first member to contact me was Carlo (drpino), a highly regarded and well respected marshall in these here parts. He told me he was also from "upstate New York." Funny how anyone outside of New York City refers to themselves as an upstater, even if they only live an hour north of the City (as in Carlo's case). Next in was Chris (ProBowler), from the great state of Maryland. Chris just moved into the senior divison in life, recently turning 50. He also brought a fellow bowling friend along for the trip, James. James doesn't play golf as often as he likes. He plays either 5-7 times a year or 5-7 times a month....I can't remember exactly which it is but either way it's less than some of us play in a week. James is not a GolfWRX member so the Bethpage trip was more about recruiting him for the site than actually playing golf, but I digress....
So the foursome was set and everyone embarked on the journey to Bethpage...
When we arrived there were plenty of scattered showers in the area. Our group weatherman (Chris), with the help of his weather gadgets, assured us that we would be fine during the round. We hit some balls and got loose, albeit with every club but our drivers. The Bethpage driving range is not large enough to contain our massive 400 yard drives, so we stuck to irons and hybrids. This posed a peculiar problem for James, who was gaming a brand new driver given to him by Chris.
After a clinical exhibition of pure ballstriking on the range, we made our way to the first tee, ready to conquer the Black.
Our group finished in 5 hours exactly, teeing off at 11:30 and finishing at 4:30. There were many highlights from the day. Here's a quick rundown
- On the first hole Chris actually outdrives the youngest member of the group, Vince (23), by a yard. However Vince is in the fairway and Chris is not, therefore Vince is the technical winner of the long drive competition. Better luck next time Chris.
- James has a tough bout with his shortgame over the first few holes.
- Chris gets a great bounce off a large tree behind the second green, dropping his ball on the fringe. He nearly converts the birdie putt but settles for a barky par.
- James sticks a tee shot to 15 feet on the 3rd hole, but in his excitement to mark his ball he forgets to put on the brake on his push-cart. The cart slowly starts to roll down the 50 foot hill on the side of the green, gaining speed in a desparate attempt to escape James. James, not ready to part with his clubs, sprints after the runaway cart. Fortunately for James and unluckily for the clubs, the cart crashes into a giant oak tree 15 feet down the hill, tips over and falls to the ground. James' clubs are everywhere, but they escape unscathed.
- Chris hits a hybrid out of a fairway bunker on the left side of the fourth hole better than anybody has ever hit a hybrid...period.
- Vince is 1 over through five holes. Feeling the vibe he makes an agressively bad swing on 6, loses his ball in the hay and catches a train back to reality.
- Carlo hits his tee shot to 10 feet on the par 3 eighth hole. He pulls out his phone, looks at the radar, and this is what he sees:
But our real weatherman, Chris, politely shows us a different radar. Compared to what Carlo reported, it looks like this:
Always trust the professionals, it didn't rain at any point during our round.
- James finds a fairway bunker on the right side of the 10th hole. He hits a less than spectacular approach shot and leaves himself 100 yards to the pin. Unfazed, James knocks his third shot to 5 inches and waves to the crowd as if to say "thats how I meant to play this hole."
- Carlo hits another fairway on the 11th hole. However for the first time in the round nobody in the group makes a par.
- Vince hits a good drive on 12 and hits his approach to 15 feet. After the birdie putt tumbles into the center of the cup he looks to the sky almost as if to say, "Thanks, but I'm gonna need at least five more of those." Carlo hits another fairway
- The group is all but kicked off the back tees on 13. For fear of being kicked off the course, they hit from the tee markers the rest of the way in. Vince demostrates how to follow a birdie by blowing his tee shot into the woods, forcing him to retee. Carlo misses his first fairway in this millennium and also loses one right in the trees, but finds it and makes a great bogey. Chris makes a ho-hum par. James makes a putt and earns a "nice par" from Carlo. In actuality, James just made a birdie putt. James is a sneaky guy.
- James continues to own the back nine with a solid approach shot on 14. Carlo and Chris also find the putting surface. Vince, to be nice, doesn't even come close. But he narrowly misses a medium length par putt and happily settles for bogey.
- Three players find the fairway on 15. Surprisingly Carlo is not one of them. But he makes a great bogey from the first bunker on the hill. The rest of the group acknowledges James has a birdie attempt. He makes par.
- James, Carlo, and Vince all find the right greenside bunker on 16. Vince, convinced his ball is the one closest to the green, stands around waiting for someone to play their shot. After a full minute, he realizes he's the one furthest away facing a 20 yard bunker shot. He knocks it to 5 feet and makes a sandy par. Chris blows his birdie attempt 10 feet past the hole, but makes the comebacker for par.
- James and Chris find the putting surface on 17 to the delight of the galleries. Vince pulls an 8 iron convinced he has the right club. He comes up 30 yards short in a bunker. Catching too much ball on the first bunker shot, he finds himself in the bunker behind the green, this time with a fried egg. He leaves that bunker shot in the bunker, but knocks the next bunker shot on the green and makes a 6 footer for a double bogey 5.
- Chris finds the fairway on 18 but gets a tough break on an otherwise good approach. Carlo makes a great 4. Vince looks for his drive in the hay (again). James finishes with a 6. Vince's push cart picks a fight with James' push cart, and loses. The GolfWRX champions thank the crowd and head for the bar to take in the views.
And here's the damage
Edited by italianstallion, 02 August 2012 - 01:12 AM.
. And you played a good round, just got bit on the last hole.
I had to settle and play the blue 
