19th Hole
A hacker plays the big ones: Pt. 3
A Hacker Plays The Big Ones” is a short story authored by Steven R. Roberts. The short story, written two months following the trip, tells the tale of Roberts and his friend, Bob Blackman’s, golf odyssey around Scotland in the 1970s where the two played four of most historic courses in the game: St. Andrews, Carnoustie, Muirfield and Gleneagles.
We have broken the short story into a four-parter and will publish Part 4. of the story in the coming days.
Bob and I hadn’t had much to say to each other on the trip down from Perth, but the normal golf babble broke out as we saw the Royal and Ancient Clubhouse and sensed the moment was near.
“What if we take a divot?” I asked.
“You replace it. What else?” Bob said.
“I was just imagining a juicy chunk of this place framed, under glass, hermetically sealed and hanging in my den back home,” I said.
“I think you may be having a histrionic, historic fit,” Bob said.
He was right. I needed to pull myself together and get mentally tough for the match of the day. There was a lot of ground to make up on Bob and the wooden-shafted devil.
I leaned over the first tee rail and held out the money to pay for the greens fees.
“Step baack, lod,” the cashier man said. “I’ll tull ya when ya kin pie.” The cashier and the starter were definitely in control of when and if those of us standing in the misty rain could play.
George III could have used these guys. The King outlawed the game twice during his reign. Even in those days, politicians would stoop to any level for the ladies’ approval.
After the setback involving a pink tee, and after I hit my second shot into the Swilcan Burn that runs in front of the first green, we were on our way. I took a double-bogie six and thought I understood better why they call the stream a burn.
The course was essentially a narrow strip of land along the sea, with the front nine going out and the second nine coming back. Some of the greens were so big they were used for a hole going out on one half of the green and a pin on the other side of the green for the hole coming back. Some fairways are also shared and, in fact, two of the fairways crossed each other.
My round for the day seemed almost of secondary importance as I drank in the history and stark beauty of the course jammed against the rugged sea. I managed to concentrate long enough to birdie 14 and 15; Bob birdied 3 and 12.
In the end, I had some disasters and finished with an 81 while the devil and his friend had a steady 78. It just goes to show, you must be very careful in choosing your traveling friends. Next time I’m going to find somebody 75 years old with a bad back and enough social grace to give me a few three-footers.
In no time at all, it hit me that the long-awaited round was going to be over too soon. The mist had stopped by the time we looked down the fairway from the 17th tee. The tee shot on the notoriously difficult hole must start down the left side of the fairway and fade or go over the edge of the hotel positioned helplessly at the corner of the dogleg. We navigated the corner successfully but noticed many pock marks on the side of the building from less fortunate.
Bob and I walked up on the 18th tee just 2 hours and 45 minutes after teeing off. Off to our left, we could see the first tee was still crowded with players anxious to chase their dreams. I walked tall, visualizing the thousands of spectators standing along Golf Avenue to the right and the grandstands behind the square green holding 8,000 fans on tournament Sunday.
This was the final hole, and I had a chance to win the British Open by besting Palmer and Nicklaus by a stroke. I needed only a par on the final hole. I visualized a par because there was no way I could birdie the hole in front of thousands of people and all of the press and TV crews jammed against the ropes. Actually, Doug Sanders walked up to his drive the final day in 1972 needing only a par to win. I looked for Sanders’ divot, but it had healed over.
Bob and I were both over the road that bisects the hole and Bob was away. Let me clarify. I out-drove good old Bob. He hit a pitch and run shot that reached the front edge of the green.
For me, it was enough of a test just to pull the club back for the second shot. I selected a wedge and went down through the green sod, soaked by rain the night before while I had been incarcerated.
My shot took off high but was pulled to the left, just catching the edge of the large green. The crowd went nuts, or so it seemed. As I walked forward to pick up the turf and return it to its honored place, I took one last look back at St. Andrews.
“I’ll be back someday, old man by the sea,” I said out loud. “You will know me. Next time I’ll have a left-handed, wooden-shafted putter and you won’t have a chance.”
Bob struck his 120-foot putt well with that stupid-looking putter. The ball hit the hole and stopped two inches away. The two people clapping as they walked along the railing behind the green represented the 20,000 there each time this course hosts the Open Championship.
If I could somehow sneak in my 32-footer, I could pull within five shots of the young, albeit cheating, left-handed Australian. My putt was pure and in all the way but somehow hit the lip and spun out. The couple along the rail let out an “ohuuu” in unison.
Is there no justice? As I lined up the curling two-footer return putt, I remembered that Doug Sanders had this same putt to best Jack Nicklaus and win the championship in 1972. The official silversmith was already carving his first name in the trophy when the unbelievable happened. Sanders missed the putt. He would go on to lose the playoff with Nicklaus the next day.
Out of respect, I too missed the very same two-footer. I could have made it if I had wanted to. Honest, I could have
Coming soon: A Hacker Plays The Big Ones Pt. 4
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19th Hole
DP World Tour pro has score improved after round following bizarre rules situation
As originally reported by Ryan French of Monday Q Info, a DP World Tour player was impacted over the weekend by a peculiar rules situation.
Ivan Cantero was playing the Volvo China Open when he hit an errant tee shot on the 13th hole. Cantero was unsure if the ball was in play or not, as it went towards a jungle area, so he played a provisional.
French confirmed with a rules official that the provisional was legal due to the fact that the player didn’t know whether the ball was in play or not.
Cantero’s original ball was found in the penalty area, which should have rendered his provisional irrelevant.
A rules official then told Cantero he could no longer play his original ball because he hit a provisional.
French shares that Cantero asked for a second opinion and was given the same (incorrect) answer. He went on to play his provisional and made a long par putt on the par 5.
After the round, the rules officials realized their mistake and decided to take a stroke away from the player, changing the par to a birdie.
The report cites rule 20.2 in the Rules of Golf.
“If a ruling by a referee or the Committee is later found wrong, the ruling can be corrected if possible under the Rules. If it is too late to do so, the ruling stands.”
The score change resulted in Cantero making the cut on the number and he then rallied on Saturday to finish in 23rd place after a weather-shortened event.
More from the 19th Hole
- Phil Mickelson drops big retirement hint; Says LIV will grow the game “on a much more global basis”
- 2-time major champ announces shock retirement from the sport at age of 33
- Tiger explains why golf has “negative connotations” for daughter Sam
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19th Hole
‘F*** around and find out’ – Phil Mickelson fires warning shot over LIV’s access to majors in since-deleted tweet
On Sunday, the social media account “Flushing It” made a post about the importance of LIV Golf ensuring that their players have major championship eligibility going forward.
Never has there been a more obvious example of the immediate issue LIV faces than today. The Volvo China Open was played for a $2.25 million purse and several players qualified for the PGA Championship at Valhalla. LIV Golf Singapore played for a purse more than 10 times that…
— Flushing It (@flushingitgolf) May 5, 2024
“LIV can have the grandest of plans for their future but getting players access to major championships should be their number 1 priority. Especially with the major exemptions running out fast and nearly all player contracts up for renewal this year and next.”
Phil Mickelson then responded to the post, warning the golf world that excluding LIV players from majors will have unintended consequences, saying “FAAFO” which means “f*** around and find out”.
“Maybe some LIV players won’t be missed. But what if NONE of the LIV players played? Would they be missed? What about next year when more great players join? Or the following year? At some point they will care and will have to answer to sponsors and television. FAAFO”
His post has since been deleted, but there are plenty of screenshots out there.
??????? #FAAFO — LIV Golf star Phil Mickelson has sent a clear message to the powers that be, when it comes to LIV players and their access into majors: “F—k around and find out.”@flushingitgolf | @PhilMickelson pic.twitter.com/kVEL7VR6UN
— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) May 5, 2024
It will be easier said than done, but it does appear that some sort of agreement between LIV and the majors could be coming in the future if the PGA Tour and LIV aren’t able to mend fences.
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19th Hole
Greg Norman reveals plan for LIV to own all their golf courses and each team to have a home venue
In an interview with Bloomberg, LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman discussed the current state of LIV and what it means for the future of professional golf.
In the interview, Norman said he believes that LIV has been welcomed with “open arms.”
“Our product is received with open arms by many, but a few want to try and stop us for all the wrong reasons. They haven’t been able to sustain their position in the game of golf. What we have done brilliantly is injected more capital. Golf is finally looked upon as an asset class.”
Interestingly, Norman also revealed future plans for LIV to own all the courses they play and have home courses for each team.
“Man United owns their stadium. Indian Premier League, they own their stadiums. NFL, they own their stadiums. Think about LIV owning all their own golf courses, each team having a home venue and they host. And now you can build out around that. It’s not just a golf course. You bring in education, you bring in hospitality, you bring in real estate, you bring in merchandise, you bring in management, you bring in all these other different opportunities that the game of golf has to deliver to a community, to a region. We are gonna be doing that.
“The Philippines are very keen to get us there. Golf in the Philippines is doing very well. We are not just sport, we’re sports and entertainment and culture. So no matter where we go in the world, we adjust what we need to deliver from an entertainment standpoint.”
Norman also talked about his time as the number one player in the world when the best players in the world didn’t always play on the same tour.
“That never happened anyway. Right? I was number one player in the world. Very seldom did I go and play in the United States or Europe or Asia or anything. Did I play against the best in the world outside the four majors and maybe the TPC? They’re the five, right? So very, very seldom did that happen. We got all paid appearance money to go play somewhere.”
Norman added that LIV “isn’t going anywhere.”
“My boss told me LIV is not going to go anywhere. It will be well and truly in operation, running well past his death – he’s a young guy.”
More from the 19th Hole
- Phil Mickelson drops big retirement hint; Says LIV will grow the game “on a much more global basis”
- 2-time major champ announces shock retirement from the sport at age of 33
- Tiger explains why golf has “negative connotations” for daughter Sam
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