My round started with a tap in par, followed by a quadruple-9, a birdie two and another par. Consistency on the course is not one of my forte’s. Back-toback sevens were followed with many more 3-putt bogies than tap in pars. Fred is definitely a believer in ‘Play it Forward’ and created his own course by playing from the “Fred Combo Tees.” He missed very few fairways and chipping close for a crack at par with tap in bogies was Fred’s modus operandi. Geoff, who spent nearly a week with his coach refining his swing over the winter had his new game on full display with a “best shot of the year” arching hybrid from the light rough on the par 5 second hole. Immediately after flushing the shot and while the ball was still rising, Geoff exclaimed, “It doesn’t get any better than that!” Unfortunately, that proved prophetic as his Par-Par start quickly dissipated with a triple on the third hole and concluded with seven sixes over the final 10 holes. Mike’s birdie two at the par 3 brought the match close and the air was punctuated by a battle roar he learned while playing Scrum Half for the Florida Gator rugby team. It was scary and beautiful all at the same time. Tiger Woods’ fist pump has nothing on Mike’s celebratory machinations. My round was encapsulated on the 17th hole. Best drive of the day followed by the best fairway wood of the day followed by the best 9 iron of the day to within 4 feet followed by a pull-shank putt that missed so far short and left that Fred actually laughed out loud and said he thought he had seen everything in his 70 plus years, but now he was sure he had. You know the old saying if you have to ask the price, you probably can’t afford it. At the turn, Fred insisted on paying for my 1.5 oz bag of Beef Jerky. Fred’s face turned as white as a brand new ProV1 when he saw Ohio Golf Journal
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