btw Cheers Silver. You were right dude!
Bad Day at Blackrock
So the 36 hole tourney was on Sunday. I was the first guy to strike a ball at 7.45am. I was at the course at 6.45am, spent time warming up, got myself focused etc. The forecast was good, a bit breezy and the ground very firm, links golf at it's best. We were playing from the tips, all 6,900 yards, but the ball was running so much the driver stayed in the bag most of the day.
So anyway my morning round was a mixture of the sublime and painful. I had 2 doubles in the front 9, including a lost ball and a 3 putt. But I managed to par every hole on the back with only 13 putts, including single putting the last 4 greens! (AWESOME 2 BALL ACTION!) So I scrambled a 77 to lie 2nd at lunch-time (which probably could have been an 83 quite easily).
So here I am with a real chance to win this thing, if only I can start swinging well and get some rhythm. So I start with 3 pars and a bogey on round 2. Looking Good Billy Ray!
Then Blackrock kicked in. I "moved to six over" after 10 with a couple of doubles. And then it happened, the biggest brain fart ever. I was left of the green on 12 with my second. I had a 10 ft. high chip onto a plateau green. The flag was close to the edge and I say to myself "Don't get too cute, pitch up and take your bogey". So I managed to ignore my own advice. The second attempt left me with a 30ft,. putt which I then naturally managed to 3 putt for a triple!! So I'm now 9 over and in free fall. I finished with an embarrassing 86, with 4 wonderful bogies to finish, nothing left in the tank.
This game is a real balancer; although I struggled in the morning I kept myself in with a shout. However that sneaky bastard called golf will eventually find you out and he paid me back in kind.
So over 36 holes I had 1 treble and 4 doubles, all of them brain farts. The rest was all good stuff (8 over for 31 holes!) I reckon golf is a game of minimising mistakes. 152 won it and my total of 163 was only 11 shots behind. I still reckon I got a top 10 finish, but alas no silverware for this Irish golfer.
I was happy to see that the guy that won it was 64 years old, has recovered TWICE from cancer battles and came back in the afternoon with a 74, (the old dog) in a stiff Northerly breeze. That made me feel better, as I still have a few more years yet to win this bastard tourney!!
I'll be back!