Jon was kind enough to invite me out to the Polo Fields again. He knows I like the course because I have a winning record there. Today featured a match play duel between teams. Jon (18) and I (8), paired up to take on Brian (14) and Dan (14). Brian and Dan both had to guesstimate there handicaps because they just couldn't remember where they finished up last year. Suspicious. But I was feeling confident about my undefeated record at Polo Fields so I went for the bet. On the first tee, an over confident Brian proposed an additional Nassau (without handicaps). Jon and Dan declined. I accepted. My confidence waned a bit after I doubled the first two holes to start out four over. Fortunately for me, Brian and Dan were floundering on the first hole as well. Jon carried us on number one. Apparently feeling he had done his job, he then strapped the saddle on me for the rest of the day. We escaped my pathetic start, unscathed. I regained composure, and shot a mediocre 42 on the front. That was good enough to win the first third of the Nassau. Jon and I were down almost the entire front, but managed to rebound to a 1 up lead after nine. Jon seemed to be in possession of a malfunctioning driver. It just kept going down and to the left. Some kind of a Kennedy assassination theory theme. After putting many driver theories to rest, Jon just relaxed with his Bud (amply supplied by the pleasure twins) and managed to get a few drives airborne. Or maybe it was after putting many Buds to rest, I don't know. Everybody pared 10. By 12 I had the Nassau in the bag, barring disaster. In the 13th fairway, Brain, realizing he was a beaten golfer, suckered me into a junk bet in an attempt to recoup inevitable losses. He won with a beautiful wedge shot to 3 feet. His best shot of the day. It wasn't enough to balance, but I think he can still feed his newborn daughter. With the team match still in question, Dan birdied 16 to give the opposition a 2 up advantage. Brian made a nice par to beat our pair of bogeys on 17, and suddenly we were 4 down with 1 hole to play. Brian, still in quest of lost baby food money, suggested we press. Of course we pressed. We won the last hole to draw the match even, and preserve my undefeated record at Polo Fields. Everyone agreed a rematch between the teams is in order. I'm sure Brian and his daughter want another shot at me on that Nassau bet!
WEEK IN REVIEW 3-19-01
3/23/01 Weather: 60 degrees, steady 10-knot wind with gusts to 20 mph
Ron and I made the mistake of driving down to Gibson Bay on the first warm, sunny Friday of the year. We almost couldn't find a place to park it was so crowded. We were paired with Adam and Jason, two local college students. So at least we had someone to talk to while we waited on every tee. It took slightly over 5 hours to play. The course was very soggy from recent rains and the wind was a big factor. The front side was miserably slow plus Ron shot a 40 to put me 3 down at the turn. Then we got a cooler full of Bud Light and the backside wasn't quite so bad. My highlight hole was the 11th. I pulled by drive over a mound and probably into the lake. After my 5 minute limit for searching (rule 27) expired, during which, I scared a goose off her nest and was chased by the gander, I took my drop. I punched into the fairway. Then hit 6 Iron to the green. I then rolled in a 30 foot, uphill, twisting putt for bogey to win the hole. However, that was my only bright moment , as Ron went 40-42-82 to win 3 up. Gibson Bay is a nice layout with real lush bent grass fairways. It just gets too much play to appeal to me. I'd rather drive a little further or pay a little more. As a wise man once said, "Golf is a 4 hour game."
3/22/01 Weather: 60 degrees and mostly sunny with light wind
I took Ron and Jim north on a pleasant Thursday in March. The place is 15 miles off I-71 and worth the trouble to find. I've played golf in many states. Perry Park has the largest greens I've ever seen. I had two putts over 70 feet long when we were there. I didn't make either one. They also have wide fairways that are well fertilized by the large local deer population. The course is in the process of changing from 3 to 5 sets of tees so the score card isn't exactly correct. In our confusion on the first tee, Ron tricked Jim and I into playing from the blue tees. We figured out later the blues were over 6600 yards. This gives a distinct advantage to the young guy, who out drives us at least 30 yards a hole. On the first two par 5's I had to use driver, driver, and 7 wood just to reach the green. Of course, Ron played best and won the skins game 5 to 3 to 1. As the guy with 3 skins I broke even, so I guess I should just let Jim whine for himself. We like Perry Park. When we go back we'll try it from the white tees.
3/20/01 Weather: Cloudy and 46 degrees when we started.
The new clubhouse at Lincoln Trail Country Club looked great against the gray sky as we pulled up. When we got out of the truck we noticed the wind had risen but the temperature had not. Being golf warriors, we just put on another layer and teed off. It took us a few holes to warm up, but then we got it going. Ron birdied the 5th. I birdied the 6th. Ron birdied the 7th. Then I pared 8 and 9 to turn at 38 and go two up. On the 13th, it started sprinkling rain and the temperature began to drop. By 14 it was drizzling and I offered to quit 1 up. "Golf Warrior Ron" disdainfully rejected my offer, and by 15 it was a cold rain with gusts to 20mph. I broke his heart by draining a 30-foot birdie putt on 17. By then it was too late to quit. It was a golf adventure I don't want to repeat, but I won with an 80 to his 82, so back home it's a pleasant memory. Lincoln Trail is worth another play when the zoysia is green and the sun is shining.
3/19/01 Weather: 60 degrees high with 10mph East wind
The course has new owners. They are making long needed improvements. They have removed the unsightly pool and tennis courts from the front and added some wood fencing to give the place a better appearance from the road. Other improvements are evident in the clubhouse and on the course. New tees on several holes make the course play 6724 yards from the back tees and I didn't want any part of that. Ron, Jim and I, played the white tees at 6122 yards. None of us can call the course easy. We all had more than our normal allotment of double bogies with just a few exciting moments. Jim chipped in on the 10th to tie Ron's birdie. Ron also birdied the par 5 14th hole. I won a skin with a par on the 12th, the #1 handicap hole. I was the winner and Ron the loser in the skins game. The course is worth a play at $14 to walk or $19 to ride with an American Lung Association card. We'll keep an eye on them to see that the improvements continue.
MOERON WEEK IN REVIEW 3-12-01
Wednesday 3-14. Weather: 58 degrees, sunny, with slight wind.
Apparently we offended our regular guy at Oldham County, Jim, (better known as Snake) because he hasn't returned a phone call in two years. It wasn't because we were taking his money. There could be a plethora of reasons a guy gets a nickname like "Snake". I'm not pursuing many of them, with the exception, that he carries a 16 handicap and seems to win a lot of golf bets. No Snakes this day.
I played pretty well and shot 39 on the front. Moe did fine and had 41. Making me 1 up at the turn. I proceeded to crush a corner cutting drive on 10 that left me 215 yards to the par 5. Stuck a 4 wood 3 feet from the pin, and made eagle. Birdied 11, and suddenly Moe is down 3. Fortunately for Moe, I leveled off and shot 38. Moe lost 4 on the day. I have to put a * by my eagle because we played from temporary tees. It still felt good.
Can we talk about trees? I love trees. "Big mature trees" is my favorite thing to hear in a course description. Oldham County has large mature trees. One such tree used to sit in the middle of the fairway on #16 (old #7). I don't get it. Why do you put a tree in the middle of the fairway? 16 is a great hole except for the tree. So I'm standing on the tee, I look down the fairway...no tree? Somebody finally came to their senses. I hit my drive, and proceed down the fairway. As I approach my tee shot, I see the stump from the aforementioned, poorly placed obstacle. Just beyond the stump...WHAT'S THIS? Some genius has planted a replacement. Unbelievable! I lied earlier when I said I didn't get why architects plant trees in the middle of fairways. It's because they didn't have enough land to build a real golf hole, so they tricked it up to compensate for the lack of yardage. #16 is 366 yard par 4 with water and sand in play. The hole has trees left and right. The green is extremely wide but not very deep. Putting emphasis on approach shot distance control, and putting. That's plenty of difficulty for the average golfer. Get rid of the tree, it just makes a nice hole look silly. OK, I feel better.
MOERON WEEK IN REVIEW 3-5-01
Sadly, we were unable to play golf the week of March 5 because of winters persistence. I did get to the range twice, but that doesn't seem very interesting. Moe ran off to the south, in a weather induced panic. He will be reporting on his golf trip soon.
MOERON WEEK IN REVIEW 2/26/01
Monday 2/26 Weather: Sunny with no wind. High of 52 degrees
The big winds of the weekend died down and the sun came out. The forecast high was only 50 degrees so we decided to head south. The weather turned out swell, but Elizabethtown must have received more rainfall than we did. Pine Valley was a swamp.
We both slopped around to a 43 on the front and were all square. Ron got it together and started the backside with 3 pars. I pretty much went to whining and complaining. The tees were poor. The fairways were clumps of green grass in a sea of brown Bermuda. One hole was so tight the guys in front of us were hitting their drives over our heads as we were putting. The day will be recorded as the noisiest Monday in February. Kids were screaming. The guys building houses were barking out orders as they pounded nails. The tanks at Fort Knox were fighting a war. Everyone driving around the neighborhood needed a muffler...which could have been purchased with the money used on the kazillion decibel car stereo system. Oh, did I mention the course winds through one subdivision after another. On the 16th tee I told Ron that he could come back when all the grass was green, but I wasn't. He then bogeyed the last three holes to give me a chance. Of course I double bogeyed two of 'um to end up down 4.
Ron went 43-39-82. Moe went 43-46-89.
Thursday 3/1/01 Weather: Mostly sunny, 47 degrees with no wind
It was a beautiful day for golf so we drove down to Danville to try Old Bridge. I was back to getting 3 strokes but I needed one more.
If you play this course, on the 1st hole which is the 1st of many blind drives, hit the ball 200 yards to stay on top of the hill. That will leave you 100 yards over water to a tiny green. If you hit your drive 225 yards the ball will roll down the hill into a lake, where one of the big frogs may eat it.
I always take the honors on the 1st hole for several reasons. I'm always anxious to start. I figure it may be my only chance to tee off first. Ron is still trying to warm up since part of my strategy is to get to the 1st tee ahead of unseen goblins that may hold us up on the course. On this particular beautiful day, I kept the honors for the entire front nine. I shot a 41 to Ron's 43 and was 3 up at the turn.
My 15 minutes of fame was quickly over. Ron birdied the par 3 10th hole to win it and take the honors. He then proceeded to keep honors the rest of the day by paring (36) the backside. Luckily I did not collapse and we ended all square. Ron 43-36-79. Moe 41-41-82.
Friday 3/2/01 Weather: Cloudy with a 47 degree high and 10 mph wind
Paul (handicap 21) and Chuck (handicap 23) played hooky from work to join the MOERONs for a wolf game on a day that never got as warm as we were promised.
Wolf, also called Captains, is a game for four players where you change partners on each hole. Rotating captains, make their partner selection on each tee box. The captain can elect to "wolf" or go alone against the other three on any hole. If you are chosen by the captain, you are provided with the chance to "divorce" or go alone. There are many variations in the way partners can be selected, but partners are very important. In a wolf game the person shooting the best round is not necessarily winning the most money , which brings us back to Quail Chase.
I shot a 40 on the front side (South Course) but lost money consistently since everyone seemed to play best when they were not my partner. Only on the fourth hole when I birdied, and partner Chuck made par for net birdie, did I win.
On the backside (East Course) I went to begging and complaining and both Paul and Chuck saved me at least once. Ron continued to struggle and I continued to pick him instead of the hot golfer getting a stroke. That would be Chuck, who seems to have found his game during the off season. The chart below will show why you should never be worried about playing Wolf with better golfers as long as you are getting your strokes.
Having read "MoeRon Golf Logic" Paul and Chuck were good sports and purchased the losers a beverage of our choice.