*The views and opinions expressed within this post are those of Kurt's caddy and do not necessarily reflect the views of the blog owner*
On Tuesday I took a day off from work to complete a milestone: caddying Kurt to a successful Mid-Am qualification for the third year in a row (as well as following it up with a second consecutive successful guest blog). As a mid-handicapper, I always enjoy being around Kurt and other elite amateurs so that I can soak up as many tips as possible. Fine, high-handicapper. For example, I learned Kurt's 3 golden rules to success at a big tournament:
1. Show up as early as humanly possible. You should be there 4 hours early if you can. Spend most of the time biting your nails and turning into a mannequin so that you have no nerves left by the time you tee off.
2. Call S. Keegan and ask for "Keegan's Notes". Hitting the ball down the middle and putting your 2nd shot on the green? That's old fashion, outdated golf. Without Keegan's notes, we wouldn't have known to tee off with a 4 iron hybrid on a 460 yard Par 4. We wouldn't have known that it was better to be in the big gully in front of the green than actually on the green.
3. Club down. You don't want to be seen taking a longer club for a shorter yardage. It lets your opponent know that you're weak. Came up short on that approach shot? Its okay...you were using an 8 iron from 170.
We started the day by hitting complementary balls at Concord's driving range. After Kurt hit a ground ball and sliced a few off of the driving range onto the 14th fairway, I began to worry that I may need to do something beyond simply carrying his bag. Luckily the guy hitting next to him had legs that looked like wooden telephone polls, had barely enough mobility to tee up his next ball, and consistently hit paper thin slice that made me confident that Kurt may have a chance after all.
We started on the 10th hole and Kurt began by playing it safe and hitting a hybrid...with a wicked slice into the woods. The starter almost fainted and yelled "good god" as the ball went about 140 yards and almost took a U-turn. After 4 holes, Kurt was 4 over par...and had already taken about 8 tee shots! If I had a nickel for every time I heard, "I'm going to hit a provisional...its a 3...".
On his 5th hole, something amazing happened. After debating whether he should hit a 3rd drive, we decided we would look for his first drive on the edge of the driving range among countless other range balls that people had sliced onto the 14th hole (mostly Kurt's shots from his morning session). If it wasn't for Concord CC's decision to use yellow range balls instead of white, we may have never found Kurt's ball buried in spinach next to a bunker. Picking the ball clean as he extracts nachos from an O'Sullivan's plate, Kurt stuck his 7 iron to about 5 feet. He then proceeded to sink the 5 foot birdie putt by aiming almost sideways to account for the undulation. 3 in!!! We're making a comeback!
This game is easy all of the sudden. Better follow up with 3 consecutive bogeys on the next 3 holes to make things a little more challenging. So we did...including on a 528 yard Par 5 where Kurt was 15 yards out in 2 shots. On his 9th hole--the 417 yard Par 4 18th, a switch finally flipped. A calm par...to the front nine we go...
Then the earthquake hit. Yes, the one you saw on the news. It was actually the result of Kurt's tee shot on 1. 300 yards in the air. Absolutely crushed. Just missed the birdie after a skillful flop shot...but pars are good at Concord CC from the black tees. The 436 yard Par 4 2nd hole? Easy par. The 455 yard Par 4 4th hole? Easy Par. The 437 yard Par 4 5th hole? Easy Par. We're on fire. After a miscue on that led to a double on 7 I sensed Kurt was about to write off his hot streak as a promising stretch that would be too little too late. On the 8th fairway, I told him to keep the wheels on as every shot may end up counting. He looked back at me with his "I just shot 100 buddy, what have you been smoking?" face. After a sweet par on 8, we made our way to the last hole...an 150 yard Par 3. Kurt hit his tee shot crisp but pushes it right...and then the golf gods took over. It hit the side of a hill and rolled to about 4 feet. As we were on the green reading the putt, a punkish looking player and his even more punkish looking caddy walked past me and asked us if "we were in the hunt". "What's the hunt?" I replied. 81. At this point I had no idea what Kurt's score was. I'm not sure if he did either, but he felt he was in the ballpark. All of the sudden he got the "oh crap I better hit this putt" look. Sinks the putt. A two! The old MGA guys hovering near the 9th green loved it.
After adding up the scores, we finished at 79. After a few more scores came in, it looked like we were heading for a 9 man playoff at 79 for a handful of spots. "If you shot 79, get over to the putting green or the range to warm up" was being heard throughout the patio. Kurt went over to the range and I stuck around to see what our next step was going to be. After the final groups came in and someone with a 79 inexplicably withdrew, all 79s were officially in and the two 80s were the alternates. The MGA team loved the simple math. I ran over to the range to let Kurt know...but not before messing with him and pretending we need to rush over to the first playoff hole. Although he starched his last hybrid on the range (as our dad would say...he also calls jeans dungarees), he looked relieved when I finally told him we could just take his clubs to the car and head home with a guaranteed spot in the final stage of the Mid-Am. He deserved it...Concord is a brutally challenging course and only 4 out of 65 people broke 75 (+5).
Kurt would like to thank the following people for helping him qualify for his third conesuctive Mid-Am. His caddy. Steve Keegan's notes (again). Mike Keegan's beard. All Lexington CC members for regressing to the point where a score of 320 might win you a club championship.
