Golf Game Turns Tennish At Princeton Open
December 23rd, 2010 07:26 AM
Saturday, August 11, 2007: the foursome I was playing with stood around the first tee of the Princeton Golf Club nervously waiting our call to start the Princeton Men’s Open. We chatted about the PGA Championship, which was going on as we spoke, and the topic came up of Angel Cabrera, the defending U.S. Open winner, making a 10 on a par three the day before came up.
“How do you make a ten on a par three?” somebody asked. The three guys in my group then lied: “I have never done that.” I truthfully said I had never done that, but little did I know I was putting the jinx in.
Two hours later I was standing on the 8th tee box at Princeton. I was plus two and well under my 10 handicap. My Moe Norman-styled swing was on cruise control and as I looked up at the small 8th green perched between two large trees 208 yards away all I could tell myself was “Get it close.”
I slipped the head cover off of my 5-wood and put a great swing on it. Well, a pretty good swing. Okay, I pulled it to the left but it landed in a spot where one guy felt good enough to say, “Damn lucky Tom, you have an easy pitch back to save par.”
But when your luck is running low it seems nothing is below it. We looked and looked with no luck. I walked slowly back to the tee box hoping the ball would appear but nothing. I got to the tee box and looked one more time down the fairway hoping to see three smiling faces and somebody pointing to my lost ball. Nothing.
I teed up my second ball -- laying two, hitting three -- and gave it a whack. The ball flew right over the pin, over the green and over the white O.B. markers.
I was now teeing up my third ball and hitting my fifth shot. I was starting to feel like the Titanic: “Iceberg dead ahead!”
My third ball was not well hit. I had geared back to a 7-wood and sliced it short of the green. My sixth shot was a feeble pitch that flew about as far as it rolled and came up 10 feet short of the green. My seventh shot (another chip) crawled onto the green with about as much enthusiasm as a married man being dragged to a Celine Dion concert. It landed just on the front edge of the green and died 20 feet short of the hole.
Putting for the first time in almost 10 minutes my tall putter, which a few moments ago felt like a missile launcher, now felt like a 2x4 with a rubber grip on it. My first putt and eighth shot came up low of the hole and three feet short. My second putt, ninth shot, rimmed the hole and danced an uncomfortable two feet by.
Finally, blind with fear, I managed to find the bottom of the cup for a snappy 10! In only minutes I went from well under handicap to well over handicap. Needless to say I wasn’t within calling distance of the prize table that weekend.
A Player’s Tip
Don’t let this horror story scare you. Princeton is 6,600 yards long and a dynamite place to play. Located one hour from Osoyoos or Penticton, Princeton is the gateway to the Okanagan. Look up Princeton or any other B.C. golf course at BCGOLFGUIDE.com
Tom Cattermole is a freelance golf writer. cattermole@telus.net
Copyright North Shore Magazine Issue Oct - Nov 07
“How do you make a ten on a par three?” somebody asked. The three guys in my group then lied: “I have never done that.” I truthfully said I had never done that, but little did I know I was putting the jinx in.
Two hours later I was standing on the 8th tee box at Princeton. I was plus two and well under my 10 handicap. My Moe Norman-styled swing was on cruise control and as I looked up at the small 8th green perched between two large trees 208 yards away all I could tell myself was “Get it close.”
I slipped the head cover off of my 5-wood and put a great swing on it. Well, a pretty good swing. Okay, I pulled it to the left but it landed in a spot where one guy felt good enough to say, “Damn lucky Tom, you have an easy pitch back to save par.”
But when your luck is running low it seems nothing is below it. We looked and looked with no luck. I walked slowly back to the tee box hoping the ball would appear but nothing. I got to the tee box and looked one more time down the fairway hoping to see three smiling faces and somebody pointing to my lost ball. Nothing.
I teed up my second ball -- laying two, hitting three -- and gave it a whack. The ball flew right over the pin, over the green and over the white O.B. markers.
I was now teeing up my third ball and hitting my fifth shot. I was starting to feel like the Titanic: “Iceberg dead ahead!”
My third ball was not well hit. I had geared back to a 7-wood and sliced it short of the green. My sixth shot was a feeble pitch that flew about as far as it rolled and came up 10 feet short of the green. My seventh shot (another chip) crawled onto the green with about as much enthusiasm as a married man being dragged to a Celine Dion concert. It landed just on the front edge of the green and died 20 feet short of the hole.
Putting for the first time in almost 10 minutes my tall putter, which a few moments ago felt like a missile launcher, now felt like a 2x4 with a rubber grip on it. My first putt and eighth shot came up low of the hole and three feet short. My second putt, ninth shot, rimmed the hole and danced an uncomfortable two feet by.
Finally, blind with fear, I managed to find the bottom of the cup for a snappy 10! In only minutes I went from well under handicap to well over handicap. Needless to say I wasn’t within calling distance of the prize table that weekend.
A Player’s Tip
Don’t let this horror story scare you. Princeton is 6,600 yards long and a dynamite place to play. Located one hour from Osoyoos or Penticton, Princeton is the gateway to the Okanagan. Look up Princeton or any other B.C. golf course at BCGOLFGUIDE.com
Tom Cattermole is a freelance golf writer. cattermole@telus.net
Copyright North Shore Magazine Issue Oct - Nov 07
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