Smiter
Dunce Cap For A Bit
I have two. Several years back I was playing a course and hole 1 was a massive dogleg par 4. Very few people try to go for this green in one, not so much due to its length but because you have to sky the ball to cut the corner due to large trees. I have a VERY high ball flight. The smart play would be to hit 5i straight and have a short to mid iron approach. I almost went this route due to pace concerns but I'd played here many times before and had been on this green a few times. I was playing as a single and got paired with a 3some that all knew each other. They thought I was nuts to go for it and I felt that they were very skeptical that I could even get close. No guts no glory, right?
So after holding things up for a solid 10 minutes, maybe a little more I drove back to the tee box to play once the green cleared. I barely make any contact, it gets off the tee box and buries in thick rough. I have to chunk it out first and I'm then hitting the 5i that I probably should have in the first place. Of course while we waited we had already discussed handicaps and I'd stuck my thumbs in my suspenders and proudly proclaimed that I was a 3.2 or whatever I was back then. I only managed minor vindication a hole or two later when I let one fly that suggested that the first shot was possible for me to hit, up to that point I felt horrible and super embarrassed.
The next time, pretty similar situation. I was playing in a company outing and my boss was in my group. First time we ever played together (and hopefully last!). I'm nervous because of this fact and he's heard that I'm a super golfer or something similar. Played the first 6 holes and I'm barely holding my game together. Nothing feels right or comfortable but I'm scoring ok, maybe plus 1 at that point. We get to the tee at hole 7, and I take a mighty swipe at it. Compete and utter whiff. How do you miss the ball completely with a 430cc driver? Not a chunk, a shank, hosel rocket, etc... a complete whiff. The ball was still smiling at me from the tee! The club passing it wind didn't even knock it down. The only good thing that happened was this caused me to go from nervous to ticked and I played well the rest of the round. But a whiff? Come on. My kids don't even whiff very often. Yikes!
So after holding things up for a solid 10 minutes, maybe a little more I drove back to the tee box to play once the green cleared. I barely make any contact, it gets off the tee box and buries in thick rough. I have to chunk it out first and I'm then hitting the 5i that I probably should have in the first place. Of course while we waited we had already discussed handicaps and I'd stuck my thumbs in my suspenders and proudly proclaimed that I was a 3.2 or whatever I was back then. I only managed minor vindication a hole or two later when I let one fly that suggested that the first shot was possible for me to hit, up to that point I felt horrible and super embarrassed.
The next time, pretty similar situation. I was playing in a company outing and my boss was in my group. First time we ever played together (and hopefully last!). I'm nervous because of this fact and he's heard that I'm a super golfer or something similar. Played the first 6 holes and I'm barely holding my game together. Nothing feels right or comfortable but I'm scoring ok, maybe plus 1 at that point. We get to the tee at hole 7, and I take a mighty swipe at it. Compete and utter whiff. How do you miss the ball completely with a 430cc driver? Not a chunk, a shank, hosel rocket, etc... a complete whiff. The ball was still smiling at me from the tee! The club passing it wind didn't even knock it down. The only good thing that happened was this caused me to go from nervous to ticked and I played well the rest of the round. But a whiff? Come on. My kids don't even whiff very often. Yikes!