Now I’ll have to admit, I don’t golf much. I enjoy getting out there and playing a round, but there’s just not enough time in the day or moola in the ol’ wallet to hit the links all that often.
I’m usually a couple times a summer kind of player and my hopes of ever being on a professional tour were extinguished long ago. But that doesn’t mean I can’t grab my clubs (which are hand-me-downs from a college roommate) and play. And what better way to take the first swings of the season than on the hardest hole at Beaver Meadow.
No. 16 is the longest on the course and according to golf pro Phil Davis “it’s not only long, but it has undulation so it wants you to hit specific shots.” Translation: Hit it right to left or it’s going to be a big black mark on your scorecard.
It’s a par 5 and from the blue tees, which are the furthest ones from the hole, it measures at 583 yards. And to make things even more interesting, the green has quite a slope to it. Davis told me two good long shots would be required to get within a 100 yards, but I was more worried with keeping it in the fairway and out of the tree lines on either side – or the adjacent fairways.
I didn’t have to worry about my tee shot finding the woods because it didn’t even make it to the front tee box after a little earth scorcher. Exactly the way I wanted to start.
My second shot took flight – hooking into the woods to the right, perfectly placed within a grouping of trees. And you can probably guess what happened next. My 9-iron attempt to escape the woods, hit a tree and went about 15 feet behind me. If you haven’t noticed, there’s a trend of bad shots developing here.
My fourth shot, where most people would be at least approaching the green was far from it. I attempted to chip out once again, and while I made it out it was nowhere close where I was aiming. But I was finally out and that’s all that mattered. My par shot went back toward the woods, but luckily stayed right on the fringe.
After criss-crossing the fairway with my next two shots, I was sitting at eight and not even on the green yet. My next two shots were with a pitching wedge and didn’t need much behind them to get on the putting surface, but since I had to take two shots you can guess that the first one didn’t go so well.
But the important piece was that after 10 shots, double par I mind you, I was on the green.
I’d say I was about 12-15 feet from the hole and put a great putt on the ball, but it broke a little earlier than expected and I found myself with about a four-foot shot for 12.
Let’s just say I finished with a 13 and was not all that proud or excited to make that a well-known fact.
But I’ve never been good with long holes since I can’t hit a driver to save my life – but judging by what you just read, it doesn’t seem like I can hit any shots all that well.
It’s hard going out to the middle of a course to play the hardest hole when you haven’t picked up a golf club in over a year. It’s not an excuse, just fact.
And you better believe I will get my revenge on the 16th hole. I’m not guaranteeing par or better, but it definitely won’t be a 13.
Now it’s time for you to take your hacks at the hole and see what happens. You’ll probably do a little better than I, but for the record, that’s not all that impressive.
