Will is a player. He always beats me. But yesterday the golf gods were on my side, because I whipped him good, and took $28 off him in the process.
To be fair, the kid had just had a lesson, and so was in the process of fixing his swing. It really showed. He sprayed it all over the course, especially on the first nine (the back). And he gave me four shots a side, as he has for years. But it wasn’t all his collapse. I had one of the best rounds of my career, shooting 42-42, with some absolutely fantastic shots along the way.
Some of the bagroom dudes watched me tee off #10, our starting hole, and I duffed a couple real good, which drew howls of laughter. But I was laughing later, crushing 270-yard drives, striping hybrids to the green, chipping solidly and rolling it beautifully on the green.
I think I had four or five double bogeys – meaning I could have broken 80 for the first time if I had had my game together from the start. I won the first nine 6/4/2 and the back two-up. Closed out the match at 4 and 3. Took all four greenies on the last par 3 and had a birdie somewhere along the way – I think? What’s not in dispute is that I thrashed him after years of losing. It felt like justice.