Well, we had all 24 guys show up ready to play. The forecast was for temps in the 50’s and partly cloudy skies. Then the weather as usual here in Southern NH turned for the worse.
I had to head to Portsmouth, NH for a 9:00 am class to teach and it was warming up and bright and sunny when I left. As I approached Portsmouth I could see the bank of clouds approaching from the east off the ocean. I heard they were to approach about 11:00 am so they were a couple of hours early.
As tee time approached, the clouds were thickening and temps were dipping. While you climbed the hill to Campbell’s Scottish Highlands you could see the flags unfurling in the strong breeze that was now engulfing the putting green and parking lot. It was not looking like previous days forecast of partly cloudy and fifty degree temps.
First tee time was 3:50 and Steve King, Bob Trottier, Bill Wilson and Jay McGillicuddy were the first foursome to arrive. Steve King led the league off with a great drive down the middle and we were all off and running.
Bill Wilson pushed his drive in the rough between the first and second hole. His approach shot was in mid season form as he stuck his approach to with in 2 ft. of the cup, a gimme birdie. First Birdie of the year. Congrats Bill.
We clogged our way to the fifth tee trying to stay warm and loose. We all got off the tee and Trottier’s second shot to the par 5 5th seemed to wander off to the right and I could see it bounce just short of the cart path and just over the water marsh. Bob’s 3rd shot was chunked and he landed in the cement like sand trap soaked by earlier rains. His ball was sitting up on a chunk of sand just recently raked. Pretty lucky if you ask me. Bob, as so many times in the past, made a great swing and the ball climbed up over the banking and bounced a couple of times on the dirty brown green and rolled effortlessly into the hole. Birde number two for the group.
McGillicuddy was just off the green about 40-50 yards and pitched his ball to about 15-20 ft and then rolled his first birdie putt of the year into the bottom of the cup. Birdie 3 for this group.
King and Wilson both continued to struggle as we approached the 8th tee. Both players trying to shake off the winter blah’s and cob web’s that are so prevalent in the early chilly April weeks. They will be on their game before you know it.
We all had decent tee balls except Trottier who usually reaches the green on his drive on this short up hill par four. But, Bob pretty much flubbed it and if it were June he would be cussing even today. His approach shot spun out of the short crappy rough and landed on the green and he found himself a good 20-25 ft away. His birdie put was stuck like a pro and dropped out of sight before you could blink an eye. Birdie 4 for this group.
I found my drive in the green side bunker to the right side of the green and it found soft sand only to be joined by Steve King’s approach shot which landed close to my ball. Poor Stevie as he usually never struggles like he did today. I was able to make a decent sand shot and I found my shot about 10-12 ft below the hole. I could see I needed to putt the ball to right side of the hole in order for it to land in the cup. Sure enough it landed at the bottom and now we have birdie number 5 for this group.
What an opening day for this group. Too bad Wilson and King didn’t enjoy it as much as Trottier and I did. You can bet your bottom dollar the next time the four of us play the matches will be either 100% opposite of today or they will be extremely close. Payback can be a bitch. These two can deliver.
If you have a story about your Wilderness Golf League’s foursome play, please email it to me and I will post it before our next round Wednesday April 8th.
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