Posted by Dexter Francois
| Posted in
Golf Courses,
My Rounds
| Posted on Monday, May 10, 2010
The 2nd Annual Commity Golf Classic(Clash Of The Titans) between myself and Mario is in the books and I am happy to say that trophy is staying with me in South Florida. It was a hard fought battle that went down to the wire. I had such a good time over the weekend. Nothing but friends and golf. What could be better.
We played four rounds at different locations that neither of us had played before. Low cumulative score takes home the prize. Here's a day by day breakdown of the tournament.
Round 1
The first round took place at Hillcrest Golf & Country club in Hollywood, FL. My round started of good. I smoked my first drive into the fairway and was on my way. Mario is a longer hitter than I am so I had to keep my mistakes to a minimum. I finished the first nine with a 44, one behind Mario.
Disaster struck at the par 5 10th. I drove my ball right and it landed about twenty feet away from a 35 foot high tree. Instead of playing back into the fairway I tried to go over it. Not a good play. My ball hit the top of the trees and fell straight down. Now I had to play from out of a tree. I shank the next shot into a fairway bunker on the 12th hole. I Managed to salvage a 7, but I should have played it smart and pitched out giving my self a chance at par.
I continued my poor play on the back 9 posting four 7's and 8 for 52 and a total of 96. Ouch! The 8 came on the signature hole. The par 4 18th has a tiny island green which I missed twice. Mario finished with a 90 and I was down six after the first round.
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Round 2 was held at Bonaventure Country Club in Weston Florida. Being down 6 strokes, the plan was to try to make up 2 strokes on each of the final three rounds. This would give me a chance at a tie, and if I got lucky, maybe a win. From watching the PGA tour, I know that tournaments aren't won on the first day.
This was kinda like our Pro-Am. We were joined by two other "Commity" members Marc and Monty. They play golf but don't take it as seriously like Mario and I do which actually made for a somewhat frustrating day.
Because they don't play as much, they obviously don't know the proper etiquette when it comes to golf. It's not their fault. You can't know something unless you're told. There a few times when they would talk during my drive or move as I'm about to stroke a putt. At times it really got under my skin. I feel that I could have scored better if I didn't have the distraction.
I managed to win the round by one stroke, posting a 94 to Mario's 95. I only chipped into the deficit by one, but it was a step in the right direction. The highlight came on the par 3 17th. I was able to birdie the hole after a tee shot that I stuck within 3 feet. It's a good thing I had that hole because I proceeded to post another 8 on the finishing hole. I pulled an 8 iron left into the water. I couldn't believe. Mario had already put it in the water twice. I let a few strokes get away there.
| 94 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Round 3
Round 3 was held a Palm-Aire Country Club in Pompano Beach, FL. We lucked out on this one because we needed to play 36 holes on Sunday in order to get in a full 72 holes. We were looking for two courses that were close to each other and found this course. There are actually five courses under the Palm-Aire name so it was perfect. We booked both tee times on Golfnow.com.
When we arrived for our morning tee time, they told us that for five dollars more we would be able to play unlimited golf, have access to unlimited range balls, and also have free access to their buffet. So because of our internet discount and the deal at the course, We were good to go for the rest of the day for only forty-two dollars.
I noticed that Mario was starting to have a hard time with the infamous heat and humidity of South Florida. I was down five strokes and I felt that if I kept it close, eventually the heat would get to him and he would start to make mistakes, especially since it was going to be a long day.
I had my best round of the tournament shooting an 86 to Mario's 87 on the Palms course which got me to within four strokes going into the final round. I didn't drive the ball very well, only hitting three fairways for the entire round. I was able to scramble and get some crucial up and downs though. My putter really saved me as well. The day before the start of the tournament I practiced my putting for three and a half hours and it made all the difference.
| 86 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Round 4
We had lunch at the buffet and got ready for the fourth and final round. The Master Starter suggested that we play The Oaks Course. He said they had the nicest greens out the group. Since I was putting well I was all for it.
I played the front nine pretty well, with a 44 going out. Mario shot an 43. Mario was actually up seven strokes at one point on the front nine. I just kept telling myself that the door was going to be opened soon and that's when I would take advantage.
It finally happened on the back nine and he began to tire posting four 7's on the back nine. He began to get a little frustrated and started taking chances he normally wouldn't. I just played steady.
It really became a match play situation from the 12th hole on. I'm not a scorecard watcher but I knew it was close. I made my shot decisions based on what he did. If he hit a bad shot, I played the smart shot. Any time he made a big number I played to the safe side and took my bogey. Mixing in a few pars was just a bonus.
Going into the final hole I had managed to work myself to one stroke lead. All I had to do was tie him and I would take home the prize. I missed the fairway with my drive and had to pitch out of trees with my next shot. Mario hit his second shot into the water. All I had to do was put it on the green and it would be over. I did the unthinkable. I pulled another 8-iron into the water left of the green. The same shot as on the 18th of round two.
Mario ended up posting a six and I put up a seven. Even after 72 holes. This had the makings of a Golf Channel Classic. After all of that, we were tied. Unbelievable. As we were tallying up out scores over and over again to make sure we had the same scores, the starter came over. We told him about our tournament, and he said, "You have to have a winner. Go over to the Cypress Course and play nine before the sun goes down." Playoff time.
| 92 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Now it was really a match game situation. I was upset that I didn't close it out on the 18th but am also thankful to be in this position because I had been down seven at one point in the final round.
The first three holes were back and forth. and then it happened on the par 3 4th. We both hit our tee shots left into the woods. I had to pitch backwards back to the fairway. Mario had a look at the front of the green. He took his shot and it hit a tree. He hit his next shot heavy into the bunker. Then he hit a rake that was next to the bunker and it rolled back to his feet. After seeing this I was glad that I decided to play it safe because I was thinking about a Phil Mickelson type miracle shot that would have probably ended up bad.
Mario ended up shooting an eight to my five. He was completely deflated after that. I won or tied every hole after that except for the last but by then it was too late. The trophy was mine. I stuck to the game plan and it paid off.
At this stage in our play, Mario is definitely the better ball striker. He hits the ball far and is good around the greens. Where I beat him though, was with putting and overall stamina. I'm used to taking 500 swings a day in the South Florida heat so I wasn't phased as much.
It was a great weekend and now I am exhausted. I think I will be taking the day off...or maybe I'll just practice my putting. I can't get enough. Have a good one and always hit your target.
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Posts
I took part in round two and all I have to say is that the tournament definitely lived up to it's title "Clash of the Titans". INDEED! Can't wait to get my score below 90 and get in the game!
You have one year to step your game up. Next year the good doctor will be participating, so it's only going to get tougher. Practice, practice, practice.