Cuz and I played the Member/Guest this weekend. Cuz is young and strong and can hit it a ton. I’m old and well….. at least still strong-willed. We did well on day one. With our strokes (6 and 10) we brother-in-law-ed a 62 the first day. The first day was rainy, cold and muddy. We never get discouraged in bad weather, and it was to our advantage. We shared the lead.
Today we were paired with the co-leaders. The sun came out and so did the golf game of Joe’s guest. It didn’t take long to realize this cat could play. He had a nice compact swing that repeated itself on every pass. It turned out he was a second alternate for the U.S. Senior Open a few years ago. We had our hands full.
We never throw in the towel, but mid way through the second nine we knew we were in trouble. By the end it was like what Dave Marr said one time. He was coming down the last fairway trailing Arnold Palmer by six shots. Arnie turned and said, “Anything I can do for you, Dave?”
“Yeah. Break a leg,” Marr laughed.
At least he had a sense of humor about it, and we sure did. I figure when I play golf or music and don’t have to tell anyone they have cancer or their mama died, I’ve had a good day of it.
By the end of the day we managed a 68. Joe’s guest shot that on his own ball, and with a little help from Joe and his handicap strokes they turned in a cool 60.
The sun came out and mid way through the last nine. I took off my toboggan and donned my old frayed Titleist cap in honor of my old buddy Robert. I figured just ’cause we were whupped we shouldn’t worry. He’d say it was just the Lord’s way of telling me to keep my day job. Come tomorrow I’ll go back to it and be thankful for it.
But I gotta admit it was fun to be in the lead for a while. Cuz and I won it a decade ago, and it doesn’t hurt to pretend we are still young even if it is for but a day.
Dr. B
Dr. Tom Bibey: Stories of the Bluegrass Music Road 