TOUR Picks Weekly

[touch]

 

 

 

 

 

Picks 

 

LP                        Cantlay                           Xander                      Zalatoris

P48                     Cam Smith                      Xander                      Rors

CH                       Rahm                              Homa                         Rors 

doc                      Rahm                              Xander                       S. Im 

TI                         Hideki                             Ancer                         Lowry

Q                         Rahm                              Can Young                 Lowry  

 

       

Edited June 1, 2022 by touch

[touch]

3 hours ago, TigerIrons said:

This week: Ancer, Lowry, Matsuyama

 

 

 

Liking your picks this week TI.  Good luck.  

Edited June 1, 2022 by touch

[touch]

.

 

 

Edited June 1, 2022 by touch

[Qqq123xx]

Flying Elbows tourney picks.

 

Jon Rahm

Shane Lowery

Cameron Young

 

Alts.:   P. Reed     D. Riley

 

[touch]

 

Picks 

 

LP                        Cantlay                           Xander                      Zalatoris

P48                     Cam Smith                      Xander                      Rors

CH                       Rahm                              Homa                         Rors 

doc                      Rahm                              Xander                       S. Im 

TI                         Hideki                             Ancer                         Lowry

Q                         Rahm                              Cam Young                Lowry  

 

[touch]

 

To bookmark page 57. That page will be important to refer back to. It marks the halfway point in this contest. 

 

 

 

 

[touch]

 

I'm watching. This will be fun. 

 

 

Edited June 1, 2022 by touch

[puttnforthe8]

My turn for an injury report! 

 

Quick recap:  Around November last year I was in my leagues end of season playoffs (round 2) which mirrors the FedEx playoffs.  On hole #9 I suffered an injury in what would end up far worse than I thought.  It cost me that round as I limped my way in and then cost me my shot at winning the playoffs because of how much pain I was in and how my swing broke down.

 

How the injury occurred: One of my playing partners hit is ball up into the dune right of the green.  While looking for his ball I fell into a gopher hole and went in 2 different directions - down and side.  I finished the round and as I said played the other rounds of the playoffs.

 

 

Over the next couple rounds I knew something was quite wrong, as I could not plant/load on the left leg. I could barely bunt the ball out and struggled mightily.  This after having shot my PB -6/66 2 weeks prior to the event.

 

So I went in to doctor as I was pretty sure I had torn the meniscus, but because I had pain in my foot, I thought I had injured the MCL or ACL too.  I went for xrays and MRI at one of the top orthos here in AZ.  The diagnosis was meniscus, and no ACL/MCL issue.  A quick surgery in March and I would be back playing by May.  This meant that I would miss my scheduled Bandon trip.  Now that was painful.

 

Well, my golfing days were shut down immediately by the doc and the surgery was planned. Initially, it was not going to happen until March based on the schedule.  But they called me in Dec and said they could move it up.  I jumped at the chance because I thought, maybe I could still make my Bandon trip!

 

Fast forward to operation day - it turns out MCL/ACL were just strain, meniscus was torn, but not badly.  The bigger issue, when they got in there (which was undetectable in MRI or xray), was I had a thumbnail chunk of bone broken off on the knee.  The chunk was flapping around in there and that was causing the greatest pain per the ortho.  This required drilling multiple holes across the fracture so stem cells/marrow/blood could heal the bone.

 

So I went from no crutches and a couple month recovery to much longer.  I was on crutches until the 1st week of May.  I have been doing PT since a week after my surgery.  Those early months were tough...never knew it would be so hard to do basic things.

 

Anyways - Not only did I have to cancel my Bandon trip, I had to cancel my Jackson Hole trip! 😞  And my Northern Michigan trip was now in jeopardy!! 

 

I have worked pretty hard in PT and I have always been a fast healer.  So I guess that helped as last week the PT told me to go hit balls just don't try and kill the ball or swing hard. So Memorial day, I made plans with a buddy to go play one of the casino courses nearby (where I shot my 66).

 

It's only been since December, but I forgot what to do...LOL...I forgot my shoes and had to turnaround and go get them.  I thought I had forgot my driver.  I got to the range and forgot what my buddy looked like, well mostly his clubs and loaded my clubs on the wrong cart.  It was odd that I forgot so much about the game.

 

So I took it very slow on the range.  I did try out most of my clubs - I missed almost every ball I swung at for the first 2 dozen or so (shank, chunk, etc).  It was very evident that I was both scared/tentative, but also don't have the strength in the leg.  I was all arms too.  Eventually, I was able to make decent contact just no speed/power.  

 

We finally got called to the tee - we had a single join.  I said I was going to play 2 up (6300) because I just wanted to be out and swing easy.

 

Well - I won't bore you all the specifics.  I had a lot of snap hooks because of the all arms thing.  I had 3-4 chunks. But I made decent contact, just tough to get to the green.  I ended up shooting a legitimate 88.  No birdies though.  The toughest shots were on slopes and the bunker.

 

I am definitely still a long way off.  But, I now feel confident that I can make my N. Mich trip.  

 

It was great to be out there no matter what - how I have missed the course.

 

That's it for now - I will update in the future as I get out more!

 

 

Edited June 2, 2022 by puttnforthe8

[touch]

47 minutes ago, puttnforthe8 said:

 

 

It was great to be out there no matter what - how I have missed the course.

 

That's it for now - I will update in the future as I get out more!

 

 

 

 

Welcome back to the greatest game P48.  Enjoyed the recap. I know you are smiling.   🙂🏌️‍♂️

[NCLancer]

Quick Picks:

 

T. Hoge

M. Homa

P. Reed

 

Bench:

Lowery

List

 

 

[NCLancer]

1 hour ago, puttnforthe8 said:

My turn for an injury report! 

 

Quick recap:  Around November last year I was in my leagues end of season playoffs (round 2) which mirrors the FedEx playoffs.  On hole #9 I suffered an injury in what would end up far worse than I thought.  It cost me that round as I limped my way in and then cost me my shot at winning the playoffs because of how much pain I was in and how my swing broke down.

 

How the injury occurred: One of my playing partners hit is ball up into the dune right of the green.  While looking for his ball I fell into a gopher hole and went in 2 different directions - down and side.  I finished the round and as I said played the other rounds of the playoffs.

 

 

Over the next couple rounds I knew something was quite wrong, as I could not plant/load on the left leg. I could barely bunt the ball out and struggled mightily.  This after having shot my PB -6/66 2 weeks prior to the event.

 

So I went in as I was pretty sure I had torn the meniscus, but because I had pain in my foot, I thought I had injured the MCL or ACL too.  I went for xrays and MRI at one of the top orthos here in AZ.  The diagnosis was meniscus, and no ACL/MCL issue.  A quick surgery in March and I would be back playing by May.  This meant that I would miss my scheduled Bandon trip.  Now that was painful.

 

Well, my golfing days were shut down immediately by the doc and the surgery was planned. Initially, it was not going to happen until March based on the schedule.  But they called me in Dec and said they could move it up.  I jumped at the chance because I thought, maybe I could still make my Bandon trip!

 

Fast forward to operation day - it turns out MCL/ACL were just strain, MCL was torn, but not badly.  The bigger issue, when they got in there (which was undetectable in MRI or xray), was I had a thumbnail chunk of bone broken off on the knee.  The chunk was flapping around in there and that was causing the greatest pain per the ortho.  This required drilling multiple holes across the fracture so stem cells/marrow/blood could heal the bone.

 

So I went from no crutches and a couple month recovery to much longer.  I was on crutches until the 1st week of May.  I have been doing PT since a week after my surgery.  Those early months were tough...never knew it would be so hard to do basic things.

 

Anyways - Not only did I have to cancel my Bandon trip, I had to cancel my Jackson Hole trip! 😞  And my Northern Michigan trip was now in jeopardy!! 

 

I have worked pretty hard in PT and I have always been a fast healer.  So I guess that helped as last week the PT told me to go hit balls just don't try and kill the ball or swing hard. So Memorial day, I made plans with a buddy to go play one of the casino courses nearby (where I shot my 66).

 

It's only been since December, but I forgot what to do...LOL...I forgot my shoes and had to turnaround and go get them.  I thought I had forgot my driver.  I got to the range and forgot what my buddy looked like, well mostly his clubs and loaded my clubs on the wrong cart.  It was odd that I forgot so much about the game.

 

So I took it very slow on the range.  I did try out most of my clubs - I missed almost every ball I swung at for the first 2 dozen or so (shank, chunk, etc).  It was very evident that I was both scared/tentative, but also don't have the strength in the leg.  I was all arms too.  Eventually, I was able to make decent contact just no speed/power.  

 

We finally got called to the tee - we had a single join.  I said I was going to play 2 up (6300) because I just wanted to be out and swing easy.

 

Well - I won't bore you all the specifics.  I had a lot of snap hooks because of the all arms thing.  I had 3-4 chunks. But I made decent contact, just tough to get to the green.  I ended up shooting a legitimate 88.  No birdies though.  The toughest shots were on slopes and the bunker.

 

I am definitely still a long way off.  But, I now feel confident that I can make my N. Mich trip.  

 

It was great to be out there no matter what - how I have missed the course.

 

That's it for now - I will update in the future as I get out more!

 

 

Thank you for sharing and I wish you a speedy and healthy return to the game!

[touch]

 

 

Picks 

 

LP                        Cantlay                           Xander                      Zalatoris

P48                     Cam Smith                      Xander                      Rors

CH                       Rahm                              Homa                         Rors 

doc                      Rahm                              Xander                       S. Im 

TI                         Hideki                             Ancer                         Lowry

Q                         Rahm                              Cam Young                Lowry

NCL                    Reed                               Homa                          Hoge 

[RSonn]

Cam young 

Rory 

xander 

 

alt.

fitzpatrick 

mito 

[touch]

 

My horse has come out of the gate in rapid fashion this morning.  Hooray !  

 

In the first round it seems that Will the Thrill finds par's boring as he has only made 3 of them thru 12 holes. 

 😅

 

OLE	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	IN	TOT
PAR	4	5	3	4	4	5	3	4	4	36	72
ROUND 1	5	4	3	4	3	4	2	4	3	32	--

 

 

HOLE	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	OUT	TOT
PAR	4	4	4	3	5	4	5	3	4	36	72
ROUND 1	5	3	3	--	--	--	--	--	--	--

[Petethreeput]

15 hours ago, puttnforthe8 said:

My turn for an injury report! 

 

Quick recap:  Around November last year I was in my leagues end of season playoffs (round 2) which mirrors the FedEx playoffs.  On hole #9 I suffered an injury in what would end up far worse than I thought.  It cost me that round as I limped my way in and then cost me my shot at winning the playoffs because of how much pain I was in and how my swing broke down.

 

How the injury occurred: One of my playing partners hit is ball up into the dune right of the green.  While looking for his ball I fell into a gopher hole and went in 2 different directions - down and side.  I finished the round and as I said played the other rounds of the playoffs.

 

 

Over the next couple rounds I knew something was quite wrong, as I could not plant/load on the left leg. I could barely bunt the ball out and struggled mightily.  This after having shot my PB -6/66 2 weeks prior to the event.

 

So I went in to doctor as I was pretty sure I had torn the meniscus, but because I had pain in my foot, I thought I had injured the MCL or ACL too.  I went for xrays and MRI at one of the top orthos here in AZ.  The diagnosis was meniscus, and no ACL/MCL issue.  A quick surgery in March and I would be back playing by May.  This meant that I would miss my scheduled Bandon trip.  Now that was painful.

 

Well, my golfing days were shut down immediately by the doc and the surgery was planned. Initially, it was not going to happen until March based on the schedule.  But they called me in Dec and said they could move it up.  I jumped at the chance because I thought, maybe I could still make my Bandon trip!

 

Fast forward to operation day - it turns out MCL/ACL were just strain, meniscus was torn, but not badly.  The bigger issue, when they got in there (which was undetectable in MRI or xray), was I had a thumbnail chunk of bone broken off on the knee.  The chunk was flapping around in there and that was causing the greatest pain per the ortho.  This required drilling multiple holes across the fracture so stem cells/marrow/blood could heal the bone.

 

So I went from no crutches and a couple month recovery to much longer.  I was on crutches until the 1st week of May.  I have been doing PT since a week after my surgery.  Those early months were tough...never knew it would be so hard to do basic things.

 

Anyways - Not only did I have to cancel my Bandon trip, I had to cancel my Jackson Hole trip! 😞  And my Northern Michigan trip was now in jeopardy!! 

 

I have worked pretty hard in PT and I have always been a fast healer.  So I guess that helped as last week the PT told me to go hit balls just don't try and kill the ball or swing hard. So Memorial day, I made plans with a buddy to go play one of the casino courses nearby (where I shot my 66).

 

It's only been since December, but I forgot what to do...LOL...I forgot my shoes and had to turnaround and go get them.  I thought I had forgot my driver.  I got to the range and forgot what my buddy looked like, well mostly his clubs and loaded my clubs on the wrong cart.  It was odd that I forgot so much about the game.

 

So I took it very slow on the range.  I did try out most of my clubs - I missed almost every ball I swung at for the first 2 dozen or so (shank, chunk, etc).  It was very evident that I was both scared/tentative, but also don't have the strength in the leg.  I was all arms too.  Eventually, I was able to make decent contact just no speed/power.  

 

We finally got called to the tee - we had a single join.  I said I was going to play 2 up (6300) because I just wanted to be out and swing easy.

 

Well - I won't bore you all the specifics.  I had a lot of snap hooks because of the all arms thing.  I had 3-4 chunks. But I made decent contact, just tough to get to the green.  I ended up shooting a legitimate 88.  No birdies though.  The toughest shots were on slopes and the bunker.

 

I am definitely still a long way off.  But, I now feel confident that I can make my N. Mich trip.  

 

It was great to be out there no matter what - how I have missed the course.

 

That's it for now - I will update in the future as I get out more!

 

 

Well, that sucks.  It is amazing to me how people get seriously injured.  I always believed the non-contact injuries were going to be the worst ones (knee/ankle).  Glad you were able to get out and at least swing the club.  Sorry you missed out on Bandon and Jackson as well.

 

Just keep up with the rehab, while I tend to quit after I start feeling better, I don't think that is the smart long term play.

[touch]

 

Picks 

 

LP                        Cantlay                           Xander                      Zalatoris

P48                     Cam Smith                      Xander                      Rors

CH                       Rahm                              Homa                         Rors 

doc                      Rahm                              Xander                       S. Im 

TI                         Hideki                             Ancer                         Lowry

Q                         Rahm                              Cam Young                Lowry

NCL                    Reed                               Homa                          Hoge

RS                       Cam Young                    Xander                        Rors 

[Petethreeput]

OK, in solidarity with puttnforthe8 I would like to recount an injury which ended up with a surgery when I was doing nothing out of the ordinary.

 

I had to sneeze, but I was in a room with a bunch of people and didn't have a handkerchief or tissue handy.  I was walking quickly out of the room, it hit before I was out and I tried to hold in a sneeze.  Yep, I had a bellybutton hernia surgery about 3 weeks later because it wasn't healing on its own.  Never hurt, but did end up in surgery.  I wish I was making this up.

[puttnforthe8]

1 minute ago, Petethreeput said:

OK, in solidarity with puttnforthe8 I would like to recount an injury which ended up with a surgery when I was doing nothing out of the ordinary.

 

I had to sneeze, but I was in a room with a bunch of people and didn't have a handkerchief or tissue handy.  I was walking quickly out of the room, it hit before I was out and I tried to hold in a sneeze.  Yep, I had a bellybutton hernia surgery about 3 weeks later because it wasn't healing on its own.  Never hurt, but did end up in surgery.  I wish I was making this up.

 

No laughing matter - I had that happen to me about 2 years ago - except it was a cough.  Not only did it cause the hernia, but it threw out my back.  To this day I have back pain and have to be careful when coughing or sneezing so as to not throw out my back!   

 

I have not gone in for surgery for a few reason!

 

Sucks getting old!

 

[touch]

The good news is my strained groin is much better and I actually got in 18 yesterday. Yes I like P48 have risen from the dead and have returned to playing golf. The bad news is I had absolutely no swing and no game yesterday afternoon while battling Kirk and Matt at The Creek. One would have thought I was away from the game for three months and not three weeks. 😟 Recap tonight on just how cruddy I played. 

I had planned to play again this afternoon because I have the day off, but rather than take a chance on playing really ugly golf again I have decided to spend the afternoon practicing. With the mighty Cleghorn scheduled for Monday and then CCA next Tuesday I've got work to do. 

 

 

 

Edited July 2, 2023 by touch

[touch]

It's apparent that this thread is mostly comprised of old broken down golfers.

😅

[TigerIrons]

So Hideki dropped two at the second, but it could have been much worse!

 

https://twitter.com/PGATOUR/status/1532416434642509828

[touch]

55 minutes ago, TigerIrons said:

So Hideki dropped two at the second, but it could have been much worse!

 

https://twitter.com/PGATOUR/status/1532416434642509828

 

 

And just now a much bigger Hideki story has developed. He has beeen DQ'd due to having white paint on the face of his 3 wood. Pretty amazing his equipment guy didn't know this was illegal.

 

Edited June 2, 2022 by touch

[touch]

 

[touch]

 

 

 

credit Facebook  

Dave Gary

 

And then little Ivan mistook this for his juice box,... aaaaaaannnnnddddd,....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

😅

 

 

 

[touch]

After round one 

 

 

 

Zally        T7       -4

Shauffy   T22     -2

Patty       T47       E   

Edited June 2, 2022 by touch

[Qqq123xx]

T1, T11, T47 Rahm deciding to boogie last two holes to drop from T22. 

 

All I want is my two front teeth and three cuts made. 

[TigerIrons]

A DSQ is +100 points, right?

[touch]

42 minutes ago, TigerIrons said:

A DSQ is +100 points, right?

 

Naw dog, since you didn't select a replacement player or two for your bench you'll get nothing and like it. 😆 0 points. 

I don't bother to do bench players myself and just take my chances but I'm the only one who does not. Being the commander I am watching daily the headlines and have had time on occasion to grab a fill in player before he had teed off. Hideki' s deal today though was extra unique. My way of doing it is not wise to follow though. Look through the other participants picks and see how they select a few back ups weekly just in case one of their original picks gets cagy and gets caught altering his equipment illegally. I kid, we started to do this when the virus knocked out some players last minute each week.

Going forward post up two bench players so you have a back up to fill in if one of your original picks WD's. 

You're a rookie TI and probably still figuring somethings out. Not to worry though because Abe Ancer is going to take the trophy this week and by doing so he will help to offset the goose egg Hideki provided you in round one.   🙂

[touch]

Last year we tried a few times to set something up where we would meet in the middle of the state but we were unable to find a date that worked for both of us. Then winter hit. Sometime in Febuary of this year NCL reached out to me and told me he and the misses were planning a trip to the western part of the state to visit a family member that lived within two hours of the AVL. The NCL's wondered if they were to set a date would I be able to meet the two of them and play a little golf together. Of course I said yes and once NCL told me his lodging reservations were set I began to get real excited. I though had experienced this level of anticipated golf excitement regarding playing with a thread brother for the first time once before. P48, the on the mend dude down in the Arizona desert was the first thread brother to reach out and ask, "what if I come to Asheville with my wife for a few days do you think we could get a round or two in together?"  Thank you Mr. B. for being the trail blazer. It was quite enjoyable to meet you in person and you sir are a fine player. 

 

On Monday May 9th at a little past noon I went to the driving range at Etowah Valley golf resort. I was half way into a large bucket when the cute couple from Chapel Hill came driving up in their EZ Go. NCL jumps out of the driver seat and asks, "could this be the one and only commish?" I walk over to our esteemed thread brother and shake his and Mrs. NCL's hand. " That I am fellow LP, it's great to meet you guys and I am looking forward to playing some golf with the two of you.....Welcome to Asheville," was my reply.  NCL and I share the same intitals L. P. so I figured that would add some magic to our first get together. 

The three of us had a 20 minute warm up session on the range and then we headed over to the practice putting green. While we rolled them I suggested the three of us do some longer range putting practice together, sort of a contest if you will. The Plattsburgh Cardinal schooled me bad in our little test consisting of 30 -50 footers. Warm up was over, it was time to head to the first tee. There was glorious weather in the mountains for our two days of golf.  Sunny skies, low humidity, light breezes and a temperature of 72*. The Golf Gods were definitely on our side.  

On the first tee it came to me to instill some calming reassurance to Mrs. NCL. I figured it must have been mghty intimidating for her to have to tee it up with her husband and his online friend on a foreign golf course that was 220 miles from home. I walked over to the petite Plattsburgh lady and told her the following. "Mrs. NCL ( used her real first name),  Yes I'm a serious golfer, but Do NOT let that intimidate you during the time we play together while you are in Asheville. I'd imagine you are a might uneasy going into this round today, but I guarantee you that by the 5th hole you will find yourself much more comfortable. See I play golf primarily to have fun, I know when to take it serious and battle my regular weekly opponents (that is one type of golf fun) and I too know when to play golf when the objective is sharing a fun time all afternoon with friends while recreating. 

A bit more on Mrs. NCL when I talk of my favorite hole at Etowah. 

I do believe she was much more calm after an hour of golf. The chemistry in our threesome was rather good out of the gate. Possibly it made her feel good to see her husband and his online picks thread buddy smiling away while hitting golf shots. The little lady battled. She was very tenacious. 

 

tenacious

 adjective

 

: not easily pulled apart : COHESIVEa tenacious metal

b: tending to adhere or cling especially to another substancetenacious burs

2a: persistent in maintaining, adhering to, or seeking something valued or desired.

 

Let me tell you she put fourth a gutsy effort for two days.  Etowah has many creek croosings and some are of generous width. Each and every time over the two days we played when Mrs. NCL was faced with a forced carry of measurable distance she smoked her 3 wood across to safer ground. Never chunked one into trouble. Mrs. NCL is a quite the poised lady and being with the Jester for 4 + hours I bet was a lot to digest. When talking about my favorite hole I will tell you how I witnessed the lady of the house back in Chapel Hill's short game shot of the day. Thank you Ms. T for hanging tough with the boys for 36 holes. 

Here are some photos from our back 9 on the North during our first round together. 

 

Photo 1 we see NCL walking to his just short tee shot into the Par 3 1st hole on the North.

 

Photo 2 is what I have named the power line hole. This is #16 on the North and is a fine first steeply downhill and then back uphill par 5. There is plenty of width available to help you tame this b*cth. 

 

Photos 3,4,and 5 are of my favorite hole out of all 27 that they offer at Etowah. #6 on the North is a fairly tricky par 4. I play a 3 wood off the tee for positioning because you have to reach the flat spot in the narrow fairway over the pond just so. (photo 4) A sligtly off line drive will take the chance at par quickly away so I always pull fairway wood. If I nail my three wood I will have an 8 iron left downhill to a sliver thin back to front green that has a steeply banked creek in front. (photo 5) . Mrs. NCL was in the scruff next to the bunker greenside on #6 and hit her best short game shot of the day. I was standing nearby and witnessed her hit a punch shot with her putter up the steep side of the bunker and let it perfectly trundle down to 4 feet from the pin. One heck of a links golf style of chip it was. 

 

Photo 6 is of the 9th green on the South nine that we played the second day. It is of importance because the room the Blue Devil couple had was overlooking this green and is in this photo.  On their deck after our round we had an enjoyable visit. 

 

Photo 7 is # 5 on the North and here we see Mrs. NCL and her caddy on the ladies tee which is down the hill and in the fairway. Every time I photograph Ithis hole I capture golf grandeur. The surrounding green colors are impressive.

 

 

I have been told since a very young age that I am a true character and that I possess the gift of making people laugh. During our first 18 holes together I will always remember how I made the SUNY Plattsburgh Cardinal howl, gents he really laughed deeply, and this is the golf moment that I'll take away as most memorable to me from our two days of golf together. 

On our 17th hole a downhill par three that was playing 160 (#8 on the North) I was first to hit. I was really concentrating on nailing the pin. I was in a different mind zone for this one looking back. I pulled  6 iron. When I made contact I knew it was perfect. And in that moment I found myself more mentally in a round down at Tryon trying to beat Mike and the boys and surely not at Etowah for a casual round with Mr. NCL and his wife. 

So I get vocal.     I shout............

flushed it

it's right at it 

and then as the shot lands close to the pin I shriek BOOM!! 

Right behind me on tee box I hear NCL let out his biggest deepest laugh of the day.

I got 'em. LOL . I laughed at the reaction I recieved from my out of town friend. 

It landed 10 feet from the pin.  I didn't make the birdie putt but still. ⚡

 

In the very last photo we see my Old North brother NCL taking his last approach shot of the day during our first round together.

 

Yeah fellas I had to deal with his extra effort to make a sexy golf swing finish pose for two damn days. 😄

 

 

Lance I thank you sir for coming to see me and for making some fabulous golf memories together. 🏌️‍♂️🔥

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 26, 2023 by touch

[NCLancer]

23 minutes ago, touch said:

Last year we tried a few times to set something up where we would meet in the middle of the state but we were unable to find a date that worked for both of us. Then winter hit. Sometime in Febuary of this year NCL reached out to me and told me he and the misses were planning a trip to the western part of the state to visit a family member that lived within two hours of the AVL. The NCL's wondered if they were to set a date would I be able to meet the two of them and play a little golf together. Of course I said yes and once NCL told me his lodging reservations were set I began to get real excited. I though had experienced this level of anticipated golf excitement regarding playing with a thread brother for the first time once before. P48, the on the mend dude down in the Arizona desert was the first thread brother to reach out and ask, "what if I come to Asheville with my wife for a few days do you think we could get a round or two in together?"  Thank you Mr. B. for being the trail blazer. It was quite enjoyable to meet you in person and you sir are a fine player. 

 

On Monday May 9th at a little past noon I went to the driving range at Etowah Valley golf resort. I was half way into a large bucket when the cute couple from Chapel Hill came driving up in their EZ Go. NCL jumps out of the driver seat and asks, "could this be the one and only commish?" I walk over to our esteemed thread brother and shake his and Mrs. NCL's hand. " That I am fellow LP, it's great to meet you guys and I am looking forward to playing some golf with the two of you.....Welcome to Asheville," was my reply.  NCL and I share the same intitals L. P. so I figured that would add some magic to our first get together. 

The three of us had a 20 minute warm up session on the range and then we headed over to the practice putting green. While we rolled them I suggested the three of us do some longer range putting practice together, sort of a contest if you will. The Plattsburgh Cardinal schooled me bad in our little test consisting of 30 -50 footers. Warm up was over, it was time to head to the first tee. There was glorious weather in the mountains for our two days of golf.  Sunny skies, low humidity, light breezes and a temperature of 72*. The Golf Gods were definitely on our side.  

On the first tee it came to me to instill some calming reassurance to Mrs. NCL. I figured it must have been mghty intimidating for her to have to tee it up with her husband and his online friend on a foreign golf course that was 220 miles from home. I walked over to the petite Plattsburgh lady and told her the following. "Mrs. NCL ( used her real first name),  Yes I'm a serious golfer, but Do NOT let that intimidate you during the time we play together while you are in Asheville. I'd imagine you are a might uneasy going into this round today, but I guarantee you that by the 5th hole you will find yourself much more comfortable. See I play golf primarily to have fun, I know when to take it serious and battle my regular weekly opponents (that is one type of golf fun) and I too know when to play golf when the objective is sharing a fun time all afternoon with friends while recreating. 

A bit more on Mrs. NCL when I talk of my favorite hole at Etowah.

I do believe she was much more calm after an hour of golf. The chemistry in our threesome was rather good out of the gate. Possibly it made her feel good to see her husband and his online picks thread buddy smiling away while hitting golf shots. The little lady battled. Let me tell you she put fourth a gutsy effort for two days.  Etowah has many creek croosings and some are of generous width. Each and every time over the two days we played when Mrs. NCL was faced with a forced carry of measurable distance she smoked her 3 wood across to safer ground. Never chunked one into trouble. Mrs. NCL is a quite the poised lady and being with the Jester for 4 + hours I bet was a lot to digest. When talking about my favorite hole I will tell you how I witnessed the lady of the house back in Chapel Hill's short game shot of the day. Thank you Ms. T for hanging tough with the boys for 36 holes. 

Here are some photos from our back 9 on the North during our first round together. 

 

Photo 1 we see NCL walking to his just short tee shot into the Par 3 1st hole on the North.

 

Photo 2 is what I have named the power line hole. This is #16 on the North and is a fine first steeply downhill and then back uphill par 5. There is plenty of width available to help you tame this b*cth. 

 

Photos 3,4,and 5 are of my favorite hole out of all 27 that they offer at Etowah. #6 on the North is a fairly tricky par 4. I play a 3 wood off the tee for positioning because you have to reach the flat spot in the narrow fairway over the pond just so. (photo 4) A sligtly off line drive will take the chance at par quickly away so I always pull fairway wood. If I nail my three wood I will have an 8 iron left downhill to a sliver thin back to front green that has a steeply banked creek in front. (photo 5) . Mrs. NCL was in the scruff next to the bunker greenside on #6 and hit her best short game shot of the day. I was standing nearby and witnessed her hit a punch shot with her putter up the steep side of the bunker and let it perfectly trundle down to 4 feet from the pin. One heck of a links golf style of chip it was. 

 

Photo 6 is of the 9th green on the South nine that we played the second day. It is of importance because the room the Blue Devil couple had was overlooking this green and is in this photo.  On their deck after our round we had an enjoyable visit. 

 

Photo 7 is # 5 on the North and here we see Mrs. NCL and her caddy on the ladies tee which is down the hill and in the fairway. Every time I photograph I this hole I capture golf grandeur. The surrounding green colors are impressive.

 

 

I have been told since a very young age that I am a true character and that I possess quite the gift of making people laugh. During our first 18 holes together I made the SUNY Plattsburgh Cardinal laugh and he laugh deeply. It is the golf moment that I'll take away as most memorable to me from our two days of golf together. 

On our 17th hole a downhill par three that was playing 160 (#8 on the North) I was first to hit. I was really concentrating on nailing the shot. I was in a different zone for this one looking back. I pulled  6 iron. When I made contact I knew it was perfect. In that moment I found myself mentally in a round down at Tryon trying to beat Mike and the boys and surely not at Etowah for a casual round with Mr. NCL and his wife. 

So I get vocal. I shout............

flushed it

it's right at it 

and then as the shot lands close to the pin I shriek BOOM!! 

Right behind me on tee box when I nutted the shot NCL let's out the biggest deepest laugh of the day.

I got 'em. LOL 

It landed 12 feet away. I didn't make the birdie putt but still. 

 

In the very last photo we see my Old North brother NCL taking his last approach shot of the day during our first round together.

Yeah fellas I had to deal with his extra effort to make a sexy golf swing finish pose for two damn days. 😄

 

 

Lance I thank you sir for coming to see me and for making some fabulus golf memories together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well now that is quite a write-up!  Our time together was brief but very enjoyable and LP's photos and words mean much to both myself and Mrs. NCL.  Thank you for being a wonderful host and a fantastic golfing partner...let's do it again soon!