RINGWOOD GOLF - 2019

I Got This….

July 5, 2019 started like most other summer days for this golf nut…Marie, my cat, demanding to be fed first thing and then a quick check of the weather channel app (which I highly recommend). No rain in the forecast so off to Highland Park we venture, my home away from home.

The beauty of playing golf at the crack of dawn is not only having the course to yourself (minus the maintenance crew, who tend to be chatty early) but seeing the world awaken. The sun peeking its head over the horizon, birds chirping, and being at peace with only your thoughts….it truly is heavenly.

Brother Tom has inspired me to not only walk but to carry the bag, so I lighten the load as much as possible, no more than six balls in my possession and off to the first tee we go.

The first hole is parred, which is like a birdie because it is a difficult par 4 to start off a round with. This hole is also highlighted by a series of fire trucks situated just off the second tee on North Hunter Avenue. Apparently, a fire has occurred over night, but the sirens aren’t blaring.

Anytime an eagle is recorded on hole #2 (a short par 5 reachable in two) that will only jump start a round. I usually run into a gentleman practicing near the green on this hole, I think he lives across from Dick Babiarz and I’m pretty certain he’s related to Ann Marie Buerkle (our former member of Congress who I still despise to this day !!) I usually blow past this guy, because: 1.) I’m not certain he’s a member; 2.) Pretty sure he didn’t get a tee time before me; and 3.) He’s a Republican like Buerkle. 

Of course, my -2 start is squandered away as I walk off the 5th green.

Lately, I’ve discovered the beauty of music on the golf course, and no Peter, I am not referring to Culture Club, I only save them to be inspired during Member Guest tournament play.

Usually I’ll go to YouTube and pull up a song or musical score of inspiration. Apparently, Herb Alpert’s “Route 101” didn’t do the trick for me as I walked down the 5th fairway, but Chuck Mangione’s “Give It All You’ve Got” got me back on the right path. I love this trumpet ballad which I believe was the theme music of the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid. By the way, if any of you have ever been to Lake Placid (wish I got to go to Uncle Ed’s and Aunt Margaret’s chalet that Nancy and Mike used to ski at), it is hard to imagine that this tiny village in Upstate New York in the Adirondacks hosted the Olympics. Never could that happen again in today’s world.

Also, the USA hockey team’s gold winning performance at the Games, to this day, I still consider the greatest sporting event EVER!!

Birdie bombs drilled on holes #6 (David’s infamous par 3 ace hole from a couple of Ringwood Cups back) and #9 (which if the putt didn’t hit the flag stick dead square would have clearly gone off the green and ended up on Franklin Street Road) helped right the ship back to -2 thru the front nine. Score: 34.

Back to music, David on February 6th posed the question of music selections we would take if stranded on a deserted island – which one album or cd or song would we need? What would be the reasons for this selection and why is the music so special? Why do I recall theses specifics? Because that email has remained in my inbox since that date and now, I wish to answer it David. My answer is, and I’m cheating here, I would select all the CDs we have made for each other over the years at Christmas time. These are cherished keepsakes that I have so much appreciation for over the years. By the way David…who knew you were such a big fan of Bob Dona…WHO? (A reference to Bernie) Bernie…who’s your favorite rock band? “WHO?!?!?” A footnote, the year Nancy and Bob pulled their CD together…I’m still bummed I couldn’t squeeze in the theme to the greatest soap opera ever, which I am currently binging on …DALLAS! In honor of Nancy.

By the way, a little known fact kids….the CD that was made where we were all asked to select 2 songs that remind us of our spouses, Dave and I both chose an obscure Bill Joel tune entitled “Your My Home”, which reminds us both or our wives.

The back nine was a series of pars from holes 10 – 17….

Mike would have been impressed with my up and down above the green on 10 for par, because we all know how God awful my short game really is.

Tracks on the back side included Gerry Rafferty’s “Home and Dry” and Bonnie Raitt’s “Love Letter”. Going back to the Gerry Rafferty tune, Paul may have forgotten this memory but I’m pretty certain it’s 1980 again and Paul and all of his CCC buddies decide to go sledding up at Highland and Paul invites his youngest brother to join the crew and ride up front in order to absorb the snow and potential water. If my memory serves me correctly, we must have gone down the hills surrounding holes 8 and 9 because I distinctly remember a stream running at the end of the hill. Pretty certain that Rafferty tune was popular at the time and perhaps I heard it before we headed out that evening. Isn’t it odd how little nuggets of very specific details remain with you over the years?

I would later in my youth sled the back side going down the hill behind hole #10. Can you say death wish? Of course, I was certain that Teresa and I were going to die the day she took me up to Highland to sled and the white Buick died on us. Thank God one of the Maye brothers managed to jump start the Buick for us. I also remember a time Jack took Peter, Tommy Scherrer and myself sledding to Highland. It was the day of the 19977 Superbowl…Vikings vs. Raiders, (won by Oakland). Andy Scherrer chose not to join us since he had a bet with his dad on the game that day.

Enclosed with this piece is a photo I took in the middle of the 10th fairway looking east towards the green. I by no means have the artistic ability that Patty has in capturing a moment, but the canvass of a golf course in an early summer morning sun offers a multititle of possibilities.

It’s probably around the 15th fairway where I started to consider what a special round that was unfolding. It was then that I started to slow down and breathe, and unfortunately think.

Holes 15 and 16 were played in even par with greens hit in regulations and birdie putts being lagged up woefully short.

So, we arrive at 17…a short uphill par 4 that has birdie written all over it or can be a hot, sloppy mess, which I am very much capable of. And it was here that Dad arrived and helped get me home. My drive rockets up the right-hand side of the fairway leaning towards some trees. I arrive at my ball and realize I have cut it dangerously close to some low overhanging branches. I have a swing and maybe ½ gap wedge into a pin placed on the right-hand side of the green in the middle. My plan is very simple…get the ball on the green and two putt. The approach shot is executed free of the trees and I’m not certain that it has adequately cleared a bunker fronting the green on the right. I summon the clubs and climb the hill seeing that the ball is clearly on the green. Dad, without a doubt, pulled the ball along and then spit it a little left to secure its place on the green. It reminds me of Ben Crenshaw’s drive on the 17th tee at August in 1995, one week after burying his mentor Harvey Penick. Crenshaw’s drive leaded left that day on hole #71 and something or someone made certain that ball was going to find a branch and kick back into the fairway. My approach to 17 was my Ben Crenshaw moment. Unfortunately, the fun wasn’t over with. I’m standing over a putt on a slick surface where over struck putts can doom rounds. So, I decide to lay up, halfway to the hole. The next putt goes in and I run to the 18th tee box to get out of dodge.

So, we arrive on the last hold, another short par 4 where right is dead and left leads to trouble as well. The conversation is simple…all I want is a par 4…-2 round of 69. As is customary, I play my go to slight draw working the ball right to left. Well struck…I strain that it may have been over cooked a tad too much to the left.

The walk ensues… “C’mon Dad…get me home!!”. As I ascend from the top of the hill and venture left, I see the beat-up white Precept…the lie looks good and the trees can be carved out of the way with another draw. Whichever wedge is selected at this point, it hit me…Dad got me home and from here on in …. the feeling “I Got This” ……overcomes me.

The approach shot lands in the middle of the green as the pin is placed back right. Two putts and we get a 6 instead of a 7 as the first number of this round. Putting has been a bit of a challenge for me as I age…because quite frankly, I suck.

It is my belief that Mom watched from the porch overseeing the 18th green because what was intended to be a lag putt to the hole disappears into the cup for a birdie 3 (-3)….round of 68!!!

A side note…. I have promised this piece to Captain Teresa for quite some time…here was are almost over 8 months since that day has unfolded. I was smart enough to get thoughts down early and build off the initial momentum. As I reflect on that round….one this is for certain….my entire family was there with me in spirt enjoying both the beauty of the day and the round of a lifetime. Of course, one has to wonder if I played golf that day or just went sledding?

We are so lucky to have been exposed to this crazy game so early on in our lives. It’s where we have gone to escape life, to grow as an adult, to meet others, make friends and learn from others how not to conduct ourselves. Which makes the gathering of the Ringwood Cup so important! It’s Skaneateles all over again, it’s 1973 and “Love’s Theme” by Love Unlimited Orchestra which takes me back to Mom and Dad. By the way, that was the song I chose as my remembrance of Joanie and Red.

How lucky we are to have had each other over the years. What a testament we are to Mom and Dad…. they done pretty good…. didn’t they?

Finally, why the title….” I Got This”? YouTube “I Got This Phoenix Open” and you’ll see the wonderful story of how last year’s US Open Champion Gary Woodland was paired with Amy Bockerstette, a young woman with Downs Syndrome, who plays the par 3 16th  hole at the TPC of Scottsdale with Woodland in front of thousands of spectators,  and pars it all on her won. It’s magical…as was July 5, 2019!

-Bob Ringwood