Season 3 Championship Invitational

This weekend, each player on the tour who had previously won a sanctioned event was invited to the fabulous Maple Hill course in Leicester, MA to participate in the Season 3 Championship Invitational. All the regular season winners were in attendance: Maddog, Millsbury and Myself and the competition promised to be fierce.

We lucked into an unseasonably pleasant day, with Maple Hill serving as a perfect venue for this marquee event. The course was impressive. Set on a private chistmas tree farm, every hole had two tees and two pins, was incredibly well marked and better yet: challenging and creative, demanding a full bag of shots to keep the scores from becoming obscene. We couldn't have asked for a better place to play host to this much anticipated tournament.

Millsbury and Maddog were both coming into this event with the same goals: lay claim to the Season 3 Championship, ending Ben's recent string of wins and enjoying the satisfaction of taking that punk down a notch. For my part, I was hoping the fortunate wave i've been riding didn't decide to break on what could be the last sanctioned match of the season....

The Maddog came out of the gates a bit hesitant (surprising given his frothing at the mouth drive style we see in the photo) and had a tough time right off the bat. Unfortuately this would prove to foreshadow what became for him a disappointing first 18. On the first (and very intimidating) hole, his disc took a bath, twice, resulting in a nasty triple bogey and an inauspicous start. Hole 1 is probably the signature hole of the course (there are a few other worthy contenders), a real beast with no attractive lay-up spot and little choice but max distance off the tee in order to try and reach the pin 350+ feet away, set flush against the far edge of a pond / disc burial ground.

After the initial tripler, Dave held steady for a few holes before beginning to slip, frustrated by bogies on holes 6, 7, 8 and 9. Meanwhile, Ben and Mike were more on rhythym with Mike carding one birdie and Ben two over the first 9 holes. After 9 the scores stood at Ben +2, Mike +5 and Dave +7. Still anybody's game...

On the back 9 of the first round, Ben and Mike managed to maintain parity and were generally playing fairly strong. I had a near ace as well as a near fairway ace which bounced off the chains. The biggest difference for me though was hitting the putts I needed, not shanking any of those "should makes" until very late in the second round. A problem that has plagued me all season. After reviewing the photographic evidence, it also appears that I like to stick my tongue out whilst driving.
Mike was also looking solid, with his big forehand making a reappearance on the scene. Mike has suggested that we nickname him "Guns" (see photo). He combined some big drives with a steady short game to keep the heat on right from the get go.

Dave's frustration continued to mount however, as he scored consecutive bogies on holes 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18. After round 1 Ben had built a 3 stroke lead over Mike and an 8 stroke lead over Dave. Still, nothing seemed certain, as scores were moving quickly and there were a few very punishing holes.

Every one was looking pretty strong on the second 18. Unfortunately none of us par'd the intimidating hole 1, a great benchmark for distance and control. Nervertheless, each of us settled down and found our fair share of birdies to mix in with the bogies over the course of the first 9 holes. On hole number 10 of round two, I had a great uphill hyzer drive which resulted in a drop in birdie (well as close as you can come to a drop birdie considering the pin is perched atop a 6 foot high wood berm). This opened up a seamingly insurmountable six stroke lead for me over Mike. Dave was quietly having a very solid round, +2 after 11. Mike however was catching some bad breaks and had some painful missed medium range putts. Maddog was all of a sudden only two back from Guns--who instead of challenging for the win now seemed to be trying to save second from the hard charging Dave. Looming large was the prospect of surmounting what had become with only four holes remaining in the match a seven stroke lead (nine over Dave) if they wanted to contend for the real prize, leaving these two gladiators feeling a bit gloomy.


I think everyone always raises their game a bit when locked in a tight battle with a determined opponent, each trying to outdo the other. I became prey to the converse principle, allowing myself to get sloppy once a cozy lead was established. As I soon learned, the two challengers were not about to fade away meekly, instead they grimly tightened the screws and managed to shave a few strokes off. Coming into the final hole, I still had four strokes over Mike though and was generally feeling unconcerned. As I found out however, such lackadaisicalness can prove dangerous, especially when combined with playing recklessly on a hard par four which sports an artificial ob lake around the green...

Teeing off on 18, Dave (still two back from Mike) had a perfect drive. Mike had a not so perfect drive that went far, but left. I clipped some christmas trees, but was still fine to save par. My next shot went as planned, leaving me in easy lay up range just before the ob that fronts the green. Dave, trusting his instincts, launched a risky hyzer approach that had to fight through a thick row of trees to clear the OB around the green which somehow managed to drop gracefully in for a much needed birdie look. Mike, not to be outdone, unleashed a monster second shot from out in no mans land that zoomed straight towards the green and landed just at the edge. Consensus was Mike had a birdie shot of his own. So the drama can be properly visualized, here is a quick sketch of the 19th hole and our first two shots:
Entranced with all the birdie looks flying around, I decided to make a run at my 50 foot, wide open third shot instead of laying up for easy par. The result, a horrible shank into the OB. Now i am facing a probable double bogey, whilst these boys are threatening birdies. I missed the long putt for bogie from the edge of the OB and capped the performance off by brain-farting the 7 foot comebacker. Triple bogey. Meanwhile, much to his dismay, Mike's disc had actually tragically managed to roll OB so he now faced a long putt from the edge of the green for a par save to keep Dave and his threatening birdie look at bay. Mike stepped up, zoned in and dialed 1 800 chains, sticking the pressure packed 30 footer and securing second place (also rendering Dave's subsequent birdie putt moot). In the end, it turned out I needed every one of my four strokes to prevent what had seemed like the unthinkable. But aside from a brief bout of nauseau at the prospect of having almost blown it, I managed to emerge unscathed to claim the win.

Results:

After 18 After 36
Ben +5 +16
Mike +8 +17
Dave +13 +18

It was all in all an extremely enjoyable round of golf with some great shots, challenging holes and big putts with a lot of fun in between, a fitting end to what has been a very competitive season.