The Grand Champion

I have proven once and for all that I am the superior golfer with a solid all around performance in the final round. Strub is inconsolable.

It's over

I won, but I lost.

Damn.

Driver status

Driver doesn't appear to be on the table at this point. I've had some success hitting 3- and 4-iron off the tee.

Plan is to visit the driving range tonight (once I get my car back from the shop). I'll try hitting driver about a hundred times, see if I can get this thing straightened out.

I don't think I have a shot to win tomorrow if I can't hit the Sumo Sq2. But that's not to say I'm going to go in and hit it if it's not going to show up for me. I'd rather play even and lose the season by 8 than make an ass of myself and lose tomorrow by 20 feebly attempting to hit driver every hole.

Alex has been playing better than me lately, but he's still the same Alex. Meltdown definitely not off the table. And if his lead shrinks to about 3 by the turn, look out.

Hit the driver?

Strub refused to hit his driver again last weekend with only one exception. He almost made it to the ladies tees. I have a slight length advantage over him, and he makes the problem 100x worse by hitting 5 iron off the tee. His thinking was that he would put it in the fairway every time, and I would lose enough drives to make it worthwhile. Unfortunately, neither of those things is true. In fact, he is still losing more drives than me. He said the only way he could win this week was to be able to pull the driver out of the bag with confidence. Whether he put in the time at the range this week is yet to be seen.

This is the week

Strub hasn't beat me in golf in 3 weeks. He has to win by 8 to take home the Libous title. Not a chance.

Last week

Strub claimed to be too sick to wake up early and play golf, so we did a light day at Chenango Commons. I beat the everloving piss out of him, but it was pretty easy to see that coming after he put his first three shots into a pond literally 6 feet in front of where he was teeing off. All told, he barely broke 100 on a course which is par 60.

This week is his chance to break 100 on a real course- the one we were supposed to play last week. I still don't give him very good odds, but we'll see I guess. Stranger things have happened.

Now it is a sprint

I beat Strub by a solid 7 strokes at Traditions, and now he is in a deep hole with only one course left. He'll try to put on a brave front and say that he is confident he can make up 7 strokes in one day, but the statistics are clear that rarely does anybody win by 8 or more in a single day. He really needs a little help here.

The thing working most against him is the fact that when one of us plays bad, the other one invariably plays almost (but no quite) as bad. At Hiawatha last week, I had one of the worst outings of the year, and he managed to have an awful round of his own. If I have another bad day at Conklin, expect him to have a bad day of his own. His best chance is if I have an average day, and he comes up with the round of his life.

The final round at Conklin is at least 2 weeks away, and we have a tune-up at Genegantslet tentatively scheduled for this week. Strub is still chasing 100, despite the fact that he has shown marked improvement throughout the summer in everything except his driving game. In fact, a common refrain last week at our shockingly bad outing was that for two guys that played so much this summer, we still scored (and played) awful. Genny is forgiving, and gives some opportunities to make up strokes if you start slow.

At the end of the day, this tune-up is about being ready for Conklin, whenever we get there. Strub has experimented with taking his long clubs off the table (presumably because I guaranteed I would beat him if I took that route), with hitting driver at every opportunity, with hitting other woods off the tee, and all manner of other bold strategies. Now he has a very limited amount of time to figure out what actually works and stick with it. No matter how you slice it, the constant loser's refrain of "it's a marathon, not a sprint" is no longer true- it's a close to a sprint to the finish as you could imagine.

Nah

Nah

Traditions

If yesterday's tournament was any indication, me and Strub are gonna have a rough day next Saturday when we go back to traditions. We both played absolutely awful, but alcohol may have been a factor. I am going to go out on a limb and say that in addition to being the youngest, we were also the drinkinest team out there. The team behind us was shocked that we finished even par. So was I.

Traditions preview

Unsure if this posted successfully the first time, I will repost

- - - - - - - - - - -

Conklin Players Club will be the final event of the invitational, but one course I've looked forward to all summer is Traditions at the Glen.

When I started playing a few summers ago, Traditions was where I began (in fact, I wasn't cognizant of Ely). It's one of the classiest courses in the area, built around a resort and spa that's considered one of the premier places to stay for travelers.

Whereas most courses we've played this year will be one and done, Traditions will be the exception. Today is the BU Alumni Golf Classic, a tournament I played in last year with Jay Boulia, Nick Nunziato and Mike Boykin. For varied reasons, Boykin and Jay dropped out this year, so we'll field a foursome of me, Nunz, Alex and Mike Waffle.

This tournament was the highlight of my 2009, and I expect it will be the highlight of my 2010. Plenty of food and drinks, with a BBQ dinner to cap the night: this tournament is built for 24-year-old alpha males like us. Dan Polhamus does a great job organizing this tournament, and I technically was on the organizing committee this year (although my responsibilities have been minimal).

At the least, today gives me and Alex an opportunity to see the course and get a sense of how to take on one of the tier's nicest 18, which we will play again next Saturday afternoon. Having played here many times, I have to feel at least a little confident.

As for our chances today, they're about zero. I don't remember what number we posted last year; I only remember that we lost by 18 strokes. The winning team includes Jeff "Frosh" Wolniewicz, one of the best golfers in school history. His team must be the favorite going in again today. We'll see.

A Traditions preview

Conklin Players Club will be the final event of the invitational, but one course I've looked forward to all summer is Traditions at the Glen.

When I started playing a few summers ago, Traditions was where I began (in fact, I wasn't cognizant of Ely). It's one of the classiest courses in the area, built around a resort and spa that's considered one of the premier places to stay for travelers.

Whereas most courses we've played this year will be one and done, Traditions will be the exception. Today is the BU Alumni Golf Classic, a tournament I played in last year with Jay Boulia, Nick Nunziato and Mike Boykin. For varied reasons, Boykin and Jay dropped out this year, so we'll field a foursome of me, Nunz, Alex and Mike Waffle.

This tournament was the highlight of my 2009, and I expect it will be the highlight of my 2010. Plenty of food and drinks, with a BBQ dinner to cap the night: this tournament is built for 24-year-old alpha males like us. Dan Polhamus does a great job organizing this tournament, and I technically was on the organizing committee this year (although my responsibilities have been minimal).

At the least, today gives me and Alex an opportunity to see the course and get a sense of how to take on one of the tier's nicest 18, which we will play again next Saturday afternoon. Having played here many times, I have to feel at least a little confident.

As for our chances today, they're about zero. I don't remember what number we posted last year; I only remember that we lost by 18 strokes. The winning team includes Jeff "Frosh" Wolniewicz, one of the best golfers in school history. His team must be the favorite going in again today. We'll see.

Stonehedges

I played like garbage yesterday, plain and simple. I'm done making excuses about preparation and all that jazz: For the first six holes of the round, and on No. 9, I just could not strike the ball. Period.

I liked playing a course that required a bit of thinking. The course is tougher than most, not necessarily because of the terrain or hazards (no sand at all), but because the configuration requires creativity and ingenuity when planning shots.

I just couldn't execute what I wanted to do, plain and simple.

Honestly, I probably should've lost by even more than I did. As has become tradition, I played much better on the back nine, and Alex handed me a four-shot gift after hitting into a hazard, taking a drop in a tough spot, and then immediately hitting back into the hazard.

I also made some good putts, which I think bodes nicely for the stretch run here. Of course, neither of us have played Conklin -- which I hear is difficult -- but at Traditions, I am very familiar with the greens, which, for the most part, are not the most difficult we've seen.

What it comes down to is this: I need to take advantage of my knowledge of Traditions -- having played there dozens of times -- and regain a lead heading into the final course. When Alex can take his driver out of his hand and hit long iron off the tee, he's able to play pretty consistent golf. I need to have him taking chances with the driver for me to have a chance, and if he goes into Conklin with a lead, despite his nature as a choke artist, I'll be worried.

As he noted, technically, we are now tied for the entire season. However, when we started the competition, I proposed the idea of dropping our lowest scores. When that is taken into account, he is winning by five shots.

It'll be unfortunate if one of us wins with all scores accounted for, and the other wins with the lowest score dropped. At this point, it's a definite possibility.

Re: Throwing away a summer of golf

Strub managed to blow an entire summer's worth of lead in one day. We are now tied on the season, with 2 left to play.

A nice win

Full update later, but I gained another two strokes on the season with a two-shot win (108 to 110) at Pheasant Hill this morning.

The deficit is going to be difficult to close at this point. I didn't play my best today, but I did a really great job recovering from trouble.

I like my chances.

Libous

If Libous will pose for this picture at the Deposit Lumberjack Festival Parade ...



... he's gotta find 30 seconds for us.

Saturday plan

10 a.m., Pheasant Hill in Owego.

I am feeling supremely confident.

Agreed on all counts

That course was miserable. We kept trying to give it a chance, and it just kept getting worse. I mean seriously, I thought the paint on the garbage cans at Dimmock Hill was bad until I saw this:



Behind the chicken wire with 'H G C' scratched into it is the cart path heading to the No. 8 tee, but it might as well be a sample of many of the fairways.

Today wasn't an accurate representation of our golf skills, that's for sure. Add the dry conditions to an already dreadful course and this is one round I won't fondly remember.

Quickly, though, the employees of this golf course were really great, one of the nicest staffs we've seen. The woman tending bar was extremely friendly and kind, and when we stopped for hot dogs at the turn, a gentleman was waiting with a gas can to check to make sure we'd make it all the way around the course again. Classy employees.

And as for how we played, well, a tie at this point is, in my eyes, a victory. I was up 3 heading to No. 18, and threw the individual win away with a triple-bogey 6, but I drove the ball the best I have in months, and had the first eagle putt of my life after an exceptional (and ballsy) hybrid over a water hazard.

My lead stays at 7, which I am comfortable with. I think I can outplay Alex at Traditions, because I've played there at least a dozen times. His window to make up the difference here is quickly closing.

I'm this much closer to proving, definitively, that I am the better golfer.

Hancock

Whereas some of the courses we played were cow pastures, Hancock was instead an abandoned logging project. Fairways were basically just dead grass, and you essentially were hitting off berber. Easily the crappiest course we played, but home to maybe the best moment of the year. Some guy in a stained polo shirt (later determined to be brother of the club pro) walks behind the bar, mumbles something about 5 o'clock somewhere, takes out a styrofoam cup, fills it with ice, and then fills that with just vodka, and walks out. It was almost, but not quite, noon.

Two words

Score board.

HA

Chris Strub is the only guy I know that complains when he doesn't get 11 hours of sleep. Guess what buddy: we all know you work late, but that doesn't mean we are all gonna feel sorry for you because you have to have short nights like a regular person. You can get out of work at midnight and wind down for 2 hours and be in bed by 2. That gives you 6 hours before you have to get up at 8, and if you're gonna complain about only getting 6 hours of sleep, screw you. Maybe the real problem here is that you choose not to get up until 3 pm on Fridays and you have only been up for 9 hours when you try to go to bed. You make the choice about being awake before work or after work, and you have chosen after. Everyone take note of what time he wakes up and sees this post as evidence.

Also, don't try and lay down that bs about not being prepared last weekend. I was in much worse shape than you and I still whooped you up and down the fairways. Get better at golf if you want to win.

Preparation

More so than any one technical aspect, I've learned this summer that succeeding at golf is all about preparation.

I'm not making excuses here. On Friday, I knew all day long that I would have to wake up very early (by my standards) to play golf very far away on Saturday. I knew when I came home, I should just crawl into bed and go to sleep.

The nature of my job makes it difficult to do that. This time right now, 1:11 a.m., is like the start of the evening for me. I won't be surprised if I don't fall asleep until 4:30 a.m.; that's just the nature of being a copy editor. You need to be at the top of your game at midnight, which makes it very difficult to try and drive home and be asleep by 1, 1:30. Golfing on Saturday on 3 1/2 hours of sleep, after staying up just sitting here on my laptop for several hours doing nothing, was a perfect example of not being prepared: I burst out to an early lead on adrenaline, and then when the lack of sleep hit me, I tanked. Hard.

As the scoreboard shows, I think I'm a marginally better golfer than Alex is. The key is in the preparation. I always wear sunscreen, bring tons of water, Gatorade, sometimes a soda ... my fashionable argyle socks are often a point of discussion, but when you're looking through the deep, high rough for a ball, I bet any guy I play with wishes he had high socks on. Everything I do, I do for a reason.

Alex sometimes fails to prepare properly, and it comes back to haunt him.

The issue going forward is going to be, with the title still very much up for grabs, I think both of us will realize the crucial nature of solid preparation. Friday night, I'm coming home and going to sleep. Period.

And on Saturday evening, when I'm driving to work, I'll have extended my lead after a solid round at our fifth-to-last course of the summer: Hancock.

I know this, because I'll have been prepared.

Canasawacta- I told you it was a marathon

Strub really really should not have let me beat him today. I was feeling awful when I woke up, and tried to tell him to forget it and that I was just going to sleep in. However, he dragged (drug? drugged?) me out of bed and off we went to beautiful Norwich, New York, home of the whatever random basketball tournament we saw there today.

I hit a good tee shot on the first hole and immediately felt better about my chances. I proceeded to hit my next ball I have no idea where, and things went downhill fast. I hit a 9 on the par-3 second hole after losing my first 2 balls. However, Strub struggled on 3 and I hit a few good shots to gain a little confidence back. I finished 9 holes up 6 based on strong driving and good play around the green. I hit the approach irons a little better, but my real problem is still the putter. The last 2 weeks have been Sahara Desert-dry, and I have been putting awful since then. It rained last night, but I still couldn't hit a good putt all day. I think I 3-putted 15 times today.

For some reason, the 9th hole does not end anywhere near the clubhouse. There is a shack with presumably food and drinks, but it was closed today. I really could have benefitted from something more than Burger King breakfast in me, especially since the groups in front of us were so slow that we took 2 and a half hours to play 9 holes and it was getting dangerously close to lunch time.

The back 9 saw me and Strub trade strokes back and forth and go nowhere. The highlight for me was 18, which was a short par 4 protected by several bunkers. I had been contemplating whether I would lay up or go for it for several holes, and I decided to go for it. I ripped the best drive I hit all day and I was confident I had missed the bunkers on the front edge. When I got up to the ball, I saw that I still wasn't safe- I was actually in the backside bunker. My bunker play has been atrocious for the last 2 weeks. The problem is that I don't have a plan for bunkers, other than don't hit in to them. I have been in 2 bunkers in the last 2 weeks, and needed multiple shots to get out of both of them. However, this time I lucked out a little. The rain had beat the sand down, and the ball had only slowly rolled in, so it was sitting up on top of a nice packed surface. All I had to do was make contact with the ball and knock it out. It was just like hitting off a range mat- you want to catch all ball, or as much ball as you can. I cleanly played it out, had a birdie putt, and then fittingly 3-putted for bogey.

The back 9 ended up a tie, so I beat Strub by 6. The way I played, I deserved to lose badly. Canasawacta also features a lot of holes with such severe dog-legs that you cannot hit driver, which takes away a lot of my length advantage and should only help Strub. Instead, I closed the gap from 13 strokes to just 7. This is why I was not worried after Thursday. I know that I play consistently better golf than Strub, so as long as I don't have another meltdown, I expect to comfortably reel him in and then pass him.

Canasawacta

Not a good day of golf for me. I shot 118 and gave back six strokes, and while I'm still leading, I shouldn't have given any back today.

I'm disappointed that after this many rounds, I'm not showing the improvement I thought I'd have made. Though there were a few bright spots today -- particularly with the putter -- this was not a step in the right direction for me.

More later.

It's a marathon...

not a sprint. I have played consistently well all summer, and I am not worried. I had a single bad day. We contemplated this sort of meltdown at the beginning of the season, and decided to drop each of our worst scores. This will be my worst score, so in reality, nothing has changed.

Throwing away a summer of solid golf ...

... It's sort of sad to say that that's what happened tonight at Tioga Country Club.

Honestly, I couldn't believe what I was witnessing tonight, out in lovely (aha) Nichols: the self-destruction of a young man who, I thought, had harnessed his emotions and his game to a respectable level.

Tonight, Alex Racketa imploded.

The damage was done on the course's toughest hole: the 521-yard par-5 4th hole, an uphill-then-downhill intimidator that surely has done in many a golfer over its years.

Two tee shots into the woods. A long iron down into the next fairway over. A looping short iron into a tree. A looping short iron into the sand trap. Two poor chips. Of course, three putts. And, somewhere, a couple other strokes I must not even have seen; by the end, adding to an unspeakable, unimaginable, season-ruining 15.

That's not a triple bogey -- that's triple par. And in one hole, 8/9ths of a lead carefully built over 180 holes around the Southern Tier had disappeared.

Sure, there were two golfers on the course tonight. And don't get me wrong: I thought I played pretty well, considering the exhausting heat and continued dry conditions. I carded a 49 on the front 9, and if not for a usually-the-worst-hole-of-the-day-by-either-of-us 11 on no. 16 (another par 5, at least), I would've broken 100 on the day.

I can sympathize with the fact that it was not a perfect night for golf. I'm sure Alex will blog about how we had to play very quickly, jumping around to try and get in as many holes as possible; at one point, we decided we were only going to fit in 12 holes and would have to come back to finish the round another day. (We started at 1, played 2, then skipped to 9, finished through 18, then floored it back to 3, cutting off a group putting on 2; we finished with probably 8-10 minutes left before total darkness.)

But the truth is, I stepped up. Whereas a month ago, if one guy tanked, the other guy's game would've similarly suffered (see: Blue Stone), today, I refused to let that happen.

I was particularly proud of the putter today. I made a number of 8-to-10-footers that, on a regular day, I would've been overjoyed to drain one. A common refrain for Alex this summer has been, "You really missed an opportunity there," as I pick up my ball from 3 inches from the cup, having missed a four-footer just left.

Today, with an "I-can't-even-believe-I'm-typing-this" 22-shot swing (!!), I didn't miss the opportunity. And now, probably more surprising to me than anyone else, the Libous Invitiational is mine for the taking.

- - - - -

Quick hits on Tioga: I thought the bartender was way more attractive than "golf course hot," but Alex disagreed; the clubhouse here is definitely hidden, and I'm sure I wasn't the first guy to be confused by its secluded location and indescript door; I've been very generous in rating these courses, but I can't say I'd want to go back to this one. The time factor and the location -- wayyy out of the way -- don't help, but the long grass and weeds weren't enjoyable, the par-3s weren't memorable, the goofy doglegs are just that, the water wasn't particularly nice ... I guess it's nicer than Dimmock, but I don't think I could rate it above any other courses we've played this summer.

A whole new ballgame

To say that the Summer 2010 Libous Invitational turned around today would be an understatement.

Updates later.

Saturday doubleheader wrap: A disappointment

On one of the hottest days of 2010, we played both River Run II and Endwell Greens.

With the unbearable conditions, I don't think anyone predicted we'd finish the day with no changes in the overall score -- but that's what happened.

River Run II wasn't quite as nice as I thought it was going to be, based on its website. It was alright, but not as nice and manicured as I'd hoped from the lavish descriptions.

I played pretty well on the front, but surprisingly, when we went to the back and each hole was shorter (and a par 3), I played worse. I dropped four more shots on the day as Alex finished strong on the last few holes -- which has become, unfortunately for me, a trademark of his game.

Of course, I broke 100 -- for the first time -- but that's really nothing to be proud of on a par 56.

Endwell Greens just played absolutely impossible -- there's no other way to say it. I'm actually relatively impressed with my 112 considering how tough it was to drop the ball onto the green. These had to be the hardest greens we played all year, without a doubt. Alex was cursing at them, and if I wasn't playing slightly better than him and trying to maintain the mental edge, I would've done the same thing.

I ended up beating him by four on the day, missing a 2-foot nothing putt on the final hole (No. 3; we had to start on 4 because the club championship was still wrapping up when we arrived).

We did play with others on the day, but I'm writing this post in a hurry because we're leaving shortly to play the season's 11th course: Tioga Country Club. Chris Vito and Jay Boulia joined us in the morning; Vito played tremendously well on the back after really stinking it up on the front. Jay, as expected, beat the three of us -- it really irks me that he's still better than me at this point.

In the afternoon, Chris Ameigh joined us and shot 150, but it was good to hang out with him again. I also had some interesting conversation with the girl driving the drink cart around. She was nice.

Needless to say, as is always the case with these things, I feel very confident in the after-Alex-works-a-full-day round. I've eaten an awesome late lunch, put on suntan lotion and bug spray, hydrated all day and scoped out the course online. If I don't win on a day like today, I probably don't deserve to win the whole thing.

Also, it's 90+ out again right now, and it still hasn't rained this month. Hopefully Tioga does a respectable job watering its greens, or we may be chipping past sundown on, from what I've gleaned online, is a pretty nice course.

Saturday Doubleheader

Strub has guaranteed that he will eat dinner in the lead on Saturday night. He has 2 rounds to make it up, and one is a par 3 course. I presume he will have the advantage there, because my T wedge is mysteriously bent, and my pitching wedge is less mysteriously bent. However, even if he brings it a little closer in the morning, my longer game should stretch the lead in the afternoon. The smart money is on me pulling farther ahead.

Doubleheader Saturday

The early plan for Saturday is River Run II in Kirkwood at 9:30, followed by Endwell Greens at 2:00.

I don't think I can win the competition this weekend, but I could certainly lose it. I'm not thrilled with my position at this point, but I'm not overly concerned, either.

I haven't spent the hours to aggregate all the data, but I'd be willing to bet I've outplayed Alex on the par-3's this summer. My best shot of the season came on a short, downhill par 3 -- No. 12 at Apalachin, where I missed a hole-in-one by 2 feet. I'm confident in my short irons, and Alex's old strength -- chips from just off the green -- has not been as much of an advantage this year. On top of that, I've been putting very well lately.

On top of all that, Alex will be at the disadvantage of having not played for two weeks, while I played 45 holes during my vacation (48 on 9 with Dad at the course where he lives; 106 at Great Rock in Wading River, Long Island; 113 on Sunday evening at Ely Park). I've also played Endwell Greens before, so that course is one I've targeted to make up some strokes since the day we bought the discount cards.

I'm not going to sugarcoat it: I've been outplayed to this point. But this competition is nowhere close to over. Alex's nature as a choke artist notwithstanding, I think both courses planned for Saturday play to my advantage. Traditions at the Glen is another course that I've played quite a bit, so therein lies yet more opportunity.

I may be losing, but I am as confident as ever.

Afton

Strub is right to be discouraged after our respective showings at Afton. It looks like the only thing keeping him in the contest is my continued struggle with my driver. I had it under control at Afton, and the result is that even Strub playing his absolute best was just not good enough.

Strub gave me a speech today before the start of the round about how good he was feeling, how today was his day, and how he was going to beat me by 12 strokes. Things looked like they were going to break his way after he hit a nice straight drive right up the middle on 1, and I topped one 100 yards. I gave him 2 strokes on 1 and his confidence swelled a little more. His first major mistake was on the par-3 4th. I teed my ball too high and left 20 yards worth of work to the green, and Strub was sitting pretty just off the fringe on the short side of the hole. I hit one chip 4 feet, with my club passing entirely under the ball and only slightly grazing it. However, he hit his chip all the way over the green, and then left a lot of work coming back to the cup. Both of us came away with 6s and Strub lost his first best chance.

The next hole, I drilled a 5 iron into the women's tee box markers, and bailed Strub out a little more. However, on 6, my day turned around. Playing through a group, we both went up to the tee box and hit monster drives to within yards of the green. Both of us easily parred the hole. I played 7 in good fashion and took an 8 because I lost a ball in the fairway somehow. I hit 4-5 out to come into the clubhouse with all the momentum.

Lunch: 2 hotdogs, 1 Diet Pepsi. I ate one of the hotdogs and about half of the other one. Not sure why I felt I needed 2. To be fair, they were more sausage-sized that hot-dog-. Strub had nothing, and I question the wisdom of this decision. I realize he doesn't normally eat meals before 3 pm and he did have breakfast, but you need some sort of sustenance if you expect to win.

The back 9 saw a stretch of holes that showed why Strub had no chance in this tournament. After a 6 on 10, I ripped off 5 straight holes of pars or bogeys. I was hitting huge drives, and nice straight long irons, and giving myself chances at birdie on most holes. Strub wasn't playing bad, but he just couldn't keep pace. I knew I was in great shape to break 100 going into 16, as long as I didn't have a colossal breakdown. I had a few minor bumps, but I easily came in with a 97 to card the best score of the year. If I play anywhere near the level I showed I could play for an extended period of time, Strub is going to have a rough summer.

Going into 18, I needed anything less than a 12 to break 100. I had no idea what Strub's score was, but he was actually in that ballpark as well. He managed to score exactly 100 by losing a ball, and then making the decision to play off the rocks near a cartpath because he decided that was a better lie than he would get on the leaves behind it. He made these sort of poor decisions all day. He was about to play a ball out of a creek to save a stroke until I strongly suggested he just drop it and take the stroke penalty instead of wasting 2 in the creek. In that regard, Strub is the Rajon Rondo of this tournament. Strub's irrational love for Rondo is a common point of contention between us. I feel that Rondo is overrated as an offensive point guard because he makes circus passes to get on the highlight reel, and the result is that many of his passes are just far enough off target to ruin the shooting opportunity. Strub is out there showboating just like Rondo, hoping that his unbelievably bad fashion sense and willingness to play shots out of creeks and off cartpaths will get him on SportsCenter. Unfortunately for him, nobody's watching, and instead it is just costing him strokes.

Can Strub ever break 100? The question is open, but maybe not. He may just not be quite a good enough player. He just doesn't make the big putts when it matters, and he is just not good enough around the greens. Its ok, there's no shame in being a 100 golfer. It's a tough game, and its not for everyone. Maybe if he keeps plugging away at it, he'll get there eventually, but I think he should be very proud of what he has accomplished. Feel free to congratulate him on shooting 100, and maybe he will see that sometimes the attainable goals are the best ones.

Afton note

By the way, and I can't believe I forgot about this until right now, the shot of the day was clearly Alex's tee shot on No. 5. I had honors and hit a driver on this long dogleg left dead straight, a bit to the right perhaps, leaving myself a lengthy shot to the hole from the adjacent fairway. Alex based his decision to hit a long iron off the tee on my errant tee shot, and proceeded to approach the ball, take 7 or 8 practice swings like always, then step up and absolutely drill the ball, 5 inches off the ground, into the bright crimson women's tee markers about 20 yards in front of us. The marker broke in half, with the top half flying about 7-8 yards ahead, and Alex's ball dying on the front of the women's tee box.

Hilarious.

Afton - 6/19

I played the best golf of my life today and still lost three strokes on the season.

I shot 100, and left eight lengthy putts within 6 inches of the cup. I missed a 20-footer on 18 that would've given me 99, which has been my target score for 2 years now. I lost a total of two balls all day, on a course where losing balls is not a difficult task. Needless to say, I was crushed by this result.

I played unbelievable on the front nine. Out of this world good. Lost just one ball, into the water on 7, which is a long, difficult par 5. I left the scorecard in Alex's car, so I can't really go through the whole round like I normally would, but it doesn't matter. I killed it on the front, and Alex played well enough to only drop a stroke, as I went out in 49 and he went out in 50.

We made the turn and I continued my stellar play. I was hitting my driver tremendously well, hitting excellent long iron shots, and when I needed the hybrid to help me out, it was there, too.

Somehow, Alex outplayed me on the back. It was tremendously discouraging as it relates to my chances of winning this whole thing: I played well enough to shoot probably low-to-mid-90's, ended up not breaking my only true goal for the day, and wasted what may well be my best opportunity to really post a low number for the season, as now we are approaching the point where we need to start playing some of the more difficult courses, like Tioga.

Halfway through this challenge, I find myself down nine shots, and lost ground on one of the few courses where I thought I had an advantage, seeing as I'd played Afton last fall. The conditions were simply perfect today, I had a good night's sleep, I felt great, played great, and lost three shots. I walked off the course shaking my head, for myriad reasons.

Other quick notes from Afton: The ads are true, it's really not fa ... As Alex may touch on (if he ever decides he's going to write again), the girls working the clubhouse here were better than "golf course hot" ... The course was in spectacular condition, especially compared to how I remember playing it (very) late last fall ... I really can't overstate how disappointed I am to not break 100. My only 8 of the day was on 18, and I was in great position hitting 4 -- even after drilling my tee shot OB (the second ball I lost all day) -- to chip on and make 6 or even 5. Eight was an unacceptable score from the position I was in. What a chokejob on my part.

I'm going to need help to close the gap soon. Read: I'm going to need Alex to melt down soon. He's proven to be quite the choke artist, but then again, so have I.

We may not play next week as I'm going home, he's going to a wedding, and some other lame excuses like that. It sucks, because this is not the note I wanted to leave this challenge on. I'll need to be ready to make up some ground the next time out, that's for sure, before this thing gets out of hand.

Blue Stone - 6/10

There's a reason why we didn't go out of our way to post about Blue Stone: we played terribly.

In fact, I didn't play too terribly on the first nine (we played the back 9 first). No. 18 is a spectacular, long, very downhill par 4 where I hit my best shot of the day, a towering, arcing drive to the right side of the fairway.

In retrospect, it's a shame we didn't finish at 18, because when we closed at 9, we both made an absolute mess of it. Badly.

Long story short, we both shot 12s. Alex took about 7 shots from right off of the green. At least the GSP after the round was amazing.

I have to cut this post short because we are almost at Afton (it's not fa). I plan a major victory today. Talk to you soon

Ford Hill - 6/5

After nine holes on Saturday at Ford Hill in Whitney Point, our first sub-100 round seemed well within reach.

Just not for me.

Standing in the clubhouse at the turn, I had lost 12 strokes in nine holes -- a potentially devastating deficit, especially if the trend continued on the back.

Alex went out in 47 -- the best nine holes either of us had played yet. My game, on the other hand, had been atrocious. I carded a 9, and 8 and 4 7's en route to an ugly 59 at Ford Hill's 'White' course.

There were a few highlights on my part, most notably a par on the 575-yard par 5 5th hole. I had hit my new TaylorMade hybrid club fairly well, despite what the scorecard said.

But Alex was tearing it up. He carded only one 7 -- on No. 5 -- and was eyeing his first sub-100 round. I knew, at the turn, I need to turn things around.

And I did.

We played the 'Red' as the back 9, and I'm glad we did: I came right back with a 47 of my own to finish the day with an unusual 59-47-106. A terrible second shot on No. 9 -- the course consists of four 9-hole courses, so it was our No. 18 -- left me a country mile from the hole, leading to a double-bogey 6 that left me wondering what could've been (par would've meant 45).

Alex fell apart a bit right after the turn, but closed strong to still win the day, coming back in with a 56. He picked up three strokes, extending his seasonal lead, but after an abysmal front 9, I'll live with that.

Also worth noting is that Jay Boulia joined us for this 18 holes. Despite a long night of teetotaling with his girlfriend on Friday, Jay managed to drink 13 beers by the 14th hole, which really enhanced his compliments of my outfit and occasionally unorthodox swings as the day went on. I wouldn't let it bother me, though; if we were dragging him around the course, I might feel differently, but Jay actually shot 53-47-100 and beat both of us, so there's not much I can say.

Ford Hill

Almost home from Whitney Point. Alex beat me by 3 strokes, 106-103. If you told me after I went out in 59 that I'd only lose 3 strokes on the day, I'd have taken it in an instant.

We also had a special guest along with us today; he did not benefit my game.

Full post to come later, probably Sunday night sometime.

Absolute Meltdown

I cannot believe I played so bad here. The first 14 holes here were a perfect example of how bad days of golf for me snowball out of control I hit terrible shot after terrible shot. I lost easily 6 balls on the front 9. Every time I holed out a bad hole, I would walk back to the cart and calmly try to tell myself that I would do better on the next one. Then I'd tee it up and crush it 400 yards out of bounds. In general, I am not particularly calm when playing golf (or any sport for that matter) but I could not control myself. Strub is not lying when he says I threw clubs and balls.

Strub quietly made good shots this entire time. He kept hitting perfect drives, and I kept shanking it even when I tried to lay up. I hit a pitching wedge on a par 3 20 yards past the hole, and an approach on a par 4 15 yards past the hole into a forest. Through 14, Strub was solidly kicking my butt.

However, at that point, my luck changed a little. I was down 12 at this point and I caught a few good breaks on chips and putts. With a few bad breaks for Strub, I picked up 5 shots on the last 4 holes to bring it to a respectable 7 stroke loss.

Strub has a theory that he has the advantage whenever we play in the evening because I have worked all day, and I have the advantage on weekends because he doesn't usually get up that early. This was patently obvious here. We had to play fast because I was late getting out of work and the course was in China, NY, and I was tired and hungry. Under better conditions, I really think I could have played a bit better.

Grandview Farms definitely had the most character of any course so far. The names for individual holes are awesome, and a lot of the holes are memorable and unique. Also unique are the 50 feral barn cats hanging out all over the place. The course is overall very hilly, so my frustrations were magnified by problematic lies on almost every shot. Even on the tee box, I couldn't seem to find a shot where my feet were level with the ball. I really think I would have liked this course a lot more if I wasn't playing so awful.

Strub is already talking a big game about tomorrow. Don't expect him to close the lead anymore- based on the scorecards, I am still clearly a better golfer than him.

Grandview Farms - 6/2

I was due for a bounceback round after nosediving to a 121 at Willowbrook, and Wednesday at Grandview Farms, I delivered.

We were again up against the possibility of darkness, as we didn't even get out to (lovely) East Berkshire until a few minutes after 6. And let me tell you: I had thought Willowbrook, in Cortland, was seven turns past the middle of nowhere ... Grandview Farms makes Willowbrook look like it's in Manhattan. The stench of cow manure along Berkshire's main thoroughfare, much of which is not even painted, really gets you stoked for some country-style golf.

While I loved this course, the highlight of the day was the scorecard; each hole has a nickname, names that appear to get more intimidating as you progress through the course. You open with the benign Valley View, High Road and Easy Street -- and close at Intimidator, Challenger and finally, Terminator.

As well as I played on the front 9, finishing Devastator with a double-bogey 7 to go out in 52, Alex played just as poorly. He was cursing, throwing clubs, and pounding the ground. I think he might've ruined his pitching wedge after crushing it across his leg. I don't think I've ever seen him so frustrated on the course.

I made pars on Whispering Pines (par-3 No. 7) and Shady Glen (par-3 No. 12), but I think my best hole might've been Corner-Stone, a hugely uphill, hard dogleg right par-5. On the cart drive from No. 12, I caught a medium-size bug in my right eye and had to bail out of the cart twice. I went to the 13th tee and completely missed the ball with my driver, leaving me in great position to start to card a snowman or worse on what is the hardest hole on the course.

Instead, I drilled a four-iron to a great spot, reached the fringe on my fourth shot and left a 20-foot par putt on the lip for an unlikely tap-in bogey, picking up two more shots and essentially guaranteed that I'd gain back some of the 11 shots I'd given back at Willowbrook.

No. 14, Indomitable, was another highlight: on the long par-4 with water in play, I went driver-8-iron to about 6 feet, giving myself an excellent chance for birdie. Maybe I was psyched out by the turtle on the cart path -- I short-armed the putt and tapped in for par.

I limped in with 5-5-8, with 18 being, for my money, the toughest hole of the day, especially considering the darkness.

I let him back in a little on the back, carding a 10 on Tormentor, the 458-yard Par-5 15th, but 52-53-105 becomes the best round of my life, and gives me plenty to build on going forward. The gap is closed to 3, with Ford Hill in Whitney Point appearing to be the next challenge.

I also added a hybrid club to my bag yesterday, a sleek-looking TaylorMade 3 that feels like it hits like a driver. I'll drop the 3-iron, a club I may have hit once this season. (Note: I think Alex is the last guy under age 60 to carry a 1-iron.)

Stay tuned.

Re: Choke Artist?

Let the record also show that I am still winning, and that Strub clearly can't capitalize on a day when I am at my worst.

Re: Choke artist?

Let the record show I destroyed Alex at Grandview Farms tonight, closed the deficit to 3 and played much better than the numbers would reflect.

More tomorrow.

Choke Artist?

For days and days after he went up 1 stroke, Strub used every opportunity he could to remind me that he was better than me at golf because he was beating me by 1 stroke. He used the momentum from that taunting to lose to me by 11 strokes at Willowbrook.

The thing about our matches is that when one of us plays bad, the other doesn't pile on the taunting to make it worse. But at Willowbrook, we got grouped with another pair to make a 4-some, and they would not let Strub hear the end of it. After we politely declined their offer to smoke weed on the third tee box, they decided we were going to be fast friends. They immediately felt comfortable enough to start in on our club selection on every shot, Strub's clothing choices, and our golf games in general. However, instead of going easy when Strub was struggling, they just let him have it. They would crack up when he would hit a shot out of bounds or miss a putt and they questioned his sexuality constantly. They were absolutely brutal. It probably was worth a couple strokes to me.

But I don't feel that bad about it. They were also worth a couple strokes to him. On 9, when he hit a putt that was going 10 feet long and off the far end of the green, our new stoner buddy Tony put his foot and stopped it. This set him up for a 6 foot putt instead of a chip and a 2 putt. They also helped him out with a little foot wedge action on at least one occasion.

Other highlights:

Strub got made fun of by at least 3 separate groups on the day. The lady in the clubhouse, Tony and Scott (our playing partners), and some old guy we passed on the course who asked if he was wearing clown condoms on his legs. For the record, he wore: plaid shorts, horizontal striped socks, striped shirt, solid hat.

It's unclear how this outfit affected his confidence. On the way to the course, he told me he was absolutely sure he was going to win. Nope. I told him afterwards that I was absolutely sure I was going to win as soon as he told me that, but I had kept it to myself.

Tony and Scott were obnoxious to the group in front of us all day. The 2 dudes in front of us, Notre Dame visor and his pudgy friend, got the pleasure of Tony/Scott harassment almost every hole as we all waited for the super-slow 4-some in front of them. I made sure to let them know we didn't know the Tony/Scott duo. We actually tried to ditch Tony and Scott at the turn and join Visor and Pudge, but the backup at 10 let them get hot dogs and meet us before we even got close to teeing off. Waiting to tee off on 10 did give Tony a chance to show us a picture of his 16-year-old daughter. I asked for her number and apparently its 1-800-eat-me. Not sure thats enough numbers but I'll try anyway. As an aside, she called to ask Tony to pick her up some cigarettes on the way home. He unironically expressed his disapproval of cigarettes to Strub and me after smoking a joint less than 20 minutes earlier.

And the highlight of the day: Strub's phone alarm going off before we teed off on 16, and him saying that it meant that we absolutely had to be in the car by then if he was going to make it to work less than 30 minutes late.

Final tally: I beat Strub by 11, and am now a better golfer than him by the only objective measure we have.

Invitational update

Through four courses, Alex has a 10-shot lead, as well as a 2-1-1 lead in terms of match play.

The season started with a one-shot victory at Dimmock Hill for Alex, followed by a two-shot win for me at Belden Hill.

After a 110-110 tie at Apalachin, I went to Willowbrook up by a stroke, and gave back 11 shots at the Cortland course on Saturday.

So that's where we stand now: Alex, up by 10 shots. We have 13 courses left to play.

The next course we're aiming for is Grandview Farms, in East Berkshire. From what I can discern online, it will be a step down from Apalachin and Willowbrook, but golf is golf, and I've got a lot of ground to make up.

I still like my chances for the season. I think I have an advantage at Endwell Greens, having played the course earlier this season. And I've played Traditions at the Glen at least 15 times, so I'm aiming to make up some ground there as well.

Plus, Alex is a choke artist. I don't expect him to hold a lead for very long.

Stay tuned.

Willowbrook - 5/29

Long story short, Saturday's round at Willowbrook was not kind to me.

It was our first Saturday morning trip, and we visited one of the outermost courses on the schedule, up in Cortland. Being Memorial Day weekend, it was packed.

With the crowd being as it was, we were grouped with two guys named Tony and Scott. Tony is a round, loud gentleman, while Scott was unusually skinny. When they pulled out a joint on the third fairway, we knew we'd be in for a long day.

I left a 10-foot birdie putt on the lip on the par-3 2nd -- a theme that would become pervasive for me as the first 12 or so holes went by. The super-dry greens didn't help my cause, as what seemed like perfect putts would take a last-second turn and scoot 6 feet by. Must've happened to me four times in 12 holes ...

The course is nicely designed, with plenty of beautiful landscapes. The long, uphill sixth hole, over a ditch, left Alex making a Tiger-esque driver toss after he hit a second ball out of bounds. But I would give back several strokes on No. 12, when the course brought us back across the same deep ditch.

In retrospect, the hole that really killed me on Saturday was No. 3, where I carded a season-worst 12. I had a terrible time trying to hack out of a bush against a tree with my third shot, then took a round-ruining four chips from the deep grass to the right of the green to get on.

Having to make it back to work at 4 p.m., I got a bit flustered on the last couple holes, finishing 10-8 to give Alex an 11-stroke margin for the day. No excuses, though: I played poorly, lost too many drives, and left myself way too many knee-knocking six- and seven-footers to two-putt.

I'm not overly discouraged: Saturday was about the worst I think I can play (knocks on wood), and Alex had -- not surprisingly -- quite a bit of good fortune, like on No. 5, a par-3 where his tee shot went way long, hit a tree and found a perfect lie to the right of the green. No way that sort of luck will keep up.

Apalachin - 5/27

Our first two rounds of the year finished with a total margin of one shot, but the closest round of the year yet came Thursday evening at Apalachin.

On another of a long string of sunny, clear, humid days in the Tier, we raced against sunset, teeing off just before 6:00. There was plenty of doubt in our minds that we'd get through the whole 18, but we would go on to make surprisingly great time on the front, and end up with plenty of daylight to spare as we came to 18.

Apalachin was without a doubt the nicest Libous Invitational course we'd teed off on yet. There are some difficult, hard doglegs, like No. 4 and No. 13, but the highlight of my day was No. 16.

The 433-yard par-5 feels like it plays much longer, with a sharp left turn protected by a string of trees about 200 yards out. My tee shot appeared to hug the line of trees perfectly, with a trajectory perhaps a few yards lower than I would've liked.

Down by two strokes, I was particularly discouraged when I couldn't find my tee shot in the clearing just around the corner. I took a drop and played a couple gutsy punch shots through the trees, taking a shameful walk to the middle of the fairway approaching the green, when I saw a second 'S' ball about 40 yards ahead of what would've been my fifth shot on the hole.

It was my drive, perhaps 115 yards from the hole, dead center of the fairway -- and about 150 yards further ahead than where I'd originally sought the ball. With a quality wedge shot, I'd have a real chance at my first-ever eagle.

So what did I do? Of course, I skied the ball a good 30 yards past the green, into the deep woods -- for sure this time -- and ended up having to drop behind the green. Pitching wedge, it turns out, was not the club. Still, with Alex carding a 9, I'd pick up three shots on the hole, giving me a one-shot lead heading to the similarly intimidating No. 17.

After giving a shot back on the long, uphill par-4 penultimate hole, Alex and I headed to 18 tied -- again. It was the third time in three matches we'd teed off on 18 all square; all three times, he had honors, and had to put up with a bit of smack talk.

No. 18 is a short, pretty, downhill par 3 with the clubhouse in the background, protected front left by a bunker and behind right by a line of trees. Alex drilled his tee shot into the trees, leaving his second shot in serious doubt. I would hit my 52-degree wedge about 20 yards left of the green, leaving myself a difficult chip shot over the bunker.

But, as if there were ever any doubt about his everlasting good luck with the trees, it turned out Alex had got a perfect bounce, with a lie right behind the green, with plenty of real estate to work with. I made a pretty good chip, setting myself up for a simple two-putt. He skulled his chip, driving the ball to the far fringe, and left himself an 8-footer for bogey, with me sitting 3 about 4 feet from the hole.

I don't know who was more surprised when he sunk that putt, leaving me a knee-knocker to tie. I'd knock it dead center, giving us matching bogeys on the last, and matching 110's for the day.

Though a bit disappointed I didn't pick up any ground, I'm pretty happy with the 52 I carded on the back. While my drive on 16 may have been a bit fortunate, my tee shot on the 126-yard par-3 12th, which dribbled to about 18 inches from my first hole-in-one, gives hope that I can continue to pepper the greens on par-3's going forward.

I think if I can minimize my 3-putts, I've got a real good chance at winning the whole thing. After Saturday's ugly, ugly 60-61-121 round in Cortland, though, I've got some work to do ...

No. 12

Just watched a deer run across the fairway.

Out in 60

Alex is out in 57, and I'm going to be late to work.

A guy in the group behind us looks exactly like Dr. Hammond from Jurassic Park, hat and all.

In progress: Willowbrook

Just made a 12 on the third hole at Willowbrook. We're playing with a pair of stoners who lit up a joint in the last fairway.

Screw you, iPhone

I spent the last 30 minutes writing about today's round at Apalachin, which ended up in a 110-110 tie, and the app just abruptly quit, out of nowhere, and erased everything I had.

I'll post a brief recap tomorrow, highlighted by my valiant effort at a hole in one at No. 12 (missed by about two feet).

Re: Golf is boring

If it took me as many shots to play a round as it does you, I would be bored, too.

Spreadsheet of our scores

Here's the link to the spreadsheet of our hole-by-hole scores -- obviously a constant work in progress.

Libous Invitational

Golf is already

boring as hell. Its boring to watch in person, its boring on TV, and reading a golf play by play on a blog is potentially fatally boring.

To be fair

Alex bought my lunch at Belden because he didn't have any cash on him; done under the agreement that I would pay for lunch at the next course, and I already paid him back by paying for the nine holes we played at Chenango Commons on Sunday.

I also notice a distinctively different tone from what we agreed upon in the blog, so when my next post seems strikingly different, don't be shocked.

He's just bitter because I've proven to this point in the season that I am the better golfer.

Oh yeah, and

I bought Strub's lunch. This golf challenge (and this blog) are already pretty iffy, but that feels like a line has been crossed.

Belden Hill

Belden Hill enjoys a few advantages over the other golf courses we have played so far. First is the "golf course hot" cashier/bartender. Strub's GPS (read: iPhone) got us lost on the way there and called to make sure we were on the right track. Five seconds after he calls, we see the sign. Strub has to sheepishly apologize and says he feels like an idiot, knowing we will be there in 2 seconds. He is most emarassed because, as he claims, "she sounded hot." In reality, she wasn't ugly, but she was only golf course hot- hot because thirsty golfers will come in and flirt with her after 4 hours seeing only dudes in goofy pants (read: Strub. Have you seen this kid's golf outfits? Plaid pants, argyle socks, striped shirt. Not a joke). As an aside, Strub spent the entire time we were looking for his lost drive on the 5th hole pouring his heart out about the new girl at work who he had a crush on. I have news Strub: anyone who is more than golf course hot is out of your league.

Belden Hill also features a sleeves-optional dress code, which is important to me considering my personal mantra of "sun's out, guns out."

But the best part is the fellow golfers you will encounter. I'm mostly referring to the 3-some we encountered in the clubhouse at the turn. It was a wasted father-son combo, with father's brother to mix it up. They fully embraced both the dress code and the lax cooler rules. The best part is that the scores they were talking about blew ours out of the water.

Also, Strub is strategically leaving out lots of important parts of the narrative. The best part of our day was the half dozen times Strub teed his ball 9 inches up and then proceeded to obliterate his tee while barely touching the ball. He had to hit his second shot from further than his first shot almost every other hole. Apparently this was a better course than the offered compromise, which was teeing it up again but shooting 3.

I want to point out that even though I might have choked on 18, Strub choked even worse on 16 and 17. He gave up 5 strokes on these 2 holes, including needing 3 shots just to reach my own shanked drive on 17.

All in all, leaving the day down by 1 stroke after entering it leading by 1 didn't end up as bad as I thought. I played well on most holes, and choked on just a few and ended with huge scores. I feel like I am in better shape than Strub, who played consistently bad all day.

Belden Hill -- 5/21

Belden Hill, the second course on the tour, had the advantage of being played under much nicer conditions than Dimmock. It was hot and hazy on a warm afternoon in Harpursville.

The course has a lot of steep slopes, even more than a course like Ely Park. Many of the fairways have long, uphill fairways, including No. 1 and No. 10, which run parallel off of elevated tees adjacent to the clubhouse.

Teeing off at No. 1, I was worried -- the sloped fairways can present a challenge for me off the tee, as a good drive for me tends to stay relatively low. No. 3 on Traditions at the Glen, a long, uphill par 4, always gives me problems, and from the parking lot I imagined 18 holes just like it.

Fortunately for me, Alex started out this round even more miserably than I began at Dimmock. He opened the first three holes 9-10-9, losing a handful of balls in the woods to the right as I pulled out to a lead. I had a good chance to build an insurmountable lead, but only emerged from his three-hole disaster up six strokes.

But as we approached the turn, Alex's game picked up significantly, and I gave a bunch of strokes back.

No. 8 isn't designed to be memorable, but I ended up playing it that way, hitting my tee shot a good 40 yards right of the green and getting lucky to save 5.

No. 9 is a tough, long, downhill par three with a creek running in front of the green. Having hit my driver pretty well, I thought I'd take a half swing and knock it close. My strategy failed miserably, but Alex was unable to capitalize, hitting his tee shot right of the wide green, and then hitting a particularly poor chip just on, failing to utilize the lengthy amount of real estate he had in front of him.

We'd make the turn tied at 61, and make a pit stop at the clubhouse, where we were joined by a trio of very drunk gentlemen. I was pleased with my selection of mushroom and swiss burger -- Alex had no complaints about the Philly cheesesteak.

My favorite hole of the season so far was No. 15, a very short par-3 that appears to be carved into a rock formation. I played a 52-degree wedge to the fringe left of the hole (front hole location), then left my chip two inches short of the hole for a gimme par. Alex's tee shot did not fare nearly as well, hitting the rocks to the left and short of the hole. With no grass short of the hole, he was left with a very difficult chip, and would earn a double-bogey.

Though we would go to No. 18 tied -- again -- in retrospect, I feel like I won Belden Hill on No. 14. I shanked a tee shot, then would have to labor to get the ball around the dogleg left and down the hill to the back of the fringe. I was about 20 feet from the pin in four, looking at a difficult putt from the fringe, with Alex much closer than me putting for a five.

My putt would move a little to the left, and I hit it a little too hard, but when it went in the hole for a 5, and I picked up a stroke, I had a lead and had confidence going into the last few holes.

But when we reached 16 and 17, I seemed determine to blow any sort of lead. I managed back-to-back snowmen, and Alex managed the most miraculous shot of the season so far: A long iron from the middle of the fairway on 17 that took a sharp right turn -- hit the cart path -- and bounced onto the middle of the fairway, dribbling to about 30 feet and giving him a lengthy birdie putt.

Thankfully, Alex three-putted, we went to 18 tied, and I gave him the business as he stood on the tee. I had the advantage of going second on the long, uphill, dogleg-left closing hole, and despite a shaky back 9 with the driver, pulled it out of the bag after watching Alex epically choke.

I hit a pretty good second shot to the left of the green, made a nice chip onto the elevated green, and made a disappointing three-putt to close with a 6, which would be more than good enough as Alex limped home with an 8 after an embarrassing series of nervous wedge shots into the green.

Despite closing 8-8-6, I finished the back 9 in 51, evened the match play series at 1, took a one-shot lead for the season, and felt a little bit more confident about my prospects going forward in the Libous Invitational.

- - - - -

FYI -- I expect to be able to convince Alex to post soon, but he refused to review Dimmock and Belden.

Dimmock Hill -- 5/18

We kicked off our summertime competition at Dimmock Hill, a cozy course tucked up on Airport Road in Binghamton. We were joined by Kyle Kowalski on a cloudy, gross Friday morning, with rain in the forecast (and rain, it would).

My front nine started out miserably. Opening the season-long competition with a 9-8 did not do much for my confidence, but the quality of play quickly picked up.

Approaching the turn, there are some interesting landscape choices, particularly a long par 4, dogleg right, that runs parallel to a set of loud electrical wires.

Everyone seemed to pick up their game on the back nine, particularly as we reached the 14th and 15th, when the light drizzle started to pick up. Gripping the clubs became more difficult, but the softness of the greens helped hold the ball to the greens.

For my money, the most difficult, and most memorable, hole is 17. It's a very lengthy par 3 over a large lake -- an intimidating view, particularly in a steady rain. Alex was first to tee off, destroying a long iron well over the water to the right. I mis-hit a 5-wood short of the water, hit my second shot just left of the green, chipped on and two-putted for a 5. Alex picked up a stroke by chipping on from the woods and two-putting. 17 would turn out to be pivotal as I would go to the final hole up by one shot -- or so we thought.

When we pulled the carts around to the 18th hole, there was a bit of disbelief. To me, it almost felt like the course designers built a 17-hole course and forgot to add an 18th hole.

18 at Dimmock Hill reminded me of the first hole on your typical miniature golf course: perfectly straight and remarkably plain. After the intense pressure on the 17th tee, 18 was almost a letdown -- and I sure played it that way, hitting my ball into the line of trees along the left side.

Alex's tee shot went onto the cart path behind the green -- and my second shot approached the same area, skulling a 56-degree wedge over the green and onto the rocky path. I declined relief and hit my third shot to within 12 feet, followed by a two-putt for an embarrassing 5. Alex chipped on and two-putted for a 4.

It was at this point we realized Alex had added wrong. In fact, we had gone to 18 tied, and my double-bogey cost me a heads-up win. What a sinking feeling. But with 16 courses left to be played, the season was young.

BlogWriter test

This is a test of the BlogWriter Lite App for the iPhone. If this works, I'll be
able to blog remotely from my phone.

Welcome to the blog

Howdy! Welcome to the Summer 2010 Thomas W. Libous Invitational golf blog.

The blog will chronicle the adventures of two young men, Chris Strub and Alex Racketa, as they conquer 17 of the Southern Tier's top golf courses in a unique one-on-one challenge.

I'm Chris, a 24-year-old Binghamton University grad who works at the Press & Sun-Bulletin in Binghamton. Alex, who will introduce himself soon, is a 24-year-old fellow BU alum who just finished a second year of law school at Cornell. I'm from Long Island, and Alex is from Syracuse.

(Quick plug -- you can follow my work blog at pressconnects.com/strubblog, and follow me on Twitter, twitter.com/psbchrisstrub.)

We lived together for a year on campus at BU, and are both unusually competitive. Neither one of us is great at golf, but if the first two rounds we've played this season are any indication, our skills are about as close as it can get: Alex won the first installment on Tuesday at Dimmock Hill in Binghamton, by one stroke. But on Friday, I evened the series with a two-shot victory at Belden Hill in Harpursville.

We're not limiting our rounds to the 17 designated courses; Thursday, we played 18 in Liverpool (I won by 5), and this afternoon, we squeezed in 9 holes at Chenango Commons (he won by 2). But the only matches that count will be at the courses designated on the 'Clubhouse Card':

Afton

Apalachin

Belden Hill

Blue Stone

Canasawacta

Conklin Players Club

Dimmock Hill

Endwell Greens

Ford Hill

Grandview Farms

Hancock

Pheasant Hill

River Run II

Stonehedges

Tioga

Traditions at the Glen

Willowbrook

Alex put together this handy Google Map of all 17 courses.

Of the remaining 15 courses, I've only played three: Afton (once), Endwell Greens (once), and Traditions at the Glen (probably ten times). Obviously, the courses will vary greatly in difficulty; the two courses we've played have been relatively simple.

In addition to the blog, you'll be able to follow a Google Document with our scores, hole-by-hole. I'm still putting the finishing touches on the Doc, but once it's ready I'll put up a link.

For now, we've got some catching up to do, as we jammed in as much golf as we could this week considering the beautiful weather and Alex's summer job not starting until today. Stay tuned; as the week goes on, we'll post about our rounds from this week, and figure out which challenge we'll attempt next -- probably Saturday.

Of course, if you have any questions, leave comments and we'll get right back to you.