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.