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.