White Card
I believe...
Have you noticed how far the balls fly when it is cold? It is not just that they bounce and roll much further, but somehow they are frozen bullets that go longer than ever before. We were on the golf course a cold January at about five o'clock in the afternoon. This was to be our last hole, a 464-meter par 5 hole. The phone rang, but that did not disturb us since we were all alone on the course and just about to reach the teeing ground. She answered and I went up to prepare for the tee-off. As I was hitting the ball I told her to let the caller listen to a superb shot.
And it was!
Click, the ball flew up - over the trees to the right, but turned down in a curve back towards the middle of the fairway. "Did you hear that shot?" They both had.
As we reached the ball it was lying almost at the highest point of the fairway, another 200 meters to the green. "This is almost a double eagle opportunity," I said. "Albatross," she replied.
It could be made, I believe it could actually hit the green - protected as it was by two bunkers in front and a rough you could not get out of at the back.
I reached for the 5-wood and approached the ball that was lying a bit above my feet. Adjust for the sloped fairway. Aim towards the green. See the ball on the green. It flew. I could see the ball land on the fairway, but due to the cold it could have bounced and rolled all the way.
I believed very strongly that it would. The ball did not believe it quite as much and came to rest 30 meters from the green.
From there it was a good chance that the chip-pitch could sink the ball. It could be done. I believed it very strongly as I saw the ball fly in just the right direction, bounce off the flagstick and end up in the cup. Then I took a practice swing and hit the ball - the length was better than the direction.
One small chip would make it a birdie. The ball rolled just to the left of the cup. It was a par.
The next time I will believe even stronger.
