So, here I am at Pebble Beach - I have just hit a wonderful drive down the left side of number 6, the famous uphill par 5. The start of the round went par-triple bogey (oops)-par-par-par. At this point, not bad.
No need to be greedy - my ball was just out of the fairway with the ball up against the edge of the bunker you see here. This puts my feet above the ball which would tend to produce a slice.
Now, I am a smart golfer - so I decide to just cozy a little 5-iron up the left side instead of smiting a 3 wood that would get me close to the green...but also risk hitting the ball into the Pacific Ocean which is what that cliff abuts. My aiming point? It is left of the photo. Where did my ball end up? Well, see those bushes as the fairway starts to ascend? My ball went sailing over those. Seeeeeeyah! Another triple bogey and the wheels start to come off.
But, I make a nice comeback - here is a view of my tee shot on the par four eighth hole. It is laid up perfectly. Do you see that little sign in the foreground? Walk past that and you get about a 100 foot thrill ride to the rocks of the Pacific. You are looking at what Jack Nicklaus called his favorite shot in golf. While you can't see it here, the area between that sign and the front sandtrap is all air as you hit over the chasm where the Pacific comes in. My brother hit just before me.....and snuggled it in about 12 feet from the pin.
"I can't have him outdo me" - I thought as I readied myself to strike my 8-iron within a few feet of the pin. Well, that was the thought. I actually hit a very solid shot. It was pushed just a hair to the right and SHOULD have been just short of that bunker to the right of the green. Optimal word.....SHOULD. A bad bounce and down it went as I recorded another triple bogey. Pebble Beach is not kind to lapses of precision
But, in the end, - who cares?
Golf is about fellowship - and enjoying the day no matter what you shoot. Here are me and my golf buddies as we prepare to play one of the most famous holes in golf, the short downhill 7th. I blasted a firm pitching wedge through the wind and into a bunker you can't see here just beyond the green. I then dumped that bunker shot into the bunker between myself and the pin...but got that one up and down and made my 4 which was about all I would have gotten even had I hit a great first bunker shot. Pebble ain't kind to a lapse in distance control either .
At the end of the day - a fine, albeit chilly, time had by all.
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