Last night I returned to the scene of one of my greatest triumphs, where summoning the very essence of grit and determination buried deep in my soul left me on a mountaintop of glory.
And by that I mean a putt putt golf course in Ocean City, where nearly a year ago I overcame a six-stroke deficit after three rounds and defeated my friend Mike by a predicted three strokes. Last night went a little differently, but before we could play, we had to actually make our way to the course.
The early going was not very positive for what I believe must have been a mustard bug:
Then we needed some fuel, and while we did make the obvious stop for gas, we also found our way here, to a burger place that proudly proclaims it’s been “Horrifying Vegans Since 2013.”
It’s the kind of place where you pick everything aspect of your burger, and since I’d never tried kangaroo before, that happened. I can report it was mighty delicious.
Finally, with my newfound roo strength, it was time to tackle Down Under Golf, the Australia-themed course that Mike and I have frequented since roughly 1959. But things quickly got awkward:
Oh, hey guys. I totally had a regular cheeseburger earlier. I’m sure your cousin is just out for a hop somewhere.
Phew. I think I made it through that okay. Now we can move on with…oh no…
Did I say awkward? Because I meant REALLY AWKWARD. I believe this dude’s name is Rootini, but there were about 17,000 people there getting their picture taken so it was hard to be too sure of what was happening.
As for the golf, Mike and I took advantage of the pay once, play all you want policy and played three rounds. After the first, we were tied. I sprung to an early lead in the second round, but my spiffy red ball betrayed me on the 8th hole, when I disastrously mishit the first shot…and then the second…and walked to the 9th tee down by three strokes.
That’s how the round ended, and needing an epic comeback in the final 18 holes, I went with last year’s strategy and selected a black ball to lead me to glory.
Methodically, with the heart of a champion sending blood pulsing through my veins, I whittled Mike’s lead down to one by the time we made it to the 14th hole.
This is one of the wackiest and most fun layouts on the whole course, one of those holes where you get your ball in motion and hang on for the ride as it swings back and forth, up and over hills and barrels its way down near the hole.
Typically I shoot mine to the left (right in this pic), but in an inspired move, I hit it to the right in our second round and notched a hole in one. What good did that do me? Oh yeah, Mike took the exact same line and got not only his own hole in one in the second round, but also one in the third as well. When I missed, that began to spell the end of my comeback attempt.
Then he got a hole in one on the next hole too, and it was over. My dreams shot. Spirit broken. Resolve crushed. Roo power neutralized.
The rematch shall be epic.
Maybe next time I’ll try koala power.
