TEE IT UP
A PATRIOTIC DAY AT RCC TO BENEFIT THE FOLDS OF HONOR JUNE 1, 2021 The day started way before dawn, around 5:30am, on a lonely highway east of Rolesville, NC, as a black SUV cost me valuable minutes on my way to Raleigh Country Club (RCC). Why, do you ask? Whoever was driving the vehicle didn’t use their turn signal. I balked, froze up and didn’t know whether to “gas it up” or sit there like a scared chicken. I chose to sit at the stop sign and wonder when I could make my next move. As the vehicle turned abruptly left, I realized it was RCC’s Head Golf Professional, Thomas Walker, and the games had begun. Now, it was a drag race to 400 Donald Ross Drive. However, we both had to make one stop. He needed a Diet Coke and a scratch-off lottery ticket, and I needed eight biscuits from Bojangles to feed our team. Once we arrived at RCC, we had a team building moment – which means the trash talking started amongst everyone participating in the golf marathon. We all had a goal to play 72 holes each, but decided to surpass the goal just like our members did with their donations. We then opted to play 100 holes each. It’s a new day, so we set a new goal. More importantly, we had to wait for our Golf Course Superintendent, Billy Cole, and his hardworking staff to plan their course of action. I cannot thank his team enough for their tireless work, each and every day, to make our Donald Ross design the best it can possibly be. Don’t worry, Billy didn’t take it easy on us with the hole locations!
THE LINK
Now let’s get to the action! My first tee shot off No. 16 found Billy’s nursery green which is a ‘free drop.’ I promptly found one of Kyle Franz’ false fronts, only to putt up and make the par putt on a dew-covered green that was rolling about 7.5 on the stimpmeter device. I wondered why I never see anyone practice putting off the green on our practice facility. If you are not doing this, please contact me on how to shave 4-5 strokes off every round. One of the first team texts to come through that morning was from Boomer [Brian Kittler] at 8:18am. He had recorded the first eagle with a third shot hole on No. 8! No one cared that his third shot came from No. 6... He started on No. 10 at 7:00am. However, 12 birdies and one eagle on the day isn’t bad but the pace of play had been set! It was certainly nice to see his wife and son come out later in the afternoon to cheer him on. For those of you who take lessons from Davis Bateman, be sure to get him to teach you “How to hit the ball high and stop it on a dime.” The guy is unbelievable with his iron play into our greens. Most of it is luck, combined with a little talent. We all know he didn’t learn that in a classroom. Recording the fastest 18-hole round at 1 hour and 9 minutes with a score of 72, “Spalding, you’ll get nothing and like it.”
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