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Willie_Dow

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Re:Have you ever had a "Golf in the Kingdom" experience?
« Reply #25 on: October 22, 2007, 08:37:28 PM »
Wayne - As I said today to TEP my fun round at Glen Mills last week was course management.  Good drive, then two eight irons to the par fours.  I wiped out my opponet three ways.  Four shots to the par fives, and a hope for a one putt.

Get that putting stroke alive !!!!!!!!!

Cory Lewis

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Re:Have you ever had a "Golf in the Kingdom" experience?
« Reply #26 on: October 23, 2007, 08:51:46 AM »
My golf in the kingdom experience involved playing Royal Dornoch with my father.  We teed off at 5 pm, didn't see a soul on the golf course the entire time we were out there and I shot 72, it was our second time around the course and it was a mystical experience.

I wish my low nine was a golf in the kingdom experience, but unfortunately the one time I shot 29 for nine holes I was under the influence of some alcoholic beverages and don't really remember much about it. >:(
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Jeff Doerr

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Re:Have you ever had a "Golf in the Kingdom" experience?
« Reply #27 on: October 23, 2007, 10:29:19 AM »
My golf in the kingdom experience involved playing Royal Dornoch with my father.  We teed off at 5 pm, didn't see a soul on the golf course the entire time we were out there and I shot 72, it was our second time around the course and it was a mystical experience.

I wish my low nine was a golf in the kingdom experience, but unfortunately the one time I shot 29 for nine holes I was under the influence of some alcoholic beverages and don't really remember much about it. >:(

It sounds like you met Chivas Regal on the course.  ;D
"And so," (concluded the Oldest Member), "you see that golf can be of
the greatest practical assistance to a man in Life's struggle.”

archie_struthers

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Re:Have you ever had a "Golf in the Kingdom" experience?
« Reply #28 on: October 23, 2007, 05:45:00 PM »
 :D ;D 8)

Hey are you guys mistaking a caddyshack "your eminence"   moment for the    "Golf in the Kingdom"  experience?

I'm reiterating mine.....walki ng down the right trail at the 5th Royal Port Rush  last September.....

it was right out of Brigadoon


Tim Bert

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Re:Have you ever had a "Golf in the Kingdom" experience?
« Reply #29 on: October 24, 2007, 12:35:07 AM »
As an intro, 6 years ago I shot a 76 as a 15 handicap.  It didn't have a mystical or magical feel to it.  I was just flat out focused, in the zone, and everything came together all at once.  I actually had a two hole stretch in that round where I was +5, and I was -1 for the other 16 holes.  I shot 87 the following day.  I then followed up that effort by going 6 years without breaking 80.  Which leads me to my mystical experience...

Last December my handicap was at an all-time high (since I began tracking) of 18.  I had a couple sub-90 rounds in the early spring to get it back to the 15 range.  In late spring my cat was hit and killed by a car.  He was like a family member, and it hit me really hard.  I hadn't been in high spirits all week, but my wife and I agreed it might do me some good to spend a little time on the golf course that weekend.  I declared the round "in honor of Mags" and marked my golf balls with his initials.  I started the day "off" on the range.  I made a few tweaks and started to hit the ball a little better.  I moved over to practice some putts, and I had a really good feel for the greens that morning.

On the first hole I hit an indifferent tee shot, approach, and chip - but I sank a 25 footer for par.  On the second hole, I hit a low runner that landed in a pond and skipped across to dry land.  I was on the par 5 green in 4 and I sank a 30 footer for par.  I also made par on #3.  I hit a few bogey bumps and I also had a double, but I managed to sneak in a birdie and I played the front nine in 41 without striking the ball particularly well.

On the back nine, I started with a bogey on #10.  #11 is a long par 5 with OB running down the left.  I hit a push fade and it appeared that my ball was a goner.  I played a provisional ball, and I hit it further left than the original.  I played another provisional tee shot (thinking that I'm hitting 5 and my round is over) that landed in the fairway.  After a couple minute search, I was about to give up, when I caught a glimpse of a ball in the long grass just inside the OB.  It was my original drive - I had hit a tree and gotten a fortunate bounce.  I had to punch out the next one, but I at least salvaged bogey on the hole.  With hope restored, I played the next 4 holes in 1 under par.  

#16 is another par 5.  I hit a great tee shot, and I hit a solid second shot but it ran a bit longer than expected and ended up in a bunker.  I walked up to the ball, and found it only about a foot from the back lip of the bunker with a downhill lie.  I had about 30-40 yards to carry to the green and the entire distance was covered by bunkers.  I don't have this shot in my bag, but I was determined to attempt it.  As I dug in the sand, I gazed down upon my cat's initials on the ball.  Feeling helpless, I actually said out loud, "I really need your help here, Mags."  I took a swing and hit just the right amount of sand behind the ball to carry the ball just on the green.  I left myself about 12 feet, and two-putted for par.  

After a par on #17, I walk up to #18 needing only a bogey on a short par 4 to break 80.  I hit a poor tee shot followed by a poor approach shot.  I was left with about 30 yards in for my 3rd shot.  I hit a nervous pitch which landed short of the green.  I then chipped to somewhere in the 7-8 foot range.  I stepped up and knocked that bogey putt confidently in the middle of the hole.

It was a bizarre way to break 80 for the first time in 6 years.  I haven't done it again this year, though I've been close a couple of times.  I've been playing my best golf this summer and my handicap is now down to a 10.  I'm hoping that I don't have to wait another 6 years to break 80 again.    


David_Madison

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Re:Have you ever had a "Golf in the Kingdom" experience?
« Reply #30 on: October 24, 2007, 06:45:16 AM »
Back in college I was playing at Finley, the original version of UNC's old, quirky course. Somehow I'd birdied 14, 15, 16, and 17 (I don't think that I'd ever made more than 3 in a row before or since.) 18 was a dogleg right par-5. Hit an okay drive and second, but a lousy wedge to 40 feet. Got up to the putt and saw a distinct gray line from the ball to the hole. Totally calmly rolled the ball on the line and poured it in for my 5th in a row.

About three years ago playing Pine Barrens at World Woods in heavy wind I pitched in on #14 for an eagle, then played a 3-wood to the edge of the green on the driveable #15 and rolled in a 35-foot putt that I just knew I was going to make from the moment I saw it for back-to-back eagles.

paul cowley

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Re:Have you ever had a "Golf in the Kingdom" experience?
« Reply #31 on: October 24, 2007, 07:16:01 AM »
Not sure which of these qualify but:

I used to play PBeach during full moon phases with another crazy greenskeeper who was on leave from Playboy to write a book....PB is truly mystical at night in the right conditions.

Once shot 48 on the front [not at PB], and finished with a 33 on the back ::)....at least it wasn't the other way around.

I was once 5 down with 5 to play in a club match. My opponent was really better than I, having been a team mate of DL lll's on his high school golf team that won all state a few times....and he also knew he was better than me ;D
I ended beating him on the first extra hole with a tap in birdie.
I was three or four under in that stretch....both of us were in shock. :)
paul cowley...golf course architect/asgca

Ted Kramer

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Re:Have you ever had a "Golf in the Kingdom" experience?
« Reply #32 on: October 24, 2007, 08:58:42 AM »
My moment has nothing to do with score.
I played Lido one summer afternoon in a windy downpour.
I was the only person around.
And I have NEVER hit the ball more purely.

Swing after swing the club slipped into the slot on the way down and the contact was magical. I was hitting it so well that laughed out loud a few times during that round. I looked around and tried to absorb the scene and store it in my memory because I knew it was something special.

I still remember the shot I hit into the green on #6. . . A high drawing 9 iron to back pin landed about 5 feet from the hole. . .maybe the single best shot I've ever hit in my life.

It was a magical afternoon.

-Ted
« Last Edit: October 24, 2007, 09:00:21 AM by Ted Kramer »

Evan Fleisher

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Re:Have you ever had a "Golf in the Kingdom" experience?
« Reply #33 on: October 24, 2007, 09:56:49 AM »
I know I've recounted this tale here before...but the summer of 1998 round at Royal Troon on my one and only Scotland golf pilgrimage was most certainly one of those GITK moments.

Started off rather indifferently, but started striking the ball well after the first few holes.  By the time I got to the Postage Stamp things seemed to be clicking.  I hit an average tee shot there (after being mezmerized by my favorite Scottish hole) to the back of the green, then snaked about a 15-foot downhill sidehill putt into the cup for my first ever Scottish birdie!  I shot 39 on the front!

After lunch my and my buddy scooted over to the Portland course for our afternoon round...it would be mano-e-mano...no caddies, no yardage books, just match play golf.  I started off by making par on the first 3 or 4 holes and quickly settled into a groove simply hitting golf shots and moving along.  On about the 6th or 7th hole I hit a pulled second shot that was headed for the railroad tracks...CLANK!...the ball hit one of the rails and bounced back into play, pin-high right next to the green.  I calmy chipped to a foot for another kick-in par.

I continued to swing where I wanted to, and a few holes later came to a downwind par-5.  I hit a solid drive and a 5-iron to just short and right of the putting surface.  As I stood over that chip a spot on the green appeared in my mind's eye.  I drew the club back and plopped the ball on that exact spot...it rolled several feet across the green and disappeared into the cup for my third career eagle (have NOT had one since!).

I ended up drubbing my best friend Greg 8 & 7 and we played out the string to the clubhouse.

On 18 (a par-5) I hit an average drive, poor second, and hit my third into a greenside bunker to the left...Greg hit his third left of the same bunker.  He hits first and chips his ball up onto the green.  I calmy step into the bunker, take my stance, then turn around to Greg and say "watch this!"...proceed to take my bunker shot which hits the green about two feet from the cup, it takes two hops sideways and disappears for a birdie finish.

You'd have thought I just one the Open Championship the way Greg was carrying on.  We went and sat on a bench behind the green to tally up the scores (I had never looked at the card all day)...I had shot a smooth 79...not bad for a 15-ish handicap at the time!

I still remember those effoertless swings and the feeling of calm I had all day...and Greg sensed it as well.  After that "rail' shot I decribed earlier Greg simply said "Evan, you've got something special going on here today, I'm just going to sit back and watch and enjoy this".

Wish I could have somehow bottled that feeling...
Born Rochester, MN. Grew up Miami, FL. Live Cleveland, OH. Handicap 13.2. Have 26 & 23 year old girls and wife of 29 years. I'm a Senior Supply Chain Business Analyst for Vitamix. Diehard walker, but tolerate cart riders! Love to travel, always have my sticks with me. Mollydooker for life!

Jay Carstens

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Re:Have you ever had a "Golf in the Kingdom" experience?
« Reply #34 on: October 24, 2007, 11:10:35 AM »
Great stories here. Mine was a JR 3-iron to reach my first par-5.  I have to admit this book had a major influence on me.  I wish I still had the book report I wrote on it in junior high.

"In the Kingdom" eventually, for us though, came to represent playing in strict accordance to the rules.  Improving your lie (especially), in a variety of ways, has got to be the most abused rule in the game and we haven't done it for 40 years. I might have when I was too young to know but never again since.  The honor and integrity of real golf is what I came away with from Murphy's book.  I set this one and Tuft's "Principles of the Rules of Golf" next to each other on my shelf.

Play the course as you find it

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