First day of our invitational tournament last year. Started number 9, playing the back first (yes, turn is at 8 ). Played the front seven and was even par on #8 tee, my last hole of the day, 387 yards. Wind is NW30 km/hour, right into our faces. Not hitting the drive all that long and don't want to try to overpower it, so I dink one out the middle of the fairway. Leaves about 170 in, uphill. A playing partner is waiting for another hole to clear before hitting, so I joke to my other fellow competitor "170 going on 200". Having nothing else to do, I walk up to the pole and pace it off back. 173. My turn to hit comes. Thinking "just one more good shot", I hit a choked-up, knock -down 3-wood. "Perfect", I think. Then "clunk" I hear. "Clunk?" Ball hits the pole (directly on my line), goes way up in the air, curves gently right and splashes into the only water hazard on the course. Take my drop, hit my approach a little short of a red pin, then flub an easy up & down for a triple.
Second day, I shoot one over. Finished four over, overall. Tournament winner shot two over. Do I like 150-yard poles? I can take 'em or leave 'em. Leave 'em at the bottom of the lake, preferably.
