Another crazy remarkable item in the ongoing saga of Pat Mucci and golf....

[Bob_Huntley]

Pat,

As indestructable as you are, one day you will be laid to rest.

Your epitaph should read, "Here Lies a Remarkable Man."

All best wishes.

Bob

[Tommy Williamsen]

It just goes to show us what determination and courage are capable of doing.  You are to be admired.

[Doug Wright]

First, I want to thank everyone for the kind words.

Second, stay in touch with your body, listen to the signals it sends to you.
DO NOT to ignore symptoms, even if you think it's nothing to worry about.  Inventory them and if the symptoms repeat themselves or other symptoms present themselves, connect the dots and seek the appropriate medical attention, especially if there's a medical history in your family.   Don't ignore signals, medical or architectural.

In the ultimate, you have to be your own patient advocate.
Trust your instincts, don't ignore them.

My determination, my stubborness helped me in my battle with Stage III cancer.  Whether it's a form of denial or just part of my fabric or a combination of the two, I don't know, but, it's served me well in life, with a few bumps along the way.  

A sense of humor is also a great ally.

When they put me on the operating table they asked me to place my arms alongside my body with my thumbs under my body, which I did.
Then they began wrapping my arms to my body with a sheet, immobilizing me.  I didn't like that.  I didn't like being confined and unable to move.
(read, loss of control)

I asked them why they were doing this to me as I didn't recall this when I had my last procedure 14 years ago.   They said it was to prevent me from rocking and rolling off the table.

I told them to go down to the pharmacy and get a dozen Viagra pills, give them to me, and in a half an hour I assured them that I wouldn't be able to roll anywhere.

They thought I had a unique sense of humor.

Just so you don't think I'm totally crazy, on Saturday I went to my office for a few hours, then I went and chipped and putted for a half an hour.
Sunday, I hit about 60 lob wedges from 20 and 40 yards and then hit 10 Sand Wedges, Pitching wedges, 8, 6 and 4 irons, then another 20 Lob wedges.

Monday morning I swung a weighted iron and felt great, so I decided to go ahead and play.

I think there's a similarity in managing your medical condition and managing a round of golf, at least for me it seems that way.

First, you have the ultimate responsibility for your health and your score.
Second, I believe in positive reinforcement to almost total exclusion of any negative information.

When I was undergoing full dose chemotherapy they started to describe all the things that could happen to me.  I told them to stop, which they did.
I told them that the same chemo drugs couldn't affect 800,000 annual patients in the same way.  They agreed.  I then told them to ONLY tell me what I had to be cautious about MEDICALLY.  And that my body would react uniquely to the chemo drugs and that I didn't want to be predisposed to adverse side affects that might never happen.  I wanted to stay positive.

Setting goals is also important, striving to achieve them is equally important

I held my GCA.com get together at Baltusrol five weeks after I had major cancer surgery in 2004.  While my wife was upset with me for working hard to insure that the event went off smoothly, she was really upset when I had her drive me to NGLA two weeks after surgery to see that they had removed all of the trees on the golf course.   

Stubborness at its finest hour 

I consider the round I shot at National when I was in the end stages of post operative full dose chemotherapy to be one of my finest achievements in golf.  I had lost 70+ pounds, couldn't walk 50 feet without getting fatiqued, couldn't get a long iron more than 10 feet off the ground, yet I scored rather well.

I think it was a matter of being comfortable in my environment.
I love NGLA.  I think I understand it and I think the great CBM designed it to accomodate higher handicap players, so I took some of the alternate routes he offered, with some modifications.

When you can't hit a ball 180 yards off the tee and your 4-iron barely does 150, you have to ACCEPT your limitations.  At least, that's what Clint Eastwood told me.  Once you accept them, you have to compensate for them by altering your plan of attack and by taking the clubs that will enable you to execute your revised strategy.

As I began to gain weight and strength, the biggest problem was trying to muscle the ball instead of swinging within myself.

Yesterday, I just tried to swing within myself because I didn't want to strain anything, muscles, stitches, etc., etc..  And, I hit the ball more solid in doing so.  I hit some incredible three woods and 2-irons.  I hit one 2-iron shot that may have been amongst the best shots I ever hit, because I didn't try to kill it.  I also played the shot such that a miss-hit wouldn't be disastrous.

For some reason I've enjoyed really good rounds on a course that I was playing for the first time.  Part of that I attribute to NOT knowing where the trouble is.  When I get a caddy I tell him that I only want to know where to hit the ball, and NOT where NOT to hit the ball.  That's important, for ME.

When I'm on the tee I visually receive the tactical signals, intended by the architect, based on the presentation of the features he designed and built.
I then ask the caddy where I should hit it.  Most of the time we agree.
On the times we don't, I ask additional questions.

Approaching greens, I go through the same process, but am less likely to ask the caddy where to hit it unless the signals aren't perfectly clear.

I'm also a margin player, that is, if there appears to be trouble short, I'd rather take a little more club.  Or, if there's trouble flanking the green, I'd prefer to be short or long of that trouble if possible.

I also like to experiment and hit "ginky" shots.
I think it's fun.
When you can create an unusual shot in your mind, and then execute it, that's really satisfying, irrespective of the score you make.

There are so many ways to get from Point A to Point B, you just have to do it YOUR way.

To be clear, just because I may recognize the signals and make the proper decision, doesn't mean that I'm going to execute properly, but, if I've built in ample margins for that, the consequences aren't so severe, and I can make a reasonable score.

GOLF is a great medicine.

The desire to play is positive.
It places many of the issues and problems we face on the sidelines, and allows us to focus on our passion, playing the game.

Remember, you CAN'T play enough golf.

Thanks

This isn't just "post of the year," it's nominated for "post of the decade." Thank you Pat.

[Michael]

Pat,

  Your post is a inspiration not only to golfers but all in general, as a disabled veteran I can relate to the spirit you've shown..

God bless,

Michael

[CHrisB]

The reason the procedure took so long was that they had to spend the first hour trying to find my heart.  They were annoyed and mystified that they couldn't find it.  Finally, a Resident found it at the base of my penus.
Hence the phrase, "heart on"  

Pat,

First, you wrote that great response to Tom Paul in another thread about never giving up on golf as you get older.

Then, the amazing post (#40) above--I'm going to save that one to remember as well.

And now, maybe best of all, you've inspired me with a terrific penis joke.

You are obviously quite a man and golfer and I hope to meet you in person someday.

[TEPaul]

"Everyone who's met Deb knows why I married her.
What they can't figure out is why she married me."



Patrick:

Good point there but we old sly foxes know and understand there are ways and then there are ways.

You remind me of perhaps my best friend, one William Webster, now of Philly but originally of London, Ontario. He'd been married briefly to a long-legged Californian and they lived in London Ontario (that's another story for another time).

Anyway, in his mid to late thirties he met the young and beautiful Caroline Crowe, a late teen college student from Toronto who was enrolled in a London Ontario university. Caroline Crowe (now Caroline Webster) is like a smaller version of Lady Di, she's beautiful, funny, smart, a great actress and really effective in anything she does. For those reasons naturally she was lionized by the young and studly male college crowd at her university.

But after an initial misstep when he first saw her at a bar and proceeded to send one of his friends over to ask her if she would like to meet him, only to have her tell his "agent" to go back and tell the old fart to f...off, he did manage to hook her and reel her in without too much elapsed time.

So, I asked him how did a guy of his age compete with all that studly competition?

His answer sort of reminds me of you, Patrick.

He said: "I assessed the situation and I realized in her eyes I probably would never be able to compete with all that young studly competition so I just decided to massively outspend them all and it worked."

[RJ_Daley]

Pat, if you had to take the additional V medicine to take measures to prevent you from rolling off the cart, and they say you should seek medical attention if your erection lasts more than 4 hours... how many specialists do they have to have in the procedure; a cardiovascular surgeon, a timer judge, and a slegdehammer gandydancer? 

[Garland Bayley]

He must have taken that nurse along to tickle his fancy.

True story. When I was overseas, I used the expression, "tickle her fancy" once. The local teenage boys decided in spite of my denial that fancy must be a four letter word associated with females, and proceeded to use it profusely.

[Dan Herrmann]

Patrick - I'm now a Mucci-groupie!

Fantastic, inspiring stuff!

Thank you for sharing your wisdom.

[Yancey_Beamer]

Tom,
If his cardiac surgeon finds out about this you'll soon hear about a surgeon who will have his own coronary.
Yancey

[Bill Brightly]

Pat,

That is great news! Awesome stuff!


TE,

Thanks so for posting that inspiring story. I assume you have a sufficient answer to your "Will you play golf when you are old question?"

[TEPaul]

"TE,
Thanks so for posting that inspiring story. I assume you have a sufficient answer to your "Will you play golf when you are old question?"

BillB:

Perhaps I do have an answer to that question but that is just one thing. I'm not exactly Pat Mucci, you know, and I don't know that I would do or certainly could do some of the things he's done to date. And that is probably the real reason why the guy pretty much blows me away the way he seems to do with a number of others.

But I will tell you something else. This thread has gone along sort of in awe of the guts he has to do these things in the face of sickness and physical obstacles, but there is an even more interesting factor to all this that this thread should begin to get into next.

That is, not just that Pat actually gets out there and tries to do these things the way he has---I guess anyone could do that if they had enough guts or were nuts enough.

The thing that interests me the most and should ultimately interest most on here, all of which are golfers, I would presume, is the way he actually goes about it---eg his completely remarkable course management skills in the context of scoring and some unfathomable ablility to adjust and adjust massively if the need arises.

He went into some of that on his first post on this thread but he should get into it more and he should be asked questions about it too.

I guarantee you I have seen some remarkable course managers in my time and travels in golf but this is something I've never quite seen before---not to this extent. There is a man I know from Canada who is probably way out in the lead in the history of golf with shooting his age but remarkably he has always been damn healthy and remains so at around 95 years old.

Unfortunately that has not been the case in Pat Mucci's life who is in his mid-sixties now and that has not been his lot in life.

In my opinion, truly superior course management skills just may be the most impressive facet of all golf talents, perhaps even surpassing remarkable ball striking ability. It may be the rarest too, at least the way Patrick Mucci has done it and proven it.

So, that is what he should get into next on here in detail. I have no doubt everyone of the viewers of this website can and will learn something and take something from it they can benefit from on the golf course.

And don't be expecting a bunch of advice from him on the physical and fundamental side, like the golf swing---we can all read about that in golf magazines and hear it from the many good golf teachers among us.

No, his real talent, in my book, is some remarkable mental ability to get truly real with himself and his body and performance expectations hitting a ball at any particular time. Maybe some of us can do that too but surely not take it to some level of still shooting these remarkable scores. Don't get me wrong, he's always been good, but so have a lot of us. It's just that most of us either can't seem to or don't know how to adjust. It's like we just can't admit to ourselves that we aren't what we used to be and may never be again. Some of us may say to ourselves we can adjust and maybe we even think we can or have or are but nothing like this guy, at least not in my experiences, and I have seen a lot.

Pat doesn't seem to go there for some reason--eg basically trying to pretend, even a little but, that things haven't really changed---and that is just amazing to me and lots of others it seems.

I admit, I really don't like getting old and I don't like not being able to do the things I once did and could even if I have never been sick in my life like he's been and not just once or even twice. I'm sure it bothers me because I let it bother me. Maybe these feelings are just what most all humans go through and think and maybe they should be considered human frailties and weaknesses--I don't know.

It seems to me like he is immune to all that for some reason. It amazes me and I think it's very impressive. Is it inspirational? Of course it is, and that's why we start threads like this one when we hear about these kinds of things.

[Tom Huckaby]

TEP:

That's great stuff and very much worth exploring for sure.  I can read into this most definitely that Pat has incredible course management skills, and in fact I have seen it in action - he was not at his physical best that time at Sand Hills, but yet he still managed to get his ball in the right spot to make the next shot easiest, and thus grind out the best score he possibly could.  I have zero doubt he is incredible at this, and it's even more remarkable that he can do it under the physical duress he has - that is, he just changes what he knows he can do and plays for it, with zero ego involved - and thus he achieves these incredible scores.  It is incredible.

But you know what impresses me the most?

Not that he can do this - and believe me, it is impressive - but that he also can TURN IT OFF WHEN HE WANTS TO.

That is, he still can - and does, and has described herein - hit "what the hell, just for the fun of it" shots, not caring about score, just having fun.

See, I've known many golfers who play what the hell golf and wouldn't know course management if it hit them in the face, and for whom pretty much all of their shots are what the hell.  I know far less who are great course managers. 

I know VERY VERY few who can and do both.  It has always seemed to me the better a course manager one was, the more unable he was to turn it off and hit shots just for the hell of it.

So Pat impresses the hell out of me in this as well.

Oh, one more thing:  it's also not that difficult to course manage when you're a great wedge player like Pat.  Take that away and well... let's just say for me, 4 handicap everywhere else but 15 handicap with wedges - course management ain't so easy.

TH

[TEPaul]

TomH:

You know what you just said there reminds me of something, and perhaps it's even fundamental.

In my life in golf, playing pretty good competitive golf for my expectations, I did develop a philosophy that I really believed in and really stuck to and it was probably quite unique and I believe I learned it from my dad.

It was this philosophy of never saying "if" or "what if" about anything you did, good, bad or indifferent. Frankly, I tried to never even think about something like that. Maybe it has to do with sanity or some inability to deal with the stress of true self-expectation.

Pat's not like that at all. When he calls and tells me stuff like this, and it's happened a number of times, he pretty much always tells me as good as it might have been it could've been better and better pretty easily. The most remarkable thing about some of these scores of his under these physical conditions is he has made some pretty simple mistakes (sometimes just putting) that he shouldn't or generally may not do.

I think he has an attitude of thinking why not shoot for the moon knowing what he's got at any particular time and if he does that and thinks that way he probably feels like he just may come up somewhere around it.

I never did that or anything like it. Maybe I couldn't deal with the expectations. I think my goals were a lot lower and it probably made me feel better because it made me feel like I might be doing even better than I should. It was less stressful, more relaxing, I guess.

How about you?

[Tom Huckaby]

TEP:

Well, it's not really a relevant question as I am a FAR FAR FAR lesser player than each of you and Pat.

But that being said, well...  even in those very rare times that I have had time to practice and felt competitively sharp, I too have never managed to achieve that why not, shoot for the moon attitude that Pat can and does achieve.  I was just always too aware of my limitations, and thus out of my comfort level when things went really well.  It was darn easier to keep goals low - they could be met that way and the disappointments were less.

I play that way today without a doubt, but it's also more because I have no time for practice and thus hold no delusions of grandeur.

But those who do not have this issue... who are comfortable going low and feel like why not... those are the really great players.

It just surprises me to read you saying this Tom, as I figured you to be just like Pat in this respect.

TH

[Tim Leahy]

Only a true Notre Dame fan could come back like that!

[Mike Sweeney]

Only a true Notre Dame fan could come back like that!

ND Football could use Patrick today, that is for sure! 

[TEPaul]

"TEP:
Well, it's not really a relevant question as I am a FAR FAR FAR lesser player than each of you and Pat."

TomH:

Maybe you think that but it's not really true I don't think, and I have seen you play a little (the only difference was you may not have had the time or opportunity to really practice and for around twenty years that's what I sure did in spades, plus something like 40 tournaments a year for maybe fifteen or more straight years). So it's not true about me but maybe it is about Pat. Haven't you ever noticed that I was probably never near as good as some seem to think on this website? I guess I'm from the Chi-Chi adage school that the older you get the better you used to be! Pat has been at it basically all his life and his accumulated record across the board and at those all important "levels" is way better than mine or I ever was. My record around here was pretty good for quite a time but the next level (USGA Championships) was another matter. I only ever qualified for 3 or 4 of them while trying for years and remarkably I only actually went to just one of them. What does that say about "expectations"? 

"I was just always too aware of my limitations, and thus out of my comfort level when things went really well.  It was darn easier to keep goals low - they could be met that way and the disappointments were less."

I was almost exactly the same way and we both are probably as different from the way Pat Mucci looks at it as night and day.


"It just surprises me to read you saying this Tom, as I figured you to be just like Pat in this respect."

Not in the slightest. What I learned on my own was that amateur golfers, even the best of them, make a whole lot more mistakes, including mistakes in judgement via suspect course management skills or application than most anyone (who doesn't play competitive golf a lot) would ever suspect.

So that's the area I really honed my skill. I may've done it because I realized how short I was off the tee compared to most everyone else I had to compete against and when I realized there probably wasn't anything I could do to get longer, it occured to me it was the only thing I could really concentrate on to be more competitive. I didn't mind hitting a bad shot if I just missed it but what really drove me completely nuts is when I hit a good shot and things went awry because I planned wrong. That was pretty rare but when it happened I'd go ballistic.

I figure I was one of the best course managers for what I brought to the course raw ball striking-wise which was never any great shakes anyway. I was accurate but that was about all. I'm not the biggest ego day in and day out about my golf but Marucci was the only one around here who I figured could definitely out course-manage me any time, any place with what he brought to the course talent-wise which was more than I ever had, for sure. He was just amazing that way.

I wish I'd had the opportunity to play against Pat when we were both at our best. It would be interesting to see what would've happened course-management-wise. Frankly, I can't believe I never ran into him because I did play on a pretty good number of those merit teams for GAP that played the New Jersey Golf Association in what is known as the Compher Cup matches. I don't remember seeing Pat on one of those teams because if he had been on them I can hardly imagine it would've been possible to miss him. 

[Patrick_Mucci]

TEPaul,

I'm surprised that we never ran into each other as I played on a number of Compher Cup teams.

I've also wondered if our dads knew each other as both were active in competitive golf at the highest level.

As to my results, I sure don't have a picturesque swing, never did.
While I tend to drive the ball very well, I'm afraid to video my swing with my driver for fear that I'll see too many flaws and try to correct them.

Not too long ago I took a video lesson because I was hitting my irons so poorly.  I didn't like what I saw.  It was frightening.  There were so many flaws I decided to work on a few of the basics.  It took someone else, whom I've been playing with for about 20 years to point out a major mistake when we were playing in a member guest.

In terms of course management, I think one of the things you have to analyze is: 

How sound is your strategy in the context of your abilities ?

You can formulate a great strategy, but, if you really can't execute it, it's worthless, or worse.

Prior to formulating a strategy I think you have to drink in all that the architect and elements present you.  Part of that revolves around your powers of observation and your understanding of the relationship between the features and their influence on your play

The more data you receive the better positioned you are to formulate an intelligent, realistic strategy.

All too often I see golfers attempt shots beyond and/or well beyond their ability, and worse yet, failure to execute those shots gets them into more trouble.

To a degree, I also possess the Neil Regan/Walter Mitty approach to playing shots.

Neil likes to putt from up to 150 yards from a green, and, he's good at it.
Likewise, I like to invent and execute unique shots.
To me, it's the one thing that brings me the most pleasure, carrying off a shot that few would think of playing, let alone trying.

Almost anyone can hit a 7-iron from 150 yards, but, try hitting all the clubs down from a 7-iron for that shot.  It's fun, downright challenging.

Having FUN has to be one of the foundations of our playing.
How we go about having fun is up to each individual, but, for me, I like creating diverse shots.

Years ago I spent some time with Ken Venturi and he showed me how to use EVERY club in the bag to hit the ball from the same spot.  It was quite informative and inspirational.  I never dreamed of hitting the shot he attempted with more than one or two clubs, yet, he hit it with all 14, proving to me that it's not how you get there, but the result of getting there that counts.

A few years ago I hit what I considered to be a very creative 3rd shot on a par 5.
I holed it out for an eagle.
Rich Lerner from the Golf Channel told me it was the most amazing shot he ever saw.
When my partner saw that I was aiming away from the hole he yelled, "what are you doing, are you crazy?".  But, I knew that the way the green sloped that I could never get close to the hole by aiming at it.
So, I aimed at a mound of rough behind the green.  The ball hit the mound, bounded backwards, rolled through the rough, through the fringe, onto the green and into the hole.  It was one of the most rewarding shots I ever hit.

I like the idea of being creative, irrespective of whether the shot comes off exactly as planned.  I don't always execute the shot called for, but, I love the creative side of formulating a shot.

Everyone hits mediocre and/or bad shots and while it annoys me to do so, the cardinal sin in my mind, is making a mental error.  That really upsets me.
There's NO reason to make a mental error.

I've played with a group of about 20 guys for 45 years.
With some of them I could lower their scores by more than a few strokes if they'd listen to me with respect to understanding what lies before them, planning the shot, club selection and getting comfortable with those decisions.  But, I see them trying to hit shots that have about one chance in 100 to 1,000 of being successful.

While we all aspire/strive to hit the "shot of our career" we have to plan to hit the shot we're capable of hitting "that" day.  And, I think that's a key element in sound course management.

The next time you're 10, 20 or more yards from a green, in addition to hitting your lob wedge, try a 4-iron, 6-iron and 8-iron and see how comfortable you are with the shot and how the margins of error increase or decrease with each club.

Go out one afternoon and "practice" on the course.
Don't focus on score, focus on alternative techniques and see if you don't have more fun.

[Pat Brockwell]

Once the stitches heal you should become a "plus" man, no?

[TEPaul]

"TEPaul,
I'm surprised that we never ran into each other as I played on a number of Compher Cup teams."

I'm surprised too. I played on them around the late 80s and into the late 90s maybe on 5-6 of them But there are guys like Sigel, Lange, Walsh and a number of others around here on GAP that played in probably north of 20 or 25 of them over the years.

"I've also wondered if our dads knew each other as both were active in competitive golf at the highest level."

I suspect there's little question they had to know each other or have run into one another along the way but we will never be able to ask them now, will we? Maybe we will find some tournament field digitized listing that show them both at the same place. Like this ship passenger manifest stuff this kind of old stuff is becoming available more and more these days. May dad played tournament year schedules for ages that were mind-boggling. I played around 40 per year for over fifteen years and he probably exceeded that per year for 25 years.

[Patrick_Mucci]

So how was Liberty National, Pat?

I found it interesting.

Like Bayonne, you have to admire what they did on a horrible property.

While I couldn't tell you from looking at it, who designed the golf course, I believe I could tell you who didn't design the golf course.

As I stated, I liked the feeding feature of the areas surrounding many fairway and greenside bunkers.

I didn't like the configuration of the bunkers at all.
Most of them were designed for the "eye" and not for a good stance or reasonable extraction.

I'm not a fan of bunkers that promote sidehill lies, especially with steep faces.

I also thought that the course was far too difficult for the membership.

It sits on a site typically swept by wind.
There's an inordinate amount of water, all man made.
And, the Fescue roughs are difficult.
Difficult to locate balls hit in them and difficult to extract the ball once you find it.
I thought there was too much movement in the fairways.

It will be interesting to hear what the PGA Tour Pros have to say about it, especially in light of their comments on Ridgewood.

The course was magnificently conditioned, probably the best turf conditions I've seen this summer.

The bunkers were damp to wet in many areas, perhaps from the irrigation system.

It was a unique experience, but, it didn't pass my critical test.

[Voytek Wilczak]

So how was Liberty National, Pat?

I found it interesting.

Like Bayonne, you have to admire what they did on a horrible property.

While I couldn't tell you from looking at it, who designed the golf course, I believe I could tell you who didn't design the golf course.

As I stated, I liked the feeding feature of the areas surrounding many fairway and greenside bunkers.

I didn't like the configuration of the bunkers at all.
Most of them were designed for the "eye" and not for a good stance or reasonable extraction.

I'm not a fan of bunkers that promote sidehill lies, especially with steep faces.

I also thought that the course was far too difficult for the membership.

It sits on a site typically swept by wind.
There's an inordinate amount of water, all man made.
And, the Fescue roughs are difficult.
Difficult to locate balls hit in them and difficult to extract the ball once you find it.
I thought there was too much movement in the fairways.

It will be interesting to hear what the PGA Tour Pros have to say about it, especially in light of their comments on Ridgewood.

The course was magnificently conditioned, probably the best turf conditions I've seen this summer.

The bunkers were damp to wet in many areas, perhaps from the irrigation system.

It was a unique experience, but, it didn't pass my critical test.

Pat:

Your excellent score at LN must've softened you a little bit, because most at GCA.com were probably expecting you to be much more critical in your assessment...

But all kidding aside - please accept my best wishes of good health. Your posts in this thread just may save a life or two if people who read it take your advice to heart and listen to their bodies and pay attention to their symptoms - no matter if we're talking heart, prostate, colon, or other conditions.

And your courage and success in taking the ailment head-on and winning  is an invaluable lesson and an inspiration.

[TEPaul]

Pat:

There're a pretty good number of novel and unique tips on that post #68 of yours. Thanks for that. Here's hoping some of the lab rats on here will take your advice and spend the time necessary to really try them to see how they really can work out in play.

So you had a demonstration session of all kinds of shot making from Ken Venturi did you? How cool is that?

Do you remember when Ken used to give those videoed demonstrations during the tournaments he was announcing? Do you remember that one that came to be called "The Italian putt?"

It was after he'd demonstrated something with a putter and when it was all over but with the camera still rolling unbeknownst to him Kenny scooped a ball with the back of his putter and without even looking behind him he cast it over his shoulder in the direction of the hole which was a long way away. The ball proceded to take all the slopes and contours between Ken and the hole and eventually it went in.

At that point the camera crew guys got completely hysterical but they decided to clean up the audio portion of it and put it on the air later in the season. I think I must have seen an out-take of it because when it finally went into one of the camera guys screamed at the top of his lungs: "Venturi, I don't fucking believe what you just did!"

It became affectionately known as the "Italian putt." Do you remember that one?  

[Tom Huckaby]

TEP and Pat, this is all fantastic stuff and I truly appreciate it.  The learning continues.  I fully believe that course management can win matches and tournaments... if players are relatively equal ability, the smarter course manager will win.  I have put that into practice myself, at my own level.  It is darn fun when it works out.

The problem I face now however is that I don't play enough golf to have many rounds that matter.  And in rounds that don't matter, what's the point of course management?  Why not just hit nothing but fun and go for it shots?

Oh well.. it's all good. 

And you know I would have loved to see you two battle also.  You know its far from too late to make this happen.