Pinehurst No. 2 - A game of misses and luck

I did not pick up golf until I was 16 years old during the peak of the Tiger boom in the year 2000. However, once I started, I jumped in hard. You’ll find that I don’t do anything halfway. In a year, I made the high school golf team and while I was never great, barely scraping by at the bottom of the Varsity squad my senior year, I grinded. I had a lot of ground to make up.

I wasn’t good enough to play in college, so after high school I effectively took a 10 year break from competitive golf… until I found the Golf Channel Am Tour. I am an extremely competitive person and this seemed like just the outlet to get back into tournament golf. After a year of some close calls in the Championship Flight (<4 handicaps) I decided to sign up for my first ‘Major’ championship. Majors were two day events typically held at some phenomenal golf courses. Over the years I would play Kiawah Island, Chambers Bay, PGA West, PGA National, TPC Sawgrass, and more in tournaments. However, this first Major I circled on my calendar was at Pinehurst.

I could not wait. My first big tournament at the prestigious resort. A tough track. Some of my first golf memories were watching Payne Stewart hold off Phil and Tiger in 1999. I’ll never forget walking off the golf course and hearing the news that he had died in a plane crash. Devastating. But because of those memories, I was amped to get to play Pinehurst and do my best Payne Stewart impression.

We got to the resort a day early and I signed up to play a practice round on the famed Pinehurst No. 2. Home of the 1999, 2005, 2014, and 2024 US Opens. Unfortunately, mother nature had other plans. The skies opened up with torrential rains on hole 13, leading to the most expensive 13 holes I had ever played at the time. No rain checks for 13 holes. Thats $365 to see most of the course.

We sat on the patio for most of the afternoon and just watched the rain come down. The practice green was under several inches of water and I remember telling my wife there was no way we were going to play.

Going to bed the night before the tournament I remember being extremely anxious, but also quietly confident. I couldn’t wait to get started and I just had a feeling that I was going to play well in my first big event on the GC Am Tour.

For those not familiar, the Golf Channel Am Tour was a flighted tour for amateurs to compete against each other. Winning golf tournaments is hard.

I had never played a course that offered the opportunity to take a caddie, so I was more than stoked to not only take a caddie for the first time, but in tournament conditions. As they announced my name on the first tee, I felt like a tour pro. My heart certainly did. It was about to pound out of my chest, but I took a deep breath and pounded one right down the middle.

Pinehurst No. 2 is no joke. Despite the rain, the course was mostly dry, but due to torrential rains the day before it was a softer course. The greens not quite as diabolical as they will be this week for the best in the world.

That day I played really solid golf. My caddie, Christian, saved me several times with phenomenal reads and patience.

He gave me a perfect read on the second hole to drain a long 15 footer for par.

A few holes later I found myself in a greenside bunker and, I bet this sounds familiar, I ignored my caddie’s advice. We are looking at what seems to be a pretty simple bunker shot. Plenty of green to work with. Just hit it up on the green and it’ll trickle to the hole.

Christian pulls me aside, “Whatever you do, do not get this ball left of that pin.”I’m confused, it looks like a ball just left of the pin will break right to the hole. So I heard him, but I didn’t listen to him.I’ve been playing golf a long time, I know what I’m doing. I hit the perfect bunker shot. Lands exactly on my spot. Just left of the hole. It takes the first right bounce… this might go in… Then it starts breaking left. It starts picking up speed. It’s past the pin. It’s still going. It’s off the green. It’s still going eventually settling 20-30 yards off the green in a collection area.

Christian said nothing, but I could hear the “I told you so.” I managed to make my first double. I made up my mind at that point that I am going to religiously listen to Christian. Maybe all his years at Pinehurst are worth more than my intuition.

On the 8th hole I blocked a tee shot into a fairway bunker. A fairway bunker that was still full of water. Since none of us saw it splash, we had to find it… or it’d be a lost ball and an awful walk back to the tee. Lucky for me, Christian was able to fish it out of the casual water with a rake allowing me to take a free drop. I still managed to double bogey that hole. The greens at Pinehurst No. 2 are basically upside down bowls and it’s easy to find yourself ping ponging from one side to the other, which is what I did on hole 8.

Still, I’m only 4 over and the course is playing ridiculously hard. The whole field is struggling. I played some really scrappy golf and Christian kept guiding me to good misses.

The 11th hole is one of the longer par 4s and after getting into some trouble on my second shot I had about 30 feet to save par. Trying to keep the round together. I’m reading this putt and very clearly see it going about a foot right to left.

Christian squats next to me. “This is a foot outside the left. Breaks left to right. He points to a spot.”

Now I consider myself a phenomenal green reader. I might get the amount of break wrong occasionally, but rarely do I miss the entire direction. But I’m paying Christian for a reason. He hasn’t led me astray yet. I trust him. I aim at his spot and watch the putt fall into the center of the cup with perfect pace… Great golf is all about mistakes and bogey avoidance. Christian saved me there.

After day one of the tournament on Pinehurst No. 2 I managed to scrap out a 76. That was 4 over par and just one shot back of the lead. Not bad considering I had 2 doubles on the card. I would be in the final group with a chance to win my first tournament at Pinehurst.

I was giddy with excitement. I hit some extra balls that night before dinner. I felt good.

I remember laying in bed that night and again I was anxious, but confident. I told myself over and over again “this is yours. You can do this.” Just positive affirmation that I deserved it, that I could pull it off.

The next morning I meet my playing competitors and shake hands with the leader of the tournament. Let’s call him KC Wolf to protect the innocent. This guy was a menace. He’d had many super low rounds on the tour in Florida and he knew he was good. In fact, this is how he introduced himself:”KC Wolf. The best player in Florida.”… I’m not sure if he knows that most of the PGA Tour lives in Florida, but nonetheless.It was hard not to be intimidated. Despite being significantly older than I was, the guy was over 6’5” tall and hit the ball a mile. Routinely outdriving me by 30-40 yards. This was going to be a task.

Before we tee’d off Christian got in my ear to let me know about the course. We were playing Pinehurst No. 4 on day 2.”This is going to be a different day. The course is different. The greens are different. Patient golf and let it come to you.”

He immediately set the stage of me not having to press. Great caddie. The world was about to start spinning really really fast.

The first hole was just a layup off the tee and I managed to make a pretty standard par while Mr. Wolf got into some tree trouble and made bogey.I’m tied for the lead after the first hole! 17 holes to go and I am leading the tournament at Pinehurst.The next hole is a par 5. I pipe one right down the middle and then watch as Mr. Wolf snap hooks another into the trees. Fast forward to the green. Mr. Wolf struggles and taps in for a double bogey 7 as I stand over 7 feet for birdie and a 3 shot lead.

My heart is racing. We have a good read. This putt is huge. As I place my ball behind my ball marker and Mr. Wolf goes to get his ball out of the cup, I watch as he slams his size 13 shoe, spikes and all, right in my line as he gets his ball out of the hole.

Keep in mind, back in 2013 it was illegal to repair spike marks. I’m fuming. My wife is pregnant with our first son taking all the pictures and I can see she is about to jump out of her shoes… But technically, he didn’t do anything illegal. He’s just a <redacted>.

I stand up and back up to prepare to hit the putt and Christian gets right in my ear. ”You got this. Hit it at that spot and lets walk to the next tee.”

I line it up and drain it. Spike marks and all. Birdie. Three shot lead with 16 to play and my mind goes into orbit.

If it weren’t for Christian as a caddie, I don’t think I win this golf tournament. He was in my ear throughout the entire round. Giving me solid safe targets. Making sure I was committed and largely just distracting me between shots with stories and jokes. He was incredible. But it wasn’t easy.

I found myself one under par for the round with 9 holes left when Mr. Wolf did Mr. Wolf things. He threw a 3 birdie run at me to get within a stroke of the lead. I’m playing the best golf of my life and he is right there.

But while golf is a game of misses, it’s also a game of luck. On the 13th hole, with Mr. Wolf just one shot back he absolutely crushes a drive right down the middle on a par 5 that is reachable for his length. He will be able to reach the green in 2.

I’m sweating. My heart is racing as I pull hook the only bad drive I hit all day long. A banana ball that is destined for out of bounds.

I’ve blown it. It’s over. He’s caught me. I choked.

These are all the thoughts going through my mind in an instant… until the Golf Gods intervene with a well placed tree that my ball could not have hit more squarely… bouncing it right back into the fairway.

Now I’m not out of the woods just yet… Well, okay… maybe literally, but figuratively I’m still in trouble. I have to lay up. I’m well back while he’ll have a chance to go for the green with an iron. A likely Eagle putt.

Again, my caddie steps in.

“Let’s make par here. No need to be a hero. We got the break we needed, let’s not give it back with aggression. Lay up. Hit an 8 iron on the green and let’s get out of here.”

So I listen. I don’t press. I don’t try to cut the corner to get a flip wedge in. I just play it smart. Hit it in the fairway. And wait to see how close Wolf’s eagle putt will be.

Except he won’t be getting an Eagle putt. After doing all the hard work to get right back into the fight, off a tough downhill lie, he pulls it right into the water.

I make my par and walk off the 13th green with a 2 shot lead feeling extremely lucky.

The rest of the way is a bit of a blur. I bogeyed the next long par 3, but so did everybody else. I had a couple good looks for birdie that just went by, but I remained in control of my golf game and with my caddie calming me between each shot, I coasted to a one over 73 and a 3 shot victory.

I won my first tournament and it was at Pinehurst. A round I had circled on the calendar. I made it my biggest event and I did it. I played my best golf of the year.

It wouldn’t have happened without my caddie. Golf is hard. Pinehurst is very hard.

I can’t wait to see who wins this week at the 2024 US Open. Special thanks to my wife for all the great pictures from the week. An awesome walk down memory lane. 😘