After three years and on the fourth attempt, the duck finally changed hands. Last Thursday, my friend Kirk and I went head to head to determine who is the lucky person to carry the duck for the foreseeable future. Still giving him 2 stokes aside and using his son’s clubs, I finally put together a game that beat him on his home course at Northwood Golf Course in Middlesex.

As we teed off at 10 am, the sun was shining, it was dry and the wind was not a factor for the entire round. The course was in great shape, especially the greens. Overall, the outcome  would be determined by how we would play and not by the conditions of the course. Fortunately for me, my wife as able to walk the course with us and witness my eventual triumph!

During the first 9 holes, we battled back and forth. After six holes, I had eked out a 2 hole lead. But, in true golfing fashion he easily won two of the last three holes to even the score after nine holes. By his own admission, he thought that being tied after 9 holes and finishing so strong down the stretch was going to be my downfall. But, Kirk was not playing his best and he was having trouble finding the fairway off the tee.

Well, as we started the back 9 something changed. I started to hit the ball in the fairway and Kirk continued to spray off the tee. I am not sure what happened, but he found every difficult spot on the course and my confidence started to grow. He made some amazing recovery shots from the bushes, behind a tree and out of the sand, but eventually his inconsistency got the best of him. It definitely was atypical of Kirk’s game and as a result I closed him out on the 15th hole – 4 and 3. As we walked toward the 16th tee box, Kirk, in true gentlemanly fashion, shook my hand and congratulated me on the win.

I was surprised that I won 4 of the first 5 holes on the back nine. However, when I looked at the scorecard after the round, I realized that I shot a 39 with a double on the 11th hole (we halved it).

More importantly, the duck will stay in Europe. It will travel around seeing different courses that most golfers only dream about! It took a few attempts, but I finally won a match against Kirk. After losing on three previous occasions, I was beginning to wonder if I was every going to beat him. But as fate would have it, last Thursday was my lucky day.

So the ball is in his court to carry the duck back across the pond for another challenge. Regardless of the future results, at least for now, the duck stays in Europe!

The duck challenge is always fun. We joke about it often, but more importantly, we both realize that the bragging rights is the real prize.

On a side note, another friend made its way to visit Kirk, just to keep the big prize company! I wonder if he found it in his house yet?

I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!