On Wednesday, I participated in my second Men’s Night in two years. Osprey Links Golf Course reserves Wednesday night for men to gather, play golf, eat a great meal and enjoy the company of strangers. Each week, we play a different game and last Wednesday, we played ‘Vegas Scramble’. This is a fun game that provided 92 players the excitement of the unknown on each tee shot!

The intent of ‘Vegas Scramble’ is not to create side betting, but to see which players drive we will use on each hole. This game is designed for teams of 4 players and this is how it unfolds:

1. Each player was given a number from 1 to 4.
2. After every drive, someone in the group rolls a dice.
3. If your number showed up, we used that drive regardless of where it ended up.
4. A 5 resulted in a re-roll.
5. If a 6 showed up, we could pick any drive we wanted.
6. After selecting the drive, the team played a scramble for the rest of the hole.
7. Play a scramble to finish the hole after the drive was chosen.

Our team consisted of myself, Serge, Rick and Murray. Murray was a new player to the group and fit in very well. He was randomly placed in our group by the proshop because he was a single and we needed another player; which turned out lucky for us. He is a nice young man who hits the ball a mile. So, I am thinking we might pick him up for more games in the future. Serge is a friend of Rick and I and can also hit the ball a mile when he finishes “knocking off the rust” (his words not mine)!

I was the scorer, so I did all the rolling and except for the first hole, we did alright. On the first hole, Rick hit one about 25 yards into the long grass and of course his number was rolled. After scrambling for a bogey, we got on track and started to all play better golf. I think it is important to note that Ricks ball was the only on in play on the first hole so picking it was actually quite lucky.

For the rest of the round we rolled either Serge or Murry’s shot. They both were great off the tee and we were in play for the rest of round. On the third hole, it started to rain and did not stop until the ninth hole. That was not fun, but the crappy weather did not dampen our spirits.

We actually played very well, but did not score well. Our putting was not the best (especially mine) and we left many strokes on the course. That is the nature of golf sometimes and our downfall for sure.

A couple of times we rolled ourselves away from the best shot. For example, the par 3, 15th hole is a very short and downhill. Everyone missed the green except for my shot, but with the roll of the dice we had to take Serge’s shot off the green to the left and 15 feet below the elevation of green. After a flop shot, we were within 2 feet and a tap in par. This is an example of how rolling the dice is a game of chance during a ‘Vegas Scramble’.

I do want to mention the best shot of the round thanks to Murray. We are playing the seventh hole of the round (16th on the course) and it is a long par 5 up hill. There is a large group of rocks that juts out at the 300 yard mark off the tee and is normally not in play for my game. However, Murray is a different case. He crushed his drive, in the rain, to 5 yards short of the rocks. Fortunately, his number was rolled. This gave us an opportunity to go for the green in two, which is a rare thing. We ended up with a birdie which lead to an even par round!

After all the scores were calculated, we finished second in C Division on the back nine. Our score was not the greatest, but in the big scheme of things we do not really care because we were in the prizes. The real prize is always playing golf with friends, having a great meal, and chatting with everyone at the 19th hole.

If you are in the area and want to play in the fun, come join us on Wednesday nights.

Thanks to the staff at Osprey Links for another great Men’s Night. You help make the evening fun and enjoyable.

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