Yesterday, I played in a three person scramble with my friends Rick and Fernando. We have played in events before and we felt confident that we could compete with the other teams. As it turned out, we did not play as well as we had hoped, but that is okay because the company was fantastic and the course (Osprey Links) was in fantastic shape. We finished at minus 2 and left many birdies on the course; is that not always the way!

The team we played with for the scramble was Wes, Evan, and Pete. Wes and I have played many rounds together last year and his son Evan and friend Pete made up a great team. Evan was a very long hitting player with great control of his irons. Pete was also a long hitter and filled in were Evan went a bit off line. Wes was the intangible player that made some sneaky shots to help them lower their score. They shot six under on the front nine and stall on the back. They were great companions for 18 holes and I hope we have a chance to play in another event together.

When our team started, the pin was on the front part of the green. As our starting hole, I took an extra club and swung easy. I hit put the ball over ridge on the green and we were left with a long down hill putt. Fernando made a great lag putt and we were left with a slick side hill putt that put us to the test right away. All three of us hit the ball low and watched our ball skate past the hole on the low side. Starting with a bogey is always demoralizing, but we had lots of golf left to play.

During the scramble, there was one rule that changed both teams course management strategy. During each nine holes, each team had to use two drives from each player. This might seem like an easy goal to accomplish, but both teams found that it was a little more difficult when we had to give up distances to accomplish this goal. It did help to meet this rule with a few lucky bounces. Wes and Rick can certainly attest to how lucky bounces are needed to shoot low scores in a scramble.

On the 12th hole, we needed Rick to hit his second shot of the back nine. Unfortunately, Rick hit is ball into the woods at the top of hill on the right. At first we were disappointed until we heard the rattle of trees and his ball popped out in the middle of fairway 170 yards from the green. As the most difficult tee shot, we were thrilled with this lucky bounce. As we continued to play, Wes was not be out done with the lucky bounces.

With a bit of drizzle coming down, Wes set up on the 14th tee box with the intent to hit his drive just right of the 150 yard marker in the center of the plateau about 125 yards from the green. He crushed his drive to the right and after a rattling in the of trees he bounce out to his intended spot. As with Rick’s shot, Wes’ team was thrilled to see the great results. Lucky bounces are definitely part of any scramble.

I could continue to talk about all the great shots during the day, but I think you understand that everyone had a wonderful time and played some great golf. The best part for our team was we won a prize. It was in the fourth flight, but it paid for our entry fee. Overall, it was fun to hit the links with my old friends and to make some new ones.

I would be remiss not to mention the staff at Osprey Links. They were professional, polite, and courteous. The meal was delicious as per normal and the atmosphere around the clubhouse was amazing. Jeff and his team know how to run a ‘must attend’ event and I feel fortunate to have participated this year.

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