As I have in the past, I organized a match play tournament at my home course of Mattawa Golf and Ski Club. It is a very small event and the players that joined were looking for something new to do. Yesterday, I was fortunate to play my first match against Gary. He is a 77 year old man who just loves to play golf. Now before you roll your eyes, Gary is a stick and I had to play a strong round to get my first Match Play win of 2022.
After two holes, Gary was up two. After two doubles by yours truly, he was off and running. Gary played from the red tees which usually meant that he had a 40 yard advantage on every tee shot. I was hitting the ball well, but Gary was either beside me or ahead. He hit the ball down the middle on 12 of 14 fairways and was in great position of all his approach shots. He hit about half the greens in regulation and putted very well. Overall, Gary was sneaky long, accurate, and could putt; it was a tough match and he put pressure on my game from the opening tee shot.
After my two opening doubles, I actually played very well. During the final 16 holes, I shot one under (3 birdies and 2 bogeys). As per normal, my driver was working very well but to my surprise it was not the best club in my bag. I was hitting my wedges well and putting strong. But the best club in my bag yesterday was my 3 wood. Yup, my 3 wood. I hit it 7 times and crushed it 6 times. This surprise definitely added to my win. Fortunately, I was able to play well and close out Gary 3 and 2.
If you are wondering, I shot a 3 over 77 and Gary shot a 4 over 78 (only one stroke over his age)!
During our round, I actually paid attention to how Gary navigated the course. I noticed that on certain holes he landed short with the intention of the ball bouncing up onto the green. During the first nine holes I played the approach shots my way by trying to land the ball on every green with limited success. During the second nine, I followed Gary’s lead with much better success. The difference between the two nines was four strokes. I have to thank Gary for the golf lesson.
I am fortunate to be moving on to the semi finals of the Match Play. I will be contacting Shawn on Friday to set up the next match.
I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!
The Grateful Golfer 
Well done. Paying attention to what works and adapting paid off. I seem to remember a comment you made once when I talked about Chi Chi’s greens being so hard and fast that landing on them at the time was suicide so I was aiming to land short of the green or for the fringes. At the time you thought you couldn’t do that. Sometimes you just have to see to believe. lol
My luck this evening wasn’t so good. The irons and woods worked just fine but the short game was lacking. My feel was a little off with the wedges and worse my putting was simply pathetic. I pretty much missed everything today. I don’t mind getting beat, but I hate giving them away and that’s pretty much what I did tonight.
I hate to say it, but putting woes seem to be a thing of late. Must be letting work get in the way of practice. lol
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Kevin,
Sometimes it is important to adapt and I definitely did that this time. I usually try to fly the ball to the green, but Gary showed me a better way. I guess old dogs can learn from older dogs. 😉 I hope you putting woes correct themselves soon.
Cheers Jim
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