A Lesson Learned

Way back when, I can't remember what year, we were playing in Rochester NY at Locust Hill Country Club. It was so long ago I fail to recall who I was working for.

Locust Hill is a difficult course. It has tight fairways and small fast greens. It is a position type layout, especially on the greens. There are certain holes that you must stay below the pin. A back pin placement on number 15 is one of them.

It is a very short par 3, about 130 yards, with a two tier green. The upper being very shallow with a severe drop off if you go over. If the pin is back, you hit your shot to the bottom of the slope and hope it runs up. If it doesn't, two putt, take par and keep going.

Now for the lesson.

We were paired with Joyce Kazmierski. Pepper was on the sack. He was a bit of a character. A slightly rotund, bearded black man with an almost unintelligible gravelly voice. His voice and the pocket full of change he always carried was his trademark. The last thing you want on the course is something that makes noise and one of the most annoying is jingling change. Why he insisted on carrying so much no one knows, but I digress.

The pin was set on the back tier and Joyce was first to hit. It was a windy day, so picking the right stick was critical. After quite a long discussion with Pepper, she teed it up. It started right at the pin but Pepper didn't think it was enough club. He started yelling . Fly! Fly! Fly! Well it flew alright, the ball was so long it never touched the green. Down the hill it went. The look Joyce gave Pepper was unforgettable. It was like "What do you f---ing mean fly!" She never did say it though, Joyce was a lady. She made a good bogey.

I learned a valuable lesson that day. If you have the urge to talk to your ball, make sure there's plenty of room for your foot!

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