Eight players gather for a Saturday round at Magnolia Point. It’s the first round of 2012 for The Outcast. A wintery blast of arctic air sent a couple of mid week tee times to the unused column.
The Outcast’s new year’s resolution was an improved short game. He’s going to start the improvement with putting since that accounts for nearly fifty percent of the strokes in a round. Podcast reviews and internet searches turn up a putting guru, Geoff Magnum, new to The Outcast. He’s just a wee bit eccentric which may be part of his appeal to The Outcast.
The Outcast spends the bulk of his pre round warm up on the putting green. The putting guru’s techniques are simple but consistently applying them isn’t. In addition, the Magnolia Point greens are lightning fast. The new winter technique of not over seeding them makes them the fastest greens in NE Florida during the winter; down hill putts are nearly impossible to stop near the cup.
Balls are tossed for teams. He Who Never Loses, Mr. Great Wall, The Painter and Computer Man are the first team. The Outcast is with The Cowboy, Big Bopper and The Chairman. The game is best two balls on the par three’s and four’s and best three balls on the par five’s.
The Outcast plays a solid front nine from the ball striking point of view but his putting doesn’t show much improvement. Four birdie attempts, three from inside eighteen feet, are fruitless. One three putt blemishes the side. The team performance is also mediocre … one under.
The speed of play becomes excruciatingly slow on the back nine. A foursome that teed off nearly forty minutes before the Saturday group has been caught. They apparently are playing a grudge match or a super large wager match. No putts are conceded and even what appears to be inside the leather is painstakingly lined up and putted. People leaning on clubs in the fairway are ignored.
The Outcast rolls in a thirty foot birdie putt at eleven. The first birdie of 2012 … maybe Geoff the Guru’s putting techniques are starting to take hold. Nope, The Outcast will three putt four of the remaining greens. Fortunately, his team mates carry the load and the team moves to ten under for the day.
He Who Never Loses is unable to pencil whip their scorecard into a better number. The Outcast starts the year with a birdie, a win and another appointment at the practice green.
