Fighting the desire to walk off the golf course

+ News and Notes

Author

Sean Melia
August 16, 2024

Siasconset GC (Nantucket, Mass.)

Hey Everyone,

Welcome to all the new subscribers who hopped on board this week.

I’ve played a lot of golf over the last few weeks. This week is no different. I played Gardner Muni yesterday in a Mass Mid-Am qualifier. On Friday, I’m checking out Holden Hills CC and then hopping over to Whitinsville for a jaunt around the Donald Ross nine-holer.

I sent out a mid-week post with five of my favorite public golf holes in Mass. It was inspired by Golf Digest’s Top 100 holes which came out in May. I didn’t see it until this week because I don’t subscribe to their garbage social media channels and rarely visit the site. I’m working on my own personal Top 100 holes in Mass. list. No clue how I’m going to share it yet!

I’ve been working on some 5-7 min. videos about different courses I’ve played. Here’s the latest one on Franklin Park.

News and Notes:

  • Mass. Women’s Amateur: On Thursday, Morgan Smith beat her sister Molly Smith in the semi-final in 20 holes. A pretty incredible match where Molly led 2-up after 12 holes, but Molly didn’t win any of the closing eight holes. Morgan Smith will face off with Julia Imai in the final. Imai is the younger sister of James Imai. Imai is also a former Mass. Girls’ Junior champion.

  • North Shore Amateur: Rounds of 74-69 helped Shuvam Bhaumik claim the 50th edition of the event at Far Corner. He edged out Colin Brennan by three shots. Here’s a little write-up.

  • 1st Annual Robert H. Hawkins Memorial Golf Tournament: On August 26, Rediscover Mapledale will host a tournament to commemorate Black History in Stow and celebrate the life of Robert H. Hawkins, founder of Mapledale Golf Club. Some very cool history at Stow Acres. Sign up here.

Have you ever wanted to walk off the golf course?

After hitting two shanks and making a triple-bogey on the opening four holes of my Mass. Mid-Am Qualifier at Gardner Muni, I was strongly considering walking off the course. The fifth hole plays along the road. It would have been easy to stick out my thumb and hitch a ride back to the clubhouse.

The shanks didn’t relent, popping up a few times during the round. I nearly decapitated a player in the group behind us with my tee shot into the par-3 8th hole.

It’s a terrible feeling knowing there is nowhere to hide when the hosel rockets rear their ugly head in a tournament. You have to finish the hole. There’s no hiding, and there’s no double-bogey max.

Over the last month or so, I’ve played a bunch of competitive rounds. Probably more competitive golf than I’ve played since I graduated from college. It’s been fun, challenging, and rewarding to hit shots under pressure.

The round at Gardner Muni was probably the best round I’ve played this summer as far as getting the absolute best out of a round when I truly had nothing in the bag.

Nothing.

As we walked up the 18th fairway to hit our second shots, the lightning horn blew. We waited around for two hours, and they postponed the round to tomorrow. I will not be returning to hit three (or four?) more shots to sign for an 80 (or 81).

My competitive spirits were at 2% after four holes today. The first thing that kept me going was this stupid quest I’m on. If I was going to do one thing at Gardner Muni, I was going to check off my 128th course in Massachusetts.

Then, the next piece was the challenge of trying to see what the hell I could shoot without killing someone. That stuff matters in the long run. I’ve shot 80 plenty of times, but never under this duress for 4 hours. The shanks make you feel like you’re being hunted.

A massive part of me is glad to be done with competitive golf for this year. Some fun, recreational golf will hopefully be a vaccine for this hosel virus. But come February and March I’ll be setting my alarm and refreshing MassGolf’s website so I can have first dibs on qualifying sites. Hoping to be the hunter and not the hunted.

Double Click(s)

  • I met Jimmy Ellis at the Crump Cup a couple of years ago when I was lucky enough to attend the Pine Valley event for Sunday’s final round. Super nice guy. We spent about 30 min. waiting out a thunderstorm in a shelter, looking up football scores as he and his opponent Stephen Behr. Jr. worried about flights home. Ellis shot 61 on Tuesday to earn medalist honors in the U.S. Amateur. He earned his spot when he won the Florida Amateur championship. This video of him is worth watching… he’s buying balls and gloves in the Hazeltine pro shop while all the college kids get their stuff for free. Ellis fell victim to the No. 1 seed curse and lost to Ethan Fang in the Round of 64.

Remember… swing your swing. There are so many ways to get the ball in the hole. Engle ended up reaching the Round of 16 in the U.S. Amateur this week.

When I’m not golfing…

I’m reading…

I’m listening to…

I’m drinking…

  • I made a mezcal margarita this week to go with some tacos. It's simple enough to make; just replace tequila with mezcal. It's a bit smokier. Good stuff.

  • Wollaston has their own beer, made by Vermont Beer Makers. It’s called Swing Oil. Excellent post-round patio beer. Untappd.

I’m eating…

  • Had Dominoes this week… thin crust Hawaiian is just incredible.

  • At the Fallon Cup, they treated us to a bunch of delicious food.

    • Bardos Pizza had a food truck at the course on Friday. Delightful.

    • Lobster dumplings and pork dumplings by the putting green. Yes, please.

    • The Wollaston hot dog was incredible. They put five slices across the hot dog, which I had never seen before. Provocative stuff. Will try at home.

I’m watching…

  • I restarted The Wire. Enough said.

  • U.S. Amateur will be televised on Peacock and Golf Channel. Worth watching in the late afternoon Friday-Sunday.

New here? Reached the bottom?

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