Well.... got through the first round of our club championship matchplay this morning unscathed. Unless we're counting equipment too, then maybe not so much... but I'll get into that later.
My goodness was it hot. By the time I'd completed my 25 minute warmup - I was already soaked head to toe. We're talking 9:30 am... I weighed myself this morning when I got out of the shower, then weighed myself after I took a shower when I got home, lost 10 pounds of water weight. Never had to pee once... probably drank 2 gallons or more of water. It was very uncomfortable, and on the rare occasion that the sun tucked in behind a cloud - it felt almost heavenly. The golf fan I bought over the winter has helped immensely over the past couple of weeks. It's a warm breeze, but at least it's a little air flow.
So the college kid I was going up against... never played with him before. Nice kid. Hits a horrible tee shot on the opening hole, 190 yards out, over water to the green. Sticks it to 30 feet. I hit a great opening tee shot, had 147 to the middle pin, hit a beauty to about 8 feet. Sure enough - the young fella drains the 30 footer. I answered by making mine, and that was the closest I would come to being behind the rest of the day.
I closed him out on the 16th hole, 235-yard par3. I found the fringe, 2-putted from 40 feet or so, and that was that. I really didn't want to go any further... I was literally exhausted. But I was only +2 through 16 holes, so I played very well overall, hit a lot of quality shots under the gun.
So back to the equipment not making it unscathed... first time in my life this has ever happened.
10th hole, I'm 3-up. Our 10th hole from the tips is about 430 yards, slightly elevated tee. But there's OB left, a huge lake to the right. And the fairway in the usual landing zone can't be more than about 15 paces wide, with a bunker to the left and obviously the lake to the right. Anything that lands near the right rough is going into the water because of the ground sloping toward it.
So I'm swinging well. Haven't hit driver that well this season, but it was working today. So I set up to play a baby draw off the left bunker, knowing that if I push it just a little - the bunker isn't the worst spot. I get over the ball, take a nice smooth backswing, and I absolutely spank it.
No sooner than the ball got about 20 feet off the club face, my shaft basically disintegrated. Now I don't have long-ball power. I don't even have warning-track power most days, although it was pretty close today. How on earth that shaft broke - I've no earthly idea. Fortunately some of the fibers stayed attached and the lower half of the shaft didn't end up killing someone.
Of course - my ball ends up going into the lake as a result. Talk about bad f**king luck.
Luckily for me, my backup driver was in my locker at the club. I just brought it in, swapped out the old shattered shaft and put the newer one in it. It's a different shaft, same flex, fairly close in specs... probably not much (if any) noticeable difference. But there was one huge difference: the old shaft was 1-inch longer. I continued to hit it reasonably well, but I also noticed a 7-8 yard loss in carry. And since our fairways are so soft (we're talking negative yardage after the ball lands on a lot of holes) I need every last yard I can get!
So tomorrow will be interesting. I'll be spending a few extra minutes in my warmup in the morning to see if I can get it dialed back in.
Tough match tomorrow coming up. This guy I'm playing is 70-years old. He carries his driver 265-270 yards, he's an absolute freak of nature. And unlike the college fella I got the best of today - this old fart doesn't tend to stray nearly as far off the beaten path. He's got a solid all-around game, so I've got my work cut out for me.
Tomorrow's a different day, but hopefully the result will be the same.
