The Family Match Play Championship
"What is that on your bag?" Eli 18.0 asked. I'd taped "The Republic of Bill" to the outside of my golf bag."The proud flag of my country," I said.
Eli smoothed out the flag and read it, then burst out laughing. "What does the Latin mean?" he asked.
"Slow and steady wins the race," I said.
He burst out laughing again. "That's perfect, he said."
It was, and I only wish the match had been as much fun as that moment.
I didn't even realize it, but we both wanted to win. I mean, we played golf together every day all summer, and Eli was almost always better, and he thought he was going to roll me.
A fair assessment, except I'm a scrappy bastard, even now.
What happened was we both played terribly. Really, really poorly. But I hit a few shots, and he missed a few putts, and even though it wasn't fun, I was 1-up going to the fifteenth hole.
I had an eight foot putt to win the hole, and I made it. "Oh my god," Eli said. "You lined up closed, your putter face was open, and your stroke wasn't square. But because you made the wrong read, it went in."
"Is it that, or is it just a champion under pressure?" I asked.
"Absolutely not," he said.
"Well, I thought I'd ask," I said. And he was right, which is why it can be infuriating to play me. I can be a much weaker player, but hit a shot at just the right time.
I was 2-up going to sixteen, and if I could win one more hole, I'd win the match. Which wasn't meaning much now, because I had this idea that we'd both play great, and it would be this wonderful way to end the summer.
We weren't though, and we were both pissed off and miserable because we were playing so poorly.
I will say that then I hit a three-iron under a tree limb about four feet off the ground that qualifies as one of the best shots in my life, then hit a sand wedge to ten feet and made the putt.
To win, although it didn't feel like winning.
"We need to play tomorrow," I said.
"Yeah, we do," he said.
It was disappointing, hoping for a moment that just didn't come.
Saturday, though, was everything that match play wasn't. We still weren't playing well, but it was because we were both so relaxed, and we smiled and laughed and talked about how wonderful the summer had been. The weather was beautiful, and it was peaceful, and it was the end of something and the beginning of something else.
And all of the somethings were fine.
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