My wife Susan and I were in the Charlotte, NC area yesterday to visit our oldest son, Jimmy. He's a 2008 graduate of the University of Notre Dame and a former Irish Guard. Jimmy's employed at NASCAR.
Monday afternoon the three of us headed off to Verdict Ridge Country Club, about a thirty minute drive north of Charlotte -- just west of Lake Norman. Verdict Ridge -- is the perfect name for a golf club founded by a well known Carolina attorney (Eddie Knox). It was a beautiful 80 degree day with "Carolina blue sky" everywhere you looked...
Verdict Ridge is a very nice track cut through the woods and hills
-- that leaves you feeling "guilty" for enjoying this golf experience too much... That's their promotional story.
Well, let's just say that the first 12 holes Jimmy was getting a "golf lesson" from his old-man. At one point I asked Jimmy what ball he was playing so I could "buy stock" in that company before the NYSE's closing bell that day... He lost at least a dozen balls on the first 12 holes -- NO EXAGGERATION!
So, we arrive to #13 a 141 yard par three. The pin was located in the front third of the green. I had the honors and hit an eight iron, just left of the flag, about 30 feet behind the hole -- a good shot. Jimmy, playing his new "used" NIKE irons he inherited from his Dad that day -- pulled out a wedge -- yeah, he hits it a long way, it just doesn't always land in the correct area code.
Now I must admit, I was watching his left foot during his golf swing on this par three. Jimmy has a habit of moving his left foot during the down swing -- instead of using it as a firm foundation to swing against.
If you were critiquing a baseball player you would say he's "stepping in the bucket."
So, when I looked up to find the flight of his ball I lost it in the sun...
But, Mom has it in her sights -- and she non-chalantly says "I think it went in..."
Well, I didn't believe it -- nor, did Jimmy. So, after Mom hits her tee-shot, we hop in the carts and head to the green. I arrive first at the scene and see only my ball.
Now, I have to admit -- my wife has a very poor track record of knowing where her own golf ball ends up after she hits it -- so I'm not buying the "balls in the hole" story...
Jimmy, is the second to arrive to the green and he's looking everywhere but the hole... Well, he finally gets up enough nerve to look into the cup -- and THERE WAS HIS PRECEPT ball! His first hole-in-one!
The USGA places the odds of hitting a hole-in-one at: 1 in 30,000.
But, the story's not over...
So, now we head to the next tee -- a par four dog-leg left. The group ahead of us was still in the fairway, so we had a few minutes to wait. We're all excited for Jimmy -- and he's grinning 'ear to ear' at his feat. He made the comment, "I didn't think I'd ever get a hole-in-one..." I tell him "hang on to that ball, we'll send it in to Bridgestone for their hole-in-one award..."
The fairway clears and Jimmy has the honors -- for the first and only time that day!!!
Now, most humans would probably have locked up their hole-in-one golf ball for posterity sake -- at least that's what Mom & Dad thought. Not Jimmy -- he sets that hole-in-one golf ball on the tee and proceeds to hit it straight right -- DEEP -- into the North Carolina forest.
He looks at me and says "that was my hole-in-one ball..." I couldn't believe it.
Well, my wife and I hit our tee shots and we make a bee-line over to where we think his ball last "left the planet..."
Now to say these wood are thick would be an understatement -- add a few hundred "picker bushes" to the mix and you'll see what we're up against. All three of us "headed into this battle with nature" with the goal of finding that special ball...
I wish this story had a happy ending -- unfortunately, it does not.
We didn't leave the forest with that golf ball. I came out of the "battle" with blood on my right hand from two cuts and a stream of blood on my left leg for the effort --
don't mess with Carolina picker bushes!
A SPECIAL NOTE to the members of Verdict Ridge Country Club -- if you're playing #14 in the next few days and you feel the need to take on the forest along the right side of that hole -- please take a look for a PRECEPT golf ball. If you find it, please put it in your pocket and send me an email at jim.small@ndgoirish.com -- you'll make a Domer happy!
The photo above is the last time this golf ball was seen in captivity...
