Day 8 - The Eagle Has Landed

Day 8 – August 24 – Tralee

The Eagle Has Landed

Tralee was redesigned by Arnold Palmer and is now one of the venerable old links courses in Ireland, but also very playable – although once again we were facing even stronger winds and temperatures in the mid-50’s. Our caddies said the wind was a steady 40 mph and the weather reports at the turn said gusts were up to 60 mph. We experience all of this. Just to give you an idea of the playing conditions, we were attired as if we were playing in the Alaskan Open.

To give you an idea, here are two experiences that Steve had (witnessed by others in his group). ON the first hole, Steve hit a good drive and a very nice 5-hybrid to 8 feet [a noteworthy sequence of events given the very strong quartering winds]. His ensuing birdie putt had about a 2-3 inch break. As he putted, the gusts kicked up enormously and his ball was blow sideways and backwards away from the hole. It literally broke about 3-4 feet, which left him with a very challenging par putt (he sank it mercifully). On the second hole, a beautiful long par-5 along the ocean, Steve was in a pot bunker about 15 yards short and left of the green on his third shot (driver, 3-hybrid, 4-hybrid into the wind). He got out the 60 degree wedge to get the ball over the high lip and hit a perfect shot to a left pin placement. As the sand splashed up in his face he had to turn around and get all the sand off his face and out of his eyes. When he turned around a couple of seconds later, looking for his ball on the green, his caddy was standing behind the bunker watching and said, “Oh, that’s very unfortunate.” Steve was bewildered; it was a great sand shot. The caddy explained that the ball got up in the gust of wind and took a 90 degree turn to the right, bounced off the right of the green, took another bounce on the edge of the green/rough and fell into the ocean … about 80-90 feet right of where the ball had existed the bunker. Amazing !!! Chan said he had never seen anything like it. Steve still saved a 7 with a brilliant 80-foot chip from a seaside drop that left him within inches of the hole.

A view from the #2 par-5 green, looking back up the fairway along the ocean to our second group on the tee.

Now I would be grossly remiss if I didn’t mention another incredible accomplishment on this hole. Mr. Blasewitz was way off the green - behind Ruberg in the bunker - and he decided, against all advice from his caddy, to putt the ball. Owing to the severe wind, this was actually a sensible thing to do. And sure enough, he putted the ball over valley and hill and dale right into the hole!!!!!! Ruberg came over and got out his laser gun and shot the distance to the flag – 48 yards or 144 feet. How does this guy do it time and time again ?!?!?! He had a 150 putt at Portmarnock. All of us put together (except for Jack who buried a 50 yard putt at Troon 4 years ago), have never hit a putt longer than 100 in our lives, let alone 2 150-footers in a week !!! It is unexplainable. Did I mention it was for par? Excuse me, it was a birdie!

The round proceeded with a mix of sun and clouds, as well as some rain along the way. We were getting used to the rain, and we had all the necessary gear. It was kind of interesting to see how the group psyche changed and adapted to the notion of playing in such wind and rain. Many in the group feel that Tralee is one of the nicest courses – it has some astounding views and hole designs as well as being pretty fair and playable (more wispy rough than 100-year old dense thick rough, though some of that can get you too).

   

The results for the day:

Medalist: Blasé (84), Ruberg, Fisher (86), Saysana, The Greatest (87)

Team Winners: The Greater, The Greatest, Fisher (again), Monachino

Skins: Monachino (4), Blase, The Greater, Fisher, Saysana (1)

We had a brief respite for lunch in the clubhouse overlooking the wide-open grassy plains of Tralee as the wind thrashed the long dune grasses, and we debated what to do for our afternoon round – keep playing our own ball or do a 4-man scramble as we did at Ballybunion. The lads were split, and a raucous debate ensued with Guinness and fish ‘n chips being thrown at each other 😊. The result was … a scramble. Most did not feel like fighting through the wind and rain playing their own ball for another 5 hours and 18 holes. And so it was.

Now, Blasé was generous with our caddies and invited them to join us for lunch (he bought) and we had them for the scramble as well. They were getting into our games in the morning and rooting for us to get two good balls that we could use for our score. For the afternoon, they got into the betting on our teams for the scramble, and Seamus, in particular, was enthusiastically whipping us like a jockey on a horse in the backstretch of the Kentucky Derby. The bad guys – The Greatest, Fisher, Monachino and Saysana – seemed to maintain a one-shot lead throughout the rounds (you can never trust what Jack says). But the caddies for each of our groups were keeping each other informed as to the real scores.

Starting the back nine, the bad guys went up by 2. However, in the middle of the back nine, the good guys – Blase, The Greater, Love and Ruberg – put together a run that rode the back of great driving from Jay, great putting from Paul and a few odds and ends from Ruberg and The Greater. After 3 straight birdies, they had tied it all up at the 16^th. The 16^th is a brutally long par-3 directly into the wind and we were hitting anything from 3-hybrids to drivers. After the good guys parred, they awaited on the dunes around the green to see what the bad guys would do. They were determined to break Jack’s winning streak. And wouldn’t you know it, Jack throws a shot right at the flag and it stops 2.5 feet short for an easy birdie and the 1-shot lead once again. The score remained with bad guys having a 1-stroke lead after 17.

Play was slow, so each time the lead group – the good guys – played a hole, they could watch the bad guys hit into the green as well. That led to the 18^th, a shorter par-5 a bit uphill but reachable in two with two good shots. Since the second group completely caught up to the first group, we played a 8-some in – once again mano a mano. Jay (good guys) unleashed a drive with the wind that rolled and rolled and would have almost matched Lexi Thompson (275 yds). While some others drove it well, The Greatest (bad guys), also drive it exceptionally well and was comparable to Lexi Thompson (although he would probably rather date Lexi Thompson than have Lexi Thompson’s drive).

Blase unleashed a second shot that made it to the elevated green, but we could not see how close. The bad guys also had a couple of shot on the green, but it was unclear the situation. As we walked onto the green, the bad guys had a 45-foot putt for eagle and Blase was 15-18 feet away! After a couple of putts, Saysana (the bad guys) lagged a putt close and tapped in for a birdie. Now, the good guys knew what they had to do to get into a putt-off … only an eagle would do. The sun was setting over the Irish Sea. The winds were calming. It was as if the whole world knew what was at stake ($10 and Jack’s winning streak!). It was a difficult read – was it going to break a little left or a little right. Different angles produced different opinions. The Greater said it would break left, but we convinced him it would go right. He putted first at the left edge looking for a slight right break … and although he never got it to the hole (shame on him), as his putt died it appeared to go a bit to the left. Jay was next, and he putted at the left edge with a nice firm stroke … and it broke an inch to the left!! The Greater was right … it was breaking left not right. AT that point it was down to Ruberg and Blase, perhaps the best clutch athlete to ever play any sport and the best putter in the world, respectively. Who would go next? Ruberg says, “You or me?” Blase says, “You go and then I won’t have to.” With that burst of confidence and both teams huddled on the green surrounding the hole, Ruberg strikes it firm and true at the right edge and sure enough, it moves 1.28 inches left and right in the center of the cup!! The eagle has landed !!!

The Team erupted, and the caddies were hugging each other and us while the locals and other members looked on in amazement. High fives were going everywhere, and the bad guys were gracious in their congratulations as well. It was off to the putting green for a one-putt 40-foot putt-off between Jack and Blase – closest to the pin; winner take all. With everyone lining the putting green, our guys and the caddies and few locals who wanted to know what the hullaballoo was all about, Paul won the coin toss and deferred. Jack putted first and ran a nice putt about 2.5 feet past the hole. Everyone crowded in as The Greatest (the bad guys) marked Jack’s putt making sure there was no foul play with everything that was a stake! Then Blase putted and ran a putt about 2.5 feet short of the hole. A near riot ensued with arguments over who was closer, and we had to call on our bus driver to give an independent measurement. The 8 of us and 4 caddies were all yelling and screaming at an innocent bus driver and trying to make sure the measurement was done fairly. “Measure from the edge of the cup.” “No, measure from the center of the cup using the putting green flag stick.” “Put the marked ball back to where it was and measure to the front of the balls.” It was mayhem. When Adrian, our bus driver, used Ruberg’s putter as a measuring device, he concluded that Jack was 1 inch closer.

Another burst of mayhem and triumphant dances (that putting green will take three weeks to get back to normal). We all had to rush to the bus since our driver was running out of time and we still had to get back to Ballybunion for our dinner reservation at Kilcooly’s Country House at 8:30-ish.

On the bus ride, it was mentioned by The Greater and agreed by many others that our scramble that afternoon was the best scramble anyone had ever played in. Despite wind and rain, we had so much fun, especially since play was slow and we were able to see each other throughout the round and keep track of the score. There was plenty of drinking with the caddies throughout the round and they made it fun as well. The final hole will long be remembered and hats off to Steve for the clutch eagle putt and to Jack for the clutch winning putt in the putt-off.

But once again, the day is not over yet.

We had ordered lamb shanks (an Irish specialty) in advance for seven of us while Jay wanted to order his own distinct meal. At Kilcooly’s Country House (a very quaint, old Irish house converted to pub, restaurant and inn), we had a spectacular dinner (Jay’s seabass was excellent as well) and the lamb shank was fall-off-the-bone tender with brown gravy and mashed potatoes. Wine, Irish whiskey and … A SURPRISE BIRTHDAY CAKE FOR BILL! Indeed, it was his birthday and we had a celebration for him at the dinner table. Bill, being the emotional guy that he is, sobbed uncontrollably for 3 seconds, then dove into that chocolate cake ala mode like a man on a mission!

The night ended with a short ride back to Teach de Broc at 11PM for a blissful night’s sleep and a later start to the following day.