My favorite format in golf is match play. Straight up. No strokes. Ho handicaps. No net. Ask me if that will be my favorite format after tonight though…
I’m in round two of one of my home course’s gross match play tournaments. In my first round I won by the biggest match play margin I ever have, 7 and 5 (meaning I was up seven with five holes to play). That’s kind of a like a football game with a score of 34-3.
Today’s match will not be that easy.
Today I’m playing the #1 seed. I’ve never met the gentleman, and will meet him on the first tee at 3:15 p.m. He is a +2.9 handicap. PLUS 2.9. That means his normal round is 2.9 under par. This guy can play golf. My handicap is down to a 3, so on average this guy will beat me by six shots.
I’m coming into this match playing well for me, with rounds in the low 70’s. I am making a pile of birdies though and a double or two in a round. In match play that’s going to be good. A double is going to be a loss of hole 99% of the time. So I may lose a hole here or there that way. But if I can make five birdies like I did a couple of days ago, those will be wins or hopefully at worst ties.
Fun times. I hope I can bring a good game today, and at least make the match interesting. We are all human. I can beat this guy on any given day. If he plays his best and shoots a 66, I’ll be in trouble.
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