Cold Springs is a beautiful golf course. I arrived around 5:30 and the grounds crew were working hard preparing the course for the day’s golfers. Even the sand is made of crushed marble. I don’t think anyone was aware of how the day would play out.

This was my first time playing Cold Springs. One of the first things you notice is that you are going uphill or downhill. I don’t think I remember a hole that was just flat and straight. Even while going uphill and downhill, sometimes you also have to deal with the dog leg lefts or rights or the fairways the slope left and right. The greens were also VERY FAST. Chipping and putting was difficult enough but when you added problems with your driver then you’re in for a long day.

Before we start to talk about how the day went I have to say that at some point on Thursday night Matt bet Dan and Dave that he could beat Dan by 12 (?). Matt must have been drunk to bet on 12 strokes when his handicap, compared to Dan’s is 16 stroke. Matt must have thought the Golf Gods would be with him again like they were when he played best with Dave.

First Cart, Front 9:

Dave has played here before and I think he shot an 83. Dave had a misstep on the 2nd hole, scoring an 8 but other that he was good to go. After nine, Dave had 4 pars, 3 bogeys and 1 double bogey to score a 44.

So with Dave on the fast track to a good game, it was now between Joe and Jake. Jake starts out with some driver issues and has a melt down on the 2nd hole and scores an 11. After 7 holes Joe has a 39 from a string of 6s and Jake has a 45. On the 8th hole Joe once again felt the wheels starting to wobble and shoots a 9. Just like what happened last week on 18. Joe is still up by 2 but… On the 9th hole, Jake pars and Joe bogeys. After nine holes, Joe is up by one, 53 to 54.

Second Cart, Front 9:

After 4 holes the competition is tight and Dan is down by 2. Dan has a 28, Matt and Rock are tied with 26. On the 5th hole Rock hits a major setback with an 11 while Matt and Dan tie with a 6. Unfortunately the compeitition ends after the 5th hole. Matt crumbles on the the 6th, 7th and 8th hole with a 10, 11 and a 9. Matt does finish strong with a rare par. At the end of nine, Dan has a 58, Matt and Rock tie with a 66.

First Cart, Back 9:

Dave staggers on the 10th with a triple bogey but then settles down and gets 4 pars, 2 bogeys and 2 double bogeys. Dave finishes with a respectable 88 and keeps his record clean at Cold Springs of shooting in the 80s.

For Joe, the front wheels come off on the 10th hole shooting an 8 and then the back wheels come off when he shoots a 9 on the 11th hole. Joe actually throws his 3 wood and Jake drives by it. Meanwhile, Jake has found some confidence in his game by shooting a bogey and a par. After 10 and 11, Joe has given up 7 strokes and is down by 6. Joe gets two back on 12 and 13, in fact Joe finally pars a hole and is now only down by 4. Jake and Joe tie on 14 and Jake gets another stroke on 15 by getting his own par. Joe is down by 5. On the 16th hole the Golf Gods show Joe a little bit of love, Jake gets a 9. Joe is down by 2. Regrettably, Joe cannot capitalize on the gift from the Golf Gods and to be fair, Jake finishes strong with 2 bogeys to Joe’s two double bogeys. Jake finishes with a 49 and a final score of 102. Joe completes the back with a 53 (same as the front) and finishes with a 106. You would have to go back 4 weeks to find a score in the triple digits for Joe and he has not shot anything over 102 all year.

Second Cart, Back 9:

Dan plays a solid 51 on the back 9. He shoots a par, two bogeys, five double bogeys and a triple bogey.

For Matt and Rock, the back nine does not get any prettier. After 8 holes, Matt has two 10s and is at 52. Rock has a 9 and two 11s, going onto the 18th with a 59 and down by 7.

The 18th hole is a par 4 but it is straight up hill. The second shot is even more drastically straight up to the green. Anything short of the green and you are going back downhill, just ask Dave, Jake and Joe.

I don’t really see how Matt ended the 9th hole , I just know he finished with a 9 with a back nine score of 61 and a final score of 127. Rock lands in the sand just below the green. Because of the angle to the green it can be a tough shot. After Rock takes a few swings with zero results for his effort he decides to go east and west instead of north / south. Rock gets his ball on top but just off the green. At this point Rock is not a happy camper and isn’t finishing his round. I’ve seen this look before after a bad game. We have all been there, Chris, Jake, Dan, Leon and Matt. In fact that look of defeat is how Broken Joe Golf got started. Joe had two TERRIBLE games in Florida; in fact I think he shot in the 120s or 130s.

After a few minutes Rock gathered his intestinal fortitude and did complete his round shooting a 16 on this last hole, a 75 for the back nine and a 141 to finish the game. Not to rub salt in the wound but Rock did manage to break the record for most shots on one hole.

In the end Dave did what he needed to do and Jake and Dan sucked the least compared to the rest of us.

Oh yea, I almost forgot… Dan kicked Matt’s ass by 18 strokes which gave Dan an extra $10 and Dave an extra $15 in their pockets thanks to Matt’s bet. I think Matt is trying to inspire himself to play better and claiming to be our resident “bad boy”. Matt, when I think of you and the word “bad”, I think of gambler and golfer…