World Of XXVII - Day 2

World Of XXVII - Day 2 was about as beautiful a day as you have ever seen. When we teed off at 8 a.m. it was in the high 60s with clear skies and minimal wind. The high temperature for the day was about 75 degrees with very low humidity. We played Shark's Tooth, which is a Greg Norman-designed course in Lake Powell, about 20 minutes from the house. When I saw signs for Lake Powell I became a bit disoriented and started looking for the Grand Canyon.

As opposed to Camp Creek, Shark's Tooth is a much more typical Florida golf course with flat terrain so you can generally see from the tee box to the flagstick. The fairways are pretty generous but the greens are very slick. The golf course measures over 7,200 yards from the back tees (1 shark tooth) with a course rating of 74.9 and a slope rating of 136. We played from the next set of tees (2 shark teeth), which were about 6,500 yards with a course rating of 70.6 and a slope rating of 126. The golf course should probably have another set of tees inbetween at about 6,800+/-. The course opened in 2002 and it has been consistently ranked in the top 10 courses in Florida. We played our own ball in the morning and I hit the ball well from tee to green, but had 4 3-putt greens (including some rakes well outside of the leather) and shot an 89.

Over lunch we caught up on the Ryder Cup. When play was called the day before, the Europeans were leading all 6 foursomes and four ball matches on the course. The Americans stormed back to tie one of the matches so the Europeans won 5 1/2 points out of a possible 6 points and the overall score at the end of play on Sunday was Europe 9 1/2, Americans 6 1/2.

During lunch unsubstantiated reports of a "Cameo" appearance were running rampant. As we headed back to our carts for the afternoon round, Cameo magically stepped out of his cab and onto the first tee talking a mile a minute. We played a 3-person scramble with 3 teams. I was teamed with Cameo and Arnie. Arnie continued to drive the ball right down the middle and almost got the new moniker "Metronome", but that seemed so impersonal. I drove the ball pretty well and made some contributions to the team effort. We started off two under par, but gave away both strokes and were at even par after 9 holes. Things were not looking good but we persevered.

On the back 9 we went on a birdie binge as Cameo's putter heated up and he made a couple of long snakes. By about the 14th hole, Cameo could no longer contain himself. Cameo has trouble keeping quiet for 5 seconds, but to his credit up to that point he let me go through my pre-shot routine of standing frozen over the ball for an interminable length of time before pulling the trigger. Finally, as Arnie was relieving himself in the trees and I was standing frozen over my tee shot, Cameo said in that thick Southern drawl, "Boy, what are you thinkin' about over the ball that damn long!" I had nothing to say in my defense except the non-sequitur, "I do not take any practice swings." If Arnie had a normal size bladder, he may have been able to outlast me in the trees. I gathered myself and ripped a drive right down the middle. We made 6 birdies on the back 9 and won the scramble going away.

Shark Shootout

With all of the talk about Tiger Woods, we forget that the other golfers on the PGA Tour are pretty good themselves! The Shark Shootout is one of those silly season team tournaments with two-man teams playing best ball, modified alternate shot and scramble formats over three rounds. The tournament is is hosted by Greg Norman and played at Tiburón Golf Club in Naples, Florida, a course that Norman designed. The two-man scramble was unbelievable! Jerry Kelly and Steve Stricker shot a 13 under par 59 in the scramble format to win the tournament (they shot 6 under par in the best ball format and 7 under par in the modified alternate shot format). Three of the other top-5 finishers also shot 59s. Chad Campbell and Tim Clark shot a 15 under par 57 to finish tied for second and Tim Clark had an ace on the 183-yard par-3 No. 12 hole.

To put this in context. When I play in four-man scramble charity events on much easier courses playing from the forward tees, a score of 57 on a par-72 course puts you at or near the top of the leaderboard, even when teams are stacked with low-handicap players. If the charity event includes scorekeepers and no mulligans on a reasonably difficult course, you have a better than even chance to win at 15 under par! After a PGA Tour professional sees the speed and putting line on any makeable eagle or birdie putt, the odds are that he will make the putt. With the amateurs, on a 15 foot putt, the "D" player will be of no help because he will misjudge the speed and line of the putt; the "C" player will be a little bit better, but not much; the "B" player will have a reasonable chance of finding the right speed and line, but will not make anywhere near half his putts from that distance; and the "A" player will have a 50/50 chance at best of holing the putt if given the correct read.

These guys are good! (even if Tiger is taking an indefinite leave from golf.)