Road Trip: Stage 4

A Stopping Point: 2

Our patience paid off because we were rewarded with a tee time at Pebble Beach. To say we had trouble sleeping the night before would be a gross understatement, and to say we were there early would be even grosser. After waiting around for 2 ½ hours, we moved to the first tee, the fog moved across the peninsula, and the temperature plummeted. Jackets were in order as were long pants, which I didn’t have.

That notable venue is if nothing else a huge slice of humble pie. I have never given myself much credit for being a good golfer, but I retract any credit I might have inadvertently awarded me. It was AWESOME. It had higher hills, deeper bunkers, slicker greens, and a bigger out of bounds (the Pacific Ocean) than anything I had ever seen or experienced. I fed the Spirits of the Deep Blue with any number of golf balls.

Our playing partners were a Texas preacher and his lawyer son. The lawyer could find a lot of my balls but couldn’t find his own. He would hit them high into that fog, they’d make a left or right turn, and we’d have no idea where they came down. Once the preacher was in the rough looking for one of my balls when I noticed he was dangerously close to stepping off into the ocean about 100 feet below. I grabbed his arm, pulled him to safe ground, and said, “Preacher, you were about 6 inches from getting called to the home office by your boss. I found that ball back home, and if you fall off that cliff somebody is gonna figure it’s my fault. I don’t need all that guilt for a ball that didn’t cost me anything.” I figured his lawyer son would have had the settlement calculated before his papa hit the water. I had only one chance at a par with a 3-foot putt on #14. I promised myself that I would have myself a trophy made if I made the putt. I missed it to the right – do you think it would be appropriate to have a trophy for a bogie at Pebble Beach?

The staff treated everyone like royalty and couldn’t seem to do enough.  All in all Pebble beach was a once in a lifetime experience that we will never forget. I won’t even go into the fact that we didn’t finish until it was well into a cold, soggy sundown, or that we got lost in the dark and fog on the 17-Mile Drive when we left.

Books by Lou Bradshaw available on Amazon Kindle

 A Fine Kettle of Fish – Hickory Jack – Blue – Ace High – Blue Norther

And now available –  Cain

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