Hi all,
I just wanted to share with all of my fellow Canadian TT members my story of an early Christmas present this year.
On Friday past (December 04th), I decided to try and squeeze in a round at one of our local courses. We have had some rain and cool weather the past 2 weeks so I had not had the opportunity to get out at all.
Well, after the Pro Shop was able to pair me up with another player, we headed out at 11:15 am. After a rough first nine in which my ball striking was somewhat inconsistent, I made the turn onto the second nine. Along the way, I stopped into the canteen/tuck shop and picked up a turkey sandwich and a warm cup of hot chocolate. As I walked to the 10th tee, I noticed a couple of crows/ravens tentatively following me -- all the while they were eyeing my sandwich, looking for crumbs. I managed to finish my sandwich undisturbed by my feathered followers, but to their delight, I accidentally dropped my bag of mixed nuts. Well the crows thoroughly enjoyed the treat of peanuts and cashews that were left behind.
I hit my tee shot (with a Pro V1x ball to see if I could notice any effects of the colder temperatures on the ball or my club). As I started walking down the number 10 fairway I felt like things were okay -- I left a little bit of food behind (my spilled nuts) as a peace offering for the crows and my tee shot was in the middle of the fairway leaving me a short 125 yards to the flag. I thought that there might be a bit of good karma coming my way -- hopefully.
Our next hole was a short, 112 yard Par 3 that was guarded by a small burn on the front, and cedar trees and sand bunkers to the back and left.
So, while it is a short hole, it is also guarded by breeze and wind -- the tee boxes tend to be protected from the wind/breeze by a hedgerow of cedars and similar trees before opening up halfway to the green so that the wind often comes into play.
With all of this in mind and having measured the flag out to 104 yards (it was located on the front third of the green), I decided to use extra club, grabbing my AP2-PW. At that moment, I remembered one of the posts that I had read on the main TT site about "unusual habits" of our fellow TT'ers. A couple of them had shared that they had the habit of taking a brand new ball out for the par 3's in case they made a hole in one! They wanted a good clean looking ball for the photo-op that would arise.
With this in mind, I thought to myself "aw, why not -- let's try something different".
So I reached into my bag and grabbed a brand new Titleist NXT Tour S (instead of my usual Pro V1x).
I teed it up to the right side of the tee box, near the tee marker, stood back and lined up my shot before stepping up and addressing the ball. I took a little waggle and then did my best to execute a good 3/4 swing with good tempo and rhythm. I came through the ball pretty well, making contact slightly toward the toe of the club, but with the extra club, the ball still flew up and out towards the green with good ball flight and trajectory. It landed softly on the front part of the green -- some 5-8 feet in front of the flag and then short hopped and rolled forward into the hole!
I did a double take to make sure that it was not a mind trick or optical illusion and then celebrated. Finally, after some 35 years of golf and about 20-30 tee shots previously that either rattled off the flag, rolled by the hole or stopped within a several inches , I finally made my First ACE!
I was excited enough to do a little jig/dance on the green like James Hahn did at the 2015 Waste Management Open at TPC Phoenix. Then I took some photos -- which got me thinking of the "unusual habits" of some of our fellow TT'ers -- I thought to myself that there was something to this after all! HAHAHA -- I think I will be looking to use a new ball on Par 3's in the future!
I know that this is a fairly long winded post, so thanks for reading this far. I also wanted to say that I grew up playing my golf with good equipment from other manufacturers, but I always had healthy respect and admiration for Titleist equipment. I started making the move into Titleist equipment over the past couple of years and I can say "Thanks Titleist for being a big part of my first Ace!".
It was with my new Titleist equipment, from my 714 AP2 Irons, Vokey SM5's to my new 915 Fairway wood and 915 D2, that inspired me to go out and practice as much as possible. Wanting to get the most out of my Titleist clubs and do good by them inspired me to focus on my ball striking and it has been paying off -- my handicap is back to single digits and I finally achieved that first, elusive Hole In One! So again, thanks Titleist for the excellent equipment -- I really enjoy playing the clubs and I appreciate the confidence that comes from standing over my ball with such good equipment!