Up 5 AM on a Saturday.
An hours drive in the bone-numbing dark.
Max and Bear are at a tournament out of town.
It must be Mom On The Bag today.
The performance was not stellar, but it was stoic.
I have not really watched Rob much these past few weeks – the tournaments he has played have had either Max on the bag or watching from a distance. It immediately struck me on the practice range that his swing motion has changed.
Me: You’re doing something weird with your foot!
I’m doing exactly what Coach Tom said I should do.
Those are the magic words so I don’t mention the foot again. In truth his shots are looking pretty good.
It was a basically solid round with mess-ups coming largely from putting, an unfortunate open face here and there, and plain old bad luck.
One thing I particularly liked was how he thought about his shots. Even if it did not always translate to action.
I know I should not hit a 3 Wood out of the rough.
Me: Well it is sitting up and you have a good line in.
It goes 10 yards, hits a tree and remains in the rough.
Rob: Well that just happened. It will be an interesting shot from there.
Hole 6 began with a magnificent drive and an equally spectacular approach to 3 feet from the hole with a birdie putt opportunity. He stormed off 4 putts later. What a game!
Back in the day I would have been as mad as him at him. I now know better and would have just put my arm around him – if he had not wandered off to lick his wounds on a solitary walk to the next hole.
One Hole 7, after another double he says : I’m ready to slam my club into the ground.
But he doesn’t and literally skips off to 8.
He finishes with a flawless par on Hole 9. He’s warm, he’s loose, he’s stoic.
Pity that’s the end.
