We're Home!

Tin Cup.  Every golfer knows the movie. Kevin Costner (Roy McAvoy) pumps ball after ball into the drink trying to reach a pin that is just out of his reach.

I have a friend, we call him James.  I will give him credit for being freakishly long. However, sometimes he bites off more than he can chew.   Let me set the scene.  Silverstone Golf Club in Vegas.  Sunny day, 65 degrees.  We are playing the black tees of Mountain nine and reach the third hole - 653 yards and playing every inch of it.  The hole sets up with a huge fairway that tapers down to a tight green with water in front.  On the tee, I joke that I am worried about making it to the green in three.  Someone suggests that maybe James should try to reach it in two.  Gomez, (king of side bets) tells James he will give him 10 to 1 odds that he can't get the ball hole high in two shots.  James accepts for what I believe to be a $10 bet.

James absolutely launches a monster drive from the tee.  We measured his drive at about 340.  Everybody plays their second shot and we all meet at James' ball.  Cart GPS tells us that it is about 288 to carry the water and 315 to reach the center of the green.  Our other group is on the green so he decides to wait for them to clear.  The other group picks up on this and when they putt out, they stop to watch.  James is really grinding now, discussing the line with Gomez and psyching himself up for the shot of a lifetime.  James' cart partner Lai is running all kinds of smack. Personally, I had my doubts. 288 yards of carry off the deck with a 3 wood?  Right.

James lines up for the shot.  I can't lie, I wanted to see him pull it off.  He takes his usual frightening cut at the ball and it starts off right on the line they had been discussing.  From the sound of it, he made good contact.  As James looked at the shot, I could tell he was excited.  Near the peak of the trajectory he yells out "We're Home!!!" in true Tin Cup style.  He seemed so sure of it! We all were silent and we tracked the flight of the ball, only to end up bursting into laughter when it fell 50 yards short and into the lake in the front of the green.  The razzing began and the guys near the green clapped and yelled "great shot!"

For the rest of the day and well into dinner at Nobhill, we just couldn't stop saying "WE'RE HOME!" James will never hear the end of this one.