Wegmans LPGA

Shot a few better today. That’s all you get.

What were you thinking? I love aggressive play. It exudes a class of confidence that transcends the average player’s style but, there is a limit. Two examples in today’s round show perfectly what mean.

The diabolically positioned pin on the eighteenth was not to be taken lightly. Set back right, any ball above and to the left faced impending doom unless a perfect stroke was executed. The severely sloping back-left to front-right surface was just waiting to send an errant pellet into three-putt territory or worse. Jee Young Lee found this out the hard way after her approach finished pin high left. She five putted and missed the cut by two. When it was our turn, I was ready. This was the only time I made a specific appeal to my pro on where we needed to be. Below and right is birdie territory but her first question was “How far is it to the back edge”? Again I noted that was not the place to be. Short and right was perfect. She then asked about pin high. I knew she was not about to back down so I relented but adamantly noted it had to be right. We wound up about five feet above the hole and four feet left. She made the perfect putt.

The second scenario did not work out as well. Deep into the trees on a long par four and nestled among an entanglement of exposed roots, pitching out right was the only option, or so I thought. Just a few inches away in line with the green, a massive protrusion rose from the ground waiting to send the ball right back at her. If negotiated, a jungle of tree limbs formed an impenetrable wall blocking any chance for the green. I pointed to the opening but she would not have any part of my suggestion. Tiger Woods, with two titanium knees and donning Superman’s jockstrap, could not have pulled off that shot! We made a good double. Sometimes you eat the bear …

A game of inches: In this case, it was feet. Just to the left of the range is the caddie parking lot. In an effort to protect the cars during the pro-am, all amateurs hit from the far right side but it looks as if one of the pros needs to do the same.

A “Callaway calamity” just steps from my ride.

Not even close: The weather forecast is posted each day on the tee to give us an idea of what to expect. We can’t do anything about rain but it is important to note wind direction especially in the tree lined fairways of courses like Locust Hill. Today’s forecast was from W to WSW but turned out to be E to ENE. Is there an affliction known as directional dyslexia?