Worldseriesofgolf's Weblog

It banged off the back of the hole, popped up in the air, and found the bottom of the cup.  Admittedly, Allen says he smashed that putt and was hoping it would go in, otherwise he was going to be facing a long come backer.  But the golf Gods were with him.  Both Ray and I made par.  Not good enough.  Allen’s birdie eliminated Ray and all but crippled my chip stack.  I had just enough to make the ante for the 18th hole.  Allen made a great up and down for par on 18, and I was eliminated.  Not enough chips to ante for the playoff.  So close…

In 2009 I entered the tournament a veteran.  Sally was back as my caddy, and we were ready to take another shot at the title.

Day one started out a little shakey.  A couple of bad second shots cost me a good portion of my chip stack early on, and I just couldn’t seem to get anything going.  The play on the front nine was being dominated by Brandon, one of the full tilt players.  He was hitting fairways and seemed to be controlling all the action.  It was frustrating and I was beginning to feel overmatched.  Then it all changed on the par 5 12th hole…with his tee shot in the best position, the chip leader (Brandon) made yet another “all in” bet, hoping to take down another bunch of antes and push us that much closer to elimination.  Just like he planned, everyone folded until the bet came around to me.  At this point, I am short stacked and thinking about folding AGAIN…when Sally says to me “Go for it Russ. You can beat this guy!”  Now I gotta tell ya…that was pretty cool…and it totally pumped me up…it was time and I HAD to make the call.  I did and we tied the hole.  I had to make a sick 9 foot putt for the tie.  Standing over that putt, my butt cheeks were clenched so tight I coulda cut a cigar with em, but I stuffed that putt in the back of the hole and yelled “Boom!”.  I was so pumped!  That was some serious pressure with the camera in my face and my tournament life at stake….you can’t even imagine how great it felt to make that putt. But that’s what it’s all about, right?!

Well, we proceeded to take our short chip stack and all that momentum with us on to the next hole, and from that point on we dominated the rest of the match.  We closed out the last competitor out on 18 and advanced to day 2.

When I showed up to the venue on day 2, I was surprised to see that we were paired with some very tough competition.  My group included some players with handicaps several strokes lower than mine.  I knew I was just going to have to be patient and hope for some opportunities.  And that is what we did.  Fortunately, my driver was on and I was able to hang in there on the front nine.  We survived a few all in moments and made the turn with about the same amount of chips we started the day with.

On the back nine the chip lead swung back and forth.  I think everyone held the lead at one point on the back.  We were still a group of 5 by the time we reached the par 3 16th hole.  I was the short stack and the ante’s were up to $16,000 a player. I knew I had to make something happen, and fast.  Around about this time, “Warye’s Warriors” (a group of friends and competitors) were gathering around the 16th green.  They had been following our group and cheering me on since about the 12th hole.  This time I really gave them something to cheer about sticking my tee shot with a 7 iron 10 feet from the pin…and with that I pushed “all in”, hoping for a caller.  I didn’t one.  But I did win $64,000 in antes and that gave me the outright chip lead going into my favorite hole, the par 5 17th.  Unfortunately, it would be my first and last chip lead of the day.

Before hitting my tee shot on 17, I told Sally “We could literally fold 17 & 18, and still have a nice chip stack left for the playoff holes”.  I was going to sit back and let the others decide who would make it to a playoff with me.  Then I stepped up to the tee and smacked my drive right down the middle of the fairway, outdriving my playing partners by some 30 yards.  Now what??  Well…after talking it over with Sally, we changed our minds and decided to move “all in.”   It seemed like the right play at the time.  I was pumped up, playing against better golfers, and I had an advantage off the tee.  I was hoping to end the match right there on 17.  I got more than I bargained for as all 4 players called my bet.  I will spare you the blow by blow, but once again I saw my chip stack crippled by a birdie on 17 from a competitor.  Jorge Compos made a ridiculous up and down birdie from 50 yards off the green to win the hole.  I played the hole perfectly only to see my 10 foot birdie putt slide by the left edge of the cup.  I had just enough chips left to play Jorge heads up on 18.  We tied the hole and that was all she wrote.  I didn’t have enough to ante for a playoff hole… so close, again.

That’s 2 years in a row I’ve made it to the final hole of the second day only to see my hopes of making the final five disappear with my competitors birdie putt into the bottom of the cup on 17.  But I loved every minute of it.  I am proud to say I made it that far, and will definitely be back next year to do it all over again.

To Terry, Lindsey, Tom and all the WSOG staff.  Thanks again for giving us amateurs a chance to test our mettle and play for such a big cash prize.  This has truly been another great year for the WSOG.

Oh yeah, and I have to give a shout out to my “Warriors”.  LOL. You guys are the best!!

Watch for the Chicago­­ – 4

The Chicago 4 are myself, Musa Mohammed, Joel Akroush, and Bert Kaulen. Musa and Joel and I have played golf together for years.  I recruited them to come out and play in a practice round back in March, and they were hooked.  I am proud of them.  They each made it to the 18th hole with a chance to win their matches. I met Bert this year at one of the practice rounds and we immediatly hit it off.  Bert and I now play in money games back in Chicago.  Another example of a friendship formed through the World Series of Golf.  We will all be back…. you can count on it.