It was a late Monday afternoon at chenequa country club, and my group was the last one out. The shop was all closed up and the workers were gone. My brother Alex and I were both shooting the games of our lives going into the last hole. 70 for me and 66 for him. After acing the long par 3 17, we walked up a small hill to the pristine experience of hole 18. Hole 18 is a short par 4 hole that passes the stunning clubhouse, and opens up on the magnificent view of beaver lake. Alex lost the previous hole so he stepped up to the tee first. His ball sailed down the left side of the fairway and landed at the base of a large plateau that held the green. This set him up for a perfect second shot. I was next to tee off. I hadn’t thought about my score until now. 70. I was a little upset because there was no way I could get the eagle that I needed to shoot par. I stepped up to the tee and smashed my ball 290 yards over the trees to hit the first cut of the green.
I stood next to the green in amazement. I never imagined myself in a situation like the one I was in. I thought to myself, “I’m going to make this chip.” I pulled my wedge out of my bag and prepared myself for the shot of a lifetime. I took a practice swing. My club came back and I swung through the ball. It went bounce, bounce, bounce, and then it just rolled. The ball wouldn’t stop rolling. Roll, roll, and roll. All it did was roll, roll, roll.