It'sInTheHole

So I realize this is an old post but I had the pleasure of playing with Harry that day. Early in the round we talked about some of the testing he's done as he was wearing one of the items I was intrigued with after their write-up. We rode together that day (note this was before all this Coronavirus) and had great conversation all day and someone you could easily sit and have a beer with. I'm a 7 handicap and thought I hit the ball long off the tee but you could've built a Walmart between our drives. The reason Harry played to a +4 is that is what his verifiable handicap was when we asked for information to give him a starting TGAA Handicap Value (this process is the same for all players). We have players of all abilities that play TGAA as our handicaps range from +5 to 28. We don't flight and all players play from the same set of tees (usually the BLUE tees). When pairings are made for our single day events we do our best so that the total number of handicap strokes is the same for each group. That day the magic number was in the low 30s so our group was me (7), Harry (+4), a 4 and a 27 (who's referenced here, has played with us for years, and have been with him when he's shot 90 and 120). Did we look for balls his balls all day? Yeah because he was crooked but he also hit provisionals as well so overall pace of play really wasn't an issue. RNK is a tough course to begin with but add wind and it's really tough on the higher handicappers (if you see the results, outside of the 11, everyone in the money was a single digit). Harry played well on the front nine with a 37, but hole 11 was the train wreck, as we all saw the ball hit into the grassy area of the green side bunker but never found the ball. He went back to his original spot and hit his 4th into the bunker. Anyone who's played that hole knows how deep that bunker is. I didn't realize it took him multiple attempts to get out or that his ball was in a footprint (as we have a Condition of Competition on our scorecards that allows a player to take relief from a footprint and nothing was said about this until after the round when I overheard a conversation). It's a game of "ifs and buts" as if he made 5 and all else being equal he finishes in the money (as net 80 was tied for last place money). He played in our recent event at Kingsmill River and played much better (gross 70 for net 74) and finished in the money. The guys he's played with so far speak very complimentary of him and his game. We don't get very many + handicaps that play with us, as players of that ability don't play many individual net stroke play tournaments, and I hope he becomes a member and continues playing with us.