As planned, the Bride and I trundled over to Old Oaks Country Club yesterday to check in on Kent St. Charles' quest to qualify for the U.S. Open. While we don't have a fairy-tale ending for the reader, it was golf in its purist form and our hero handled himself quite well. Oh, and there's a bonus Maggot appearance...
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| Stanford's Cameron Wilson plays his second shot into No. 17. |
We arrived a little after 2:00 and almost immediately ran into the marque pairing of Lee Jantzen and Cameron Wilson playing the 17th hole. Wilson, you'll recall, is the Stanford southpaw that just last week won the NCAA Individual Title at Prairie Dunes.
Jantzen is of course a two-time U.S. Open champion and, while I give him great props for battling to play in another Open, there's a darker side. I've long heard tales, including from Baltusrol members (where he won his first Open), that's he's simply an unpleasant man.
We're fortunate to play a game shared with many wonderful characters, but life will always provide
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| Jantzen glaring at his uncooperative ball on the 1st green. |
exceptions. Kyle Munoz, who was caddying for Kent, told me that Jantzen had earlier been barking at the small gallery following their group, and when I had the temerity to look at him later walking off the first green he gave me me a +5 handicap glare. An "if looks could kill" kind of stare...So, I want to root for you Lee, but you're not making it easy...
Neither of those players ended up qualifying, though Wilson survived a playoff with Jamie Lovemark (who played his afternoon round at Century) to grab the first alternate slot.
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| Kent (r) and Kyle (l) never stopped grinding. |
We caught up to Kent and playing partner Nathan Smith on the Par-3 thirteenth hole, and walked the remainder of the round with them (they had started on No. 10). I should note that Kent had, as my niece used to say as a little girl, a gosh darn awful morning round, punctuated by some bad luck (embedded balls in the lip above a bunker) but also, well, some gosh darn awful putting.
But if character is what you do when you think no one is watching, in golf it's how you play when your score no longer matters. And in this case Kent was a +5, grinding out a very respectable 72 at Old Oaks.
As for Kent's playing partner Nathan Smith, I wrote here yesterday of his accomplishments in the game
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| Nathan Smith escaping from a bunker. |
(though I think he's played in four Masters, not three). Today I'l just note what a truly nice guy he is, I especially enjoyed his appreciation of Kent's efforts. He had obviously had a front row seat for Kent's struggles in the morning, and was very complimentary of a couple of nice efforts from Kent ion the afternoon. Just a great experience for Kent in all respects, and one that will pay dividends down the road.
After the round I introduced myself to Nathan, and told him how excited I was for Kent to be paired with him. Without skipping a beat, he told me that he was excited to be paired with Kent. Now that's more of a "Playable Lie," (excuse the pun), but quite gracious all the same...
He was also quite gracious in accepting an Unplayable Lies business card from Theresa, who was vigilant in discharging her responsibilities as Unplayable Lies Employee No. 2. I'll leave you with some final images from the day.
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| Maggot with my bride, no doubt discussing their favorite golf blog. |
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| Voted the best halfway house in the Met Section, there's little need for a recount. |
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| Kent and Nathan congratulate each other on surviving the long day. |
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