Keith Nolan's Blog
Keith Nolan had a nightmare 81 in the second round of last week's Athens Regional Foundation Classic in Georgia.
Here, the Bray man gives a blow-by-blow account of exactly what happened.
Hold on to your hats.
Hi all,
I have been getting alot of calls regarding my condition, so I decided to send out a blanket email to all my fans around the world. Just wanted to let you all know that I am ok. I managed to make it around 18 holes yesterday in 81 shots. Fortunately no spectators were hurt in the process. Grab your carts cause you are all going to get a hole by hole account.
1. Gentle par four to start. After pulling my tee shot left, I managed to miss the green with a wedge. Three putts later we had our first bogey.
2. Reachable par five downwind. Driver 6 iron over the back of the green, chip to ten feet. Three putts later we had our second bogey.
3. Tough par three. Six iron to 18 feet, managed to two putt for par and we were now back on track.
4. Tough par four. Pulled driver, pulled eight iron, hit trees. Wedge to eight feet. Putt had no chance. Third bogey of the day.
5. Good par four. Pulled driver into left bunker, Chunked eight iron, wedge to twelve feet, pulled putt, bogey number four.
6. Tough par four. Driver, five iron pulled into left bunker. Explosion bunker shot that definitely caught more ball than sand. Fifteen feet for par, four feet for bogey, that I managed to miss on the left. We had our first and thankfully our only double of the day.
7. Reachable par five. Licking my chops over this one. I really felt like I could get my round back on track with a par here. Missed green with a wedge, chipped to four feet and managed to miss another putt left. Bogey number five of the day.
8. Good par three. Six iron to sixteen feet, which I duly managed to convert and we had our first birdie of the day.
9. Great par four. Brimming with confidence, split the fairway, pulled two iron, poor chip to eighteen feet and another pulled putt. Bogey number six for the day.
At this point we should all grab a cold one and try and add all this up
5+6+3+5+5+6+6+2+5=43
Unfortunately I did not have Michelle Wie's camp advising me that my wrist was hurting, so I headed off to the tenth tee in search of a missing golf swing, putting stroke and some more golf balls due to my bogey ball theory.
10. Gentle par four. Driver, sand wedge to 15 feet. Three putts later, we had our seventh bogey of the day.
11. Nice par four. Driver, eight iron to 18 feet. Two putts later, we were back on track.
12. Drivable par four with water on the right, which I managed to find comfortably. Wedge to 15 feet, and guess what, pulled putt left. Bogey number eight for the day.
13. Tough par three. Six iron into front bunker, another bunker shot that went terribly wrong and we had bogey nine for the day.
14. Reachable par five. Driver, three wood pin high left. It is here where I managed to hit my best shot of the day. A high flop shop to two feet. Which I managed to convert. Birdie number two for those of you keeping count.
15. Tough par four. Driver, five iron to back fringe. Two putts later we had par number three.
16. Tough par four. Pulled drive, pulled eight iron, wedge to 15 feet and guess what, another pulled putt. Bogey number ten for the day.
17. Easy par three. Nine iron to twelve feet. Missed putt, you guessed it Left.
18. Three shot par five. Driver, three wood, pitch shot to sixteen feet. Always wanting to please the tens of fans following me, I managed to curl one in on the left edge. Birdie number three on the day, what a way to end a perfect round.
5+4+5+4+4+4+5+3+4=38
Just to let everyone know, I tried on every shot, gave it my all and I was proud of my effort. I will be back in Richmond, with a new found appreciation of this wonderful game. Thank you all for your phone calls, emails, texts, prayers, chants, candles and best wishes. If it doesn't kill you, it will make you stronger and believe me, I feel stronger as a result of what I went through yesterday.
Take care, Keith Nolan, Nationwide tour pro