Earlham Echo

April 23, 2024

Work, work, work. It never ends here at The Echo Worldwide Headquarters. One issue just goes right into the next, with barely any rest for the dedicated and frequently exhausted staff.

One of my duties last Thursday was to cover the Cardinals’ golf meet at 5×80 Golf and Country Club. No problem. That’s my home base for golf—when I’m able to get a break from my taxing schedule—so I have access to a cart, which I use to whip around the course efficiently to cover a meet. However, there was also a track meet in Winterset that night. Since the previous Tuesday’s sporting events were rained out, I needed to get to that, too, or this issue’s sports page would be even thinner than it is. Covering two sporting events—being held simultaneously—in one night? Preposterous! But the president of this company can be a bit of a taskmaster, so I thought I’d better do it.

Even with a huge undertaking in front of me, I decided to take on even more. As a research assignment, I decided to play 9 holes the afternoon before the high school meet began at 4 p.m. What better way to understand what the athletes would be facing; to feel what they would feel; to get inside the very heart of the competition itself? This commitment was going beyond any normal call of duty, I thought, into a journalistic Valhalla of which I had always feared to tread. I trust that you, fair readers, will appreciate my devotion to the craft as the final paragraphs unfold.

The wind was whipping hard from the north, which meant that on most holes, there would be a cross wind. The wind always seems to be blowing pretty hard at 5×80, but the days it’s coming from the east or west, it’s at your back for at least a few holes. Not today.

The temperature wasn’t bad—low 50s—but with the wind…well, you’re Iowans. You get it.

With the warm sunny days we had a couple weeks ago, combined with the recent rain, the course was almost lush. There was plenty of fresh, long grass that would provide some good lies. I was particularly looking forward to that as I teed off.

Using the rules of golf that my dad taught me, I used my ‘breakfast mulligan’ off the first tee. My first drive went right; my second went left. I chose to play the ball on the left. The competitors at the forthcoming meet would not be afforded this luxury—but, oh, well.

My second shot went into the bunker by the green. I’m the worst sand player I know, but this time I skimmed the ball out to 2 feet away from the hole and rolled the putt in for a par. Good start.

The second hole is a medium par 3 over water. It shouldn’t ever be a problem to hit a tee shot over this pond, but a golfer’s mind tends to play tricks on a golfer’s body. There are many of my golf balls—and one club—at the bottom of this pond. This time, I got my tee shot over and ended up with a bogey.

Hole #3 is a short par 5. I always feel I should at least par this one. This day, I didn’t. Another bogey.

5×80 is a mostly wide open, forgiving course. No matter how bad a shot you hit, most of the time you’re only one good swing away from saving the hole. After a wayward tee shot on #4—another par 5—I needed such a save. I chose my 5 wood to do it. That club is a disconcerting mix of good and evil for me, so it probably wasn’t the best idea, but it worked out this time. Still, I got a bogey.

The fifth hole is another par 3, playing even longer this day because the tee locations were farther back than normal. No matter how bad I might be playing, I feel like I can hit at least one good shot—with solid contact, at least—per hole. I failed to do that on #5, and I double bogeyed.

I finally hit a good drive—long and down the middle—on #6. In recent rounds, I had been hitting too many ‘fat’ irons, and I was doing it again this day. Quinn, my unofficial coach, tried to talk me through this problem the last time we played. His advice wasn’t working yet, but I thought through it one more time as I stared down my second shot. I decided to make one more adjustment—then just swing with more conviction. It worked. I banged a 9 iron onto the green, then two-putted for par.

I swung with this same conviction on my tee shot on #7, a short par 3. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so I’ll just refer you to the photo that accompanies this story instead of describing the shot. I sent this photo to Jennifer, who responded via text by asking if I made the putt. I think she was just being funny, but considering how bad a putter I am, it was a valid question. I made this one, though, for a rare birdie.

I reached the par 5 8^th green in 4 shots and I was about 13 feet from the pin. I rarely make a putt longer than 6 or 7 feet, but I made this one for par.

I hit a terrific drive on the par 4 9^th, the toughest hole on the course. I swung my 6 iron with conviction again—but not enough, apparently, ending up well short of the green and to the left. I chipped on, then 2-putted for bogey.

I ended up with a pretty good round for me, but that wasn’t the point. It was all about the grind; trying to be the best journalist and newspaper editor I can be. If you have gotten to the end of this story, I am sure you appreciate my sacrifice.