Island Time
We finished our fall season by staying busy, playing three tournaments in the month of October, including a once in a lifetime trip to Hawaii, which capped off our fall season with sunburns and memories.
We arrived on a Friday afternoon after our 16 hour travel day from barren Oxford, Ohio. Humidity and sun flooded through the open Oahu airport as we deplaned. It didn’t take long to realize just how special this trip would be. We spent the first night taking in our surroundings. We were lucky enough that our hotel was a short walk to the Waikiki beachline, which featured one of the prettier sunsets I have witnessed along with calm and clear water. We ended the night with a fireworks show; a decent welcome to the pacific island.
Yes, right now you are probably thinking, “jeez, this sounds more like a vacation than a golf tournament!” If so, you wouldn’t be wrong. I am grateful that our coach gave us the opportunity to take the first couple of days to take in our surroundings after we have spent the last two weeks grinding in 45 degree weather. This week would not be a grind.
Saturday we played the tournament course and got a feel for the layout, grass, and overall area. “Birdie-fest” was the common takeaway, and that hypothesis proved to be correct.
Sunday arguably might have been my favorite day of the trip. We took the one and half hour drive to the north side of the island, in which lies Turtle Bay resort. We got out of our 15 passenger van to climb Alligator rock, a natural beach that still feels fake to this day. The beach was met with crashing waves onto the massive mountain we could see way out in the distance. It felt as if we were the only eight guys on the planet. Shortly after we arrived at Turtle Bay Resort, famously known as the set of the 2008 film Forgetting Sarah Marshall, also known as one of my favorites movies ever.
We had the privilege to spend a couple hours practicing at the resort’s facility, and eventually played nine holes. The drive out to the course from the pro shop was one of the cooler things I have seen on a golf property. The 5 min golf cart ride through 100 foot trees throws you out to the coastline before reaching the practice putting green. Straight out of a movie.
We capped off Sunday night with a Luau. We were fortunate to have several families make the trip out, and it was incredible to spend time with them. We got a little flavor of Hawaiian culture that night, learning through song and dance while eating some mouth-watering foods.
Wake up Monday morning, and it’s all business. We got more detailed notes on each hole, practiced potential chips around the green, and got a better feel for the speed of the greens. The overall vibe of the team was great. Laughter and thought accompanied many of us as we plotted our way around the golf course, which usually meant we were in for a fun week. Unfortunately, that wasn’t in the cards.
I’ll preface the results by saying the winning team was 50 under par for the week. Apparently when you’re on island time, the golf course was set up like our first afternoon at the beach. Little wind and wide fairways made bogeys hard to produce and birdies plentiful, for some at least.
The first round was rather frustrating as my game felt its best from a control standpoint. With Coach Fletcher by my side for all 18 holes, I birdied two of my last three holes to shoot 3 under 69 and hold a share of 20th place. It was pretty apparent that if you weren’t in red figures, you would be getting lapped by the rest of the 110 player field. Wednesday’s round was a little different, as awareness of my swing wandered a bit, leading to too many bogeys throughout the duration of the round, and when all the strokes were tallied, I finished with a 71, losing ground on a day where someone shot 60. Yes, more than getable for a capable college player.
We spent our last family dinner that Wednesday night at Duke’s on Waikiki Beach. It was perfect. A picturesque sunset gave way to probably one of the better music performances I have been a part of. From afar, it was two Hawaiian men playing mainstream country music. Yet after spending close to 2 hours listening to his soulful and hearty voice, it felt like much more. Like I said, it was perfect. I’ll leave it at that.
The final round I was planning on shooting 0. I was committing to my target two feet in front, keeping my head down on my putts, yet nothing happened. A poor tee shot and third shot into 17 lead to a rather deflating bogey on the easiest par 5 in the pacific. Nonetheless, it was another 71 to finish the week at 5 under par.
Although the golf didn’t go as planned, the trip was so much more than that, as I continue to realize what playing this great game is all about. The scenery, the experience, and the people I shared the journey with is what makes it fulfilling. I continue to see interviews of professional players after they win a tournament, chalking it up to not caring about their score, and just having fun in the moment. I know a win is around the corner. It may not have been on that island during that first week of November, but its hard to beat listening to Zac Brown’s “Colder Weather '' on that Wednesday night at Duke’s. The random person that got up to sing with the band, or all of us around the table singing along to each and every song. Wins come in different forms I suppose.
