Well the journey ended today, but the memories will last forever. Absolutely one of the best times of my life, a true bucket list item to check off. The winds were blowing 40+ mph at some points which made it almost impossible to hit greens in regulation. we had abiggie on the fourth hole to make us +1 for the day but 2 net birdies and on 6 and 7 to moved us to -10. I crush a drive on 9 (the 18th at Monterey as we started on the back) and hit a beautiful 8 iron 15 feet away, putting for net eagle as the horn sounded to get us off the course due to high winds (and rain). A quick glance and the score board shows that many teams are "backing up" due to the weather conditions so all of a sudden i am thinking that a day of -6 or -7 will get us to the cut. We resumed 2 hours later and I two putted to get us to -11. We par 10 and 11 and on the downhill par 3 12th I make an 8 footer for net birdie and all of a sudden we are at -12. Game on! We now are within 3 of making the cut as the teams in the 20-25th position continue to slide sideways or down the leader board. The 13th creates a problem for us as we go net bogie when my man three putts and then the dagger is put into us in 14 when he doubles and I double for net bogie again. His birdie on the 15th is kind of a kick in the gut as we realize what could have been.
In the end we finish a very respectable -11 and tied for 62nd, beating 94 teams. Will Wilcox finishes +1 and misses the cut by 1! That stings. He takes it all in stride and says, "I'm going to head for Miami and play on the Florida swing in 2 weeks. Let's have a beer in Buckhead soon". Yes, it's time for a beer.....
P.s. you will hear about this kid winning an event in the next year. He is that good.
Saturday, February 8, 2014
Friday, February 7, 2014
What a day, what a day, what a crazy, fun, outstanding day. We start off at 7:45 on #6 to complete the first round at pebble. My boy bombs a driver + 3 iron to get up in 2 on the 516 uphill par 5. He two putts for birdie and we quickly get to -4. Nothing real exciting on 7-8-9 and we finish round one at -4. We head to spy glass and play the majority of the round in a steady drizzle and wind gusts. Some holes are almost unplayable into the wind as I'm busting driver and still have 220 in on some ar 4's due to the windy and wet conditions. I par #2 for net birdie and then find a way to three putt 4, 5 and 7 to get bogie (net par). Horrendous. We could have made a big move on the front. My man birdies #8 but we bogie 9 to stay at -5. The conditions worsen but we stay determined. I make an "up and down" for the ages on #10 for net birdie and Will birdies 11 for -7. I again hit a par 3 in one and three jack it for a net par on 12, that was crushing. My man birdies 16 by knocking a 180 yard shot into the wind stiff to 3 feet on a 476 yard par 4! and then rolls one in on 17 from 25 feet! Bingo! Now -9. We net par 18 to finish at -9. We are in something like 57th place (top 25 make the cut). The team "cut line" is around -12 now but should go to -18 by the end of tomorrow. Will is -3 and is T19th. Headed to Monterey for the final at 8:33am. We need to shot -9. Hard but not impossible as its been the "easiest" course of the 3. Desperate but determined!
The bad part about blogging and being tired is that you wake up in the middle of the night and remember some things that you wanted to write.....so here goes. The golf channel analysts are saying that the players who didn't finish yesterday (yours truly included) are at a big disadvantage because they have to get up early, play holes and then bus to the next course. I think analysts over analyze things. They pushed the tee times of round 2 back an hour to accommodate us so we will be fine. ....the other pro in my group (rod) and his partner (jack) had one of the great "ham and egg" rounds of all time and sit at like -7 already so very much in the hunt....pebble beach played the hardest of the 3 courses for the pros yesterday so I look forward to my boy Will to get on the birdie train soon today at Spy glass but first starting with 2 "easy" holes for him at pebble, a par 5 followed by the 105 yard par 4 seventh.....btw: I was right when I said in yesterday's blog that he saw pebble beach for the first time on Tuesday. I thought about giving him some course knowledge before I realized that my best round in my life was 20 worse than his, so I think he can figure it out on his own....Will missed 8 putts yesterday and every single one was "on the low side" of the hole, meaning he is not reading enough break in the putt....that's all I got
Thursday, February 6, 2014
Another amazing day. The event was delayed this am due to rain. So our 10:12 tee time became a 1:15pm tee time. I met my partner, Will Wilcox only 10 minutes before we teed it up. What a nice young kid, as is the other pro that is in our group (rod perry). Rod is a two time defending PGA club pro of the year working out of a country club in Florida. Due to winning the club pro championship he gets to play 7 events on the tour this year. So they make the introduction of the pros who are first to tee off (from the back tees) as the 2 amateurs (yours truly and a guy named jack who works for Morgan Stanley in nyc) nervously await their turn. As the pros line up their tee shots I tell jack that I want him to go before me as I am hyperventilating so badly I'm about to pass out. Well the pros stripe their drives 290 down broadway as jack and I move towards the "white tees". As we approach the tee the announcer says, "next on the tee is Greg buonocore"! I look at him as to say "that wasn't the plan, I'm not ready" and he looks back at me as to say "too damn bad, put the tee in the ground". I swallow hard, put the tee in the ground, grip it and proceed to rip it 250 right down the middle (into the wind) Man, what a relief. The big drive down the middle was the standard for the day for me. In fact, I may never have driven the ball in my life as good as I did today....just bombed it.
So Will makes par on the first hole (#10 on pebble), but bogies #11(when I double) so we go +1. Not good. He dead pulls his iron on the par 3 #12 and I finally decide to help the team by launching a 5 iron onto the green from 185, about 20 feet for birdie. I lag for a 2 putt par (team birdie). So we get back to even. Will goes par-par on 13 and 14 as my drives consistantly equal or pass the pros (note: we have about a 30 yard advantage per hole) but I cannot put together effective irons to compliment the drives.
On 15, I bomb a drive down the left side and have a gap wedge in from 110 into the wind. I nut the wedge and it flies over the pin and into the back trap. I knock the sand shot out and it just won't stop on this green, rolling it 35 feet by. I line up the 35 footer, thinking its right to left, I erroneously hit it left and it actually breaks right and into the center of the cup for par #2 (net birdie)! We go to back to -1.
On 16 I bomb a drive 290 down the middle (did I mention I drove the all insanely today?). Fred and I get to the ball. Its 135 into the wind. He likes 9 iron, I like 8 iron. The player wins the argument. I absolutely crush the 8 and it's headed right at it. The ball disappears and I say "where the hell did it go". Fred responds "in the back bunker, I told you it was a 9 iron". Nice. I bogie for a team par. On 17 Will is comfortably on the green while I lay 2 off the back. I decide to "blade" a 9 iron. I hit it perfect and it's headed right at it. I think "should I do that Tom Watson U.S. open dance he did when he chipped in on 17?". The ball just slides by and we get a net par. On 18, I absolutely drill a drive past the famous big tree in the fairway, lay up with a beautiful 7 iron. I have 110 in and go gap wedge again. It's hit perfect, a dart right at it and....over the top again, one bounce off the green and into a dead lie. I mean impossible, won't be able to stop it if I got it on the green. I need to now hit one of those cute little pro sand wedge chips and just tap it....yeah right. I try that and I "double hit" the ball with the wedge as I decel through it. Into the pocket. Will makes an amazing up and down for par. Will pars #1 (our 11th) and misses an eagle putt on 2. We are now -2.
I BOMB a drive over the top of the trees on #3 and have only 90 yards in. I hit the green, two putt and we get net birdie....-3. I absolutely kill my drive on 4 and wind up in the fairway bunker with a dead lie. We make net bogie and drop to -2.
On 5, Will makes a wonderful 20 footer for birdie and we get to -3. The horn blows due to darkness and we call it a day. I understand that Johnson/Gretzky lead at -10 so we are 7 back with 4 still to play. Tomorrow will be nuts with 4 holes at 7:45am and a full round at spy glass immediately afterwards.....can't wait,
So Will makes par on the first hole (#10 on pebble), but bogies #11(when I double) so we go +1. Not good. He dead pulls his iron on the par 3 #12 and I finally decide to help the team by launching a 5 iron onto the green from 185, about 20 feet for birdie. I lag for a 2 putt par (team birdie). So we get back to even. Will goes par-par on 13 and 14 as my drives consistantly equal or pass the pros (note: we have about a 30 yard advantage per hole) but I cannot put together effective irons to compliment the drives.
On 15, I bomb a drive down the left side and have a gap wedge in from 110 into the wind. I nut the wedge and it flies over the pin and into the back trap. I knock the sand shot out and it just won't stop on this green, rolling it 35 feet by. I line up the 35 footer, thinking its right to left, I erroneously hit it left and it actually breaks right and into the center of the cup for par #2 (net birdie)! We go to back to -1.
On 16 I bomb a drive 290 down the middle (did I mention I drove the all insanely today?). Fred and I get to the ball. Its 135 into the wind. He likes 9 iron, I like 8 iron. The player wins the argument. I absolutely crush the 8 and it's headed right at it. The ball disappears and I say "where the hell did it go". Fred responds "in the back bunker, I told you it was a 9 iron". Nice. I bogie for a team par. On 17 Will is comfortably on the green while I lay 2 off the back. I decide to "blade" a 9 iron. I hit it perfect and it's headed right at it. I think "should I do that Tom Watson U.S. open dance he did when he chipped in on 17?". The ball just slides by and we get a net par. On 18, I absolutely drill a drive past the famous big tree in the fairway, lay up with a beautiful 7 iron. I have 110 in and go gap wedge again. It's hit perfect, a dart right at it and....over the top again, one bounce off the green and into a dead lie. I mean impossible, won't be able to stop it if I got it on the green. I need to now hit one of those cute little pro sand wedge chips and just tap it....yeah right. I try that and I "double hit" the ball with the wedge as I decel through it. Into the pocket. Will makes an amazing up and down for par. Will pars #1 (our 11th) and misses an eagle putt on 2. We are now -2.
I BOMB a drive over the top of the trees on #3 and have only 90 yards in. I hit the green, two putt and we get net birdie....-3. I absolutely kill my drive on 4 and wind up in the fairway bunker with a dead lie. We make net bogie and drop to -2.
On 5, Will makes a wonderful 20 footer for birdie and we get to -3. The horn blows due to darkness and we call it a day. I understand that Johnson/Gretzky lead at -10 so we are 7 back with 4 still to play. Tomorrow will be nuts with 4 holes at 7:45am and a full round at spy glass immediately afterwards.....can't wait,
A perfect night last night. Started with a glass of silver oak at the fire pit at "the inn @ Spanish bay", followed by dinner at Roy's. At dinner we set the strategy for the week. With 18 shots being given to us, The goal of every hole is simply to make par. When it's obvious that will not happen, goal 2 is to make bogie. Either of those scores will be good for the team. Double bogies will hurt playing with a pro who as erratic as mr 59. we also agreed that before every shot Fred will say "good tempo", because saying "keep your head down, swing through the ball and don't sway" is just too long to repeat 70 times. This strategy seemed to make more sense as the waiter poured more silver oak into our glasses.
Upon arriving back at the lodge we decided to "have 1 more" at the "tap room". The taproom is a bar/restaurant where you seem to find the same people congregate each night, just like what happens every time you are on a cruise....you just can't get away from the same people. Well that's the tap room. Anyway we are met at the door by a big meathead looking dude who gives us the once over and decides that we pose no threat. As I get into the bar area I notice 2 state troopers at the other door, firearms very visible. Now I think, "does condi rice have secret service" or who the heck is in here. I quickly look around and it seems like the cruise ship crowd until I see this guy standing 3 feet away dressed like he is at a frat party (jeans, gray sweat shirt) and its Mark Cuban! I have now officially lost track of the billionaires present at this event. (speaking of billionaires, Jerry yang, founder of yahoo is here as well. Fred makes the observation that if Jerry's playing partner was the Chinese golfer C.A. Ying, their group would be Ying and Yang. I thought that was historical). Staying on the billionaire theme, it also occurs to me the irony of the AT&T being about rich and famous people (present company excluded) playing golf and raising money, yet my partner is a young kid who grinded for 6 years on the mini tours to finally make it to "the show". This is by far the biggest golf moment of his life. He finished 8th in his very first event in Hawaii (but the Sony is nothing compared to this) and then he missed 2 straight cuts. THIS IS the biggest stage the kid has ever been in and it's very very likely he has never even played pebble beach (other than 1 practice round). Not sure, but he may be more nervous in this round than me!
Weather report has changed (as it always does here). The heavier rain should stop at around 11am. Big advantage for team buonocore/Wilcox. Gotta go stretch, follow on the PGA website for scoring updates until tonight!
Upon arriving back at the lodge we decided to "have 1 more" at the "tap room". The taproom is a bar/restaurant where you seem to find the same people congregate each night, just like what happens every time you are on a cruise....you just can't get away from the same people. Well that's the tap room. Anyway we are met at the door by a big meathead looking dude who gives us the once over and decides that we pose no threat. As I get into the bar area I notice 2 state troopers at the other door, firearms very visible. Now I think, "does condi rice have secret service" or who the heck is in here. I quickly look around and it seems like the cruise ship crowd until I see this guy standing 3 feet away dressed like he is at a frat party (jeans, gray sweat shirt) and its Mark Cuban! I have now officially lost track of the billionaires present at this event. (speaking of billionaires, Jerry yang, founder of yahoo is here as well. Fred makes the observation that if Jerry's playing partner was the Chinese golfer C.A. Ying, their group would be Ying and Yang. I thought that was historical). Staying on the billionaire theme, it also occurs to me the irony of the AT&T being about rich and famous people (present company excluded) playing golf and raising money, yet my partner is a young kid who grinded for 6 years on the mini tours to finally make it to "the show". This is by far the biggest golf moment of his life. He finished 8th in his very first event in Hawaii (but the Sony is nothing compared to this) and then he missed 2 straight cuts. THIS IS the biggest stage the kid has ever been in and it's very very likely he has never even played pebble beach (other than 1 practice round). Not sure, but he may be more nervous in this round than me!
Weather report has changed (as it always does here). The heavier rain should stop at around 11am. Big advantage for team buonocore/Wilcox. Gotta go stretch, follow on the PGA website for scoring updates until tonight!
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
Exactly 17 hours until the tee goes in the ground on number 10 at pebble tomorrow. They set tee times utilizing both the front and the back nine tees. The 10:12 pst start is the very last start time of the day. I think that's an advantage as early morning in Monterey is typically at least 10 degrees cooler than mid morning. Will get up to 56 degrees tomorrow but the real weather news is the threat of rain which might begin tonight at 8pm with an 80% chance it rains until 3pm tomorrow. Steady rain and wet conditions change this event dramatically. Pros can deal with conditions, amateurs typically not so much. Personally, I hate playing in the rain. However, remember I just need 4-6 good holes each round and I am a big contributor. I calculated that I am only +2 on the 7 "par 3's" I have played in the practice rounds. so as I anticipated coming in, me getting a shot on the par 3's is a huge advantage for my team in this event.
Today's practice round was pretty brutal. One par in the 10 holes I played isn't exactly going to set records come Thursday. Howeever, my entire foursome only had about a total of 10 pars in 10 holes and I played with golfers who had handicapps of 3, 8 and 11. That should have generated twice the number of pars. In other words, Monterey is a crazy tough golf course. The tee boxes don't line up with the fairways, the drives are mostly "target landings", the fairways are cut somthat they all have thin lies and the greens are lightning. Hopefully "mr 59" shows up the day we play Monterey (Saturday) as my confidence was shaken trying to get around that joint. Otherwise, I am really excited to get started.
Saw condi rice out there today (that was pretty cool).
Headed to Roy's at Spanish bay for some dinner and celeb sightings. Hopefully will get some sleep and wake up to better weather than they are predicting. Thanks for following the blog as I can see I'm getting dozens of "views" each day...if you blog and nobody reads it did you really blog?
Today's practice round was pretty brutal. One par in the 10 holes I played isn't exactly going to set records come Thursday. Howeever, my entire foursome only had about a total of 10 pars in 10 holes and I played with golfers who had handicapps of 3, 8 and 11. That should have generated twice the number of pars. In other words, Monterey is a crazy tough golf course. The tee boxes don't line up with the fairways, the drives are mostly "target landings", the fairways are cut somthat they all have thin lies and the greens are lightning. Hopefully "mr 59" shows up the day we play Monterey (Saturday) as my confidence was shaken trying to get around that joint. Otherwise, I am really excited to get started.
Saw condi rice out there today (that was pretty cool).
Headed to Roy's at Spanish bay for some dinner and celeb sightings. Hopefully will get some sleep and wake up to better weather than they are predicting. Thanks for following the blog as I can see I'm getting dozens of "views" each day...if you blog and nobody reads it did you really blog?
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