Chilly Road Show

Pudge, as NHPGA Tournament Chairman, arranged for the third year in a row a Pro Am at the very prestigious Bald Peak Golf Colony in Melvin Village, NH.  http://www.baldpeak.org/

It is a Donald Ross classic design which opened in 1921.  It overlooks Lake Winnipesaukee so the views are spectacular .  Course conditions could not have been better with tees that looked better than Bretwood's greens and greens that were fast with false fronts and mounds that looked like elephants were buried under them. A real gem.

Pudge has a long list of players who expressed interest in getting to play Bald Peak, so he has a tough choice as to who to piss off every year.  This year the lucky players were Commish, Billy D and Bear.

Knowing they had to be there by 10am for the shotgun start, the boys decided to stop for breakfast at the infamous Tilton Diner.  Commish froze his ass off just having a smoke outside the diner, so he was already getting nervous about how cold it was going to be on the course.  They didn't even make it 10 miles before someone had to stop for a piss (too much coffee) and his name rhymes with hat.

Pudge's Car Cam

As they made their way through Meredith NH, they realized there was a guard house they had to stop at along the driveway to Bald Peak.  Pudge was confident he could get Bear and Bill D through the gates but wasn't sure if Commish's picture was on a security list or not.  But alas they all made it past "Rich" the security guard without an incident, although he did give Commish the once over.

Pudge's Dash Cam

After unloading and packing up extra gear in case it snowed or rained, they headed over to the Pro Shop to get their carts.  Commish and Pudge started to load their bags on one of the carts but suddenly switched to the other cart marked with their starting hole number.  So Billy D and Bear took their original cart.  It wasn't until they sat down did they realize why their two partners had switched.  There was no windshield and no canopy for the clubs.  After calling Pudge and Commish a few choice words, Billy D decided to ask the head pro nicely if he could switch carts with another group who hadn't picked up their cart yet.  No was the answer plus a dirty look for even asking.  So he and Bear drove down to the range freezing as they went.  It was going to be a long cold day.

The club house is Bretwood like but 300 times bigger and a little more luxurious.   You also have to remove your hat when you enter as Billy D found out when Frank the NHPGA director mentioned it to him.

After Billy D spotted Commish with a new Bald Peak hat, (his first of the year since he couldn't win one off Birdie),  he decided he wanted one too.  So into the Pro Shop he went.  He found one he liked but the clerk told him it had a magnet on the bill which is ugly.  "Was he sure that is one he wanted?", she asked.  He replied yes, he will remove it later.  She told him it would not come off, but he thought she was crazy.  He could get it off later.  (it doesn't come off) Correction as of Friday Billy D removed ugly magnet.

On the way out, Billy D asked again since all the carts where gone was there any possibility of switching carts.  The Pro told him they may have one and if they did, they would bring it out to hole 4 where they were going to start.  Bear was laughing at him because the look on the face of the Pro suggested it was never going to happen.  But Billy D persistence paid off as just after they teed off a cart with windshield and canopy was delivered equipped with a rear view and side mirror as well.  The group behind them was very jealous as they had the open air variety as well.

They played well but not well enough because they missed the money by one stroke with a score of -7.  The fairways were very generous but the rough was long and thick even around the greens.  The greens running at a 10 were tough to navigate.  So if you were lucky enough to get on the green in regulation, your work was just beginning.   If few more putts dropped, they were right there for a pay day.

They didn't seem to mind not winning or cashing as they were treated to a huge spread of food from salads, hamburgers all the way to ice cream and cookies.  The best part was $2 drafts.

Yes, of course they had to piss on the way home, after all, those were $2 drafts.