"Overkill" - A New Game I've Never Played

Eight of us went out Sunday morning to a delightful 60 degree surprise after last week’s heavy snow storm. I’d played the previous day - shot 78 - but had multiple 3-putts on the bumpy, wet winter greens, and had no great expectations for Sunday. I walked the wet course with a carry bag and my legs were sore, as was the back.

I’ve been doing “Chair Yoga” for the past 3 weeks in an attempt to improve my flexibility and it seems to be working. The turn is fuller and I don’t experience pain after playing a round of golf. However, walking and carrying two days in the row was something your Hack was not ready to try - it would be one of Cripple Creek’s new carts today.

The Sunday game - organized by Andy Z. - was outside of my “normal” group and the players included younger guys that played on our Club’s GAP BMW Championship Team and a retired club pro (Fish). Your Hack was paired with Fish, Steve M. ( a local real estate guy) and Bob M. (leading an AI start-up). The game was 1-net best ball of the foursome (front, back, and total) with “Overkill”. Overkill means that every additional birdie or net birdie is added to your team score. One birdie scores as a minus -1 on the hole, but if two others in your group make birdies, the score becomes -3. Our caps for the day were Fish (3), Steve M. (6), Hack (10), and Bob M. (17). The second group was Andy Z. (6), Bill G. (0), Skip V. (15), and Kyle B. (10).

As many readers are aware, I have been playing as a 7 or 8 with my normal group even though my index is a 10 because the game had been improving since the end of last season. Not today though. Your Hack stroked on the first 2 holes and my routine pars, combined with Steve’s kick-in birdie on #3, got us 3 under right off the bat. “Overkill” bonuses kicked in and we went an additional 6 under on #5 and #6. Mike chipped in from the rough for a birdie/net eagle on #5 while Steve and Bob added net birdies and Steve and I made net birdies on #6 to bring us to 9 under through 6 holes.

Mike, Steve, and your Hack had legitimate birdie putts on the par 3, 7th hole but only Mike could convert. I added a birdie/net eagle on #8 and then three net birdies on #9 brought us in at 16 under for the front 9. Although Bob struggled with a 46, he made two net birdies for the team. Mike had a very smooth 1-under, 34 with 2 birdies and a bogey, while Steve and your Hack posted even par 35’s with 1 birdie and 1 bogey each.

Sitting on the 10th tee and reviewing the front nine stats, I was astounded with my putting - 14 putts on the first nine. I’d only hit 5 greens and 4 fairways, although 2 of the missed fairways were within a couple yards of short grass.

Mike kicked off the back nine with a birdie on #10 while your Hack pulled a gap wedge left of the green and couldn’t get up and down. The approach play with shorter clubs continued to be an issue to correct on this nine. Unfortunately, this focus led to some fall-off in the putting stats as we’ll see.

While I was able to card three pars on the next 3 holes, it was Bob that held the team together with 3 net birdies in a row which got us to 5 under par through #13. We played #14 as a practice hole with automatic pars (the “hole” is a small bucket size cup in the middle of the fairway to protect the green which has a bad habit of freezing in the winter.)

Your Hack hit a 9-iron into the wind on #15 that landed 5 feet left of the back pin and proceeded to miss the putt for birdie. Once again, Bob came through with a net birdie which took us to -6 on the back coming into the par 3, 16th. Sixteen is the 8 handicap hole so I stroked when playing as a 10. Hitting a 7 iron about 15 feet right and above the front pin, I was able to snake in the birdie/net eagle putt to add some “Overkill” points to the team. The birdie also brought your Hack back to even par for the round and thoughts of shooting his age began to bounce around in the old noggin’.

As you would expect if you’ve followed long for any period of time, I made a sick 3-putt on the long par 5, 17th to add another bogey to the round. A routine par on #18 allowed me to card a one-over, 37 on the back. We all stroked on #18 so we picked up additional “Overkill” points as Mike also made a net birdie. We ended the round 11 under on the back and 27 under overall. The team bet was front, back, and overall, so the boys were feeling pretty good going onto the patio for lunch.

The good guys were rewarded for their strong play as we won all three ways on the team bet. Mike had carded a 69 with 3 birdies and a lone bogey. Bob posted a strong 43 on the back and an 89 overall. Steve had a strong front, but a tough bogey, double -bogey finish to shoot 78. And, your Hack once again missed shooting his age by 1 shot by posting a 72 - one over for the day. Obviously shooting my age would not really count as the real thing because of the temporary hole on #14 and the temporary tees on the par 3’s, but it’s irritating to think that a single 3-putt was the culprit.

Score: 72 (13 pars & 2 birdies - 3 bogeys)

Fairways: 10/14 - 71%

Greens: 12/18 - 66%

Putts: 32 - (3-putts = 1)

Thanks for following along my retired golf life and remember to keep it in the short grass.