And the golf gods were smiling...

OK, I don't believe in any other god except my Lord and Savior up in Heaven. But if there were such a thing as a golf god, he was definitely smiling down on the 17th hole at Perry Park Golf Club near Carrollton, KY on Saturday afternoon.

When the first warm day of spring arrived, I longed to be on a golf course. My first round of the year took place on Saturday with my golfing buddy Derick. It was a perfect spring day. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and the temperature was just perfect. It was the temperature that you wish it could be year round.

During my last several rounds of golf, my swing has changed and I've been hitting some nasty hooks. I know how to alter my shot to get rid of the hook, but I really have to concentrate and think hard before every shot. The way our round played out on Saturday, concentrating hard on my shot was rather difficult. You see, Derick and I don't get to see each other very often, so we were wrapped up in conversation from the minute we stepped onto the first tee, until the moment we were driving down the 17th fairway in our cart. Since I wasn't concentrating hard, I was playing bad. Derick, on the other hand, was playing quite nicely, and had a good score going into the 17th hole. I beat him on the first 9, but he had a 2 shot lead on the back nine. He apparently plays well when he doesn't have to concentrate on his shot. Let me point out, that I don't ever recall Derick ever beating me on any 9 hole stretch of golf.

We stepped up to the 17th tee. We had just realized at this point, that Derick had his 2 shot lead. I hit first, as I had parred the 16th. My drive went straight down the middle. Derick hit next, and his drive also went straight down the middle. Mine was slightly longer, so he was next to hit. He was about 150 yards away. I don't remember what we were talking about, but I was in the middle of telling him something. I paused so that he could hit. Once he hit the ball, I continued talking. I noticed that he was staring down his ball rather closely. It hit the green, and we both thought at the same time that it was going to go in the hole. I jumped out of the cart with my hands in the air, thinking that I was about to witness a miracle shot. It hit in front of the hole and bounced 6 inches past it. It was an incredible shot. Derick even made the comment, "I was beginning to wonder if you were seeing that the ball was going straight at the flag! You just kept talking..."

I was next to hit. I was aprox 135 yards away. I grabbed my 9 iron and took a practice swing. My mind was already ticking away. Derick had his 2 shot lead, and he was 6 inches away from the hole for a birdie. If I didn't hit it close, I would probably be 3 shots behind going into the last hole. So the conversation had stopped by this point. All thoughts were being focused on the swing... "Don't hook it" I was thinking to myself. I hit the ball, and it took off straight towards the flag. For a second, I thought I had hit it too soft and that it would be short. It actually did bounce a few feet short of the green. But I got a huge bounce and the ball kicked up towards the hole. It rolled and rolled and it bounced off of the flagstick! For a second we both thought that now my ball was going in the hole. It came to rest about 12 inches from the hole, after ricocheting off the stick. Derick got out of the cart and ran around to me and we gave each other a huge high 5. What a moment! We both tapped in our birdies, the first and last ones of the day for both of us.

Now we stood on the 18th tee, Derick still having a 2 shot lead. It was in his head now that he could possibly beat the mighty Jason. This little thought in his head was all that I needed to ensure victory for myself. Our day long conversation had ended with our little 17th hole miracle, and he was now focusing on golf. And so was I. He fell apart, making a triple bogey 8. I made a par, 5. And I had taken victory from his grasp.

But it wasn't about who won or lost on this day. It was all about our 5 hour conversation, the perfect spring day, the dogwoods blooming, and the 17th hole. Now that you've read my side of the story, go check out Derick's side.