March 19, 2010
Worlds Putt
Date: August 2005
Location: Flagstaff, AZ
Description: The PDGA hosts two Worlds events every year, one for professionals and one for amateurs. While I’ve still yet to play the professional version, I did haul it out to Arizona in 2005 to take part in my first (and, so far, only) Worlds competition. That year, a field of 160 or so converged on four courses in Flagstaff during monsoon season. As you could imagine, there were a number of stories to be told, including very nearly getting struck by lightning (it hit a ski tower less than 100’ from me) to living almost entirely on peanut butter in jelly to Cromwell writing an impromptu song about trucks to us driving through golf-ball sized hail to practically living in the jacuzzi. Somewhere during these shenanigans, we played some golf too. I came in tied for 37th out of the 160, a much better showing than I’d hoped for. I remember having trouble with my putting that week. However, when ratings guru (and inventor of the term ‘Mitch Sonderfan ratings curve’) Chuck Kennedy came by with his camera to grab some mid-tournament photographs, I stepped my game up and canned this 30 footer. Maybe I need a camera on me more often, because those distance putts have been killing me lately.