| General Fiction posted February 2, 2023 | Chapters: |
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The second day of the club championship
A chapter in the book Some Call It Luck
Some Call It Luck - Chapter 61
by Jim Wile
| Background A brilliant and beautiful but insecure, nerdy young woman befriends a going nowhere older alcoholic caddie. Together, they bring out the best in each other and collaborate on a startling new invention |
Recap: Dana Griffin (nee Padgett), who was Abby’s chief tormentor all through grade school, finds herself in Altoona, Pennsylvania. She is a good golfer and joins Kettle Creek Country Club soon after moving there. While practicing one day, she sees a young redheaded girl practicing as well who reminds her of a young Abby. She then reminisces about her relationship with Abby back then and how poorly she had treated her.
Dana is invited to have lunch and play golf with a woman she met on the practice tee. At lunch the next day, who should show up to have lunch and play in the foursome but Abby, who is also a member at Kettle Creek. It’s been 20 years since they’ve seen each other, and although they are cordial, they are also rather cool towards each other. Dana learns from the other ladies in the group how successful Abby is at her job and how good a golfer she is, having won the ladies club championship the previous year.
Dana finds out that the young girl she saw practicing on the range is Abby’s daughter, Claire, who seems to be struggling with the game. She is having trouble learning the golf swing, which leads Abby to the idea of a new invention: a golf suit training aid that will swing for you to give you the proper feel of the swing. She tells Kenny about it, and they decide to invite E.J. and Eddie over for lunch and to bat the idea around. The team is onboard with the idea, and over the next few years the golf suit is created.
Now it’s time to try it out on a guinea pig—Claire. She has terrific results with it, and Dana notices the vast improvement in Claire on the practice tee. She sneaks into the locker room and steals the suit while Claire is in the shower. Abby is irate when Claire tearfully relates that she has lost the suit.
At home Dana puts on the suit and figures out how to use it. Over the next two weeks she practices with it.
The first day of the club championship is over, and Dana is in the lead, two strokes ahead of Abby in second place. On the second day, Abby is paired with Dana. Both play well, but through the 7th hole, Dana has picked up another stroke and is 3 ahead of Abby. She is swinging very well, and Abby has a suspicion about this sudden improvement.
A contination of the chapter: Abby Payne - August, 2004
The afternoon continued to warm, and I was starting to sweat now, so I removed my sweater. I was down to my shirtsleeves, and felt much better for it. Dana, however, kept her jacket on and looked like she was sweating too. She looked a little uncomfortable, to be honest. I noticed Claire staring at her with a frown on her face.
She came over to me then and said, “Mom, I have to talk to you.”
E.J. and I both stopped on our way to the next tee. “What is it, honey?”
“Something is fishy about the way Mrs. Griffin is playing.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, I’ve seen her practicing on the range before, and she’s not this good. She always has this really fast swing and she slices a lot, like I used to. Plus, she really appears to be sweating now.”
“Go on,” I said, though I knew where this was going.
“I think she might have stolen our golf suit that day and is using it now! See how she doesn’t take her jacket off, even though she’s sweating a lot?”
E.J. said to me then, “You know, Abby, I was wondering about that myself. The way you described her to me the last time we talked about her is not at all the picture that we see today. She’s swinging beautifully—so smoothly and with perfect timing. She’s hardly had a mis-hit all day. I think Claire might be right!”
“I confess I’ve had the same suspicion for a few holes now,” I said. “I know you’re both right.”
“I think so too, Mom,” piped in Greg.
I smiled at him. “Then it’s unanimous.”
“What are you going to do about it, Mom?” asked Claire.
“Well, you can bet I’m going to get that suit back, but for right now—nothing. I’m just going to try to keep playing well and beat her.”
“But Mom, she’s cheating! You can’t wear training aids when you’re playing in a tournament. You told me that yourself.”
“You’re right, honey, she is. But I haven’t decided yet the best way to deal with it, so I’ll just keep playing my game and see how it comes out.”
E.J. nodded his approval. He knows me well enough to know that I have to work this out in my own time.
By the time we started walking again and arrived at the next tee, Dana appeared to be very agitated. She still had the honors, but couldn’t seem to get comfortable over the ball. She yanked the club back and slashed at the ball awkwardly, and the result was a topped shot off the heel of her driver. It was her first bad shot of the day.
She appeared to be fighting the suit now, rather than allowing it to take the lead, and the outcome was predictable.
Over the course of the next four holes, she had a number of other bad shots, while I played steadily. I managed to close the gap down to one stroke coming into our final hole.
Dana was visibly shaken and just seemed to be barely holding on to her lead as the perspiration continued running down her face and neck, and she continually wiped it with a handkerchief.
I had the honors on the final tee shot, and hit a good one into the center of the fairway, leaving me with only a short-iron to the green. Dana’s drive was mediocre at best, leaving her with a long-iron to the green.
After fidgeting around trying to get comfortable for her second shot, she slashed at the ball. She skulled a low one that barely got of the ground, but it had a lot of speed on it, and it bounded up just a couple of yards from the front of the green, narrowly avoiding a bunker.
The flag was in the back, and I hit my second shot to the rear of the green, leaving me with a 15-foot putt for a birdie. E.J. told me, “Great shot!” and the kids cheered. Dana looked shaken.
She really took her time with the chip and hit a good one just four feet from the hole.
I also took my time lining up my putt because anything could happen now. I could either win outright, tie, or lose depending on what we both did with our putts. My 15-footer had about a foot of break on it, and as it approached the hole, it looked like it might drop, but it just veered off at the end and rolled 10 inches past. I tapped in for a par and a final score of 2-over par for a 75 and a two-day total of 152.
Dana took a long time reading and preparing for her 4-foot putt. If she made it, she would shoot 76 which, combined with yesterday’s 75, would give her a total of 151 and the probable victory (we still didn’t know how any of the other players were doing, but no one else was that close after yesterday’s round.)
Finally, she settled over her putt and stroked it. It looked a little firm, hitting the back of the hole and jumping up an inch, but it dropped in. She let go of her putter then, closed her eyes, put her head down, and breathed an immense sigh of relief that it was over.
I walked up to her, shook her hand, and congratulated her on a fine round and a probable victory. She thanked me and told me I played well too. We then walked back to the clubhouse to post our scores and see the final results.
As E.J., Claire, Greg, and I began walking, Claire said, “Mom, are you going to tell everyone that she cheated to win? You should have won!”
“Well, we don’t know if she’s won yet because we haven’t seen all the scores. But even if she does win, I don’t think I’m going to say anything right now. I will handle this in my own way at another time. Please don’t say anything to anyone about this, okay?”
“But Mom, it’s not fair!”
“Claire? Please? I know you’re outraged, and I am too, but there’s a better way to handle it than to come right out and accuse her of cheating in front of everybody. Please promise me you won’t say anything.”
“Okay, Mom. I promise. But I’m still really mad about it. You should have won!”
“Well thank you, sweetie. I appreciate your support and Greg’s too all day. It means a lot to me. Now let’s just go and turn in my score and see how it ends up.”
E.J. squeezed my shoulder then and smiled at me as we made our way to the clubhouse.
Sure enough, Dana ended up winning with her 151, while I came in second with 152. The next closest score to ours was 156. Everyone congratulated Dana on her victory, but she looked very uncomfortable and didn’t say much. I’m sure she couldn’t wait to get home and take that suit off.
Tomorrow night would be the celebration dinner where she would receive her trophy and see her name on the plaque that hung in the clubhouse. I’m not sure I would be going.
After accepting a few condolences from some of my friends at the club for coming so close, E.J., the kids, and I left together in E.J.’s car. It had been a long afternoon, but the best part of the day was yet to come.
When we got home, I went upstairs to shower. E.J. also showered in the downstairs bathroom and changed into an extra set of clothes he had brought with him. He would be staying for dinner with us.
Kenny would be home from his trip anytime now, and we would call up for pizza to be delivered when he arrived.
I came down after a while, feeling clean and refreshed and surprisingly happy for someone who had just lost the club championship to a cheater by a single stroke.
Kenny had returned in the meantime, and the kids had filled him in on the events of the day. When he saw me, he took me in his arms, gave me a kiss, and said how sorry he was that I'd lost, and that he was proud of me for hanging in there and doing so well, even when I had known Dana was cheating. I thanked him for that.
“Have you decided what you’re going to do yet?” he asked me.
“Yes. I’m going to call her up after dinner and demand my suit back. Then I’m going to go over to her house and get it back.”
“What if she denies cheating or refuses to give it back?” Claire asked.
“I’ll cross that bridge if and when I come to it. Hey, I think I hear the pizza guy coming, so let’s forget about that for now and just enjoy our meal. Let’s ask Dad about his trip.”
We had a lively dinner, and Kenny told us all about his trip to Boston with Eddie and what the golf show was like.
I wasn’t worried in the slightest about what was to come with Dana. Years ago, I might have been a nervous wreck at a confrontation like this, but no longer.
(3 more chapters to go)
Abby Payne: She is intelligent and beautiful, yet shy and awkward with most people her age, having been picked on quite a lot while growing up. She worked at the snack bar and as a waitress at Brentwood Country Club during the summers where she met both E.J. and Kenny, who is a member at Brentwood and became her boyfriend and eventually her husband.
E.J. Budrowski: 18 years older than Abby, he is an alcoholic with a traumatic past (an abusive father and a mother driven to suicide) who is a caddie at Brentwood CC. One day he finds a dirty old golf ball on the edge of a pond that seems to have unusual powers, for he makes two holes-in-one with it. He and Abby become friends when she encourages him to take up both golf and bridge again after long layoffs. He finally quits drinking and returns to college at age 40 and earns a degree in computer science. Eventually he becomes a professor of computer science.
Dana Griffin (nee Padgett): Grew up with Abby back in Butler. She is a bully and teased Abby unmercifully all the way through school. Coincidentally, 20 years later, she finds herself living in Altoona, where Abby lives, and joins the same country club as Abby.
Kenny Payne: Abby met him briefly at a frat party in her senior year and was intrigued by him, then she sees him again when he walks up to the snack bar several months later. He is a mechanical engineer and is tall, good looking, and an all-around nice guy. After less than a year of courtship, he marries Abby.
Eddie Phillips: A young member at Brentwood known for his extremely good putting and ability to hustle his opponents. Eddie is friends with Abby and beats Kenny in the club championship with a miracle shot. He and Kenny become best friends after that.
Claire Payne: The 12-year-old daughter of Abby and Kenny. Her inability to improve at golf was the inspiration for the invention of the golf suit.
Greg Payne: The 9-year-old son of Abby and Kenny.
Pays
one point
and 2 member cents. E.J. Budrowski: 18 years older than Abby, he is an alcoholic with a traumatic past (an abusive father and a mother driven to suicide) who is a caddie at Brentwood CC. One day he finds a dirty old golf ball on the edge of a pond that seems to have unusual powers, for he makes two holes-in-one with it. He and Abby become friends when she encourages him to take up both golf and bridge again after long layoffs. He finally quits drinking and returns to college at age 40 and earns a degree in computer science. Eventually he becomes a professor of computer science.
Dana Griffin (nee Padgett): Grew up with Abby back in Butler. She is a bully and teased Abby unmercifully all the way through school. Coincidentally, 20 years later, she finds herself living in Altoona, where Abby lives, and joins the same country club as Abby.
Kenny Payne: Abby met him briefly at a frat party in her senior year and was intrigued by him, then she sees him again when he walks up to the snack bar several months later. He is a mechanical engineer and is tall, good looking, and an all-around nice guy. After less than a year of courtship, he marries Abby.
Eddie Phillips: A young member at Brentwood known for his extremely good putting and ability to hustle his opponents. Eddie is friends with Abby and beats Kenny in the club championship with a miracle shot. He and Kenny become best friends after that.
Claire Payne: The 12-year-old daughter of Abby and Kenny. Her inability to improve at golf was the inspiration for the invention of the golf suit.
Greg Payne: The 9-year-old son of Abby and Kenny.
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