Another Jackson 5 at Aberdeen: “Breaking Par with Charlie Rymer” Episode 48
We’re going back-to-back with Charlie’s stops at Tom Jackson signature designs, and as he did at the last one Charlie’s taking on a par five – this one the 16th hole at Aberdeen Country Club in Longs, S.C. A perfect birdie opportunity awaits; can “The Big Timer” convert?
Charlie:
Cancer knocked me down, but not out. Now, I’m cancer free. The recovery? It’s been tough. I’ll need patience, a lot of humor …
(Did I mention I made birdie there?)
… And support from friends and family. Over the last two years, I haven’t played much golf, but there’s no better place to get back in the game than on 66 courses in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. We’re keeping score, but just teeing it up means I’ve already won!
(You go Google “perfect,” and see if that shot doesn’t come up right there!)
Join me on my journey to break par!
We get a back-to-back dose of Tom Jackson golf today. This one’s up the road a bit from our last stop, and Aberdeen’s 16th hole is another par five. This one’s a good bit longer than the last. Houses and water, right. Trees, left. So accuracy off the tee is key here. Water, right. Bunkers left side, that lead to an elevated, undulating green. Let’s get to work.
Today we’re in Longs, South Carolina. This is Aberdeen Country Club. Really cool golf course designed by Tom Jackson. Beautiful piece of property. We’re really close to the Waccamaw Swamp around here, and it has sort of a black water feel. Now this is 16th hole, it’s a par five. Got plenty of room to the left. Don’t want to go to the right. Uh-oh. That’s got some left all over it. I think it got a good kick though.
Good drive here, maybe. Maybe I’d be looking at getting home in two, but I’m thinking after that bad swing, it’s going to be a layup. It’s a pretty golf course out here. A lot of growth in this area. Neat place to live.
All right, so I shot mine up the left side here. Well, this isn’t any good. I can’t go up. I can’t go right. I can’t go left. I got one really small gap ahead of me.
The problem with that is, the ball’s sitting down in the rough, so it’s hard to get a clean hit on it. But I’m going to give it a shot. Chris, you come right over here. I got a little gap right there between those trees. That’s my only chance. Let’s see what we got. I’ll take a four iron, put it back in my stance, try and get it down this fairway a little ways.
Time to go to work. I’m going to make the best par you’ve ever seen here. All right, it hit a tree, almost got to the fairway, still sitting down in the rough, don’t really have any chance of getting it on the green. Look at that ball. Two in a row, sitting down on the rough. I am going to take my five wood, put it towards the middle of my stance, try and get a divot here. Yeah, that popped out nicely. Okay, I’m lining three up there, this is a par five. I’ll show you how to make a working man’s par. Maybe.
I hate getting out of position on a par five, but I guess it’s a little like life. Anybody can be happy getting it right down the middle. You get a bad one, it’s really all about what you do after that.
I’m still a pretty good ways out. They have these poles here, they’re really cool. Black and white poles. Middle of the fairway, 150 yards to the middle of the green, and it really helps a lot. And almost hit that one right there, which is a good thing. You’re hitting those poles, you’re striping it.
All right. Okay, so I’m right at a hundred yards. Remember this is the fourth shot. Still can make par. Got my gap wedge, going to play a little long into that wind. Get right a little bit. Okay, I got a shot in my par.
Man, that was one big divot I got there. I can’t replace it, and they don’t have sand on the carts here, so it’s always a good idea to kick it in. That’ll grow back just fine right there. Nothing wrong with kicking in a divot. Greens are in good shape. Sometimes a par putt, mentally, is better for you than making a birdie putt. A little double breaker here. Some right early, maybe some left late.
Ah, well. Not a good hole, there. A bogey on a five feels a little like a double. We’ll get them next time. Well, we’re still in great shape overall, and have a great bounce-back opportunity at our next stop where we get to check out the Golden Bear’s North Strand offering!
