Masters of Terror: A Marc LaRose Mystery by R. George Clark

Author:R. George Clark [Clark, R. George]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-03-11T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

The crowd of fans surrounding the eighteenth green was huge and growing larger as each of the competing pairings ended their rounds. Marc found a space for his group along the fairway giving them a decent view of the action on the green. As each pair of contenders finished, Marc noticed Jake glancing at the leader board, anxiously looking for any change in his standing, even though he knew he had the low amateur title in his pocket.

As more players finished, Jake found himself tied for sixth place overall. “Darn it Marc, if I had made that par putt on thirteen, I’d be in fourth place right now.”

Marc gave Jake a serious look. “And your drive on the last hole could just as easily have plugged in the fairway, like Doubles’ did. That would have made your second shot to the green much longer, putting you in a more difficult situation. There are still two groups yet to finish, and they’re ahead of the leaders, so, there’s bound to be a change.”

Marc noticed Jake was quiet, apparently still brooding about his efforts.

“Jake, look at it this way, you’re the lead amateur in the clubhouse. That position will not change. You know what that means?”

Jake shrugged his shoulders and bit his lip. “Yeah, I get an automatic invitation to next year’s tournament. Big whoop!”

“That, plus you’ll be invited to a number of other professional tournaments. With your performance today, you’ve punched your ticket for a chance to play with the pros. I’d say you have quite a career ahead of you,” Marc said.

Jake exhaled, “I suppose you’re right. Guess I should count my blessings.”

“Rather than looking back at a few missed hits and wishing you’d done better, it’s best to concentrate on what you did right. That will be key to future improvement.”

Jake nodded thoughtfully.

“Bet you didn’t know that you not only had a good caddy, you had a philosopher on your bag as well,” Laura said.

They quietly watched as another set of players finished their round.

Marc broke the silence. “There’s just one pair of golfers yet to finish, and they’re a few minutes behind, probably delayed by that sprinkler problem on the fairway.” Marc motioned back toward the area where Teddy Doubles’ ball had plugged. “If we head over to the concession stand, maybe we could celebrate with a nice craft beer?” Marc said with a broad grin, hoping to raise Jake’s spirits.

“Good idea, my treat, but we better hurry, I believe the concessions are about to close,” Laura said, glancing at her watch.

When they reached the beer tent, they noticed the attendants were in the process of packing up. Laura, however used her feminine powers of persuasion and got them to pour four cups of beer. She left a hefty tip for their trouble, then, the four of them rejoined the crowd heading back toward the eighteenth green. Along the way, Laura suggested they stop under a lone shade tree.

She raised her cup. “To my son, whatever your future holds, I hope this day will always stand out as special for you as it was for me.

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