The Final Round: A Character-Driven Southern Fiction Novel by Ernest Dempsey

Author:Ernest Dempsey [Dempsey, Ernest]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: 138 Publishing
Published: 2024-07-26T00:00:00+00:00

28

Tyler stood on the number 5 green, staring down a fifteen-foot putt for birdie. He knew this green like the top of his knees. He’d played it many times, and scoped it out for other golfers as a caddie more than that. He knew the angles, the bends and rolls of the green. He even knew which way the grains of grass flowed, all of which factored into the way he played the putt.

Now, though, his future was on the line.

Before, it had just been for bragging rights, or for the appreciation of whatever golfer he was carrying a bag for that day.

This time, he was the one who needed to make the putt, and for way more than mere gloating with the other caddies in the shack.

With two holes to play, Tyler found himself at a remarkable 6 under par, similar to his practice round the previous week.

He’d refused to look at the leaderboards that had been erected in various places around the course for the tournament, and he’d instructed Justin not to tell him where he stood as far as the rankings were concerned—a secret he wasn’t sure Justin could contain for the entirety of the round.

Tyler knew there was nothing he could do about the other golfers or how they performed. And knowing where they stood versus his position on the leaderboard wouldn’t change how he went about things. It wasn’t as if merely being aware of the standings could make him drive a ball farther or putt a ball better. All he could do was focus on himself and his swing and control the things he could control.

He’d played remarkably, but doubt nagged at him, demanding his attention. He knew he was close to tying the course record for the second time in two weeks—an incredible feat by anyone’s standards, but the field was full of great golfers, and fear taunted Tyler with visions of multiple other players breaking the long-standing low score.

“We’ve seen this putt before,” Justin said quietly, standing behind his friend, looking over his shoulder.

“Yeah,” Tyler agreed.

“It’s going to bend hard to the left.”

“Yep. I’m looking at a little mark over there.” He pointed to a dry patch of green where an old ball mark had been repaired.

“That’s pretty high,” Justin said. “But if you get the speed right, it should be good. Won’t take much. You know what to do. Let the green do the work. All you got to do is steer it.”

Tyler knew his friend was correct. Just to be safe, he knelt down one more time and squatted behind the ball, eyeballing the lay of the green.

Merritt and his caddie stood off to the right, having already made par on the hole. Tyler knew the club pro he’d been paired with was around 3 under for the day, a respectable score by anyone’s standards, but not good enough to catch Tyler on this day.

Tyler forced the distracting thoughts out of his mind and let them loose into the sky to float away on the white clouds drifting across the blue sea nearby.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.