| |
In early 2003, Northern
California BGC member Nate Brostrom took a sabbatical from his
brutal investment banker job. He had two goals during this break: get
closer to God and
move up the BGC world rankings. To that end, he enrolled in Divinity
School and secured a standing early morning
Wednesday tee time at
Tilden Park, a quirky
Billy Bell-designed golf course in the hills of
Berkeley. He was joined in these weekly rounds by BGC member Phil
Gregory, president of
Cal Engineering
and part of the infamous
Mira Costa class of ’79. Nate and Phil
agreed to provide exclusive web updates to brogolfclub.com documenting their
quixotic quest to lower their indexes. Both set goals of breaking 90
before September when they were to be hosting the Inaugural BGC Northern
California Invitational at beautiful
Lake Tahoe, Nevada.
Follow their weekly trials and
tribulations, their thinly veiled competitive jabs and digs, the ups and
downs of their golf games, and their views on life, love and spirituality.
It may be groundbreaking journalism. It might be boring as hell. We’ll
find out.
March 19, 2003; Nate:
94, Phil:
No Show
After a couple of weeks off tending
to my sore back, I resumed my golf odyssey yesterday morning. Another
beautiful morning at Tilden -- blue skies, cool breeze, rain softening the
greens, no one on the course . . .
Unfortunately, no one includes my
fellow golf traveler, the Big Boy, Phil Gregory. After repeated calls
and e-mails, I finally heard from Phil's wife, Heller, that Phil was in LA,
presumably interviewing for the newly vacant UCLA basketball job.
Fortunately, I was joined by two Cal students, who regularly play with me,
and by the surprising addition of Scott Case (Scotty Haggard's husband for
all you Bros wo haven't met Scott). Not only is Scott an incredible
golfer and a great guy to play with, but over the course of our round, we
planned the first annual NorCal Open. It will be held on the shores of
Lake Tahoe this September and Scott has graciously offered their Tahoe home
as home base for the weekend. [Editors Note: Scott has since rescinded
the cabin offer following a discussion with his wife Scotty about what might
potential befall the cabin after a weekend of BGC members].
On to the golf. My bad back unfortunately kept me off the driving
range, and my game was plagued by inconsistency. For every smooth
swing I had, I had an equal number of wicked slices (on the long irons) or
deep chili dips (on the short irons). I also showed Scott my unique
skills at course mgmt which are quite familiar to all the bros who witnessed
the Ice Plant Incident at Los Verdes. On the second hole, after
shanking a tee shot, I decided to make up for it by trying to hit the green
with a 3-wood, from about 240 yards with a wicked dogleg. Needless to
say, that shot ended up deep in the woods and I tripled the hole.
They weren't all that bad. I managed a few pars and shot a 94.
Scott was red-hot and shot a 79. Phil shot a . . . Oh that's right,
Phil didn't play.
We'll go back out again next week. Anything to add, Phil? Oh I
forgot, you weren't there.
That's it from Berkeley,
Nate
February 12, 2003; Nate: 44, Phil:
No Show
Nate's
Report
It's
6:30 on a cold and threatening morning in the Berkeley Hills. I wait
for half an hour on the first tee at Tilden but Phil bails on me. Good
thing, too, because he would have been in for a GOF . . .
The round didn't start so well with a double on No 1 . . . One of my
subgoals this year is to some day par that SOB -- right now, I count a bogey
an accomplishment. Pulled my game together and played bogey most of
the way, but put together two pars and a bird on the last four holes of the
front nine. Rain started at the 4th hole and, by nine, we were soaked
so we chose breakfast over the back nine. 44 for the front nine which
was a big improvement from last week.
I'm
still not striking the ball that well but I cut out a lot of stupid mistakes
(3-putts, for example). My short game was a lot better, probably helped by
the soft greens.
Until next week,
Nato
FEBRUARY
5, 2003 – NATE: 101, PHIL: 101
Phil’s
Report
Here is my report of the highlights of the round:
Ambient air temperature at 7:06 am tee time - about 41 degrees. Strong winds
from the east, about 15 to 20 miles per hour, with wind chill factor feels
like about 25 degrees at tee time.
No. 3, 395 yard downhill - Nate bombs a 295 yard drive and then proceeds to
double the hole. Phil doinks 205 yard drive, punches a 170 yard 5 wood to
the fringe and salvages a bogey.
No. 11, 175 yard par 3 - Phil saves par with double bending 25 foot putt
which dies in the hole.
Walking down fairway # 13, Nate mistakenly mentions that new girlfriend,
Kaitlin the Cal Architect from Piedmont, is a member at the prestigious and
venerable Claremont Country Club in Oakland. Possibility of holding BGC
Norcal Invitational at Claremont is immediately suggested by Phil.
Silence ensues.
Nate’s Report
I didn't
realize that Elbo would take up the Bro tradition of mean, divisive golf
when, particularly with my newfound divinity school training, I'm trying to
create a supportive and encouraging golf environment. But, since the Big
Boy led the way, it seems he forgot one vital stat:
Nate's weight on the 1st tee:. 200
Phil:. At least 240
There's already some tension in the Northern California tourney planning
committee . . .
|
|
