39 At Turner Highlands

On Friday, I played a match against Levitt's number-one golfer. I shot 39 to his 45.

On the first hole, I hit my drive 200 yards into the right rough, 84 yards from the green. My second shot landed the ball on the green, but it rolled off the back left side. From there, I chipped on to 6 feet and drained it, for an opening par.

My drive on the second hole sailed down the left side of the fairway 230 yards, leaving me about 215 yards out. Deciding to lay up to 65 yards, I then pushed my third shot to the right of the green. A chip left me 5 feet from the hole, and I made the putt for a par.

At the short, par-4 third, I hit a hybrid off the tee, landing the ball 110 yards from the green. I pulled my second a little bit to the left, but got on the green. My first putt rolled 5 feet past the hole. I lined up my next putt, but it lipped out on the left side, so I tapped it in for a five.

At the 168-yard, par-3 fourth, I played a draw with my 4 iron that ended up just to the right of the green about 10 feet from the hole. A chip shot and tap-in gave me a par.

At the par-4 fifth (the course's signature hole), I pushed my drive a bit, but still cleared 185 yards of water. This left me with 94 yards to a green about 50 feet below the fairway. I looked up in the middle of my swing and hit the shot thin. It took one hop on the green and bounced into a water hazard, so I took my drop next to the green, chipped on, and two-putted for a six.

I smashed my drive 260 yards down the middle of the fairway on the 487-yard sixth. Laying up with an 8 iron, I got my shot 80 yards from the hole and hit my sand wedge. It landed on the green about 25 feet from the hole. Replacing my ball on the green, I stepped away from it and took a practice stroke. The ball toppled over, and the controversy began. I didn't replace the ball, because I thought the rule was: "If the ball rolls over, play it from its new location." It turns out that you have to return the ball to its original postion. Of course, I made the putt, giving me a birdie on this par-5 hole, but I erred by hitting the ball from the wrong spot. I asked Leavitt's coach if I had incurred a penalty. He said, "Yes, because you didn't replace the ball." My coach asked me to reputt from the ball's original position. I did, but the ball lipped out and ran 5 feet past the hole. I made the comebacker, leaving me with par. There was still some confusion over how to handle the situation, and the coaches agreed that I should write down the score from my first go at the hole (4), plus a two-stroke penalty, giving me a six on this hole, but that's not the end of the story.

I played well the rest of the match, shooting par, par, and bogey on the last three holes. This gave me a score of 41, leaving me tied for medalist position with a player from Leavitt. Unfortunately, our team lost the match.

Now, for the rest of the story. On Saturday morning, Dad opened the following email from my coach, Ryan Meserve.

"I just got off the phone with the Leavitt coach this evening (Friday) at about 9pm and wanted to make sure I let Luke know as soon as possible that his score from today was actually a 39, and that he is the lone medalist for the day. During the match, the coach and I only had the pocket USGA rule book to go by when we ruled on Luke's ball being moved by the wind on the 6th hole. From what we had for information, it indicated that Luke should incur a 2-stroke penalty because he played the ball from the wrong position.

However, after consulting the more detailed USGA decision book this evening, we came to the conclusion that there should have been no penalty assessed. Although this wasn't done during the normal course of the match, the Leavitt coach and I felt that Luke should get the recognition of being medalist and also having shot a 39 for his match. Both of us were in agreement, and I've called the KJ [Kennebec Journal] to have them change the match results. Luke did exactly the right thing during the round to try and resolve the situation and really handled himself well during the entire discussion. ..."

Luke

My First Match

On Tuesday, I played my first high school match against Waterville's number-one player. On the first tee, he had the honor and topped his tee shot 100 yards down the fairway. I then stepped up to the tee and smashed my drive 235 yards down the left side of the fairway, leaving me 110 yards from the green. I launched a nine-iron to 15 feet and two-putted for par, while my opponent topped a 3-wood, then hit a pitching wedge. Missing the green, he pitched on and two-putted for a six.

On the par-3 second, we matched pars. At the par-4 third, we both hit our drives in the fairway. I missed the green just long, and he knocked his on, 20 feet from the hole. I chipped on and missed the hole by an inch to the right, leaving myself an uphill 5-footer for par. My opponent 2- putted for par. I looked over the line and knocked it in the back of the cup.

Up two on the par-4 fourth, I pushed my drive into the right rough and hit a hybrid into a water hazard. We found the ball, and I tried to pitch it out, but drilled it into the ground. I went back and dropped and made 3 from there, taking a 7 on the hole, while my opponent made a par.

At the par-5 fith, I made a par to my opponent's bogey. Even through 5, we both nailed our drives into the fairway on six; then both of us were on the green in two. I 2-putted for par and watched my opponent 3-putt for bogey, leaving me one up, with three to play.

On the par-3 seventh, my tee shot ended up just short of the green. I 4-putted for double-bogey,while my opponent missed the green to the right with his tee shot, pitched up, and 2-putted for bogey.

On the 395-yard, uphill, par-4 eighth, we both topped our drives, with our coaches watching. I hit a hybrid out of the rough, and he hit an iron out of the rough, missing the green short. With my opponent short of the green, I hit a 7-iron from 132 yards out onto the green, pin high about 25 feet from the hole. He chipped up to six feet and missed the putt, but tapped in for a double-bogey. I lagged my first putt just inside his and drained it for five.

On the ninth, I killed my drive down the right side of the fairway 146 yards from the green, while my opponent hit his drive just inside mine. I played mine first, onto the green about 15 feet from the hole. He pulled his second shot into the left bunker and took three to get down from there. I got my first putt inside a foot and tapped in for the win, 41 to 44.

In my first high school match as a freshman, I beat a senior by three strokes, and our team went on to win by 6 points to 3.

Luke