The morning was beautiful and calm, about 75°F and not a breath of wind. It was slightly overcast which was a nice reprieve from the blazing sun over the last several days.
Terry was looking smashing in his new Puma gear. Black pants, grey shirt, black shoes and a nice white hat. Fab.
He had a fantastic warm up. Great pacing. Great composure. He calmly and smoothly ripped every shot he hit. We went over to the pitching area where he was smooth as silk and executed well. He looked ready. He felt ready. He was ready.
On the way over to the 10th tee we met the rest of his cheering section: his brother Pat and his wife Jody, along with Tim and Matt. They were pumped and so proud of their bro. It was so nice to see and super nice to finally meet them.
We showed up to the tee about 12 minutes before our starting time and met his playing partners: Sal Felice II and Buck Brittain, as well as their caddies Gia and Charlie. It was a really nice group to play with.
As we are standing around the first tee waiting for our time, you can feel the tension building. It’s quiet. People don’t really know what to do with themselves. The introductions are over and you simply do whatever it is you need to do keep yourself as calm as possible under the circumstances.
The three gentlemen in the group were about to play in their first ever US Open. The National Open. Breathe.
I remember the first time I qualified for my first ever Canadian Open in Niagara Falls. The days leading up were a thrill. When it came time to head to the first tee I was filled with, what I felt, was the appropriate level of excitement. I felt nervous, but in control. My parents were both there and I couldn’t be more proud to share this moment with them. After all the junior tournaments and traveling all over North America, I finally did it. I was playing in my National Open.
I felt ready to go and it was all well and good until the starter announces: “On the tee now, from Drayton Valley Alberta, Corina Kelepouris.”
It was at that moment when my legs went completely numb. That whole ‘fight, flight or freeze’ thing, well I’m a freezer apparently.
So now I have numb legs, my parents are there, the crowd is lining the tee and I have to hit a drive on the opening par 5. Okay. Yeah.
Somehow I managed to pull it off and make it look reasonable. I managed to par the hole and off I went.
Needless to say I had a bit of insight as to what Terry was about to experience.
Finally it was his turn to play. After a few deep breaths he set up, checked is target, reared back and absolutely ripped it down the middle of the fairway. I was absolutely thrilled for him and so proud of him. With all of his siblings looking on, there is no way we could have been more proud of him.
I’m not going to go through the entire round, but I can tell you this: he battled and competed as well as anyone out there. He played a lot of holes extremely well, and with just a shade of luck, he could have had a couple of putts fall in instead of lip out like they did. On hole 14 and hole 18 he ran into a few rough patches that could have completely derailed him, but he didn’t let it. The very next tee he gathered himself and made two of the best swings he made all day and made a fantastic birdie on 1.
I know that Terry is disappointed in the final score, but for me there were so many positive things to glean from this round. He hit a lot of great iron shots and more than a couple FANTASTIC chip shots. In spite of not really feeling comfortable all day, he battled and stayed in the moment as well as I’ve seen anyone under similar circumstances. His attitude was superb and he was an absolute pleasure to be with all day.
We spent a little bit of time processing the round, but now it’s time to rest up and get ready for round 2 tomorrow. We tee off at 2:40 local time which will give the course a totally different look, but one that we are somewhat familiar with because we played a few practice rounds in the afternoon.
After the round we gathered together at a delicious pizza place and had a nice.
Total step count: 17 200
8.15 miles
Never Mind About That. 