A Day with Fred and Fans
As expected, the largest gallery at BCC for the first round of the Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship (from now on CESPC) belonged to the trio that included Fred Funk.
I caught up with Freddy at the Par 5 4th and you could see he was struggling a bit. One of the most accurate players in the game was pulling shots, then compensating and losing them right. But the more he went wayward, the better he scored. An amazing save from a horrible lie in a fairway bunker that led to a 40 foot birdie. And there is no fist pump celebration quite like Freds.
That came later at the 11th after he tree challenged tee shot left him to a flop shot to the sloped green, which he drained. The full energy, half pump had his gallery roaring. A solid round of two under for Funk has him right there in contention. But he was disappointed with the way he hit the ball. A surprise for him because he told us he went to a new driver two weeks ago and just couldn't miss. Same on the range this morning (which he said was fun because thanks to the fog for the first time in his life he was hitting them out of sight), then it disappeared when play began.
I talked about the greens being the courses best defense last night on our pre-tourney special Champions of the Game. But really, come Sunday, the most fit may fare the best. R.W. Eaks, sharing the lead with a round of 67, said this really isn't a walking course for these old guys. I can attest, as an out of shape sort of former jock, I'm whipped after one round myself. That also bodes well for Funk who might finally get his win in Maryland.
I caught up with Freddy at the Par 5 4th and you could see he was struggling a bit. One of the most accurate players in the game was pulling shots, then compensating and losing them right. But the more he went wayward, the better he scored. An amazing save from a horrible lie in a fairway bunker that led to a 40 foot birdie. And there is no fist pump celebration quite like Freds.
That came later at the 11th after he tree challenged tee shot left him to a flop shot to the sloped green, which he drained. The full energy, half pump had his gallery roaring. A solid round of two under for Funk has him right there in contention. But he was disappointed with the way he hit the ball. A surprise for him because he told us he went to a new driver two weeks ago and just couldn't miss. Same on the range this morning (which he said was fun because thanks to the fog for the first time in his life he was hitting them out of sight), then it disappeared when play began.
I talked about the greens being the courses best defense last night on our pre-tourney special Champions of the Game. But really, come Sunday, the most fit may fare the best. R.W. Eaks, sharing the lead with a round of 67, said this really isn't a walking course for these old guys. I can attest, as an out of shape sort of former jock, I'm whipped after one round myself. That also bodes well for Funk who might finally get his win in Maryland.
posted by Pete Gilbert at 1:19 PM
<< Home