Happy Birthday: 90 holes at The Cradle!

I wore my birthday hat for 90 holes at The Cradle,
Pinehurst Country Club's short course

What started out as a different way to celebrate my 68th birthday (May 26) turned into a golf marathon, of sorts, and a fund-raiser for a very worthy cause.

The thought of playing 68 holes of golf this birthday was a re-creation of playing 58 holes on my birthday 10 years ago, but different. In 2010, it was a lark developed when I arrived at the recently opened Lonnie Poole Golf Course on the N.C. State University campus. The golf pro and the general manager gave me the okay so I grabbed a golf cart headed to the first tee and many hours later, playing by myself and with and through various others, completed the 58 holes, three 18 hole rounds plus four additional holes.

View of the Pinehurst Country Club
with the 2nd hole of The Cradle
in the foreground

Three weeks before this year's birthday, with the coronavirus firmly in my thoughts, the idea of playing 68 holes popped up. This time, after conversations with several golfing friends, I decided to play the Pinehurst Country Club's short course, The Cradle, a nine hole loop carved out of the first holes of Pinehurst's Nos. 3 and 5 courses which were used as the warm-up/practice range for three U.S. Open golf tournaments.

At the same time, while contemplating playing at The Cradle, a layout I had heard much about but had never played, I decided my effort would also be used as a fund-raiser for the Feed The Pack Food Pantry at N.C. State University, a cause to which a breakfast group of retired Methodist men has contributed about $400 over two years. With as few as three attendees and no more than a dozen every other week, we asked for $1.00 donations for the Food Pantry, small donations yielding big results.

Watching from The Cradle's 9th tee
as an 8-some putts out on the 9th hole.
It's all about having fun at The Cradle!

Combining the two ideas - golf and charity - I sent emails to friends and family to ask for donations based on playing 68 holes on May 26. The staff at Pinehurst gave me the go ahead. More than 30 responses and pledges followed with some making set contributions, others offering a dollar or two per hole played, and others a combination of both plus additional money for birdies made. One pledger challenged me to meet a total strokes goal and, if I did, he would double his pledge. Three of the pledgers offered to join me. Two did, one for all 68 holes and then some.

Knowing I was on a mission of sorts, Pinehurst allowed me to skirt the first starting time of the day, by a few minutes. I carried four wedges of different lofts (46, 50, 54 and 58) and my putter in my carry bag along with water bottles and snacks. The 9-hole course measures only 789 yards; no carts allowed, just walking with some interesting elevation changes.

John McCallie of Durham was with me on those 68 holes plus four more to complete the last 9-hole loop. My brother Brooks, who lives in nearby Aberdeen, made it for two and a half loops. What I thought would require golf all day didn't. The starter informed others playing The Cradle of my quest, suggesting they let me pass through. After 72 holes, I felt the urge to play more, so I played another 18 holes, completing 90 holes in about five and a half hours.

I could have played more. It was more fun than it was tiring, playing at a fast pace, hitting tee shots from artificial turf mats, meeting many of other friendly golfers along the way, all encouraging me to meet my goal and wishing me a happy birthday. (My hat gave me away!) I would do this again, for fun and for worthy causes.

As a golfer, I found playing The Cradle better practice for my short game than working out on the practice tee at my home course, Lonnie Poole. At The Cradle, there were up-hill blind shots and down-hill long shots. There were short pitch and roll plays that included hitting the right side of greens to get to the pin on the left side and hitting beyond the flag to use a backstop and allow the ball to flow back towards the hole. A few facts:

• Par for 9 holes is 27; for 90 holes (10 times around) is 270. I scored 276, six over par with nine birdies (holes 1, 2, 3 [twice], 4, 6, 7 [twice], and 9), 15 bogeys, and 66 pars.
• My nine hole scores were: 30, 25, 28, 29, 28, 26, 28, 26, 28, 28.
• I never used the 46 degree wedge and never chipped from off the greens, always putting, even with tall elevation changes.
• Longest hole at The Cradle: #4, 127 yards; shortest: #5, 56 yards.
• The greens are Champion Bermuda grass, easy to read but tough to roll with or against the grain.
• The Health app on my iPhone says I walked 20,476 steps (8.2 miles) and climbed 17 floors, elevation changes of 10' each.
• For more facts about and a look at the layout, go to The Cradle.

Best fact of all: More than $2,500 was raised for the Feed The Pack Food Pantry at N.C. State University. If you feel the urge to make a donation, here's the link: Donate. To keep up with donations, please enter my name in the honoree line. And thanks to all who contributed to the success of the day ... my 68th birthday!