From the High Grass By: Chris Aumock
Why did I call this column, “From the High Grass?” It could be because I spend a lot of time playing from there, but it is because I actually enjoy playing those shots! Typically, most of us do not want to play from those positions, but I get excited. Its fun to try and play a creative shot or try something stupid! Does it work? I would say it is not even 50/50. Sometimes it feels epic, other times is as disastrous as you can all suspect. That still never brings down the excitement of trying to make something happen from a new lie or position. There is a particular memory that I come back to. For my family golf tournament, we have played a small par 3 course outside of Cloquet for years now, Big Lake Golf Club. The ninth hole there is right along the highway with a short, steep slope from the road to the playing area. The green is small, with a challenging, steep ridge right through the middle from left to right. Back right, a small little 42
wetland area, which shouldn’t come into play, but for this particular memory it unfortunately does! I sliced an iron to the right, put it on that slope next to the road and right of the wetland. Which left a need for a large flop shot over the wetland to a short-sided pin just above that ridge, from a downhill lie. Maybe it was because that was the first time it worked, but I still remember that ball stopping a few feet from the cup, leaving a simple par putt. That was fun, and it’s a memory that always kept me engaged with golf. These are the moments that make golf so engaging. You could play terrible for 18 holes, then drain a 20-footer on eighteen and the round is instantly more enjoyable. It’s that moment that keeps bringing people back to the game.
