Best Intentions Gone Awry

The golf ball rocketed off his club face.

It launched toward the stratosphere in a manner you do not see from players at a local course.

It arced gracefully from right to left, as intended, and landed in the middle of the fairway approximately 275 yards away.

He made it look easy.

Following his tee shot was the dreaded announcement, “Next on the tee, from Glencoe, Illinois, Mr. Steve Fradkin.”

The Pro Am crowd offered their obligatory applause.

I barely noticed.

I had other urgent concerns competing for priority in my head.

Keep your head down.

Bend your knees.

Hold steady and do not sway.

Do not grip the club like a baseball bat.

Go slow with your backswing.

Swing through the ball.

Do not miss the ball.

These competing concerns were dwarfed by my paramount fear of striking an errant tee shot and hitting a spectator.

It was not the most confident mindset to start a round of golf.

Technically, we were playing together in a foursome.

This description, however, is misleading.

While we were in the same group, we played very different games.

His shots were long when they needed to be, straight when that was his objective, and he made putting look easy at the world class Riviera Country Club course in Pacific Palisades, California.

Of course, that is expected of a player who ranked number one in the world for 56 weeks.

My shots, on the other hand, were aberrant.

I zig-zagged my way across the course with shots alternately ricocheting off food trucks, sponsor tents and even television towers carefully positioned and, theoretically, out of play.

It was a humiliating and humbling experience.

The professional in our foursome that day was Luke Donald, a mega-star who hails from the town of Hemel Hempstead, located northwest of London, England.

The night before the Pro Am, after our foursome was announced, I reviewed his credentials.

They were impressive.

His biography is the dream of aspiring professional golfers.

“Mr. Donald won the individual NCAA Division 1 Men’s Golf Championship beating the scoring record formerly held by Tiger Woods. He has 17 professional tour wins and has numerous awards and credits to his resume including: the Fred Haskins Award; PGA Tour leading money winner; Vardon Trophy; Byron Nelson Award; PGA Player of the Year; PGA Tour Player of the Year, European Tour Race to Dubai winner; European Tour Golfer of the Year; and, Member of the Order of the British Empire.”

Pro Am guests crave the opportunity to be paired with players of this stature.

I have an entirely different perspective.

For me, it brought a knot to my stomach.

Luke Donald was the kind of player crowds like to follow.

Crowds are the last thing I want to see when I play golf.

The good news, on the other hand, was that the players rounding out our foursome were reasonably proficient golfers and were excited about the experience.

For them, playing in the Pro Am with a former world number one would be a golf highlight.

My personal highlight of the day was more modest.

It would occur after my last tee shot on the eighteenth hole.

It was not a highlight because I would have a particularly nice drive but, rather, because it meant that I could put my driver back in my golf bag, relieved that I would not have to use it anymore on the course.

We finished the round with handshakes, photographs and autographs with Luke and then, over lunch, it was suggested that we relive our glories a few months later on a course in Chicago.

This is when the problem began.

The idea was simple - a round of golf with friends as we recall our tales of playing with Luke Donald in the Pro Am.

I stepped up to plan the event and decided to surprise the group, and make it more fun for them, by inviting Luke to join us for the rematch - even though I knew he would not be available.

It was a bad idea that I did not fully appreciate at the time.

I sent an email to the foursome, including Luke, proposing a date and location.

Luke responded first saying something along the lines of, “Thank you for the invitation, I have played that course and it is wonderful. Unfortunately, I have to defend my crown at Wentworth[1] that week so will be unable to join you. Have fun!”

It could not have been a better response and I was certain the group would enjoy it.

In short order, the others responded to my invitation and Luke’s email as well.

The first response was something to the effect of, “Sounds great, I look forward to it and, Luke, sorry you will not be able to join us. Best of luck at Wentworth.”

The last response came just a few seconds later.

I literally jumped out of my chair as I read it.

The summary version was along the lines of, “Thanks for the invitation. That would be good fun. Luke, sorry you will not be able to join us. I know your tee shots are weak right now so you might want to consider skipping Wentworth.”

The note shocked me, particularly since it was from a kindhearted person.

I immediately picked up the phone and called him.

“Joe,” (not his real name), I said, “What were you thinking in sending that email?”

“Oh,” he said, “I knew that was not Luke’s real email address and that you made it up as a gag.”

“No,” I replied, “You actually just told the number one golfer in the world that his game is not up to par.”

Suffice it to say that once Joe realized I was not joking, he was horrified by his message -- and remains so to this day.

Fortunately, Luke took it in stride.

Perhaps he was even motivated by the exchange.

While we enjoyed our redux and Pro Am memories, Luke Donald went on to win his second consecutive title at the Wentworth Club and regained his world number one ranking.

I suppose his tee shots were not so bad after all.

Sometimes, best intentions go awry – but they can work out in the end.

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[1] Wentworth Golf Club is a championship golf course located in Surrey, England.