Mulligan Tokens

When it comes to golf, I’m pretty casual about it.  I did try getting serious once and admit I chased the idea of “being great at it” for a while.  But not long after the countless buckets at the range and small fortune spent on green fees, my lower back problem would soon put an end to the pursuit.  If only my body could keep up with my skills, I’d be a pro by now (ha!  Not really).  Sometimes it does seem to go like my father-in-law says, “go big, or go home.” And three years ago, I went home. I just about hung up the ole’ golf clubs relinquishing as a mere loaner set to an ex-golf mate.  Yet still, I couldn’t help but keep them from becoming another craigslist listing anticipating the day when the course would beckon me to frolic again on its fairways and greens.

And sure enough last weekend the course came a’calling.  My good friend Jeff was moving out of state and the guys wanted to do something to give him a proper send off.  With the recent, unseasonably warm weather, golf just seemed like a good way to have some fun and spend good quality time with friends.  Like Matt said, “You really get to know someone after playing golf with ‘em…”

It is still technically winter so the greens weren’t the greenest, but it was plenty enough for a bunch who hasn’t been out for quite some time, with me leading with a 3-year hiatus.  But that also meant the crowd was low and we’d have plenty elbow room to hack away.  And so our handsome 5-some headed for a 2pm tee-off on what turned out to be a beautiful, sunny Saturday afternoon.

[ From left to right: Jeff, Matt, Kris, Brian, Leo ]

I’ve known people to say, “I’m terrible at [golf], but I love to play…” There is definitely a certain euphoria about being on the fairway with comrades.  And for most with less than refined skills, scramble or “best-ball” really keeps the frustration meter needle in the fun-zone.  So in order to keep the spirit of fun and still keep it competitive, we employed a slightly different set of rules I devised and coined (pun intended!), Mulligan Tokens.

With a group of presummably ”shankers and slicers” and with varying level of experience behind the club, let alone the fact we were one too many of a foursome, the rules were intended to maintain the pace of the game and also level the playing field.  Here’s how it goes:

Each golfer recieves 9 mulligan tokens at the start of the game.  Use of the tokens is limited to getting yourself out of a “sticky” or “wet” situations and you would give the token to the player whose on the fairway or green, but whose position is the furthest from the hole.  At which point you can place your ball at the same position to take your next shot.  Stroke penalties do not apply when you use a mulligan token and the use of the token is completely at your discretion.

Scores are counted as usual, but at the end of the game… each mulligan token received from another player deducts a stroke from your total score.

Regardless of how long any of us had been off the club, it really did seem like riding a bike – you never forget the feel of the swing, although some of us, myself included, could have used the training wheels again at many points in the game.  I wasn’t sure how everyone took to the unfamiliar house rule.  All seemed hesitant to give out any mulligans tokens despite their less-desirable situation in the beginning.  For me, however, it didn’t take me long to hand out my first to Kris after the tee-off at hole #2.  And then again after my second shot on the same hole!  Here below at hole #3, we can see Jeff insistent to hold on to his mulligan tokens…

Soon, however, everyone started catching on that players who would have otherwise triple-boggied a hole are scoring only boggies and even pars with the help of their tokens.  Whether it was a slice, a hook, or a shank that plagued each player, it was enough to turn just about all us into “customers” [for better position] using mulligan tokens as currency.

In the end, I think the way we played the game served the original idea.  The total hack was kept at a good pace and maintain a score with some dignity.  The guy who can drive 300 yards straight didn’t worry about giving away tokens … but didn’t receive any either since his positions wasn’t the furthest back.  And perhaps it was the player who played it safe who benefited most from the tokens.  But most importantly, it really did add an element that added laughter at every mulligan token exchanged.

The final results goes as follows.  Matt proved to be one of the more consistent golfer that day scoring 52 all on his own – there were no Janssen tokens to be had that day.  But his long distance range also took him out of the running for tokens, so he received none.  Matt’s final score – 52.  Kris and Jeff was able to keep their score down to 53 using their mulligan tokens.  And coincidentally both received 5 tokens from other players.  Kris and Jeff’s final score – 48.  Brian managed to turn in a score 52 handing out his own tokens and receiving 1 during the process.  Brian’s final score – 51.  And for me… well it turned out I was the hack of the day.  I turned in a total score of 58 even with the help of 3 tokens that bailed me out.  But I did learn early to put away with the drivers and to stick with just the irons to play the 80 year-old’s game (as Brian puts it) – short, safe, and steady.  My strategy paid off and my terrible total score was complimented by the 7 tokens I did recieve from other players.  My final score – 51.  So in the end, I thought the tokens kept it well paced, leveled, and fun.

Those who couldn’t tee up with us, including Brandon, Karl, and Josh caught with us for dinner a local favorite send off spot at Texas Road House.  And later, we capped off the night with a show and a good doze of profanity and racial slurs with Eastwood’s new one - “Gran Torino”.  It was a good movie, but the harsh dialog was unexpected.

It was a beautiful day spent to celebrate a friendship and we’re all sad to loose some of its capacity in our lives.  We’ll miss ya Jeff … so it’s good you’ll only be four hours away!

[ Gallery, Mulligan Tokens ]