Oakland Hills Golfers Come Close; Miss US Four Ball Cut by 1 Stroke
By Susan Smiley
If only it were horseshoes Ken Hudson and Tom Gieselman would have been in business. But it was the first US Four Ball at The Olympic Club in San Francisco and the Oakland Hills duo found itself just one stroke shy of qualifying for match play after two days of stroke play.
Their 69-71 – 140 left them just one stoke over the 139 cut. Still, Hudson and Gieselman enjoyed the experience and felt they played well on a challenging course and on day two, in challenging conditions.
“I birdied 18 on the second day and sunk a bending 25 footer to get us to even par which we thought would be enough to make it,” said Gieselman. “We missed by one and we were pretty depressed. I was surprised because I thought that we played pretty well but we still did not make it to match play.”
Hudson and Gieselman did have the distinction of being in the first group to tee off for this USGA inaugural event.
“It was pretty special,” said Hudson. “I got a call this week asking for my club that I used to tee off and the club and golf ball are going to be in the USGA museum to commemorate a historic moment in USGA history.”
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Round one was on The Ocean course where both golfers saw some success. Hudson birdied 17 and Gieselman made a long putt that clinched the 2-under-par 69.
“We thought that was a pretty good score,” said Gieselman.
Round 2 was on The Lake course – which Jack Nicklaus dubbed as the longest short course you will ever play. The 25 mile-per-hour winds added to the distance and made for one of the more challenging rounds Gieselman has played on a course of any length.
“The yardage is 6900 but we were hitting mid and long irons into a lot of the par 4s,” said Gieselman. “I had an eagle on a par 5, Ken had a birdie on 12 to get us to 1 under on the day and 2 under for the tournament but we played the last five holes 2 over which put us at even par. We both played well but not quite well enough to make the cut. Still, it was a great experience.”
Hudson agrees course set up was tough but fair and he too felt that he and Gieselman played well. He would love to see his home club of Oakland Hills Country Club host the US Four Ball event sometime in the near future.
“It is just a very cool event,” said Hudson. “We got to tee it up against some of the best golfers in the nation and it was an honor to represent our home club and to represent Michigan.”
Hudson and Gieselman both traveled to San Francisco with their families and took in some of the sights: Alcatraz, the California redwoods, the Golden Gate Bridge, Nob Hill. Between the beauty of San Francisco and the beauty of the courses at The Olympic Club, it was a great week all the way around.
“People don’t realize that the conditions on a USGA course are much, much tougher than every day conditions even on a great course that you play every day, “said Gieselman. “The greens are very firm and the rough is very deep so you don’t get any roll. You really have to be on your game to be successful. The conditions are just much more on the edge.”
Gieselman said he was also surprised at how hilly the courses were.
“I don’t think I’ve ever played a course with that much undulation,” said Gieselman. “That made it pretty tough.”
“Living in Michigan, it is hard to do what you need to do to prepare to play in a tournament at this point of the season, “said Hudson. “But Tom and I did a good job over the winter of getting ready and he played really well. I would say our game was an A minus only because we did not make match play. Sometimes you play well but the ball just doesn’t roll into the cup. That’s golf!”
Even though they did not make it to match play, Hudson and Gieselman were proud to be the lone golfers representing Michigan at the US Four Ball.
“Because we were in the first group to tee off they made a big deal of it and had us sign a ball for a plaque that will be at the course to commemorate the event,” said Gieselman. “That is the great thing about golf; if you can meet the handicap index requirements, you can sign up and try to qualify and have a chance to play in a national event. It is pretty cool for the average working guy to do that.”
