Two years ago, I was asked to join a friend and two guests for a round of golf. One of those guests
was a new sports anchor for the recently launched CNN/SI network. I knew right away I did not like this guy. He
was young, good looking, successful, and he beat me at golf that day. Well, as it turned out, he cheated. No, just
kidding. It turned out that he would soon become one of my best friends in the world. Now, here we are, on one
of the most exclusive courses in the world, in one of the most impressive areas of the world, having just watched
our favorite sports team play in the Super Bowl. I guess this is what is called, “having a good day”.
Justin Farmer is a name many sports fans will
know from his days at CNN/SI. His family name will be familiar to most Atlanta's since his father is Don Farmer,
the former WSB Channel 2 news icon. Now before you all cry “nepotism” and such, let me tell you...Justin paid his
dues and then some, working his way up the t.v. ladder. Albany Georgia, are you kidding me? That is where he started.
And he also spent years in West Palm Beach Florida, great if you are looking for a winter home...not necessarily
a television broadcasters utopia. But West Palm did have some advantages like....
“Wow”, I kept saying to
myself, “Bear Lakes Country Club”. I have read about it in Golf Magazine, and the zillion celebrities on its membership
roster and whose pictures frame the walls speak for themselves. Justin likes to tell the story of how he was once
on the putting green and a gentleman asked to if it was okay if he and his son teed off first. Justin said “sure”.
He had no choice..that man was Jack Nicklaus.
After checking in with the shop and taking a
few practice putts, we were on the first tee. We had to hurry...Celtic legend Bob Cousy and his group were behind
us and I doubt they would stand for being held up by us hacks.
Hole number one, I teed off with a strong wind behind
me. I probably drove the ball 300 yards..no joke. And it only missed the fairway by about 25 yards. Justin’s tee
shot (sorry bro, as a journalist...you understand...I have to tell the story), was topped about 50 yards. It would
have rolled 75 yards, but the ground was wet. I hit a wedge from the next fairway over, over some trees..and within
4 feet of the cup. Justin tops another shot. He then hits a mid iron to the middle of the green. I missed my short
birdie putt. Justin’s long par putt just misses. He taps in for bogey. I have a great hole, he has a nightmare
hole...I’m only up one. Something seems amiss.
Both Justin and myself admit to being great
Atlanta sports fans, but there is one team above all else that we have lived and died (mostly died) by. The Atlanta
Falcons. From the days of Steve Bartkowski, Wallace Franics, Greg Brezina, Fulton Kuykendall, John James, Joel
Williams to David Archer, Junior Miller, Jeff George (yikes!), Andre Rison, Eric Metcalf, etc., this has been our
team. We admit, even with all of the Braves’ success....they really don’t hold a candle to the Falcons in our hearts.
So the promise was made almost two years ago. If the Falcons ever make it to the Super Bowl, we will go there to
see it. Yeah right, we thought. And if hell freezes over....
I made a great sand save (if I do say so myself) on #3
to stay even par. Didn’t matter, Justin knocks his wedge shot about 4 inches from the hole to tap in for birdie.
We are tied after I make a bogey on #4 when I was robbed by another poorly placed bunker behind the green. As always,
a close match. We never finish more than 5 shots apart. Justin’s golf swing is not exactly textbook, but every
pro we have played with tells him to not change a thing. It is compact, powerful, and at times, incredibly accurate.
I once saw this man reel off five birdies in a row at Towne Lake Hills, and I kid you not, the first time he ever
played Cobblestone, he was four under par...after only three holes. Yes, you read right. Eagle (pitched in from
100 yards), birdie (7 iron to 2 feet), birdie (15 foot birdie putt) to start. I promised I would not mention the
double bogey on hole #4 when he skulled his tee shot into the water. The swing is quite similar to that of another
Justin...Justin Leonard. Let us not get too carried away with that comparison...Leonard has won at least one more
British Open than Farmer.
On hole # 8, I hit....no joke...what
may be the greatest shot of my life. With an awkward downhill, sidehill lie; 185 yards out straight into a 20 mile
per hour wind, hitting out of the rough to a thin green with water all the way down the right side, I put a 3 iron
to six feet of the hole. Justin had almost the exact same shot. He did not hit the shot of a life. I made a birdie,
Justin - well, not a birdie. I now have a lead again.
Justin and I have had the opportunity to play
together on some of the greatest golf courses in the world. It was he that introduced me to the TPC at Sugarloaf,
right here in Atlanta. For his wedding, we went to Dallas where we played the TPC at Los Colinas. Last year, we
took a golf trip where we played the TPC at Sawgrass and The Cloister at Sea Island. Bear Lakes was another unbelievable
chapter in this great golf saga we are on. Next year, Augusta. Do you hear me dear friends in green jackets?
I found out
about Justin’s journalistic pedigree (his famous dad) - six months! after meeting him - and from some girl at the
office. In other words, he is not the type to announce such things. I found out last week that he has a closer
connection to the Falcons than I had even known; as a kid, he was a ballboy for the team. Two years after meeting
him, I find this out. No, he is not one to brag about his accomplishments or his past....good thing too, since
I’m up five shots on him at the turn.
For some strange reason, I am playing particularly
well today. Justin is making par after par to try and close the five shot lead I have, but my putter is sizzling.
I make a 25 foot putt on #9 to save par, a 15 footer on #11 to save par, and a 60 foot chip/putt on #14 for birdie.
Justin is playing solid golf, as he almost always does. He drives the ball long and straight, one of the purest
ball strikers I’ve ever seen. His irons tend to be solid and his wedges can be phenomenal. His putter is streaky,
but when it is on...there is none better. Today, it is not on. It is not bad, but the birdie putts just aren't
dropping for him. I think my lead is safe.
The sad truth about the television business
is that nothing is permanent. Justin is not only good at golf, he is very good at t.v. When Salt Lake City came
calling last year, he had to answer. He is now the number one sports anchor at KTVX in Utah, (I won’t even mention
the Olympic scandal that our city didn’t have to deal with, or the failure of the Jazz in the NBA Finals). I hated
to lose my pal and golfing partner to land of ski slopes and Mormonism, but it was the right move for him. I hope
he finds his way back to Atlanta though. When does Chuck Dowdle retire?
The last four holes at Bear Lakes are brutal.
Not only are they long and hard, but they are directly into the wind. Justin, who has been winning the long drive
contests all day, doesn't seem concerned. He shouldn't be, he drives his ball right down the pipe on every hole.
Too bad he is six shots back!
I have one more note of glory for me. On #17,
my ball misses the green by a mere 40 yards. I am ten yards behind a big oak with the green and pin directly on
the other side. My trusty lob wedge comes through, a majestically high floater that clears the tree and lands,
spins, and stops five feet from the cup. Of course, I miss the putt, but the shot will live in infamy. (If only
I hadn't been out with Eugene Robinson the night before...) Justin could not be happier for me, as if he had hit
the shot himself. You’ve got to love playing with this guy.
Hole #18 summarizes Justin’s golf game. His
drive splits the middle, but his iron (a long iron shot) finds an impossible bunker to the right of the green.
He blasts out of the bunker, absolutely as well as possible..but he is 20 feet from the hole. There is a lot of
money riding on this hole, and all of us know it. Five feet - five feet!!! - off the putter blade, Justin tells
us, “I did it.” A half second later, we know he is right. The ball drops and the man just made the par of a lifetime.
I played great that day and made a double bogey on that impossible hole. When the guy needs a shot or a putt, he
almost always comes through.
I wish every golfer could have a day like we
had this day. Great golf, great weather, a great course, and a great friend. It just doesn't get any better than
that. Justin will do great in t.v. broadcasting, it would not surprise me for him to be covering future Super Bowls
from the booth instead of the seats. Still, I will always think of him as a friend first, and golfer next, and
then the t.v. whiz. Oh...and Mr. Cousy...if you are reading this...I shot 79, so it wasn't me holding up the group.
