2009 ILCRICC

By Quetzel Miller III

Cedar City, Utah - Putts were made. Eagles were scored. Clubs were thrown. Unmentionables were said. The ILCRICC was a rollercoaster ride for more than one competitor in this years surprisingly small field of players.

After day one of play, Jim Archibald (who last year finished a disappointing third after a final-day meltdown) stood at +2 with a five stroke lead over Edward Archibald. Jessica Salmon, a new competitor in the AGA Tour circuit, finished with a frustrating 82. Both Jim and Edward had eagles and birdies throughout the day, but had a few bad holes on the back nine that turned their rounds from good to disappointing. Jessica stayed at a steady mediocre for the entire day, which was not surprising for a new entrant in what is known to be the most competitive, highly-acclaimed tour world-wide.

Both Edward and Jim started the day off steady with three solid pars in a row. Jessica fell further behind, three-putting the first hole and bogeying the next two, narrowly avoiding throwing her putter into the drink. Competition stayed fierce until hole 7 when Edward bravely tried to cut too much off the corner with his drive on the sharp dog-leg right hole and lost his ball, having to hit a provisional. He ended up double-bogeying the hole, which was his only major mistake on the front nine. Jim stayed consistent over the front nine, making the turn at +5 for the tournament with Edward at +9. Jessica seemed to be out of contention at +15.

It was all downhill from here for Jim and Edward. Jim three-putted the tenth hole for bogey and bogeyed two of the next three holes. Edward started off bogey-bogey. Meanwhile, Jessica was starting to find her game (too late?) starting off par-par-birdie. This fierce play seemed to come out of nowhere and caught both Jim and Edward by surprise as they had discounted the rookie as having made it on tour by some shady case of nepotism.

Although it seemed like things could not get any worse, they did. Jim managed to double bogey two holes by hitting balls out of bounds. It seemed like last year's melt down was coming back to haunt him.

Instead of giving up and throwing in the towel (or throwing his whole set of clubs into the bunker) Jim fought the urge and found his game. He finished out strong, birdying the 18th to finish at +11 for the tournament. Although he was disappointed with his final round performance, the field all struggled just as much and he managed to pull out the victory. Both Edward and Jessica finished at +15, a disappointment for the rising star Edward but a great final round for Jessica Salmon who we hope will make many more appearances on tour in years to come. All players were too frustrated with the game of golf to comment, but I have it on good authority that they will not give up the game. Yet.