Chapter 58: Making the Cut

“Good morning, Alex,” my mom said as I stepped out of the en suite bathroom to get dressed. I was becoming comfortable enough with myself that I didn’t let the fact that mom was sitting on my bed staring at me, force me to run and hide. I decided that since I liked being nude, I wasn’t going to let her ruin that by over-reacting to her presence.

“Why don’t you wear the blue shirt today,” she suggested.

It didn’t matter to me so I began to get dressed while she watched me. I knew that whatever I wore would be covered in rain gear sometime later today.

This was not the kind of day the Chamber of Commerce talked about when they advertised their island. The skies were overcast and heavy with rain and the winds were whipping across the island at over twenty knots. Forecasters called for it to blow through this morning. I mentally went through how I’d trim the sails to make it through this storm.

Dressed, we made our way to the table for some breakfast. I was mildly surprised that everyone else was up this early.

“I called the clubhouse and they said they are going to delay the start of the tournament,” Dad told me. “The official announcement will come shortly. I have the TV on the Golf Channel to keep an eye on it.”

“Alex, after you went to bed last night, we received a phone call from Dr. Griswold. He said he was told that when we go to fly home after the tournament, the CIA plans to arrest one of your sisters at the airport and force you to cooperate. He also said he was told not to offer us asylum at the Embassy,” Cynthiana said as we sat having coffee. “I checked with some of my people and they said to be prepared for them to make her experience as unpleasant as possible. They also said not to give yourself up or offer to trade places. You’ll both end up disappearing.”

I made up my mind right then that no one would take either of us alive. And I would use all the power within me to leave a ‘scorched earth’ of the government behind. I began to formulate a plan as the others all talked around me.

It was later when we drove the 300 meters up to the clubhouse. They had delayed the tee times forty minutes, so now we teed off at 11:35. I was paired with Carlos Cavalcante from Brazil and Winston Jones from Harland, Kentucky. Carlos had played in the PGA for half a season but had not qualified to return, hence the Korn Ferry tour. Winston Jones, like myself, was a newbie on the tour having just graduated from the University of Kentucky.

Several players had seen my interview, (it had been run enough times on the Golf Channel), and stopped to say hi or wish me luck. But the general feeling was one of dread at going out in the storm to warm up or to start the tournament. Fortunately, common sense had prevailed and the start times were pushed back. That meant we would be finishing in the dark if the round ran much later. Of course, warming up today had gone out the window with the weather as well. Still, we had a little time to hit some balls before we teed off.

My first round of professional golf, even though I was playing on an amateur card, I thought was anticlimactic. Not at all like I had envisioned in my head all those months ago when I barely broke 90 and was dreaming of the tour. I shot a 34 on the back nine, and a 36 on the front for a respectable 2 under par 70. I left the course intending to make a quick getaway. I wanted to get back to the house to see what was going on with the government.

“Mr. Masters, could you come with me,” a tournament official asked as he pulled up beside me in a cart. Dad and I hopped on and wondered what now? He took us to a side entrance and said, “We had to move the interviews inside. That wind got the tent this morning.” After letting us out, he drove off. I guess he assumed I knew what I was supposed to do. Fortunately one of the Golf Channel producers was coming out and he told us they were looking for me inside.

They were finishing up with another golfer, so I had to wait a minute. Finally the producer said, “You ready, Alex?” I just nodded. “Good. Then don’t let them get to you. They’re just trying to make their deadlines.”

“Next is Alex Masters. Alex is an eighteen year old high school senior who’s playing his first Korn Ferry event on a sponsors exemption. His card is temporary amateur. He shot a 2 two under seventy for his round today. Questions?”

“Alex, how did it feel to play on your first tour event?”

“Alex, how did you cope with the wind out there today?” It had quit raining by the time we teed off.

“Did you get any hole-in-ones?” and “Why not?”

“What made you change clubs on the seventh fairway?”

“How does it feel to be one of only nine guys with sub-par rounds?”

“Wait! What!” I cried. “What do you mean?” I asked, wanting more information.

“Your 70 puts you tied for fourth place after the first round,” the reporter explained.

“Wow!” I said. “I didn’t know.”

The hardened professional reporters ate that up. “So you don’t watch the scoreboards?” one asked.

“What scoreboards? I didn’t see any scoreboards?” I replied honestly. Later, I learned that soundbite made ESPN and was shown over and over. I didn’t care. I was tied for fourth place after the first round of a professional golf tournament! And I had been so worried I’d fall flat on my face. I practically floated home.

You’d have thought I’d won the tournament the way Cynthiana reacted when she saw me. “You’re doing so much better than we thought you would,” she said.

Of course everyone hugged me and then dragged me to the table. Suddenly, I was starved! After the meal, we sat around discussing our options for getting off the island on Monday when Isabella came in.

“I just got off the phone with Alfred,” she said. “The boat will be fixed by Friday and they are sailing back to Paradise Island. They’ll be here sometime Sunday morning. He said for us to have provisions for at least a week at sea, but didn’t give me any particulars about where we were going.”

Of course everyone had questions and ideas, and the plans, minimal as they were, were accepted and expounded upon. After an hour, I got up to go shower and get to bed. I was teeing off early tomorrow morning. Sometime during the night, I discovered Kelly Ann in the bed with me. I just rolled over and hugged her and went back to sleep.

It was still dark when I went to the practice area Friday Morning. I had an hour and ten minutes before we teed off at 7:45am. I needed every bit of it to get loosened up and get focused on my game. The morning dawned crisp and clear. The dampness of the fairways and greens really helped. I finished the front nine with a respectable 32. The back nine was a little tougher as the greens dried out and the sea breeze picked up. I only managed a par round of 36 for a second round of 68. Combined with yesterday’s score, I was at six under for the tournament so far. Unless a bunch of guys shot some fantastic numbers, I should be playing the weekend.