Out of Bounds
The second hole is a tough par four, dogleg right with two pot bunkers protecting the corner of the dogleg. Last week Buzz had tried to fly the bunkers but came up two feet short and ended up with bogey. Bradford wondered whether Buzz would play safe today.
A slight head wind made Dave’s choice simple. He needed to hit driver just to get within 200 yards, 3-wood wasn’t an option today. The hole fit Dave’s eye because it called for left to right fade, his natural shot. Dave’s drive was perfect.
Buzz considered trying to drive the bunkers again and probably recalled what happened last week. He chose 3-wood, and aimed for the center of the fairway. Even with the 3-wood, Buzz out drove Bradford by 10 yards. They were both a long way from the green, but in excellent shape. As Dave walked to his drive, he glanced over and caught Chris watching. She smiled and gave a thumbs up.
Tommy’s parents were in the family room watching television when a car pulled into the driveway. The driver honked the horn twice. Seconds later Tommy was bounding down the steps from his room, “see you later Mom, Dad, that must be Larry.”
“Where are you going, Tommy?” his mother shouted.
“One of the kids is having a birthday party and we’re invited. It shouldn’t be too late. I’ll be home by 1:00. See ya.”
“Okay, Tommy, make sure you call if you’re going to be late or need a ride. We love you.”
The parents returned to their television show, a rerun of “Mash,” as the car screeched out of the driveway, Tommy’s mother commented that in the morning she wanted to sit down with Tommy and talk about his friends and responsibilities. She wanted to know more about what her son was doing in the evenings. Tommy’s father grunted his approval.
They had been asleep for several hours when were awakened by the ringing phone. It was the call that every parents dread. “Is this the Lewis residence? Are you the parents of Tommy Lewis?”
“Yes, is he all right? What happened?”
“This is Dr. Parker at University Hospital. I’m sorry, but I have some terrible news. Your son, Tommy, is dead.”
The rest of the evening was a blur. They rushed up to the hospital hoping there was some mistake, but there wasn’t. About 3 AM they made the call to Tommy’s older sister, Chris, and told her the news. She was devastated.
Chris managed to catch a 7:30 AM flight from Boston to Chicago and then a commuter plane on to Milwaukee. She had not slept since receiving the phone call. She kept asking herself what went wrong. What could she have done differently? The siblings were close despite a ten year age difference. Tommy idolized his older sister and Chris adored Tommy. They would talk once or twice a week even after she went away to school. Chris believed Tommy would have confided in her if he had a problem with school or with a friend. It did not make sense that he died of a drug overdose as the doctor had suggested. If Tommy were doing drugs, she would have known.
Chris had been raised in a nice, middle class neighborhood in Brookfield, Wisconsin, a suburb just west of Milwaukee. She was blessed with good looks and intelligence and the ability to make friends. At Brookfield Central High School she had been class valedictorian and captain of the cheerleaders, an unusual combination. She chose the University of Wisconsin partly because it is only 70 miles from home and would allow her to see her family on weekends. She graduated with honors, Summa cum Laude, and earned a lucrative position in the international arbitrage department of a major brokerage house in Chicago. After three years, she was accepted into the Harvard MBA program. Now a year and a half later, she was six months from graduation with a lucrative Wall Street job already lined up. None of this seemed important.
Mom and dad were waiting as she got off the shuttle. She had offered to take a cab home but they wanted to see her as soon as possible. She embraced her mother and they cried for several minutes. Her dad looked like he had aged five years since she had seen him only three weeks ago. There were tears and hugs, but little comfort. They were all devastated.
Chris drove home and her parents told her what little they had found out. Tommy and his best friend, Larry, had gone to a party and apparently there were drugs. The police had received a 911 call about midnight but the ambulance was unable to resuscitate Tommy. He was dead on arrival at the hospital. They had not made any funeral arrangements other than to have the body taken to the Joeffery Funeral Parlor.
The next three days were tough for Chris and her parents. Friends and relatives stopped by offering their condolences. Sunday, Tommy’s friend Larry explained what had happened. They had heard about the party from a couple of girls. They didn’t know host but knew about half the kids there. Kids were smoking marijuana, but this wasn’t unusual. Tommy had tried it a couple of times, but didn’t like it. He may have had a drag or two at the party. He did have a couple beers and a glass of punch that was spiked with vodka, rum and who knows what. Larry thought that somebody spiked Tommy’s drink because they hadn’t taken any drugs; at least this was Larry’s story. The punch was flushed down the toilet before the paramedics arrived.
The autopsy said Tommy ingested a small amount of heroin, which combined with a congenital heart condition that no one had been aware of, induced the seizure and caused his eventual death. His heart condition was something that he had been born with and would have been a problem later in his life. Combined with heroin, it had been fatal.
Chris stayed home another week before returning to Boston. She was only six months from graduating but her life had changed dramatically. She no longer had the same desire to join a Wall Street brokerage firm and make a ton of money. Chris was ready when the DEA campus recruiter presented her with an opportunity to get even.
Bradford was 180 yards to the pin and pulled his 5-wood. It might be too much club, but the pin was in the middle and there was no trouble behind the green. He made good contact and the ball landed 20 feet to the right of the pin and rolled to the back of the green. Buzz was only 165 from the green and chose 7-iron. The shot looked perfect until a gust of wind seemed to knock the ball down 20 feet short of the pin. Still, Buzz would have an opportunity to make birdie.
Bradford chipped with a 7-iron from just off the back of the green and ended up pin high, two feet right of the pin. He went ahead and finished off his par while Buzz was lining up his 20-foot birdie attempt. The putt looked good, but came up inches short. They headed for the 3rd tee with Bradford clinging to his one hole lead.
Chapter 3
#2 Par 4 - 360 Yards
Chris and Ken