Time To Get Back Into The PG Golf Pool

The email from Matthew Campbell came earlier this week and immediately I couldn’t wait to open it up.

It was the annual invitation to the annual PG Golf pool, of which I have participated in the last three years.

It begins with this week’s Sentry Tournament of Champions.

I’ve been missing the pool since it ended last August when Rory McIlroy (TaylorMade TP5X) won the Tour Championship.

It costs $100 for an entry fee and there are cash prizes for the year-long tournaments and another one for the Majors.

You pick two players each tournament and you are only allowed to pick one player in a maximum of two times.

Henceforth I will spend far too much time researching, analyzing, strategizing and ultimately choosing my picks.

And for four days I will go through a litany of emotions from the time the tournament begins and ends.

I will cheer for my picks in each tournament and likely curse them when they fail to make a makeable putt or drive one of their shots into the water or out of bounds. If by chance they launch one into a dense area and run out of time looking for the ball and end up taking a penalty, well, I’ll go through the five stages of denial.

And then resolve that nothing can be changed and must accept what the golfing gods have to done to my picks and me.

Yes, ultimately I take it personally.

Okay, I’m being a bit dramatic.

But anyone who has participated in something like this probably understands.

The participants are allowed to partake in trash talk, which is part of the fun of pools.

I’m sure my wife is tired of hearing me in my man cave reacting to what’s going on.

Essentially I’m bunkered down for four days because I’m glued to the TV.

I know she hopes I would invest a portion of that time doing some chores around the household that I put on temporary hold.

I don’t mind doing them on the Mondays after the tournament has ended and my players have done well, but I don’t have nearly the same enthusiasm as when my players have faltered.

This year there the PGA Tour will be better than ever because of the agreement between the PGA Tour and some of its top players who will be participating more than in the past. It’s going to be tougher to suss out the field. I’ve had times in the past two years in which the players jumped out at me right away – like Scottie Scheffler (Titleist Pro V1) last year, and other times when I’ve tossed out some players who I liked and then watched them win or come close to winning.

That’s the thing about participating in a pool or, really, in any form of gambling. It can be so crazy, even if it’s for a small bet.

The good news about the PG Golf pool is there is always another week and a chance to ride the roller-coaster of emotions.

And I couldn’t be happier to begin doing that this week.

Everybody into the pool.