Revenge is Sweet Part II

I played a bit of golf over the week as well, and learned that Tom Hanlon isn’t just a good Bridge and Omaha player, although when you gamble with Tom Hanlon on something, a €150 loss is a pretty good result.

I did have a great result in a grudge golf match with an old school friend, Darren Long, when I got back up to Belfast on Friday though. The grudge stems from about five years ago, when having not seen the guy for a while I met him in a local bar/pool hall. After noticing that I was considerably more drunk than he was, he challenged me to a game of pool for a nominal fee of £1. He knew the bragging rights that came along with it would be worth a lot more than the money involved.

He finished up with an easy black to the middle, but instead of potting it straight, decided to double it off the side cushion into the opposite pocket for the show-boat finish. This would be bad enough, but to rub more salt in my wounds he also looked up at me and winked as he played the shot. I have to hand it to him – it was a world class rub down. I felt like I’d just been slow-rolled in a 10k pot.

We’ve been meaning to get out golfing together for a while now and it finally happened on Friday, when we played on his home course where he’s about to become captain for the year. He’s an 8 handicapper and I hadn’t played this course in a couple of years, so I didn’t really hold out much hope of beating him (I’m not sure what I am but probably around 18-20).

Regardless, I suggested he give me a chance to win back the pound that he took off me, as I knew the upside of a highly unlikely victory for me greatly outweighed the downside of him beating me. He actually gave me a handicap and I won that match easily, but coming onto the last hole I was actually one up on him without the handicap and just needed to match him on the last to win off scratch (I’d have made myself a 50/1 shot for this at the start). When I tapped in my 18 inch par putt it was one of the most satisfying victories of my life in any game.

The most satisfying part was when I texted him later to ask if he thought I should use his pound to buy a lotto ticket or else keep it and use it as a card protector when I’m playing poker. He replied saying, “Maybe you should use it to buy one of those energy bars that you had on the back 9, for when you’re scamming your next victim… either that or else shove it up your arse”.

Mission accomplished.