The 2006 Clark vs. Garda Nassau

Clark, top, and Garda at Tamarack West in East Brunswick, N.J.

Let us review the action from a recent match between Tom Garda and Casey Clark, author of Fairway Scriptures. Despite a few bad shots, the match will be remembered as a movement that will stand as one of the all-time greats in the Clark-Garda canon.

1st hole: Clark takes the hole with a tap-in for par. (An elaboration. The par-four first hole at Tamarack West is bordered along the left side by a massive driving-range fence. Garda has recently come upon a strategy to use this fence as a bumper, off of which he likes to bank his tee shot into the fairway. The strategy eliminates the danger from the woods on the right, and – if executed perfectly – leaves the player about 150 yards from the green. On this day, Friday Oct. 13, his plan backfired. Tom and the author watched in horror as his tee ball sailed over the 50-foot-high fence and into the range, O.B. Shell shocked, Garda blasted his second drive squarely into the fence, with marginally better results.)

2nd hole: Despite driving his ball into the pond and pulling his third shot well left, Garda halves the hole by getting up and down from the little bridge to the number 3 tee. This was an improbable turn of events, as Clark was on the green in regulation.

3rd hole: Clark halves the hole with a 10-footer for par.

4th hole: Garda again finds the pond, and launches his approach shot into a gaggle of women searching for a ball in the left rough. (The Old Bridge resident is particularly susceptible to catastrophic shots when playing through a slower group.) Clark takes the hole with a tap-in for par.

5th hole: At this point, with Clark 2 up and cruising, Garda makes his initial run. He chips and putts for an easy par to win the hole.

6th hole: push

7th hole: push. (Out of charity, let us not recount the numerous catastrophes on this hole.)

8th hole: push.

9th hole: Well now, we come to hole that has proven pivotal so many times, the par-3 9th. Garda needs to win the hole to push the front. Both players hit 8-irons to the left of the green. Playing first, Garda misreads the tricky slope of the green. Overconfident, Clark leaves his putt five feet short. Garda misses, Clark makes.

Now let’s look at the back side. Walking from the 9th hole to the 10th tee, Garda announces his intention to finish in 43, a significantly lower score than his front nine total.

10th hole: Two pars, push.

11th hole: Garda taps in for par to win the hole.

12th hole: As his six-foot par putt sneaks into the side door, Garda celebrates with an awkward twisting and hopping motion.

13th hole: Garda, stroking, wins the hole with a bogey.

14th hole: Garda’s tee shot on this difficult par 3 finds the sand, while Clark’s 8-iron lands pin-high on the green. Garda decides to putt out of the trap – a technique developed by Clark at Tamarack in the late 1990s – and knocks it dead for a tap-in par. The hole is halved.

15th hole: Garda’s approach shot lands on a beaver dam located in a swampy island left of the hole. A debate ensues, revolving around the strength of the dam, and the likelihood of a breach of rules. After careful maneuvering, Garda cleanly chips out of the hazard and saves seven. But Clark wins the hole with a tap-in bogey.

16th hole. The wet sand in the greenside bunker presents a formidable trap, from which Garda fails to escape. Clark wins the hole with a bogey.

17th hole. Both players were expecting great drama. Instead the hole played like a comedy of errors. Clark’s fat approach shot finds the water guarding the green. Garda’s fat approach shot is significantly fatter, therefore, it doesn’t even reach the water. There are all kinds of other shenanigans that aren’t worth mentioning. Garda wins the hole with a double bogey and closes out Clark on the backside.

18th hole. Now comes the drama. With the 18-hole match dead even, and Garda getting a stroke, both men arrive on the green facing par putts, Garda’s from 12 feet, Clark’s from 7. Garda misses, Clark makes. The hole is halved, and history is made.