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Doug Moe: Golfer 'tees one up' and duffs it in front of Tiger

Doug Moe  —  9/27/2007 11:56 am

THIS IS a story about a Madison guy, Todd Barwick, who played golf last week with Tiger Woods.

Barwick, 39, entered a contest and hit the jackpot, and he has a great story to tell.

The thing is, I can't get another guy, who plays only a minor role in Barwick's story, out of my head. I don't even know this fellow's name, but I can't stop thinking about him. I feel his pain. If you play golf, you will too.

But first, Mr. Barwick. He told me this week he is originally from Menasha, and has lived in Madison for about 16 months. He describes himself as an average golfer who does not play all that much. "Mostly in scramble events for charity," Barwick said.

But when he heard about the "Tee It Up with Tiger Woods" sweepstakes promotion this past summer, Barwick didn't hesitate to enter.

Sponsored by Nike and Golf Digest -- two of Woods' corporate affiliates -- the sweepstakes offered golfers a chance to find specially-colored Nike golf balls distributed in random boxes to golf retailers across the country. There were 1,000 such balls. If you found one, you were eligible to enter online for a chance to be one of 23 people who would get an expenses-paid trip to Florida to play golf with Tiger.

It was "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" for golf nuts.

Barwick was one of the lucky 23. He found out a few weeks ago when his cell phone rang and someone asked if he was available for travel to Orlando, Fla. from Sept. 18-20.

Barwick said pretty quickly that he was available.

He flew to Florida last week Tuesday. "They paid for everything," Barwick said. "It was an incredible trip."

Incredible, that is, if you think you would like being met at the airport by a chauffeured automobile and driven to your 2,400-square-foot private condominium at the Ginn Reunion Resort, where you received a goody bag that included a red Nike polo shirt, a Tiger Woods cap, a dozen golf balls, a towel, money clip and, later that evening, a steak dinner.

"They treated us like kings," Barwick said.

The next morning, Wednesday, the lucky 23 were driven to the Arnold Palmer-designed golf course where they spent an hour getting the chance to try out all kinds of new Nike golf equipment.

The format was explained to them: Each foursome would start on a different hole. Tiger Woods would stay on the tee of the second hole, a par 3, and play the hole with each group as they came by. He would then hit a drive with them on the par 4 third hole before returning to the second tee.

Barwick's group started on the eighth hole, so they played 11 holes before encountering Woods. They were standing on the tee when Tiger came driving up alone in a golf cart, hopped out and said, "Hi, I'm Tiger Woods." He shook everyone's hand and "couldn't have been nicer," Barwick said.

Playing the second hole, a par 3 of about 150 yards, Tiger hit first. He pushed his short iron just right of the green, near the top lip of a sand bunker. "Darn it," he said.

The first two members of Barwick's foursome hit reasonable shots. The first player put it in the bunker and the second guy actually hit the green. "I had to follow that," Barwick said.

Was he nervous?

"What do you think?" he said. "I'm hitting a shot in front of the best golfer in the world."

Somehow Barwick drew the club back and hit a decent shot, a solid strike that he pushed into the right bunker.

Then the fourth and last member of Barwick's group teed it up. He swung and nearly missed the ball, sending it skidding along the ground short of the forward tee.

He buried his head in his hands and said, "I can't believe I duffed it in front of Tiger Woods."

For the rest of the round, Barwick said, the man was muttering to himself.

I know why. All golfers love stories, and now, whenever this guy tells his story of playing a hole with Tiger Woods, people are going to ask, "How did you hit it?" And he will reply: "I duffed it short of the forward tee."

Tiger, incidentally, hit his chip from an awkward stance to within a few inches of the hole. Barwick blasted his bunker shot over the green, into another bunker. Climbing out of the first trap, he asked Woods, "Any advice?"

Tiger grinned. "Good luck," he said.

Heard something Moe should know? Call 252-6446, write P.O. Box 8060, Madison, WI 53708, or e-mail dmoe@madison.com

Doug Moe  —  9/27/2007 11:56 am