September 11, 2008

CANFIELD, OH — Greg Long, a.k.a. Slick, arrived to Kennsington Golf Club on Wednesday just like he arrives to any course. He has his shoes, clothes, towels, cooler, snacks, first aid kit, markers, jacket, cigar lighter, golf bag, and power box.

He opened the front nine horribly. He played the first 7 holes in 44 strokes and 7 points. Before taking a 10 at the 7th hole, he reached into his bag for another ball, but came up empty.

"It was a first," said Long. "I have been running out of balls lately, but just dipped into my partner's bag while they were not looking."

Long played as a single, but rode with his 3-year old son. "My round came to a complete stop very quickly," said Long.

Facing a Virtual Tournament disqualification for running out of balls, he entered the nearby woods with his son. He looked for 5 minutes and returned with 2 muddy balls. "I am back in baby!" shouted Long from the woods. Long then took his second '2-stroke' drop at the 7th hole. He chipped and carded his lone 10 of the day.

Jason Watson asked, "Are you allowed to borrow or add golf balls to your bag while playing?" Long replied, "Yes. Rule 4-4a prohibits a player from borrowing a club from another player, however the rules do not prevent a player from borrowing other items like balls, towels, gloves, tees, etc. from another player or an 'outside agency' like the woods."

Greg found another ball at the 9th hole, which was enough to finish his 36 hole affair. "I really need to dump some balls into my bag," said Long. "I have hundreds of shag balls in the garage, but never remember to reload."

Long carded a record high 53 strokes on the front nine on Wednesday and 93 strokes total. "I have four kids now," said Long. "Breaking 100 is not an easy task anymore. Hacking is common place."

Slick slides down the Virtual Tournament Leaderboard considerably into 58th positionwith 54.4 points per round. He has not broken 60 points since mid-May.