Through the years, I’ve had the good fortune to play in some really special events. A US Mid Am, a State Am with a Ryder Cup captain caddying in the group, and the Gasparilla Invitational just to name a few. One of my favorite events was the Birmingham National Invitational. It’s a 54 hole mid amateur invitational on Country Club of Birmingham’s West Course. In the past it was staged the weekend after Memorial Day, but I believe it's been moved to the fall in past few years.
I can't say enough great things about the event. The course is amazing. The staff is super accommodating. You're treated like a member for 3+ days. Speaking of the members, every one I’ve encountered absolutely loves having the event each year, and seem genuinely glad to have you attending.
They have a dinner on Friday night of the event in their magnificent clubhouse. Danny Yates, the noted Atlanta amateur, was a speaker one year, and he told some entertaining stories.
I was invited to play in 2013 and 2015. In 2013, they were hosting the US Mid Amateur later that fall so Mid Ams from all around the country were in attendance getting an early look at the course. I played decent overall, but had some seriously penal mistakes on the 2nd day and posted something in the 80s.
In 2015, I was invited again and after my first experience I looked forward to the event for months in advance. I began my first round on 10, a straight away par 5 with a pond short and to the left of the green. I made a nice birdie to start the round, and then proceeded to hit one in really close to an extremely severe pin on the par 3 11th. I rolled that putt in and was -2 under thru 2.
I don’t recall much about the rest of the round, but I made some mistakes and posted a 3 over 74.
My second round, I played really solid throughout and was 1 under heading to the 18th. I really wanted to post a round under par, but made bogey and walked away with an even par round of 71.
Conditions must’ve been a little more difficult than I recall because scoring wasn’t particularly low either day. I was somewhere around 10th place and 5-6 shots back of the leader.
I arrive Sunday and begin to warm up, and the leaders begin their preparation just afterwards. Then it hits me that I’m kind of in the mix in this tournament, and there’s a ton of notable talent all around. USGA winners, USGA runners up, and countless major invitational winning talent. Tim Jackson (spoiler alert - the eventual winner), walked by and gave me a head nod, and I started thinking “Oh shit, I’ve never been in a situation like this before.” I became extremely nervous.
The nerves only increased when I started thinking about the first hole. It’s a short downhill par 4 about 380 yards. The fairway is guarded by trees, and on the left there’s a creek that comes in about 280 yards off the tee and begins to pinch in at an angle. The creek then runs right in front of the putting surface. Driver isn’t really the play. At the time, I was playing a Titleist 913F 17 degree 4 wood as my only fairway. It was the perfect club off that tee, but it was tiny, and I would’ve preferred a little more surface area on the face for that opening shot.
I chose the 4 wood, and somehow guided it into the fairway. I hit a very tentative iron into the green, and rolled it in for birdie. I didn’t make a complete embarrassment of myself, and played the hole solid even though I felt anything but solid. That gave me a little shot of confidence.
There are quite a few shots around the West course where you just have to step up and hit a quality shot. I knew what the situation called for and I continued to hit high quality shots. My iron play that week was maybe the best it’s ever been.
I made it to 14 and was 1 under. I really get anxious on the 14th tee, because I’ve always fought a big right miss and there’s a ton of trouble right. I hit my drive just off the fairway on the right, and pushed my approach to the right side of the green contending with the pond. It landed safely, and I ended up rolling the long birdie putt in to get to 2 under.
From there I really fell apart with some poor decisions and execution. A mishap leaving a short pitch below a slope on a par 5, two three putts, and a thin pitching wedge all contributed to playing the last 4 holes at 4 over. I ended up carding a 73 for the day, and in a tie for 11th for the tournament.
All in all, it was a great learning experience for me. Even though I didn’t finish off the final round, I played some really good golf when I was as nervous as I’d ever been. I still think if I’d been in that situation before, I could’ve finished off those rounds a little better and been in the mix at the end. Each day I was at least 2 under at some point in the round, and I finished the tournament at 5 over.
I hope to get back to CC of Birmingham and participate again. I had an exemption for the next playing of the event, which was in 2017, but it coincided with my honeymoon. Maybe in the next few years I can enter a few more events, put a few recent quality results on the playing resume, and they’ll have me back.
