Today we are featuring Inklings Book Contest 2022 finalist Sai Ramamurthy. Sai finished 5th grade this past school year and wrote a story called “The Ball Swap.” Our judge said that Sai’s character is “well developed with insightful coming of age themes and a good message about the importance of perseverance.” Enjoy!
THE BALL SWAP
By: Sai Ramamurthy
It was a cool, bright day, with a light breeze, perfect for playing golf. Collin loved to play golf ever since his father started teaching him at age eight. It had been five years and Collin was now playing in junior tournaments. His late father had been a great golfer himself, who had almost made it to the PGA Tour. Collin wanted to be a great golfer like his dad. He had his dad’s lanky build and powerful swing. He knew that his father was in heaven, and would always be with him, cheering him on, and Collin wanted to make him proud.
Collin was currently on his fourth hole of a junior tournament he was playing in Rancho Santa Fe, California. He was in the lead, with another junior golfer in second place one stroke behind him. But the fourth hole was the hole that he disliked the most on this golf course. After his drive, he was right on the fairway. But on both sides of the green, there were two bunkers. If he was short of the green, his ball would end up between the trees. But if he hit it too far, it would end up in the lake. That would be a disaster.
Collin felt confident that he wouldn’t mess up the shot. In the past two rounds, he hit the ball right onto the green. His specialty was using his irons and short game. He was using his lucky ball today, a Titleist Pro V1 that his dad gave to him when he was ten, before he died of lung cancer.
Dad had handed him the ball, saying, “This is my lucky ball. It helped me win the Emerald Hills Open in 2007. I am passing it down to you.” Since then, the ball had helped Collin mow through the standings many times.
“Try the seven iron for your shot again,” his caddie Tim suggested. “It should give the ball a little bit of loft to get your ball over the trees, but enough power to land it on the green.”
Collin had his seven iron out and was ready for the 137-yard shot. He concentrated on the ball, took a swing back, swung forward powerfully, and then hit the ball. He took a swing to hit a high ball over the trees, but without enough power, it plummeted into the trees.
His heart sank. He couldn’t play well without his lucky ball! Being on the verge of tears, he felt like breaking his seven iron in half.
What have I done?! Collin thought. This is not good, not good at all! I just lost the ball that was passed down from my father.
“Don’t worry,” his caddie Tim reassured him. “We will look for it somewhere in the trees. Drink some water and we will go and get it.”
They searched in silence where the ball had dropped in the tall grass. Collin had five minutes to find his ball and take his shot. If they didn’t find it soon, he would have to use a new ball and take the shot.
“It’s not over here,” Collin called to his caddie. “See anything from where you are?”
“I found a ball over here! Oh, sorry. It’s definitely not yours,” Tim shouted.
Collin’s ball was marked with a C, but Tim had just found a plain, old Callaway ball.
“It has been five minutes. Just use another ball. It’s no big deal,” Tim said.
No big deal?! Collin thought. That’s what he thinks. He doesn’t even know.
Collin felt like shouting at Tim that it was a big deal, but he bit his tongue. He just took a few deep breaths and picked out a new ball from his golf bag. He flashed back to what his dad had told him,
“When you lose a ball, you’re just going to have to get on with the game.”
Collin had to drop his new ball in front of the trees to take his shot. As he was walking, his shoulders tightened and he began breathing hard. He started hitting the ball terribly. Some of his drives ended up in the rough. He wasn’t making enough putts, even easy ones. He finished the round tied for fifth place, with a score of -10 total. He was three strokes behind the leading players.
“You need to sharpen up, Collin,” Tim said as they left the course for the day. “If you want to win, you are going to have to concentrate.”
Collin’s chances of winning were slim. He had just finished the third round and had only one round left in the tournament. He would have to play exceptionally on the final day.
After the competition rounds, Collin returned in the early evening to practice his shots. No matter how much he tried, he just couldn’t hit the ball straight and far; it kept hooking to the right or left. Maybe this is just because I don’t have luck, Collin thought. Wait! Maybe I just need to hit the ball better, to concentrate, and work on my hip movement. Make good follow-throughs.
He kept practicing, focusing on his shot, and soon he was hitting the ball far and straight. Now he had a shot at winning.
The next morning was the final round of the tournament. The weather was already getting hot on the course. Collin wiped the sweat off his forehead and adjusted his golf cap. He was going to battle for the win! For his first two holes, he made pars, so his score didn’t go up. Suddenly, his play rapidly improved. He made birdies on the next three holes! He was still one stroke behind the leading players. Throughout his next eight holes, he got a score of +2. By then, one of the leading players had pushed ahead to three strokes ahead of Collin. He had five holes left to play. This felt impossible, but he reminded himself, Concentrate!
“You have to pull off even more great shots if you want to win this thing,” Tim said, handing him his driver. “You can do this! Make more birdies using your irons to get as close as you can to the hole.”
On the 14th hole, he couldn’t manage a birdie, but he got a par. After that, his irons took the ground. His shots to the hole were extremely close, so Collin got easy birdies. On the 17th hole, however, he barely made a birdie since his ball had landed in the bunker. As he looked back on the 17th hole, it triggered a memory of watching his dad at that very hole.
His dad had looked up after the shot. “Never give up,” he told him. “Even if you are losing by ten strokes, never give up! Play your best game until the end. It is not about where you are in the standings, it is just another chance to improve your game.”
Collin picked up his ball and placed it on the tee. It all came down to the last hole. Collin was tied for first with another junior pro-golfer, Thorsten Fannon. They both had a score of -14 Both were on the last hole, which was a par. Thorsten passed close to Collin to take his shot.
“You’re going down!” Thorsten whispered to Collin through gritted teeth.
Thorsten drove first and hit the ball straight down the middle of the fairway. He pumped his fist feeling confident. Next, Collin drove his ball into the rough. Luckily, Thorsten, on his second shot, put his ball into the rough on the opposite side of the green. Thorsten’s face fell and he roughly shoved his club into his bag. It all came down to their next shot.
Thorsten was farther from the hole, so he took his shot first. He looked at the ball, then to the hole, and then back at the ball. He then set his feet and hit his chip shot. His ball landed far away from the hole, but it rolled all the way until it was about a foot from it.
That was an amazing read and shot, Collin thought. I hope I can do as good as that. If I mess up, I will get a bogey, which makes me as good as done for.
Collin took his read and stepped up to his ball. Collin felt like all the pressure was on him. All pairs of eyes were focused on Collin and his ball. He swung back a little and hit the ball lightly. The ball landed about a few yards away from the hole and started bouncing toward it. It looked like the ball was going past the hole, but it curved a little and…went in! The crowd was silent for a moment, but then erupted into cheers.
While Thorsten stood there in disbelief, Collin threw his hat high up into the air in celebration. He had won!
All I needed to do was concentrate, Collin thought. My dad’s lucky ball is still out there, but I just needed to find my dad’s words. No luck needed!
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