A benign front nine gave way to a blustery back nine at The Palms golf course Wednesday in Mesquite, where the Scribe vaulted into first place in the JDP Invitational and Ahab shot the low round.
A hot putter led Jeremy “The Scribe” Peters to a net 72, good enough to move into first place alone with one round to play. John “Ahab” Peters dazzled with bunker play en route to a net 71, pulling into an overall tie for second with Laura Walsh, who fired a net 74. Sean Walsh posted a net 72 and Debbie Peters struggled to a net 81 to sit in fourth and fifth place, respectively.
Defending champion John Peters, playing on a newly-constructed left knee, repeatedly found himself in sand traps that may more aptly be called hard-dirt traps, but he made the task look easy, digging out soft-landing, high-arching shots that nestled close to the pin.
“It was quite a tough day out there in that sun, close to 100 degrees,” Peters said. “I was surprised, making the low round of the day, but it was brought on by that sand wedge of mine. Without that, it wouldn’t have happened.”
The sand wedge was a gift from the participating Walshes. It has a special grind on the sole that makes the shots a little easier from hard sand.
“If I can make the magic work one more day with that sand wedge, I wouldn’t be surprised if I end up winning the second annual event.”
The final round takes place Friday at Casablanca in Mesquite, where John Peters (18 handicap), will have to overcome a two-stroke deficit to Jeremy Peters (6 handicap) if he wants to repeat. Laura Walsh (18 handicap) is also two shots back and Sean Walsh (7 handicap) is three shots back.
Debbie Peters (25 handicap) is nine shots out of first, but can take consolation in cleaning house on Wednesday’s par-3 skins game. She won two of the four possible skins, with John taking the only other skin.
“It was very thrilling to win two skins today,” said Debbie. “I didn’t play all that well, but it’s all about the money for me, The Diva.”
If john Peters can find a way to win his second JDP, there will be no cash prize, but he will keep his name on the coveted green candle.
“John played really well,” Debbie said. “I was very happy for him, because he has a new knee and he tested it out and did really well, however we may have to break his other knee tomorrow, before the (final) round.”
There may be some practice in John’s plans for Thursday, because he said the final round at Casablanca will be all about the putting.
“If I have a bad time with my putting at the Casablanca, it could be a disaster for me,” John said.
