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Golf course. The course is one of the fairest tests of putting skills due to the consistency of the carpets.
You hit a true putt; you get the expected results. Every now and then…a lucky putt would fall. April 8
was a cold day for practice, but dry. The talk among the players consisted of jokes, kidding and
complaining. Practice was as it was at any other tournament, no one suspecting of what was about to
happen the following day, April 9.

Saturday morning was cool starting off. It was 45 degrees, with a slight wind from the north. By the
time the tournament started, the temp would increase to 50 degrees with a harder wind, but still from
the north. Practicing putts with the wind pushing the ball, then playing in a tournament with the wind
blowing against the ball, can make a difference of about 2 – 4 inches – just enough to lag putts on holes
dependent on perfect speed.

Before the tournament, the practice round was as typical as a practice round should be when preparing
for competition. Those who have played in the PPA/APA long enough know that one can have a good
tournament even though the pre-tournament practice session was terrible, and a terrible tournament can
be the result even when a good practice session occurs. However, on this day, Baird was aware that he
was stroking the ball solid, and the holes were rewarding accurate putts. The first round of the
tournament did not reflect perfection, as Baird shot a 27. Nothing special, nothing embarrassing. His
playing partners for the tournament included Vince Batten and Daryl Freeman. Freeman, a National
Putting Champion, world record holder and PPA Hall of Fame member – Batten had accumulated
numerous state and national titles and a television contestant, were intense when competing, and both
wanted to beat the other two players in the group - convincingly. However, Baird was by no means out
of his league. He was a National Champion as well, with numerous national and state titles, and also a
PPA Hall of Fame member. The three players had played the Richmond #1 course hundreds of times
and were familiar to the course’s personality under various conditions – yet the chances of shooting an
18 could be ruined by a simple shift in the wind, a slide along a rail or an object that remained on the
carpet from a previous group or nature’s delivery…compliments of the southern wind – now blowing
north. Interestingly, Rick Baird was playing in Daryl Freeman’s group some years earlier and watched
Freeman make the first 16 holes, to only miss hole 17 due to an unusual roll coming off the back rail.
Baird was also in Vince Batten’s group when Batten missed hole 14 to shoot his 19. A spectacular
round, with limited discussion due to the missing hole 14. Baird had the honors due to making an ace
on holes 17 and 18 of his first round. As they started round 2, there was nothing that indicated history
was about to be made. As Baird’s group aced holes 1 and 2, hole 3 was a concern for Baird due to his
struggles with the hole in previous tournaments, his practice rounds and even the first round of the
current tournament. However, his playing partners must have forced
him into a deeper level of concentration because he hit the hole the only
way it could be played – perfectly. The aces continued through the front
nine for the group. At the conclusion of the front nine, Baird had a
perfect 9, Batten was two strokes back with an 11, and Freeman was
three strokes back with a 12. Out of 27 holes, the group had aced 22. The next few holes played as
expected. However, Baird knew from Batten’s previous experience, the round for 18 could be over
with a miscue. But Baird’s focus was more on the competition and maintaining pace with the other two
players in his group. Hole 14 was not the most troubling hole
on the course, but Baird knew that it needed to be played with
perfection as it needed to miss the cup to the right going up
and miss the pipe on the right side of the hole, hit the back
rail, and run back to the cup. The hole is about 18 feet in
Hole 14 length with a slight incline of about 2 inches, at an angle.
Baird knew he hit an off putt as soon as it left the putter. It