Some years the golf is the story. Some years the golf is the price of admission. Alabama was a little bit of both.

For K2K19 we pointed the compass at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail and parked ourselves at Grand National in Opelika, one property with multiple courses, all of them gorgeous and none of them interested in our feelings. We played every round there, and every round reminded us that RTJ didn’t build these tracks for guys whose handicaps travel better than their games.

Let’s be honest up front: the scores weren’t our best. The courses were hard. But the weather was perfect all week, the scenery was pure Alabama spring, and the nights out in Opelika and Auburn more than made up for whatever happened between the tee box and the scorecard.

A Familiar Showdown

If the final day felt like déjà vu, that’s because it was. For the second straight year, the Cup came down to Terry and Ben, coming off Utah’s scorecard recount and very much aware of it.

Standing on the 18th tee, the math was simple and brutal. Terry needed to hole out for eagle to steal it.

Naturally, he hit his drive right, into the woods.

Most guys would’ve hit the polite punch-out and started thinking about dinner. Terry’s punch-out came screaming out of the trees, and it ran all the way up and scared the flagstick. For about a second and a half, the whole group believed it was going in.

It didn’t. Both players made par, the quota points held, and this time nobody needed a calculator to confirm it.

Back-to-Back

Ben Thompson won K2K19 and his 3rd K2K Cup, becoming a back-to-back champion. After years of chasing, Ben has turned into the guy nobody wants to see on the leaderboard on Sunday: steady, patient, and impossible to shake.

Terry, meanwhile, has now finished runner-up to Ben two years running, once by a recount and once by a few inches of flagstick. Somewhere a golf god is laughing.

The Takeaway

Alabama humbled our swings and spoiled us everywhere else. The courses were tough, the weather was perfect, and the company was the same as it’s always been, which is why we keep coming back.

Nineteen trips down. The road to Kapalua continues.

K2K19 – Champion: Ben Thompson (3rd Cup, back-to-back). Venue: RTJ Golf Trail at Grand National, Opelika, AL.