
When we approached the first green I noticed something else different - there was no flag marking the hole location. There was, however, a golf club sticking out of the hole. Upon closer inspection, I realized it was a club from my bag - the caddy had run ahead and stuck it in there for us. When we found the same problem on the second green I asked Gerald, the 'Caddy Master', where their flags went. He told me "The man who puts the flags out didn't come to work today." Ahhhh, Haiti. I just smiled and continued on. This is Haiti, after all, and to get a chance to play golf here is such a treat - almost nothing can wreck it. Almost...but we'll get to that in a bit.



Her second swing started out beautifully, straight takeaway, smooth tempo, beautiful contact with the ball....and then the strangest thing I've ever seen. I heard the club strike the ball and saw it sailing off - but then it reversed direction and came straight back at Britt. By the time I turned I saw the ball ricocheting off her face and hitting her in the shoulder. We were all stunned. Britt was holding her hand over her mouth and I was sure she had a mouth full of broken teeth. I was instantly scrambling in my head to think of where we could get dental care.
The caddies looked shocked and scared, and as I looked around to figure out what had happened one of them pointed to the tee-box marker. At the Petionville Club the markers are made of cement. They are made from a plastic cup with cement poured in and then turned upside down with a piece of rebar sticking out to hold them in place.
Somehow Britt's ball went way to the right and hit the marker, then ricocheted straight back into her face. I'd like to know the odds of that ever happening again.
