I have been. I have seen. And once again I have been conquered.

Like it or not, I am just going to have to face up to the cold facts. I am not going to win the Dupont Coolmax World Amateur Handicap Championship (WAHC).

Why? Because I can’t play the game well enough.

Frankly, I had little hope of accomplishing anything dramatic in this 20th anniversary event that attracted almost 4,000 golfers from all over the world. My game has been suspect for months now. Always inconsistent, it has become totally unpredictable.

I’ve tried everything I can think of. Except lessons of course. But since last fall, my game has become a series of mysteries. If I drive the ball well, I can’t hit my irons. If I hit my irons decently, I can’t putt. But on most days now I can’t do either of the above well.

Actually, my iron game has become the biggest culprit. I have lost all confidence in the ability to hit anything longer than an 8-iron. And even with the wedges I am afraid to take the club back in fear of a shank. Yeah, I’ve got the yips with my irons. I would almost swear that the grips are writhing in my hands.

I’ve had all kinds of suggestions from playing companions, which we all know are the kisses of death. But I think my problem is that my lunge and my lurch are now totally uncoordinated.

To combat the iron problem, I went through my storage room and dug out the trusty Wedgewoods. These are clubs designed with the loft of irons but to resemble woods in appearance with the idea that the look will help overcome the fear of hitting irons for those of us so afflicted.

The Wedgewoods worked well during the weeks that I used them prior to the WAHC. I became confident in them, learned the distances I could expect from the Original (7-8 irons), the Mid (5-6 irons), and the Long, (3-4 irons). I was hitting more greens during a round than I had in months.

So what happens at the World Am? I didn’t hit a green during the first seven holes. Not one. Chipping and putting saved me, though, and the 81 at the Legends Parkland Course gave me a net 72. Not great, but not bad. At least I was listed among the also-rans.

The second round for the 28th flight (ages 60-69 with handicaps ranging from 7.6 to 9.6) was held at Island Greens, a challenging layout near Murrells Inlet that brought out every weakness in my so-called game. I’m sure Island Green is a beautiful layout. It has water and sand everywhere and, I suspect, even grass here and there.

But I found all the bad places and struggled home with a 90 for a net 81. My remote championship hopes were drowned along with four Titleists Pro V1s.

Actually, I played a little better at Panther’s Run on the third day. An 83 despite five double bogeys on one of the Big Cat courses at least left me with a shred of pride. And we were playing Myrtlewood on Thursday, a course that I have always enjoyed.

AAAHHHHGGGHHHH!!!!!

Nothing worked. It was an otherworld experience. It took 91 blows and a couple more of those precious Pro V1s to negotiate a course on which I felt I could make up some ground. I just wanted to finish and find a place to throw up.

I love the World Amateur. Of all the tournaments I’ve played in over the years, it’s my favorite.

The atmosphere is as close as I’ll ever come to playing in a PGA Tour or USGA event. After all, it is a World Championship and it’s run like one. The Golf Holiday people have been doing this for 20 years and they’ve got it right. As you can see from the scores, even the vicious sandbagger problems have been pretty much solved.