— There likely are few things in life that could drag someone away from a relaxing soak in the hot tub on a cool, autumn Saturday morning.

Golf is one of them, at least for Cumberland Boggs Cupper John Smyth.

Smyth had played in numerous Boggs Cups in the past but this year was the team’s first alternate, and had weekend family plans.

Then things changed. Abruptly.

“My wife, Tracy, comes out to the hot tub outside to tell me my phone’s been ringing. I thought maybe it was my mother or something,” said Smyth.

It wasn’t. It was Cumberland Country Club pro Andy Halverson.

“I called him back and he said, ‘Smitty, can you play?’

“Play what?” Smyth said with a chuckle.

The answer was the Boggs Cup. And it was just about to start. An injury left Bucky Butts unable to play, and the call went out to Smyth.

The weekend plans were altered, with gracious understanding of Tracy, and Smyth got to the course at about 9:20 for a 9:30 tee time. A few matches had already started.

“I didn’t get to warm up or think about it. Frankly, it was probably to my advantage,” he said. “No expectations, just enjoy it. And I did. Every minute of it. It was a blast.

“I didn’t have time to get nervous or dwell on anything. I just wanted to enjoy every shot and enjoy being out here. I’m going to try to do that from now on.”

Smyth went 2-1 on the weekend. He won his Saturday morning Four Ball match with Gus Bell, won his Sunday Singles match, and capped it all off with a beautiful tee shot and short birdie putt on the 18th hole on Sunday.

Smyth wasn’t the only one in a little hot water at times. It’s easy, in match play, for a hole and a match to turn quickly. When a match gets tight, palms can get a little sweaty, even for some of the more seasoned club players.

Marc Zanger felt he was in a little trouble at the 370-yard, par-4 13th. But in a matter of minutes it was his opponent, Greg Turner, who was feeling it.

Zanger’s approach found the narrowish left-side sand trap which had given him a nasty, buried lie near the edge of the bunker. Turner was safely in the middle of the green.

“I was just hoping to get it on the green,’’ Zanger said.

Instead, he blasted the ball out and onto the green, and it tracked right to the cup and dropped in for a birdie.

“His lie was bad and neither of his feet were in the bunker,’’ Turner said. “And the ball hit out of the pitch mark so there was a ton of sand behind his ball. How he even got it out of the bunker is beyond me. And then to hit it in the hole is just insane.”

Turner went from being pretty confident he’d win the hole to needing to make a curving 20-footer just to halve it. Such is life in match-play golf.

“When he holed that sand shot, the hole looked about that big around to me,’’ he said with fingers and thumb creating a circle about the size of a half dollar.

But it was big enough, as Turner rolled in his putt for a birdie as well. It kept him 1-up in the match, which he eventually won 2 and 1.

Being a bit nervous is a given, Turner said, especially in a Boggs Cup match.

“It’s hard to describe,’’ he said. “We’ve been playing this game most all of our lives, and you go to the driving range and make the swings, but then you get out there playing someone else and things start creeping into your mind.

“The pressure is there, all the time. I don’t know what the rest of the guys would say but I know it’s there for me.”

Gus Bell is a Boggs Cup veteran, too, and could only agree. That’s why he enjoyed being in the first match Sunday.

“It’s the first time I’ve ever gone out first, and I really liked it. I didn’t have to wait around,’’ he said. “I like getting out and getting started.”

Bell was 1-down to Billy Bond after 13 holes, won No. 14 with a birdie and No. 15 with a par to go 1-up. Bond got a big birdie on No. 17 to even the match a final time, and with a chip just off the green and a par on No. 18, Bell got the win in one of only two singles matches that went the distance.

“I think there are two really nervous times. The first is the tee shot on No. 1 because you want to get off and away from the crowd,’’ Bell said. “And no matter how long you’ve been playing, when get to No. 14 or No. 15 in a close match you feel it. Those last couple shots are really nerve-racking.”

Ironically, it’s that very situation that golfers hope to find themselves in as the sun sets on the final holes of a Boggs Cup weekend. And it’s why both sides, already, are looking forward the rematch next year at Maplehurst.

Mike Mathews is a Cumberland Times-News sportswriter. He can be reached at mmathews@times-news.com.