Big Choke at Banty's Roost

After breaking out of a slump at The Highlands Golf Club, I felt confident going in to my next round at Banty's Roost Golf & Country Club. At the same time, I really had something to prove, since I let a sure sub-100 round turn into a 101 with a quadruple bogey on The Highlands' final hole. A similar collapse cost me a sub-100 round in the season opener, when a quintuple bogey on the final hole at Banty's Roost pushed my total score to 102.

The first seven holes were sheer magic, as I amassed a score that was merely five over par. In that stretch I hit just one fairway, but I was on the green in regulation three times, leading to three pars. Three bogeys and a double-bogey rounded out the run, the latter due to a couple of poorly hit 3-woods. Then the madness began.

On the eighth hole, a 348-yard par-4, my tee shot trickled into the woods right of the fairway. I was forced to take a drop and an accompanying penalty stroke. As my third shot bounced in front of the green, I thought I would escape relatively unharmed. Inexplicably however, the ball rolled on the green and continued rolling until it was two yards off the back. A poor chip shot didn't help matters, but what really killed me was the ensuing four-putt! This must have rattled me, because I found water on the next hole and missed an easy putt, ending with a triple-bogey.

I could have folded then and there, but I still had a good round going so I tried to regroup. The next five holes were once again magical. Playing with control and confidence, I strung together a par, three bogeys and a double-bogey, the latter courtesy of a short putt that did not drop. Then the stupidity began.

Three of the last four holes were disastrous. My tee shot on the first of these, a 189-yard par-3, was off the heel of the club and I found myself under a thick pine tree. It took a couple shots to emerge from this predicament and that bothered me. Poor chip shots ensued and I began to wonder if a sub-100 round could be salvaged. I actually started the next hole well, but an attempted chip shot from off the green found a lone tree trunk and a short putt was also missed.

On the tee at the last hole, a 548-yard par-5, I needed triple-bogey or better to shoot under 100. Easy, right? Well, not quite. I topped my second shot and that began a series of shots from terrible lies. One of these was with the ball well below my feet, while the others were with the ball well above. In the end, I earned a quadruple bogey and a total score of 100.

On the eighteenth green, one of my playing partners performed the Heimlich Manoeuvre on me, enabling me to walk off the course safely.

Score: 100
Par: 71
Putts: 38
Fairways: 4
Greens: 5