Return to the New Course at Hidden Lake

Round 3 of the Deepwoods Tour went off on the New Course at Hidden Lake. My last few visits to Hidden Lake were on the Old Course, so it was nice to finally play the New Course again. In light drizzle, the first three holes went bogey, par, bogey. I hit a couple fairways and one green in that stretch, while putting was also solid.

Then the rain picked up and things got a little sketchy. I pulled my drive on hole #4, forcing me to punch a low 3-iron to get the ball back to the fairway. From 140 yards out, my 8-iron was a tad fat and I came up short. My chip also came up short, as the ball was in a very mushy area in front of the green. Putting from just off the green, I finished with a triple bogey. Even worse was the next hole, which I finished in 5 over par, thanks to two consecutive balls pulled straight off the tee.

On hole #6, a 149-yard par-3, I hit a lovely 7-iron flag high, then drained a 12-footer for birdie. Sweet! Another nice shot came on hole #7. My third shot drifted well right of the green, about 60 yards away. I hit a sand wedge over some extremely tall trees and landed pin high on the edge of the green. I made a solid two-putt to save bogey. After nine holes, I was sitting at 48. Not bad.

The tenth hole, a 383-yard par-4 was very frustrating. I hit a beautiful drive, leaving 150 yards to the pin. My 7-iron was flag high, but left of the green by about 15 yards. I had to keep the chip shot low to avoid hitting some tree branches. I was trying to land the ball in the rough about two yards before the green. That would have taken most of the speed off, allowing the ball to pop onto the green comfortably. Unfortunately, the ball carried a few yards too long, taking its first bounce on the green itself. It skidded across the entire green to the opposite rough. I then caught the next chip attempt thin, launching the ball back across the entire green. All of this led to a very unnecessary triple bogey.

On the eleventh hole, a 144-yard par-3, I hit a beautiful 8-iron to the pin, which was tucked in the extreme right portion of the green. I was in definite birdie range, but I hit the putt softly, coming up short. I settled for par. Holes twelve through fourteen were mediocre, resulting in double-bogey, bogey, and double-bogey. The double on #14 was tough to swallow, as my bogey putt was right on the money, but broke hard left at the very last second.

Holes fifteen through eighteen were very good, resulting in par, par, bogey, and par. I hit three fairways in that stretch, which set me up for decent finishes. On hole #17, my par putt barely missed, which was too bad. It would have been nice to finish with four pars in a row.

All in all, it was a good round. Despite pretty bad weather, I emerged with what I consider a respectable score.

Score: 93
Par: 71
Putts: 36
Fairways: 6
Greens: 5