It was pouring rain when I pulled out of the garage, but the only moisture I had to deal with at Granite Ridge was that which had already fallen on the course. Playing the Cobalt Course, I got off to a good start on the front nine. The stretch included two pars, five bogeys, and two double-bogeys, for a score of 45. The pars came on two of the three greens that I hit in regulation. One of these was a 139-yard par-3, the other a short par-4 measuring 275 yards. The double-bogeys came on a 313-yard par-4 and a par-5 stretching out to 490 yards. I was pulling shots slightly with the driver, but managing to recover. I fared better off the tee on the shorter holes, where I used a 3-wood or an iron. Approach shots were quite good, with just a couple of miscues. The fairways were soggy in certain areas, which probably cost me a couple of strokes. Putting was solid, though not spectacular. I made a lone 3-putt on the fifth hole, a par-3 at 139 yards.
Earlier in the year, I shot a 46 on the back nine at Cobalt, so I really felt like I could take a run at breaking 90. Questions emerged on the eleventh hole, when I topped two tee shots in a row with the 3-wood. This was surprising, since I had been hitting that club well and feeling good with it. I managed to limit the damage to triple-bogey. A double-bogey on the fourteenth hole was disappointing, since my approach shot was rolling right to the front of the green, only to stop dead in some standing water. A 3-putt didn't help. My real undoing however, was on the fifteenth hole. The hardest of the holes on Cobalt's back nine, it is quite unforgiving. The entire right side is out of bounds on this 534-yard par-5. On the left side, marshy areas cover virtually the entire length. I succumbed to the hazards multiple times en route to shooting an abysmal five over par. The 3-wood, 3-iron, and putter all failed me.
I made a nice par on the sixteenth hole, a 130-yard par-3, but then spoiled breaking 100 on the par-4, 351-yard seventeenth hole. My tee shot was short, but in the fairway. I caught my next shot fat, but the ball was still in the fairway, 130 yards away from the green. I took a practice swing with my 9-iron and it felt amazingly good. I know it's only a practice swing, but this swing was so easy and fluid. My playing partner even commented how good the practice swing looked. It's hard to explain therefore, what happened next. I think I threw the club head at the ball, rather than making a committed swing. The club face was open and the ball went waaay to the right, only a short distance. This shot really damaged my concentration. I calculated the distance on my next shot as 100 yards, but then proceeded to hit a full pitching wedge, which for me is 120 yards. I ended up taking a quadruple bogey. I played the eighteenth hole well, but bogey was only good enough to score 100.
Disappointing score for sure, but if I disregard hole #15 and hole #17, I quite like how I played.
Score: 100
Par: 72
Putts: 38
Fairways: 5
Greens: 4
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