Where do you play on a windy Saturday when you've been struggling with your golf game? How about the toughest course in the country? What tees do you play from once you get there? Not the tips, where the slope rating is 150 - that would be plain foolish. Instead, dial it back a set, where the slope is a mere 148. Such was the case on my visit to the Legends course at Lionhead Golf & Country Club.
On the front nine holes I drove the ball well, hitting five of seven fairways. Unfortunately, I did not follow the drives up with good iron play, hitting just one of nine greens in regulation. On the second hole, a mis-hit approach with an 8-iron left me 20 yards short of the green. On a number of occasions my approach shots drifted off line just enough to find a greenside bunker. That was my fate on holes 1, 3, 5, 6, and 9. In every case, I managed to get out of the bunker with a single shot, but required a subsequent chip to get on the green. My sand play has simply been poor all season. My putting was hot and cold, as I collected three 1-putts to go along with four 3-putts. I was penalty free on the front nine, which is no small feat at Legends.
On the back nine my driving faltered, forcing me to play harder second shots. My irons were still not great, leading to a few encounters with the many water hazards at Legends. I wasn't in the sand as often as I was on the front nine, but the result was the same on the couple of occasions when I found myself standing on silica. The one aspect of the game that worked well on the back nine was putting. I avoided any 3-putts, while collecting three 1-putts. One of those came on hole #18, which I played wonderfully for just the second par of the day.
Score: 111
Par: 72
Putts: 34
Fairways: 7
Greens: 1
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