Good Round at Hidden Lake

I played the New Course at Hidden Lake recently and it was perhaps the most enjoyable round of the year. There was a chance of rain, but it didn't arrive until we were finishing up the eighteenth hole. The round was not without struggles, but there were enough good shots to give me some hope for the future.

The most troublesome part of the game was my driving. On the first tee, I pulled a low screamer and smacked a tree just 50 yards away. It was not even close to being on line. Pulled drives were also the story on holes #2, #4, #5, and #7. In most of these cases I was able to recover, either by lofting an iron shot over some trees, or by punching a low shot under some branches. Hole #8, a par-5 measuring 519 yards, is the only one I hit a good drive on. Not surprisingly, it resulted in a score of par, rather than bogey or worse.

The problem with my driving is related to swing plane, tempo, and weight shift. It's the same problem I have with every club, but the extra length of the driver and its bulky head seem to exacerbate the problem for me. On the back nine I was able to make some adjustments, resulting in more fairways hit. Nevertheless, I still did not feel very confident with the big stick in hand.

The good news is that my irons worked well all day long. Whether I was hitting from the fairway or the rough, I was able to make good contact and hit the ball squarely. My recent visit to the driving range seems to have paid off. If I could translate the same lessons to the driver, I would be in good shape. Officially, I hit four greens in regulation. However, there were four other occasions when I was putting from the fringe. These are (or should be) almost as good as greens in regulation. There were a lot of front pin placements at Hidden Lake on the day I played, so an uphill putt from the fringe is not bad.

Putting itself was neither good nor bad on the day. Although I amassed 43 putts, that number is misleading. All those putts from the fringe inflated the total. On the other hand, if I was putting well, I should have been able to 2-putt from those positions. I didn't make any notable putts, but I felt like I was lagging the ball near the hole very consistently. Undoubtedly, I have to improve my putting in order to score well. I simply can't afford to 3-putt as often as I do.

At the end of the day, my final score was 93. That's my best score of the season so far. Let's hope I can start breaking the 90 barrier.

Score: 93
Par: 71
Putts: 43
Fairways: 4
Greens: 4