My last round of golf was the fourth event in the season-long run for the Deepwoods Golf Association Championship. Returning to Oakridge Golf Club for the second year in a row, I was anxious to improve on a bad performance last year. Unfortunately, I dug a hole for myself very early on and spent the rest of the round playing catch up. That approach doesn’t really work in golf, which rewards patience and control.
Just as I did last year, I put a couple of approach shots in the water on hole #1 after hitting a respectable drive. Adding penalty strokes for each failed attempt, the result was four strokes without even advancing the ball! I simply hit the ball fat and didn’t get the distance I should have with the given clubs. On hole #2, I also repeated the mistake I made last year. Teeing off with a 4-iron on the 186-yard par-3, I pulled the ball straight into some trees left of the green. Hole #3 was equally disastrous. I hit a decent 5-wood off the tee, but pulled it a tad too much and landed out of bounds. After re-teeing and finding the fairway, I chunked another approach shot that barely avoided the water on the right side of the fairway. After three holes, I had scored zero points in the modified Stableford system used by Deepwoods.
On holes #4 through #9, I actually played well. I wisely left my tee shot below the hole on the par-3 fourth. With the flag at the front of the green, that meant I was chipping from just off the fringe. I wanted to keep the chip shot below the hole, but I left it well below the hole, requiring two putts to hole out for bogey. On hole #5 I hit a fantastic drive to the middle of the fairway, leaving 110 yards to the flag. I pulled the approach shot with my gap wedge, but chipped on and two-putt for another bogey. On hole #6 I hit an even better drive, avoiding ponds on either side of the fairway in the landing zone. From 120 yards out, I hit the ball near the pin, leaving a legitimate birdie opportunity. I missed the birdie putt, but tapped in easily for par. On hole #7, a solid drive was followed by a very nice 4-iron into the green. This is a par-5, so I was putting for eagle from the fringe. I made a nice lag putt and tapped in for birdie! Hole #9, a par-4 measuring just 321 yards, was also notable. I hit a great drive over the bunkers on the left side of the fairway. As I approached the green, I spotted my ball in the bunker right of the green. I had the distance to be on the putting surface, but just missed. After splashing out of the bunker I took two putts to hole out for par.
At this point, I felt like I had turned my game around, but I still felt like I needed to make up for points lost on the first three holes. That’s why I hit driver on hole #11, a par-4 measuring just 311 yards. The plan worked, as I hit a beauty right down the pipe, leaving a 70-yard approach to the green. What followed was utter disaster. I hit a lazy approach with the sand wedge, finding a bunker in front of the green. Then I picked the ball clean out of the trap, sending it sailing way past the green into a hazard. A penalty stroke ensued, followed by a chip shot. I ended up three-putting to finish it all off. The hole killed me and took some of the wind out of my sails.
On holes #12 through #16, I once again played reasonably. There were disappointing moments, including my drive on #12, my chipping and putting on #13, and my approach on #15. Despite these moments, I managed to recuperate and was scoring a decent number of points. On hole #16, a par-3 measuring 132 yards, I hit a nice tee shot directly in line with the flag. It came up a tad short, stopping in the fringe, but I made a great putt for birdie. Had I been able to hang on for a couple more holes, I would have escaped with a decent number of points for the round. Unfortunately, I mis-hit my tee shot on hole #17, leading to a triple-bogey. On hole #18, I cut the corner too aggressively with my tee shot and ended up with a lost ball. Trying to make up for the lost ball and associated penalty, I tried driving the green of this par-5 in two shots. To do so, players have to carry a pond in front of the green. I didn’t clear the water and that was the end of it. I finished with another triple-bogey.
I will need a miracle in the final Deepwoods event in order to defend my title from last year.
Score: 105
Par: 71
Putts: 42
Fairways: 6
Greens: 3
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