An earlier visit to Dragon’s Fire Golf Club was cut short by thunderstorms, so I returned with a 9-hole rain check in hand to get the complete experience. Things began fairly well, but I was just a little inconsistent with my iron play. After hitting the centre of the fairway on hole #1, I pulled the approach shot from 115 yards, just missing the green. Bogey was the result. I followed that up by hitting the green on hole #2, a par-3 measuring 170 yards. This time, a par ensued. After slicing my drive on hole #3, I made another excellent iron shot. From the right rough, 180 yards away from the green, I placed the ball flag high, enabling me to save bogey. However, on the very next hole I wasted a perfect drive by pulling an approach shot just left of the green. I had some trouble emerging from the fescue cleanly, resulting in a double-bogey. A pulled approach shot, albeit through an opening between two trees, was the cause of a bogey on hole #5. All things considered, I did well to remain five over par through five holes.
On the sixth hole, I hit my 3-wood thin off the tee, sending the ball into a hazard in front of the fairway. I recovered well, but my fourth shot into the green came up a bit short and landed in a bunker. I made a decent out, but 3-putted for an ugly score of 8. Looking back, I just couldn’t afford to be in the bunker after that bad tee shot. When mistakes add up, so does your score! Sand also gave me trouble on hole #7, the first of back-to-back par-5 holes. My third shot into the green found the left side bunker. I came out too hot and crossed the entire green into the right side bunker. It all led to a double-bogey. Fortunately, I had some positives on the next hole. My tee shot trickled into the fescue left of the fairway. I whacked the ball loose with the pitching wedge, but this left 225 yards to the green. Next, I hit an absolutely gorgeous 3-wood straight onto the putting surface. Nice! I 3-putted the hole, but bogey was a decent result. A 3-putt on hole #9 was harder to take and it resulted in a double bogey. After 9 holes, I had a score of 50. That’s certainly not great, but I felt like I could still salvage a respectable result.
On holes #10 and #11, my approach shots came up a tad short and landed in bunkers. On both occasions I got out of the sand cleanly, but still required two putts to hole out. A pulled tee shot gave me some trouble on hole #11, a par-3 measuring 146 yards, but I managed to save bogey with a nice chip and putt. On hole #14, I caught my approach shot a little fat, coming up short of the green as a result. The same thing happened twice on the next hole, leading to a double-bogey. It seems I was either pulling my approach shots just a hair, or catching them a tad fat. These weren’t disastrous mistakes, but when they happen consistently, they add up to a few strokes over the course of eighteen holes.
The last three holes at Dragon’s Fire consist of a tricky par-3 sandwiched between two par-5 holes. I made a textbook par on hole #16 before taking a double-bogey on #17. I played my tee shot too cautiously, sending the ball to a left side bunker. The other three sides of the green are surrounded by water. I then picked the ball clean out of the trap, almost sending it into the water on the other side. Fortunately, I closed out the round with a solid bogey on hole #18. This was thanks to an incredible lag putt from 90 feet, which missed the cup by a mere two inches.
Score: 98
Par: 72
Putts: 37
Fairways: 4
Greens: 2
No comments:
Post a Comment