I was fortunate to play recently at St. George's Golf & Country Club, which has been ranked among the Top 3 courses in Canada and the Top 100 in the world. The course was designed by Stanley Thompson, one of the pre-eminent golf course architects of the last century, and opened in 1929. Rich in history, St. George's has hosted the Canadian Open on four occasions, and is preparing to host a fifth in 2010.
I began very well, hitting the fairway and then the green with my first two shots on hole #1. A long lag putt was well executed, but I missed a 4-foot putt for par and had to be content with bogey. Perhaps I was too pumped up, as I proceeded to pull one off the tee on the second hole, resulting in a lost ball. I was warned not to pull my approach shot, as the terrain falls off left of the green, but I did anyway. It was a poorly played hole that resulted in a quadruple-bogey. I got back on the bogey train on hole #3, a beautiful par-3 featuring an elevated tee and amphitheathre style green.
My best hole of the day was #4, a par-4 measuring 458 yards. My tee shot was long and straight, catching the downhill portion of a two-tiered fairway. From 200 yards out, I hit a beautiful 5-wood on the green, setting up an eagle putt. Unfortunately, my putt hit a ball mark on its way to the cup, leaving a testy length for birdie. I didn't make it and had to settle for par. I couldn't believe the effect the ball mark had; it was extremely untimely for me.
I pulled another tee shot on hole #5, losing my ball somewhere in the rough. Despite some good recovery shots, all I could muster was a triple-bogey. The same thing happened with my tee shot on hole #7. This time it faded too much and was lost in the rough right of the fairway. Luckily, the damage was only double-bogey. Holes #6 and #8 at St. George's are par-3 holes, which I managed to bogey. On hole #9, another par-5, I found myself in a couple of fairway bunkers. I got out of them fairly well, but the outcome was still double-bogey.
After nine holes, my score was 50. That's not very good, but a sub-100 round was still possible, so I was feeling optimistic.
Holes #10 through #12 all resulted in bogeys, giving me even greater reason to be optimistic. Hole #11 is a par-5 measuring 492 yards. After a good drve, I went for the green with 3-wood in hand. It was not as great as the 5-wood I hit on hole #4, but I was in the greenside bunker, which was not a bad result at all.
Holes #13 through #15 were simply disastrous, and erased any hope of a sub-100 round. On hole #13, another pretty par-3, I launched a ball out of the greenside bunker, finishing fifty yards past the green. Triple-bogey ensued. On hole #14, a long par-4 with a well-protected green, I launched another ball out of a greenside bunker, again finishing about fifty yards past the green. It was a waste of a great drive and solid approach shot. I also wasted a good drive on hole #15, when I pulled my second ball left of the fairway and lost it in the rough. I was also stunned on this hole when my approach shot, which appeared to reach the green, ended up 70 yards short! It actually rolled backwards that distance, thanks to a sloping fairway. I'll know beter next time. Quadruple bogeys were the result on both #14 and #15.
I finished the round with a couple of decent holes, before blowing up again for a quad on hole #18. Once again, I blasted a ball out of a bunker, flying well past the green. Bunker play has been a problem for me this season and I currently don't have any confidence playing those shots. Clearly, I should practice them more to get my feel back.
Overall, I was disappointed in my score, but I had a wonderful time playing this excellent course. I will be watching next year when the pros try their luck at St. George's during the Canadian Open.
Score: 107
Par: 71
Putts: 37
Fairways: 5
Greens: 2
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