The latest and final round of the 2009 GTA Amateur Tour kicked off on a very cold and wet Monday morning at Angus Glen Golf Club. My flight played the North Course, which I had never played before, but was familiar with from my experience as a standard-bearer at the 2007 Canadian Open. The round was a test of endurance, both physical and mental, as numerous rain delays, bitter cold, and strong wind challenged players to shoot good scores.
I started the round on the tenth hole, hit a driver and long iron into the wind, and still came up short of the green. No worries, as I chipped on and two-putt for bogey. On the eleventh hole, a par-5 that hugs the side of a large pond, I did very well to reach the green in regulation. Unfortunately, my first putt traveled right off the green, forcing me to chip back on. It ended up in double-bogey. Hole #12 featured one of my best shots on the day. After hitting the left side of the fairway, I hit a 5-iron over the edge of a pond and a greenside bunker, ending up flag high. I added three extra clubs to account for the headwind and it turned out to be precisely the right call. Too bad I missed the birdie and the par putt, settling for bogey. I also bogeyed the next three holes, hitting nice drives, one good recovery shot, but less than perfect putts. After a pair of double-bogeys on holes #16 and #17, I finally tallied a par on hole #18. My approach to the green was pulled slightly left, but I hit a great chip shot to within two feet and followed it up with the easy tap-in.
After nine holes, I had hit seven of seven fairways. They are fairly generous in width on the North Course, but with the severe wind on that day it was quite an accomplishment. If not for the twenty putts I took, the first half of the round would have been even better.
On the front nine of the course, I began with a trio of triple bogeys. My streak of fairways hit came to an end on hole #2. This is a par-4 measuring 409 yards, but I needed a driver, 4-iron, and pitching wedge to reach the green with the wind blasting directly into our faces. This is also when the weather was most severe. At one point, the rain turned into hail and lightning forced us off the course. After a brief delay, we returned with six holes to play, of which I bogeyed three and double-bogeyed the other three. The last hole was played once again in cold, driving rain.
Overall, I was happy with the way I played. Considering the conditions, I did well to score no worse than double-bogey on any single hole. It was the type of round where I played better than the final score would seem to indicate. I finished in 13th position in a field of 37 players, which is not bad. As usual, there was a tightly clustered group of players ahead of me. Had I been two strokes better, I would have been tied for 7th.
As for the GTA Amateur Tour season, I finished 19th out of 88 players. Granted, a lot of those guys did not play a full slate of rounds, but I still feel fairly good about the result.
Score: 98
Par: 72
Putts: 40
Fairways: 10
Greens: 4
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