Catching Up

Blogging about golf has been impossible lately. To make up for it, I hereby present a stream of concise updates. Rounds are listed in reverse chronological order. The format is:

Course (Score, Putts, Fairways, Greens, Penalties) Description

Cardinal West (94, 29, 2, 1, 5) First round of the year with The Unreliables. Nervous start, then settled down. Driver still erratic, but short game was best it's been all year. Par on all five par-3 holes, without hitting any of the greens in regulation. Chipping and putting saved my bacon.

Century Pines (97, 37, 2, 5, 3) Terrible with the driver. Wicked pulls off the tee or a big slice. Nothing in between. Can't stop swinging from the outside-in. Irons not so bad. Bogey golf, except for two blowup holes. Putting not bad, but stats say otherwise. Every green in regulation followed by a 3-putt.

Dragon's Fire (98, 39, 8, 6, 5) Round 3 of Deepwoods Tour. Solid front nine, marred only by a duffed tee shot on hole #8. Shot 45 at the turn, which was good for 18 points. Wayward iron shots on holes #10 and #12 cost me some points and had me pressing the rest of the way. Played better than the score reflects.

Lionhead Masters (100, 43, 10, 6, 3) Five over par through the first six holes, followed by three double-bogeys for a score of 47 going out. Hit every fairway on the front nine, but only three greens in regulation. Bogey golf on the back nine until a blowup on hole #16 ruined everything. Putting numbers brutal.

Whitevale (101, 35, 5, 4, 1) GTA Amateur Tour major. Four over par through the first five holes, followed by a disastrous quadruple bogey. Duffed a 3-iron off the tee, then struggled with chipping near the green. Driver let me down a few times on the back nine. Straight pull or big slice the only options.

Century Pines (93, 33, 5, 6, 3) Course better than I remembered. Great start with five pars on the front nine. Short par-4 holes #11 and #12 killed me. Went out of bounds from a bunker on the former, and failed to clear a forced carry on the latter. If not for those holes, would have scored in the eighties.

Riverstone (87, 32, 6, 5, 3) Something different, as I don't usually play this kind of course. Short and tight, with small greens and water often in play. Must plot your way around, which I did well. Rarely used driver and erred to the side of caution often. Eight pars, but an admitted easy course.

Lionhead Legends (101, 38, 5, 4, 5) Playing consistently, I felt ready to tackle the beast. Bunker trouble on hole #5 led to a triple-bogey. Why the trouble with sand? Pulled iron on hole #7 went out of bounds. Same on hole #16. Played well overall, but just enough mistakes to reach the dreaded century mark.

Peninsula Lakes (91, 29, 3, 2, 2) Round 2 of Deepwoods Tour. In the water on Quarry #1, and shenanigans on #8. Otherwise a good front nine. Excellent play on the back nine, including a birdie on Hillside #3. Putting got hot on the back nine. A couple fewer mistakes and score would have been in the eighties.

North Halton (91, 32, 8, 4, 2) GTA Amateur Tour event. Amazing start, just two over par through the first six holes, including a birdie on hole #3. Score of 42 at the turn still very strong. Then the rain came and shot everything to hell. Did well to finish with a 91 in the torrential downpour.

Glen Eagle (92, 34, 9, 5, 2) First visit here in a long time. Started and ended the front (Blue) nine with a par, but the rest was not so great. Gave strokes away by duffing from the fairway with the 60-degree wedge. Made up for it with a 42 on the back (Yellow) nine, including a birdie on the last hole.

Osprey Valley Heathlands (85, 34, 8, 3, 0) Day 2 of the GTA Amateur Tour major. Easily my best round of the season. Practically flawless front nine, with five bogeys and four pars. A few double-bogeys on the back nine, but also a birdie on hole #16. In control with all parts of the game. Nice feeling.

Osprey Valley Heathlands (96, 35, 8, 5, 3) Day 1 of a 2-day GTA Amateur Tour major. Would have been a great round, if not for a buried ball in the greenside bunker of hole #12. It was a freak incident, so I have to put it aside. Six pars on the day was nice. Felt like I managed my game very well.

Lionhead Masters (91, 35, 8, 5, 3) Best result ever for this course. Shot 42 on the front nine, including four pars, four bogeys, and one double-bogey. Faltered a little on the back nine after losing a ball inexplicably on hole #13, but held it together for a satisfying final tally of 91. Could have been in the eighties.