I played my second round of the season on a sunny day at King's Forest Golf Club in Hamilton. The course was in decent shape, albeit a bit damp from all of the rain we got in April. The greens were punched, though not bad for this time of year. My biggest problem was the fact that, owing to the weather, I hadn't played in almost four weeks! So it was like starting the season all over again. This was just my second visit to King's Forest, the first coming a few years ago when I managed to pull off a victory in a Duffer's Dream event.
I shot 52 on the front nine, followed by 51 on the back. As the scores suggest, both nines were almost identical. In both cases, I put together six good holes along with three disastrous ones.
On the very first hole, I hit a good drive to the right centre of the fairway. My approach shot came out low and skidded just off the back of the green, with a front pin placement. I made a nice chip, giving myself a chance at par. However, I missed the 8-footer and settled for bogey.
On the second hole, a decent drive put me into the rough, about two yards left of the fairway. The branches of a large tree were impeding my approach, forcing a low punch shot. I made great contact, but smacked the trunk of the tree, ricocheting back into the fairway. Bad luck. I hit the next one onto the green, but a bad lag lead to a 3-putt and double-bogey.
The third hole is where things started going badly. I hit a great drive right down the pipe. It was actually too good, as I rolled through the end of the fairway. I was left with a 90-yard approach over a river to the green. My lie was not great, as the grass was sparse and the ground muddy. Using a 60-degree wedge, I hit my next shot fat and of course landed in the river. After a penalty stroke I reached the green, but proceeded to 3-putt for triple-bogey.
The fourth hole was even worse. Teeing off with a pond directly in front, I hit the ball off the heel and landed in the water. After re-teeing, I hit a good one to the left edge of the fairway. The next two shots were very disappointing. I topped the ball twice with the 3-wood. I hit my woods very well in the season opener, so it was painful to struggle with them, as I had throughout the entire 2010 season. I finished the hole with a quadruple-bogey. Ouch!
The woes continued on hole #5, the first par-3 of the day. I pulled my tee shot left, as I did on most of the par-3 holes in my previous round. This was despite the fact that I reminded myself the shot was no different than an approach from a fairway. Obviously, the reminder didn't work. I found myself behind a couple small trees left of the green and had a heck of a time recovering. The hole ended with another triple-bogey.
After this, I settled down and played well for the remaining holes on the front nine. I made par on hole #6, a par-5, followed by three consecutive bogeys. The bogey on hole #7 was a bit disappointing because I 3-putt after finally hitting a par-3 green in regulation.
The back nine began with brilliant pars on holes #10 and #11, both of which are of the par-4 variety. The par on hole #10 was close to textbook, while that on #11 was much more of a scramble. A sloping fairway on #10 carried my ball about one yard into the rough. From there I hit an iron pin-high but a couple yards left of the green. I was short sided, so the chip was tricky. I was left with a 5-footer for par, which I drained.
From a severely elevated tee on hole #11, I pulled the ball into some pine trees. Luckily, the trees were fairly sparse and I had a good lie. I punched a low shot toward the green, judging it perfectly as the ball came to rest in the centre of the putting surface. I faced a long lag putt, but it worked out perfectly, leaving an easy tap-in.
After the great start to the back nine, I felt like I could salvage a respectable score. Unfortunately, holes #12 and #13 killed me, as I played them 8 over par collectively. Hole #12 is a tight par-4, with thick forest lining both sides of the fairway from tee to green. I was in the forest twice and was forced to chip out sideways just to get the ball back in play. You could say I Kevin Na'd the hole. OK, it wasn't that bad.
Hole #13 is the number two handicap on the course, so it is fairly challenging. I pulled my tee shot badly, resulting in a lost ball. When I got a new ball in play, I was forced to lay up in front of the river that crosses the fairway 150 yards in front of the green. After reaching the green, a well judged putt lipped out, adding insult to injury.
The rest of the round was played fairly well, but the damage had already been done. I finished with a score of 103, which I can not emphasize enough, is truly brutal. I should never be at or over 100, period. Even a miserable round should end up in the nineties.
I will have to lick my wounds and try again. It won't be the first time.
Score: 103
Putts: 38
Fairways: 3
Greens: 4
Penalties: 4
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