Eager to turn my season around, I headed out for a morning round at Century Pines Golf Club. The first hole is a straight par-5 with out of bounds along the entire left side. As a right handed player, if you're going to miss your tee shot, you're better off slicing it into the opposing fairway, which is #18. From there, you can salvage bogey, maybe even par if you put together a couple of good shots. Despite knowing this, I pulled my drive wickedly off the tee out of bounds. It was a terrible start and disconcerting to know that I had no control of my driver whatsoever. I had to hit my third from the tee and finished with a triple bogey.
I didn't make the same mistake on hole #2, that's for sure. A par-4, this hole also features out of bounds along the entire left side. I promptly sliced my drive into the #3 fairway on the right side. I followed up with a pitching wedge over some tall trees to get back to the #2 fairway, about 35 yards in front of the green. After a smart pitch to the front edge of the green, I two-putt for a respectable bogey. There is a pond right of the green on this hole which often comes into play, so I was happy with my result.
I was relatively happy with the rest of the front nine. I made par on hole #4 after wisely electing to hit 4-iron off the tee. A somewhat lengthy putt also helped my cause. I hit a nice punch through the trees on the preceeding hole, as well as a decent bunker shot. I had a nice chip on hole #5 and a nice approach on hole #9. I felt like I was doing quite a few things well. The real problem was still the driver. On hole #6, I pulled my drive left into some long weeds. With no chance to find balls in there, I was forced to re-tee. All of a sudden, I drilled a perfect drive to the fairway, a full 275 yards. What the hell? On hole #8, I plastered another drive straight and deep, this one flying 260 yards to the middle of the fairway. However, on hole #9 I hit a brutal drive once again, pulling it left into some trees. I just had no idea what would show up with each drive.
On the back nine, I started heating up. I hit a perfect 4-iron off the tee on #10 to find the middle of the fairway. My pitch bounced into a mound fronting the green, but still managed to reach the back of the green. With the pin at the extreme front, I unfortunately three-putt for bogey. My 4-iron wasn't so good on the next hole, as I hit a bit of a pull-hook into a hazard. When I finally got to the green, I three-putt again for double bogey. On hole #12, I "murdalized" my tee shot, driving the ball 270 yards down the fairway, leaving a 40-yard pitch to the green. Par was the result. I also made par on the subsequent par-3, a 150-yard carry all over water. Despite a bad drive on hole #14, I still made par. A 3-iron from 250 yards away, followed by a 40-yard pitch and solid putt did the trick.
The par streak ended at three in a row, but I was still playing solid golf. I made bogeys on holes #15 and #16 with smart, conservative play. On #15, a par-3 measuring 150 yards, my tee shot was flag-high, just right of the green. On #16, I hit a 3-iron off the tee, but missed the sweet spot, losing about 30 yards of distance. I was 160 yards from the green, but blocked out by some tall trees. This green is also surrounded by water, so there's no reason to be a hero. I pitched my second shot through the end of the fairway to some rough, leaving an unobstructed 100-yard shot to the green, which I nailed exactly as planned.
This is when the stupidity began. On hole #17, a lengthy par-4 measuring 440 yards, I hit a small tree 50 yards in front of the tee and off to the left side. It was the type I affectionately refer to as a "Vince" tree. Some of my fellow golf enthusiasts will know what I am talking about. The ball rebounded backward, right into a pond on the right. After a re-tee, I hit my third shot left of the fairway. I topped my fourth shot and that was enough to ruin the hole. I finished it five over par. On hole #18, which is a par-5, I made a mental mistake. I tried to "make up" for the previous hole, which was the wrong thing to do. My drive was another terrible one short and left, leaving a bad lie. After two more shots, I was still 210 yards from the green, which is fronted by a meandering creek. Not content to lay up, I hit a 5-wood and of course ended up in the creek. After taking a drop, I mis-hit a pitch shot and that was all she wrote. I hit another pitch to the green and two-putt for my second 9 in a row.
I shot 32 through the first seven holes of the back nine, which is good. Unfortunately, I added 18 on the last two holes. That is simply unacceptable! I have to stop this Jeckyl and Hyde type play. I feel like I'm doing many things well. I've fixed the hook that was plaguing my irons early in the season and my low irons are especially good. I am hitting nice pitches and chips around the greens and also putting well. I have made some inventive shots when called for and been conservative when dictated by the situation. My driving is all over the map though and that is the big problem. I either stripe a great one straight, or more often pull one terribly, leaving me in a bad position from which it is difficult or impossible to recover.
My handicap factor has climbed all the way to 19.8 after being as low as 15.7 two years ago. I am heading in the wrong direction.
Score: 101
Putts: 35
Fairways: 5
Greens: 3
Penalties: 5
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