I ventured out to Glen Eagle Golf Club, a 27-hole facility in Caledon, Ontario, and the starter told me I would be playing the Original 18. Dating back to the club's inception in the early 1960's, the Original 18 are comprised of the first three holes of today's Blue nine, followed by the last six holes of the Yellow nine and finishing up with the Red nine.
Three guys were teeing off as I approached the first tee, so I asked if I could join them. As a single, I would be right on their heels anyway, so it seemed to make sense. As it turned out, this was a mistake. I lost my putter's head cover somewhere between the first tee and the middle of the first fairway, but none of these guys (who were in power carts, while I was walking) offered to drive back for a quick look. That was the first strike.
My approach to the first green came up a few yards short, but was on the short grass near the right edge of the fairway. The three guys were already on the green as I approached the area where I last saw my ball. Now, it was nowhere to be seen. I found a different ball in the rough, a couple of yards to the right. I asked the guys if it belonged to any of them and one guy said it was his. Clearly, he had hit my ball instead of his. I asked if anyone hit my ball by mistake, but nobody admitted it.
At this point, I thought maybe I was wrong about my ball stopping in the fairway. I walked away from the green to see if my ball was in the rough somewhere and the guys came over to help. Seeing nothing, I turned around to face the green once again. Lo and behold, my ball was now propped up in the rough, just two yards away from my stand bag. There is no way I failed to see that ball the first time. Obviously, the guy who hit my ball took advantage of the time my back was turned to drop it in the rough. How stupid is that? It's not uncommon to hit a playing partner's ball by mistake every now and then. Just admit it. What's the big deal? There is no penalty to the guy who has his ball hit by someone else. Is there really a need for these stupid games? Unbelievable! That was strike two.
Incidentally, I made double-bogey on the opening hole. Next up was a par-5 measuring 524 yards from the blue tees, which I was playing. I hit a slight fade off the tee, sending the ball about five yards right of the fairway. There were some trees there, but nothing that should conceal a ball. When I approached the area, I could not find the ball. The trees were well spaced and the rough beneath them was regular length. There were no weeds or anything else where a ball could hide. There was no cart path, off which a ball could ricochet. There was a slight hump, which might propel a ball forward, but I covered a wide swath and still came up empty.
What bothered me was that my playing partners didn't even help me look. One guy drove his cart around for ten seconds before giving up. The other two did nothing. Having spent five minutes looking, I just dropped a ball in the area and proceeded. On a subsequent shot, my backswing hit a tree branch, ruining the attempt. I took a swipe at the offensive branch in frustration and the momentum of the club carried it forward, smashing into the top of my right foot. I played in some pain for the rest of the round and it got worse after the round was over. The foot incident was no fault of my playing partners, but their failure to help me find a lost ball was strike three. I teed off with them on the next hole, a 188-yard par-3, but stayed on the tee and told them to go ahead without me. It was the smartest thing I did all day.
By the way, that last tee shot ended up being another lost ball, so I re-teed (in blissful solitude) en route to a triple bogey, one of two on the day. With the annoying partners gone, I settled into a stretch of bogey golf over the last six holes of the Yellow nine. My scores would have been better, if not for a series of missed putts, all in the five to six-foot range. I missed a pair of these while playing with The Three Stooges, but I added four more of them over the remainder of the front nine. My pace on these putts was good, finishing just past the hole every time. Unfortunately, I did not judge the break equally well. I was off by just a fraction, burning the edge of the cup either high or low.
The highlight of the front nine was Yellow #9, a par-4 measuring 354 yards from the blue tees. I hit 4-iron from the tee, sending the ball over some trees that pinch the right side of the fairway. The ball came to rest in the right rough, exactly 150 yards from the pin. Ninety percent of the green was blocked out by trees on the right, leaving just a sliver of green available for an approach. I took dead aim at the left edge of the green with an 8-iron, figuring that a miss on the left would leave plenty of green to work with on a subsequent chip shot. The approach came off perfectly, as the ball nailed the green and trickled to the edge of the fringe. Even though I was flag high, I was over 30 feet away from the cup. However, I judged the speed and line perfectly, earning the lone birdie of the day.
The Red nine proceeded much like the first nine did. When I missed a shot, I missed badly, almost embarassingly so. I pull-hooked a 4-iron of the tee on hole #1 and did the same thing with the driver on hole #2. Speaking of hooks, I also hit a wicked one off the tee on hole #8, a medium length par-3. On the other hand, when I hit a good shot, I hit it really good. I hit my driver sky-high and deep on hole #3, travelling 280 yards to the left centre of the fairway. Timing was perfect, as the par-4 measures 430 yards from the blue tees. I followed up with a pitching wedge, as the flag was situated at the front of the green. My birdie putt lipped out, leaving a tap-in for par. Solid tee shots were also registered on holes #5 and #6, thanks to the 6-iron and 5-iron, respectively. On hole #7, a 412-yard par-4, it was back to the driver and I piped another beauty 280 yards down the fairway.
I double-bogeyed the final hole for a total score of 99. Good thing I didn't check my score before I teed off, or I almost certainly would have reached the century mark. Overall, I am still not happy with my game. I am inconsistent off the tee, either hitting a perfect shot or pulling one badly. The slice has disappeared from my game entirely and I am even hitting very few fades. My short game is average, including my putting. I have struggled to judge the distance on low punch shots, which I've been forced to hit a lot of lately. Worst of all, my handicap is consistently creeping up, which is hurting my confidence.
Score: 99
Putts: 39
Fairways: 5
Greens: 4
Penalties: 2
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