I booked an early morning round on the Old Course at Hidden Lake. While taking my clubs out of the car, I realized that I left my golf shoes at home. I was forced to play in running shoes. That was fine, except that my feet were soaked by the morning dew after playing just one hole.
My game sucked. I bogeyed the opening hole after a drive to the intermediate rough right of the fairway and a 120-yard approach to a greenside bunker. I actually made a decent out from the bunker, but settled for a 2-putt. On hole #2, a short par-3, I hit a pull-hook into the hazard left of the green, leading to a double-bogey. I've played this course many times and never been that far left, ever!
A pulled drive on hole #3 put me in the opposite fairway. My recovery shot clipped a treetop, deflecting the ball to the 100-yard stick. My third shot found a greenside bunker, which in retrospect, was the start of my collapse. I didn't catch enough sand, sending the ball 40 yards past the green. With trees in my way, it took two more shots to reach the putting surface. I added two putts for a quadruple bogey. Can you feel the rage?
I finished the remainder of the opening nine with three bogeys and three double-bogeys. A couple of the bogeys came on par-5 holes. I made a mistake on each of these, but the rest of the shots were good enough to save a decent score. A couple of the double-bogeys came on par-3 holes. In both cases, it was a 3-putt that killed me. Those were not timely at all!
The back nine began with another bogey on a par-5. At this point, there was still a chance to salvage a satisfactory round. That chance vanished on hole #11, a par-4 measuring 406 yards from the gold tees. I hit a nice straight drive, though it was a bit low. A creek bed crosses the fairway 210 yards out, but it looked like my ball carried safely. Well, looks can be deceiving. I could not find my ball. The only place it could get lost was the creek bed. I was forced to take a penalty. My third shot was right of the green, but then things got really ugly. I duffed a pitch shot into a bunker, then barely got out with my next one. I was on the green in six and finished with a quadruple bogey.
I never recovered from that episode. I bogeyed the next hole, a par-4, but it was a 3-putt bogey. On hole #13 I hit five bad shots in a row, en route to a triple-bogey. Pulled drive off the tee to a bunker near the third green, followed by a wedge that hit the base of a tree, a duffed punch shot from the rough, a fat wedge from the fairway, and a sculled pitch that rolled off the back of the green. Pathetic stuff, really.
A bogey and par on the next two holes fooled me into thinking I could still break 100. Incidentally, the par came on another par-5. On the 16th tee, I hit another brutal pull with the driver, smacking a tree 100 yards away. Not content to lay up, I hit a 5-wood into a hazard on the right side. Next, my pitch shot came up short in another bunker. The bunker shot was another one that carried over the green. Yadda, yadda, yadda...chalk up another quad.
With no chance to break 100, I mailed it in for the final two holes. Why bother?
Through the end of 2009, my game was improving slowly, but steadily. In 2010, my game hit a plateau. I didn't get better, but I didn't get worse either. This year, I am taking a big step backwards. At least I tell it like it is.
Oh yeah, go to hell.
Score: 106
Putts: 38
Fairways: 4
Greens: 2
Penalties: 4
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