Oh, What a Tangled Web we Weave

More than two centuries after they were published, the magnificently alliterative words of Walter Scott remain heavily quoted. So well known are these words from the epic poem, Marmion, that the subsequent line, “When first we practice to deceive!” need not be mentioned to convey the intended message. All of which has little to do with my most recent round of golf, except perhaps that the game often feels like a tangled web, ensnaring and frustrating its helpless practitioners.

Appropriately, my last round of golf took place at Tangle Creek Golf Club, located in Barrie, Ontario. I played there once before, but it was way back in 2006. I consulted my blog entry for that round to see if I could glean anything useful, but my effort was fruitless. Considering that I described my play as “pure garbage,” it's no surprise that I was rather tight-lipped about the details.

I'm happy to say that things were quite a bit better this time around. It was my second round of the season, thanks to a week of remarkably mild weather. Teeing off in the mid afternoon, I got off to a very hot start. I striped my drive to the fairway on the opening par-5, then followed it up with a green in regulation. In fact, I managed to do the same on the next two holes as well. Through the first four holes, I amassed two pars and two bogeys.

On hole #5, the tees were playing well up. I should have had no trouble clearing a creek that crosses the fairway, but I caught the ball terribly thin and off the heel. Sure enough, I ended up in the creek. It was my only bad drive of the front nine, but it was costly. After taking a drop, my path to the green was completely blocked by a large tree 40 yards away. A low punch attempt smacked the trunk and I had to play the same type of shot a second time. Triple bogey was the result.

After a magnificent par on hole #6 and an equally impressive drive on hole #7, the wheels came off. My drive was so good that I ran through the end of the fairway on this sharp dogleg right. My ball was on a mound well below my feet. I wanted to hit a wedge about 100 yards, which would set up an approach into the par-5 from about 150 yards away. I chose a line left of my target, as the lie has a tendency to push balls to the right. Surprisingly, the ball travelled precisely on the line I took, smacking a tree 50 yards away.

Now I was in the rough just off the fairway, with a slightly downhill lie. I was 190 yards from the green. There was no way to go for it, as the fairway sloped down to a creek in the valley, before rising sharply on the other side to an elevated green. The prudent play was to pay the price for the poor second shot and just pitch the ball to the 150-yard stick. I attempted that shot, but completely duffed it, sending the ball a mere five yards ahead. Conditions weren't much better for my next shot, though I was in the fairway now. I hit a 4-iron thin, barely clearing the creek. From there, I hit a series of wedge shots ridiculously short. A 3-putt ensued, bringing my score on the hole to a pathetic 10.

A topped 6-iron off the tee on hole #8 was no doubt due to the frustration that carried over from the previous hole. This is a par-3 with a forced carry over bush. I was forced to declare my ball unplayable and as a result, ended up with a triple-bogey. I finished the front nine with a score of 51, in spite of such a promising start.

On the back nine, it finally happened. In the first round of the season, I was guarding against the straight pull off the tee with the driver. As a result, I hit quite a few slices, both high and low. At the start of this round, I told myself not to worry about the straight pull. The result was a lot of pretty baby fades. On hole #10 however, I pulled a wicked one straight into the fescue that abounds left of the fairway. I did the same thing on hole #17, pulling a vicious drive into a massive waste bunker. In both cases, the penalty wasn't very severe, so I guess it wasn't a very big deal.

I strung together a bunch of bogeys on the back nine before succumbing to a triple-bogey on hole #14. The problem this time was sand. A solid drive carried a couple of ponds to the right rough. From merely 90 yards out, I came up short and landed in a bunker. My first bunker shot was hit fat, while my second was thin and scooted over the green. Just like that an easy hole becomes a nightmare. I mis-hit a couple more bunker shots before the round was over. I was fat both times.

On the final hole, a par-5 with a severe dogleg right, my birdie chip from just off the back of the green stopped two inches right of the cup. That would have given me a score of 99, which wouldn't be bad for this course, especially after my long layoff. As it was, I finished with the frustrating score of 100. Despite the score, I felt like many things went well. I drove the ball much better than I did the previous week, my irons were solid, as was my putting. I had some brain freezes with short pitch shots and with bunker shots, which I'll need to avoid in the future.

Score: 100

Putts: 36

Fairways: 5

Greens: 3

Penalties: 3

Here We Go Again

I was planning to visit the golf simulator in order to knock the rust from my golf swing after a lengthy winter layoff. Remember, I haven't taken a single golf swing since mid September. However, with mild weather prompting local golf clubs to start the season early, I figured, “Why play on a simulator when I can experience the real thing?”

So I headed out to Century Pines Golf Club, which was the scene of my final round last year. I've done this before; my very first post on this blog back in 2006 recounted the story of a season opener at Banty's Roost Golf Club, months after closing out the previous season there. As was the case back then, you could say I was looking for revenge of sorts.

The difference this time was the length of the layoff between rounds. It has been a full six months since I last challenged the fairways and greens, easily my longest period of golf inactivity in many years. I was a little apprehensive about playing a round because of the uncertainty surrounding my current skill level, but I was also realistic about my expectations.

As it turned out, conditions were fantastic. The temperature was in the high teens and there wasn't a cloud in the sky for the entire round. The course was just a tad soggy in a few spots, but way better than I expected. Teeing areas, fairways and greens were all very consistent, resulting in a mid-summer type atmosphere.

As far as my game, I got off to a miserable start. I played the first two holes nine over par! I teed the ball up too high on hole #1 and hit one off the toe, sending the ball less than 100 yards to the opposite fairway. I topped a 3-wood, then blasted the next into a pond. I walked off the first green with a 4-putt. I took two shots to barely get out of a fairway bunker on hole #2, then chipped miserably near the green. Well, what else could I expect? I had to just laugh it off.

On holes #3 through #9, I began to regain some feel for the game, though many bad shots continued. On hole #3, a lengthy lag putt allowed me to salvage bogey. A nifty chip on hole #4 saved a double-bogey. A 3-putt spoiled a good approach on the par-3 fifth hole, resulting in bogey. And so it continued for the remainder of the opening nine holes. I was shooting 58 at the turn, but feeling like some parts of the game were coming back to me.

On the back nine, things actually went reasonably well. I nailed the putting surface on hole #10 for my second green in regulation of the day. My first par of the season was the result. The approach was with the 60 degree wedge, a sky-high shot that cleared some very tall trees. A similar shot on hole #12 enabled me to save bogey. Another bogey followed on the par-3 thirteenth hole, thanks to a pretty chip shot from the edge of a water hazard. Hole #15 yielded a par, thanks to a lovely up and down from 40 yards away.

Hole #16 was my best of the day. This is easily the hardest hole on the course. A straight drive of 200-210 yards to the centre or right side of the fairway is required to set up an approach to the green. That approach must carry a creek in front of the green, which is also protected on the right side and behind by a large pond. I hit a good 4-iron off the tee, but it found the left side of the fairway, where an approach to the green is blocked by some trees. I wisely chipped the ball 40 yards ahead, leaving a 120-yard shot to the putting surface. I hit a good one next, then 2-putt for bogey.

Through seven holes on the back nine, I was seven over par. That's pretty good. Unfortunately, I stumbled on hole #17, which is becoming a nemesis of mine. The tee shot has me totally psyched out. I skipped the ball over a pond that lies barely in front of the teeing area. The ball made it to the bank, only to slide back into the hazard. I ended up with a disappointing triple-bogey.

On hole #18 I hit my only good drive of the day, a low trajectory blast of about 260 yards to the centre of the fairway. Next, I flushed a 7-iron to just in front of a creek that crosses the fairway in front of the green. From 100 yards away, I hit my sand wedge right on line. When the ball was in the air, I thought it would be all over the pin. I was shocked when it landed on a slope four yards short of the green. A good chip caught the edge of the fringe, which propelled the ball forward, way past the hole. Facing a tricky downhill situation, I 3-putt for a double-bogey.

Overall, the worst part of my game was the driver. I topped some attempted drives, hit others extremely thin, and even sliced a bunch. Surprisingly, the straight pull didn't happen a single time. I topped a couple of balls with the fairway woods and sliced a couple with the same clubs. I blocked a couple of iron shots out to the right, while hitting some others nicely. Apart from a couple of early mishits, my wedge play was actually good. My chipping and pitching were good and my putting was mostly adequate.

Score: 106
Putts: 35
Fairways: 3
Greens: 2
Penalties: 5