With spectacular weather on hand and just a few days to go before the opening round of the 2012 Deepwoods Golf Association championship, I booked a round on The Highlands course at Horseshoe Resort. I played the course once before, but it was many years ago and my memory of it was faint, to say the least. Despite another triple-digit score, it was a fun round. If Horseshoe Resort was closer to home, I would definitely play there a lot more often.
I went into the round with a strategy to avoid some of my recent trouble. First of all, I planned to hold the driver with my normal grip, which is admittedly a little too strong. Instead, I would shift my right foot back at address, which is the hack way to offset an outside-in swing path. Secondly, I planned to hold my irons with a weaker grip, while focusing on avoiding the opening of the club face during the backswing. Finally, I reminded myself that if a mistake was made, not to make a second one on the very next shot. This is a little trick I've used in the past with some success.
On the first hole, a 293-yard par-4, my driver strategy worked like a charm. I took a three-quarter swing and found the middle of the fairway, with 80 yards left to reach the green. My approach with the lob wedge was 10 yards short, but I made a beautiful chip to within two feet of the cup. Par was the result. On the second hole, a 525-yard par-5, the driver strategy didn't work so well. While conditions on the first hole were serene, a fierce headwind was blasting me on the second tee. It's amazing how weather can totally affect shotmaking. I closed the club face, which de-lofted the ball, sending it short and left into a small pond. After taking a drop, I plunked my next shot into a second pond further ahead. With a second penalty stroke added on the hole, I did well to finish with a triple-bogey.
For the rest of the round, my driver was working very well. I ran through the end of a dog-leg on hole #3, which left my path to the green impeded by trees. I was forced to chip sideways en route to a double-bogey. However, on hole #5, I piped a beauty 270 yards to the middle of the short grass. This swing adjustment eliminates the cut or fade from my drives, resulting in greater distance. It's too bad that I pulled my approach on hole #5 left of the green, from just 130 yards away. With an untimely 3-putt, I walked away with a double-bogey. And so went the remainder of my round. Half my drives were straight down the pipe; the other half were very slight pulls that just flirted with the thick trees bordering almost all of the holes. Some of these required sideways chip-outs, but overall, I was happy with the driver. I did not flare or slice a single drive. I was not happy with the irons, which were pulled or hooked more than I would like. Many of these were short shots from prime locations – the ones you need to put on the green at least, and preferably stick near the hole. Obviously, I still have work to do with my grip. The weaker setup shows promise at times, but disappoints at others.
My chipping was better than it has been recently. I tried to get less robotic and just play my chips by feel. This helped me get the ball lofted up much better. I did not scull a single chip all day. My putting was also good, two 3-putts aside. Though I didn't use it much, my sand play remained horrible. On hole #7, a par-5 measuring 500 yards, a wayward approach found a small pond. After taking a drop, I faced a 70-yard shot over an expansive bunker to a green backed by thick forest. My approach came up 10 yards short, landing in the bunker. My first sand attempt was inadvertently picked clean and sailed deep into the forest. Of course, my next sand attempt was fat and stayed in the bunker. My third attempt finally found the green, but the damage was done. I scored a woeful 11 on the hole. Hole #9 was also a disaster, owing to my use of 5-wood off the tee. Driver was too much for that hole, so the idea wasn't bad. The problem is, I have been using my fairway woods very sparingly for over a year. I pulled two tee shots into thick forest on the left side. Luckily, the second one bounced back to the centre of the fairway. Add a poor hooking approach shot, and the result was quadruple-bogey.
To finish off with a positive note, I did manage a birdie on hole #14, a par-4. This is a dog-leg left, measuring 372 yards from a slightly elevated tee. My drive cut the corner, avoiding a large tree in the left fairway and coming to rest just 130 yards from the flag. My pitching wedge approach drifted to the right fringe, 40 feet from the cup. After lining up my putt, I calmly drained it for the bird! I celebrated with a good fist pump, then looked around to see if anyone happened to be watching. I was playing the round by myself, so there were no playing partners around. Houses border the course in some areas, so I was half hoping that a homeowner in his backyard would see the putt and give me a round of applause.
Score: 104
Putts: 35
Fairways: 7
Greens: 2
Penalties: 6
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