Continuing the experimentation that I began at my last round, I ventured out to Lowville Golf Club. Right off the bat, things went poorly. My drive on hole #1 was huge push slice, once again owing to the grip change I've been trying to iron out. I set up with a weaker than normal grip, but during the back and downswings, familiarity takes over; I inadvertently strengthen the grip, which produces an open club face at impact. At this point, I think I will go back to my normal grip, at least for the driver. After finding my ball in some long fescue, I hacked one back to the edge of the fairway. From there, I flared a 7-iron way right to the opposite fairway. Once again, the grip issue was the culprit. Luckily, I hit a beautiful sand wedge and two-putt to salvage bogey on this par-5.
I immediately adjusted my drive and piped one on hole #2 to the left edge of the fairway. That was good. Unfortunately, I didn't make the right adjustment to my iron shot. From 130 yards away, I once again flared one with the pitching wedge, ending up well right of the green. I did well to hole out with three more shots for bogey. The short game didn't work so well on the next hole, a par-3. My 6-iron from 175 yards away was well struck, barely missing the right edge of the green. That was the good part. Next, I slid the wedge right under the ball, failing to chip onto the green. With the green sloping away from me, I chipped the next attempt well past the hole, then two-putt for a disappointing double-bogey.
The push-sliced drive returned on hole #4, along with another short pitch shot, leading to double-bogey. I bogeyed hole #5 and double-bogeyed hole #6 after my 5-iron from the tee nestled directly behind a small spruce tree. One third of the way through the round, I felt like I was struggling to control my shots, but finding a way to avoid blowup holes. All in all, I was still feeling positive.
That all went out the window on hole #7, a par-5 that despite being uphill, should still be reachable in two. The entire right side of this hole is out of bounds, but there is plenty of room on the left. I made good contact with my drive, but it drifted very near the out of bounds line. I decided to hit a provisional, which drifted even further right and definitely out of bounds. My second provisional was a laser to the left side of the fairway. Of course, I did not find my first ball, so the second provisional was now in play. That means I was lying 5, 200 yards away from the green. I mis-hit my approach, mostly because the ball was above my feet, then sculled a wedge over the back of the green. With the green sloping away dramatically, I did well to hole out with three more shots, for a total of 10 on the hole. Ouch!
Trouble continued on hole #8, a short par-3 that is more dangerous than it appears. Anything behind the green will find a severe drop-off and fescue. I hit my tee shot flag-high, but left of the green. With a bunker between me and the flag, I flopped a shot with a 64 degree wedge. Even with the 64 degrees, the ball managed to release and roll off the other side of the green. I don't understand. Next, I sculled a chip back across the entire green. My third chip stopped safely on the green and I two-putted for a triple-bogey. It's incredible how circumstances can conspire to inflate a score. I thought my tee shot was decent, along with my first chip. Even my third chip and putts were okay. Nevertheless, a triple it was.
I made par on hole #9 to make the turn with a score of 53. That's not good, but a decent score could still be salvaged for the round. Early on the back nine, it looked like I was getting on track, as I tallied three bogeys and one double over the first four holes. I was making mistakes, but I was making some good shots as well. Then, on hole #14, the wheels came off again. This is a downhill par-4 with a lateral hazard along the entire right side. The push-slice with the driver put me in the hazard off the tee. After a drop, my approach with a gap wedge found the hazard again. The ball actually landed near a bunker right of the green, but the slope pushed the ball right into the fescue within the hazard. Despite a thorough search, I could not find the ball and was forced to take another drop. To make matters worse, I went on to 3-putt, finishing with a quadruple-bogey.
Frustration carried over to hole #15, a 175-yard par-3 that I played poorly. I hooked my tee shot into a hazard left, then duffed an approach after a drop. Even with a lengthy putt, I registered a triple-bogey. I settled down a bit over the final few holes, but the damage was done. Notably, I hit a 320-yard drive on hole #17. This is a big downhill, so if you manage to find the fairway, you can get a lot of roll. Unfortunately, I missed the green from 95 yards away! On hole #18, I topped my first tee shot, no doubt because of the intimidating carry that is required. After re-teeing, I hit a perfect drive with a slight draw, which is perfectly suited to this hole. Shots like that make me think I'm onto something with the swing path and grip adjustments, but I'm just so inconsistent. What I really should do is practice these things on the range, not on the golf course!
Score: 106
Putts: 33
Fairways: 3
Greens: 1
Penalties: 8
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