We were gifted with a couple of warmer than usual days and clear skies, so I jumped on the chance to play some golf. I returned to the Old Course at Hidden Lake, where a late-round collapse ruined a previous visit earlier this year. My tee time was a little earlier than ideal, which meant the first hole was played before all the fog had lifted. Once it was gone, the rest of the round was played under ideal conditions.
Beginning on the back nine, I struggled to a double-bogey on hole #10. It had been a long time since I hit any balls, so I needed a few strokes to get loose and regain the proper feel. By hole #11, I was feeling better and started with a 280-yard bomb off the tee. I was a yard into the right rough, but it was fairly tame and my path to the flag was unobstructed. I missed the green from 100 yards, finishing with a chip and two putts for bogey.
Hole #12, a par-4, demonstrates how strokes can quickly add up to ruin a score. I hit my drive a fair distance and about a yard into the left rough. I had some trees to my left, but I could go straight at the flag. Unfortunately, I pushed a shot with the pitching wedge, coming dangerously close to out of bounds. I had one of those brutal lies, where the ball is lying in a tangled mess of weeds, twigs, grass, etc. I barely hacked it out, then failed to clear a bunker between me and the green. It ultimately took five strokes to get on the putting surface, leading to a triple-bogey.
The next four holes were fabulous. I pounded a straight, 260-yard drive on hole #13, but failed to hit the green on this par-4 from just 90 yards away. My chip was not that great either, leading to two putts and a bogey. On hole #14, a par-3 perched on the side of a hill, I hit a sweet 9-iron off the tee. I hit it so pure, that I actually carried the green by about five yards. No worries, as I made a beautiful chip and solid putt for the up-and-down par. On hole #15, a par-5, I started out with a good drive to the right fairway, followed by a 3-iron that left me just 50 yards from the flag. I made a good pitch, followed by two putts for another par. Hole #16 also produced par, though it was more of a scramble. My drive was pulled left of target. I punched a 5-iron under some tree branches toward the green, but my ball skidded about 5 yards off the back. My chip was good, but with the green falling away from me, my ball ended up quite a distance from the cup. No worries, as I drained the long, uphill putt.
Hole #17, a par-4 perched at the top of the hill overlooking Lake Medad, was the one that killed me. It all started with the position of the tee blocks. I was playing the blue tees, which on this day were set up at the extreme left of a chute through which your tee shot must travel. The trees on the left side were incredibly close, just a few yards ahead of the teeing area. Starting the ball right is scary, because the fairway slopes to the right, where a massive waste bunker catches many balls. I tried to hit one straight, but pulled it directly into the trees on the left. I found my ball under a spruce tree. It was all I could do to hack it out to an opening that was covered in weeds. From there, all I could do was chip out to a small flat area in front of the forward tees. With a bad lie and a small target, I carried the ball about two yards too far. It ended up under a log. I was forced to declare the ball unplayable and took a drop a few yards behind that location. I was lying four and was still on the forward teeing ground. A pair of shaky iron shots put me right of the green. Next, I duffed a pitch, failed to carry a bunker, then splashed out to reach the green. Two putts ended the misery with a score of eleven.
To my credit, I regrouped quickly. I made a great chip shot and putt for an up-and-down par on hole #18. On hole #1, I hit another 280-yard drive straight down the middle. Disturbingly, I once again failed to hit the green from just 80 yards. The penalty wasn't too severe, as I chipped on and 2-putt for bogey. Another up-and-down salvaged bogey on hole #2, a short par-3. I found the green in regulation on hole #3, but a 3-putt led to another bogey. The green was covered in sand, which made reading the speed of putts very difficult. I also hit the green on hole #4, a medium length par-3. This time, I read the putts well, earning a par.
Triple-bogey was the result on hole #5, and I really deserved better. This is a par-5 measuring 498 yards. I hit a perfect drive on this dog-leg left, skirting the trees on the inside of the dog-leg to end up in the middle of the fairway, just 210 yards from the green. Next, I hit a pretty good 3-iron, but it found a bunker short and right of the green. It was a fairly long bunker shot, but the problem was that I inadvertently picked the ball clean, sending it 50 yards or more past the green. The area is covered in fescue, so the ball was lost. After a penalty, my next attempt from the bunker was better, ending up just left of the green. I was pretty far from the flag, so it took another chip and two putts to finish things up. Really, one bad bunker shot turned a potential birdie into a triple!
I played bogey golf the rest of the way, including a fabulous up-and-down from 50 yards away on hole #8, a long par-3. I finished with a score of 95, which is okay, but if not for the fiasco on hole #17, this would have been a round of 90. Still, I was pleased to register six pars on the day.
Score: 95
Putts: 33
Fairways: 5
Greens: 3
Penalties: 2
No comments:
Post a Comment