The treat, in this case, was simply the fact that I was able to get out and play some golf. It was just a day after my last round at Hidden Lake, but days like this are rare for late November. The venue was Turnberry, a par-3 course that I played once before. I prefer to play a full-length course, but the round was booked at the last minute and choices were slim. I thought quite highly of Turnberry after my first visit, but this time around, I found it merely satisfactory. I guess some of the novelty has worn off.
Turnberry begins and ends with par-4 holes, both of which are quite challenging. I like courses that ease you into things with a couple of easier holes, so I found the opener pretty stiff. I pulled my drive way left, into a fescue-covered dune. I recovered well to get back to the fairway, but then mis-hit a 4-iron into the fescue once again. It took five shots to reach the green and I 2-putt for a triple-bogey.
I closed out the opening nine averaging bogey golf. In addition to six bogeys, I registered one double-bogey and a par. This being a par-3 course, it's all about hitting greens. I hit very few of them – just one in fact. That came on hole #4, a straightaway affair measuring just 103 yards. I duffed the tee shot on an even shorter hole, but most of the time, I simply had a little too much draw to my iron shots. This usually put me left of the green trying to get up and down for a par.
I made a couple of nice chip shots, including one that helped save bogey on hole #3, but the rest were just mediocre. As a result, I had a lot of 2-putts for bogey. My best chip shot may have been on hole #9, a good distance from the flag. I landed softly on the green, allowing the ball to release slightly. It caught a slope at the perfect pace and settled very near the cup. Unfortunately, I missed the par putt from inside three feet.
Things started poorly on the back nine, when I missed two putts from within 3 feet on hole #10. A nice chip left me in good position to earn par, but the miscues with the flat stick turned that into a double-bogey. Putting woes also cost me on hole #13, which measures just 125 yards. On the green in two, I proceeded to 4-putt for a disastrous triple-bogey. Now, this particular green is rather extreme, featuring a very deep gulley that crosses through the middle. On this occasion, the cup happened to be located right in the gulley, at the extreme left. Still, I should not have had so much trouble.
The rest of the way, I was pressing to earn some of these lost strokes back. The fescue left of the green barely snagged my ball on hole #14, but that was enough to produce a double-bogey. I had a decent chance to save bogey, but my putt burned the edge of the cup. I made par on hole #15, thanks to an excellent 7-iron off the tee. With the flag at the back of the green and a solid wind in my face, club selection was paramount. It ended up being the only green I hit in regulation on the back nine.
With holes running out, I pressed a little too much and finished with a pair of double-bogeys. Overall, I felt like my irons were a little suspect, but I was hanging in nicely. My chip shots were mostly good, but the exceptions were costly. Finally, I felt like my putting let me down. I only made one putt of significant length, while I missed three or four that should have been gimmes.
Score: 80
Putts: 39
Fairways: 1 (out of 2)
Greens: 2
Penalties: 0
No comments:
Post a Comment