The best rounds of golf are the ones you can play with your friends, regardless of individual performance. I had a chance to play with some buddies at Glencairn Golf Club, which was a new course for me. The course is a links style layout, with 27 holes. We played the Speyside nine, followed by Scotch Block. It was one of the more enjoyable rounds I've had in a while. Besides being able to catch up and joke around with some friends, the course was nice and the weather was perfect. In the end, I even played pretty well.
My drives missed the fairway on the first couple of holes, but just barely. Likewise, my approaches barely missed the green. On the first hole, I chipped and 2-putt for bogey, but a poor chip and 3-putt produced double-bogey on the second. We had spent some time on the practice range before the round, but didn't get a chance to practice any putting. After a couple of holes, I had a pretty good sense of the pace to expect on the greens.
I began hole #4, a short par-5, with a perfect drive to the left side of the fairway. Next, I hit a great wedge to lay up in front of a marsh, leaving 130 yards to the flag. I hit a good 9-iron into the green, but came up short due to a headwind and found myself in a bunker. I caught too much ball, sending it over the green. Next, I duffed a chip attempt, en route to a triple bogey. My long play was good, but the short game, specifically sand play and chip shots, killed me.
I only found one other bunker the entire round, and failed to emerge cleanly once again. That time, I hit too much sand, leaving the ball in the bunker. There were other occasions where poor chips also inflated my score. I was often short sided, which forced me to flop the ball. These are the chip attempts I'm most likely to duff. When I had green to work with, I actually hit a couple of chip shots that were real gems. On a few occasions, I cozied a chip right near the pin, leaving an easy gimme putt.
I had a pair of pars on Speyside – one on the par-3 fifth hole, and the other on the par-5 sixth. The first of these was textbook, as I hit the green, made a long lag and an easy tap-in. The second was also routine, as I piped a pair of 5-woods, followed by a wedge to reach the green. A long lag and easy tap-in finished things up. The 5-wood and driver both served me well off the tee. I employed the former on shorter holes, while using the big boy on longer tests.
Pars were more plentiful on Scotch Block nine. In fact, I made par on four of the first five holes. The first featured a laser of a drive, a wicked 3-wood to reach the green in regulation after topping my second shot, and another great lag putt. The second was more of a scramble, but a great up and down saved me. My approach flew the green on the third, but I hit the edging along the cart path, keeping my ball in bounds. From there, it was a satisfying up and down. The fourth par featured a good drive and excellent approach with the 5-iron. Hitting from the rough and into the wind, I was able to draw the ball, avoiding bunkers front left and finishing up at the back of the green, flag high.
I cooled down a bit over the last four holes, but managed to finish the round with a score of 97. Given the length of the course and degree of difficulty, it was probably my best round of the season so far. Sure, I could have saved some strokes by avoiding a few bad chips, a few bad putts, and a couple of blatant mishits, but I also had many good chips, good putts, and full shots. I'm satisfied.
Score: 97
Putts: 37
Fairways: 6
Greens: 4
Penalties: 3
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