By my count, I've played Century Pines about ten times. The first time was in 2006 – a rather inauspicious debut that produced a score of 109. My next two visits, which took place in 2010, produced my best results at the course – a seemingly easy 93 and 97. I played the course three times in 2011 and twice each of the last two years. You would think that my scores would get better as my knowledge of the course improved, but that was not the case. After scoring 101 in early 2011, my scores went like this: 112, 111, 106, 103, 101, 100.
I didn't realize how poorly I've played this course until I looked up the numbers. The good news is that the scores have been trending in the right direction. That is really looking for a silver lining, but you've gotta start somewhere, right? One thing I remember about recent visits is how terribly I started, particularly on the opening par-5 hole. If I'm not mistaken, I've reached double digits on that hole a couple of times, which absolutely kills your round before it truly begins.
I'm happy to say that I managed to make par on that hole this time around. I hit driver to the opposite fairway (trust me, it's better that way), followed by 5-iron back to the proper fairway, 7-iron to the area in front of the green, a serviceable pitch shot and a lengthy putt. I also made par on hole #3, a 380-yard par-4. I hit driver to the middle of the fairway, followed by a 9-iron from 140 yards that just rolled off the back of the green. My chip shot was pretty good, leaving a 5-footer that I drained.
It was bogeys the rest of the way on the front nine, except for a triple on hole #6. After driving the ball right of the fairway (the safe play), I failed to punch through a couple of trees to get back to the fairway. My third shot was a good punch toward the green, but it was inevitable that my ball would get caught in a large bunker there. I picked the ball out too cleanly, overshooting the green. I absolutely must stop doing that! It's totally a mental thing that has been killing me for years now. I dread the greenside bunker shot.
Let's not lament that too much, because things were going pretty well. They got even better on hole #11, a short par-4 measuring 309 yards. I hit driver off this tee once and finished 5 yards off the front of the green. That was great, but it was the exception, rather than the rule. When going for distance off the tee, I've also sliced into the trees on the right and pulled into the hazard on the left. Usually, I just try to hit a mid-iron to the 150-yard stick, followed by a similar club into the green. It's the better strategy for me, as there is less danger with a conservative tee shot. This time, I hit a 6-iron right to the 150 yard stick, followed by a beauty of an 8-iron that had me thinking about eagle. Alas, I needed a three foot putt for birdie, which I drained!
Up to this point, my round was penalty-free. That changed with my tee shot on hole #12, a pulled shot with the 5-wood that was lost in a hazard. As a result of that error, I made triple bogey. I collected two more penalty strokes over the remainder of the round. Coincidentally, they both came on par-5 holes. Once again, they were the main reason for two more triple bogeys. I averaged bogey for the remaining holes, which was enough to salvage a final score of 95.
While there were plenty of good shots in this round, as with many of my recent rounds, there were also some costly mistakes. Still, I managed my second best score ever at Century Pines, which isn't bad. I guess it shows how horrific some of my earlier visits had been.
One last thing I noticed while looking at my scores, so far, for 2014. Aside from three throwaway rounds of 119, 115, and 106, my remaining scores read like this: 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101. Talk about having your bases covered! LOL
Score: 95
Putts: 32
Fairways: 5
Greens: 3
Penalties: 3
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