It was a rare back-to-back, as I returned to Legends on the Niagara for my latest round. This time, I played the Battlefield course, as opposed to Ussher's Creek. Playing both courses in quick succession, one realizes there really is very little separating these designs. Both are terrific layouts and lots of fun.
I barely made it to the course in time, thanks to the traffic snarls of Labour Day Weekend. I was a little rattled at the start of the round and it was also fairly windy. Over the first four holes, I managed to keep my driver in play, while my irons were hit and miss. On hole #1, I topped an iron attempt and hooked another. On hole #2, I hit a pure 4-iron from the fairway with my second shot, but it was straight into the wind and came up 10 yards short of the elevated green. On hole #3, a par-3, I opened the face of the 7-iron too much and flared one into the fescue. As you can see, my irons were either topped, straight lasers, hooked left, or flared right. That should be easy to fix then, right? LOL
Due to that early wildness, I opened with a pair of bogeys and a pair of double bogeys. I had some momentary genius on hole #5, a short par-4. First, I nailed the centre of the fairway with my driver. From the 100-yard stick, and with the wind blowing, I opted to half punch an 8-iron through the opening at the green front. I had to be accurate to avoid a bunker pinching on the right and to stop the ball on the green. It worked like a charm, with the ball settling about 8 feet behind the hole. Fortunately, I nailed the relatively straight putt for birdie!
A wild second shot on hole #6 led to double bogey. Hitting from the left side of the fairway, I once again opened the club face too much, pushing the ball well right of target. Things got worse on hole #7, as I registered a quadruple bogey! A lake borders the entire left side of this par-4 all the way to the green and can be intimidating. I composed myself well and hit a good drive to a bunker on the right side of the fairway. I had a perfect lie and angle to the green, but I clipped the sand, sending the ball to the right rough 100 yards from the flag. At this point, I made a bad decision. I tried the half punch 8-iron again, since it worked so well on hole #5. Coming out of the rough, however, was a completely different ball of wax. The ball went nowhere and then I duffed a pitch attempt from the soggy fairway. To top things off, I 3-putt. Argh!
I made the turn with a score of 49 and then went on a really hot streak. I bogeyed hole #10, a par-4 in steady fashion. Hole #11 was a thing of beauty. I nailed the left edge of this par-5 fairway with a good drive. From 230 yards, I took aim over some bunkers with the 5-iron. I was trying to lay up short of more bunkers on the left side of the green. The right side of the fairway and green are protected by a pond. I absolutely crushed the ball, sending it 200 yards right into the throat of the green opening. Almost unwittingly, I threaded the needle on that shot. I wasn't trying to reach the green in two, but that's basically what I had done. I chipped onto the green with my third shot and the ball trickled right to the flag, curling inches below the hole. For a while I thought I had an eagle, but I settled for a tap-in birdie!
A pair of pars continued the streak on the next two holes. On hole #12, an amazing 70-foot putt from just off the green did the trick. It was unexpected and felt fantastic. It had been a while since I dropped one from downtown like that. On hole #13, a short par-4, the par came in textbook fashion. I split the fairway with driver off the tee. From 120 yards, I drew a shot with the gap wedge to the rear pin position. From 10 feet away, I had a really good look at birdie, but barely missed. That's OK, tap-in pars are nice too.
Through 13 holes, I was 13 over par – perfect bogey pace. I was proud of how I battled through some adversity early on to get back on track. Then it all changed with my tee shot on hole #14, a 139-yard par-3. The pin was very accessible at the front of the green, with lots of room short and right. Inexplicably, I hit a wicked hook into a hazard covering the entire left side of the hole. I took my first penalty stroke of the day and a drop. After a pitch and two putts, I had a double bogey.
In and of itself, the double-bogey was not a problem. However, the tee shot on that hole was a clear momentum breaker. I pulled my drive on the next hole into the woods left of the fairway. Another penalty stroke. I duffed an iron, then flared another, en route to quadruple bogey. On hole #16, I played my drive to a good position left of the fairway. A pond protects the right side of the hole half way down the fairway and wraps around the right side of the green. I had the safest angle into the green and room short and left. Again, I pushed an iron well right of target and this one found the pond. It was my third and final penalty of the day, coming on my third successive hole. I ended up making triple bogey on that hole, as a 3-putt compounded matters.
I made par on hole #17, a short par 3, thanks to a great bump and run with my second shot. It made up for a chunky tee shot. Unfortunately, it was more bad news on the final hole of the day. I hit a fine drive to the left fairway on this dramatic par-5. A lake borders the entire right side of this hole from tee to green. A slight mis-hit with the 5-iron on my second shot didn't cause any harm. I was still in the fairway, 160 yards from the green with a good angle to the front pin position. Now, I decided to take the water completely out of play with my third shot. Rather than loft a 7 or 8-iron into the air, I elected to half punch a 5-iron toward the green opening. If I came up 20 yards short, I could pitch on and 2-putt for bogey. If I got it up to the green, I could have a go at par. I ended up about 25 yards short, but the ball hooked slightly (perhaps from my fear of finding the water right). This meant I had to pitch over a bunker to reach the green. Of course, I duffed that shot and found the sand. Next, I carried over the green and went in the water! Are you kidding me? All that strategy and I still get the ball wet? I took a drop, chipped on and made a single putt for a triple bogey.
I was very disappointed in the last hole, but all in all, a final score of 97 isn't bad. It's not good, but it's not bad.
Score: 97
Putts: 32
Fairways: 9
Greens: 4
Penalties: 3
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