It was the final round of the 2014 Deepwoods championship and my first round ever at Royal Ontario Golf Club. I had heard it described as a shot-maker's course, favouring golfers who could consistently hit targets over those who bomb away at every opportunity. In preparation for the round, I studied the course layout on the club's website, taking note of preferred targets and corresponding distances.
As it turned out, my performance was like three different golf rounds in one. I shot 28 over the first six holes, with two pars and four bogeys. Contrast this with the middle six holes, where I shot 41, thanks to a pair of double bogeys, three triples, and a quad. For the final six holes, I got back on track. I fired a 29 over that stretch, with one par and five bogeys. It was an up, down, and up again kind of day, to say the least.
My play on the opening third of the course had me thinking I might be able to maximize my Deepwoods point total. On the third hole, for example, I split the fairway with a high, straight drive. A half swing with the 5-iron advanced the ball between water on the left and fescue on the right. From 120 yards, a wedge got me flag high, just off the back of an angled green. A delicate chip and solid putt from 4 feet finished off the par.
On hole #5, a short par-4 with a dogleg right and a forced carry over a creek, surgical precision was once again required. I hit an 8-iron with a two thirds swing off the tee, leaving 120 yards to the green from the centre fairway. My gap wedge was in line with the flag, but I caught it a tad fat and came up 30 yards short of the flag. I lofted a pitch shot over a bunker and high in the air, landing softly on the green's upper level. From there, I drained a 12 footer with some break to save par.
The middle third of the course was a nightmare, and it began with a 4-iron off the tee on hole #7. I set up with an open club face, but didn't square it up through the swing, pushing the ball well out to the right and into the woods. I found the ball, but an attempt to punch out didn't work. The second attempt did and I was back in the fairway, 160 yards from the flag. To get there, I needed to fly over water almost all the way. I hit the ball straight, but caught it way too fat and landed in the drink. After a penalty and drop, I reached the green and 2-putt for a quad.
A series of errors ensued over the next five holes. The gap wedge was hit fat again on hole #8, a short par-3. My ball failed to carry a hazard, so I took another penalty. On hole #9, I found the fescue and weeds on two occasions. On the first of these, I found my ball, but I wasn't so lucky the second time. Chalk up another penalty. In fact, the middle third of the course accounted for 6 of my 7 penalties on the day. Two came on hole #10 – the first off the tee and the second on the approach to the green. I even went out of bounds on hole #11, a short par 3. Come to think of it, the gap wedge was responsible on that par-3, just as it was on hole #8.
The most disappointing part of this stretch of poor play is the fact that these are some of the easiest holes on the course. In terms of handicap, holes 7 through 12 are rated 14, 18, 12, 13, 17, and 15. I agree that holes 8, 11, and 12 are fairly easy, but I'm surprised that holes 7, 9, and 10 are rated as they are. Seems to me there's a lot of danger on all of those holes. The other way to look at this is that I excelled on the toughest holes that the course has to offer. From that perspective, it's encouraging.
The highlight of the final third of the course was hole #13, a relatively short par-4. I hit an excellent drive, splitting the fairway with the driver and leaving 120 yards to the flag. Next, I hit my best approach shot of the day, nailing my only green in regulation, just below the hole. I faced about a 12 foot birdie putt and though it didn't drop, it was a good attempt. I was happy with par.
Five consecutive bogeys closed out the round, including one on the difficult closing hole. I took a penalty there, as my second shot dove into a hazard on the right side of the fairway. In spite of that, I made a good pitch to get on the green and then drained a long breaking putt that received a cheer from the Deepwoods members watching the action from the patio nearby.
Score: 98
Putts: 32
Fairways: 7
Greens: 1
Penalties: 7
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