Will-o-Hell

In just my second return visit to a golf course this season, I decided to play Willodell Golf Club of Niagara. I shot a 91 there earlier this year, which is my second best score of the season.  Last year, I fired a 93 on my first ever visit there, which ended up being my best of the 2013 season. The course has a pretty typical rating and slope, but it gives you a safe option on almost every hole and often a chance to recover from wayward shots. I was looking to go low – breaking 90 was definitely on my mind. The season is coming to a close and there will be few opportunities to get my handicap factor back into the teens.

So, how did it go? Well, I didn't title this post “Will-o-Hell” for nothing. It was a pleasant day and I enjoyed playing, but the result was not what I was looking for. I shot a very unremarkable 99 and my handicap factor inched up by another tenth of a point.

The good news is that I adjusted my play with the driver, and it worked out pretty well. In recent rounds, I had been playing a baby cut. At first, it gave me a lot of consistency. This came at the expense of distance, but I didn't mind, as I had some to spare. Over time, the loss of distance became more pronounced, until it finally became a problem. At Willodell, I committed to taking more of a draw swing. The risk was that I would have some complete mis-hits, but that didn't happen. On a couple of occasions, I over-cooked the draw, ending up in the left rough. However, I simply dialed it back a little the next time around and hit some lovely shots. I feared making the adjustment, but in the end, I had all of my control, along with a return of my normal distance.

The real problem on the day was with my irons – not those hit from the deck, but those hit off the tee. Willodell features five par-3 holes, so good irons off the tee are a must to score well. Unfortunately, I registered two double-bogeys, a triple, and two quads over those holes. Early on, I hooked a 7-iron, duffed a 4-iron, and hooked an 8-iron. Later on, my attempts to fix the issue resulted in another pair of duffed 8-irons. This disparity between iron shots from the deck versus the tee is something I have been aware of for a long time. I thought it was a mental issue (i.e. getting excited over a nicely teed up ball, with the green so tantalizingly within reach) but now I'm not so sure. Maybe I should just forgo the tee next time and simply place the ball directly on the teeing ground. I've done that in the past, but the last time was many years ago.

I did manage a birdie on the day, thanks to an excellent second shot on hole #15, a 387-yard par-4. My drive was just left of the fairway, offering the best angle into the green. From 120 yards, I opted for a half swing with the 8-iron. This is something I've been using with some success lately. I seem to have more control over the line with that type of swing than I do with a full swing wedge. My ball landed just in front of the green and rolled right up to the pin, less than a foot away. Tap-in birdies are awesome!

Score: 99
Putts: 33
Fairways: 6
Greens: 3
Penalties: 3