With scores of 94, 95, 91 and 85 over my last four rounds, I was looking to keep the momentum going. The “wrist roll” adjustment that I made a few rounds back had me hitting very decent drives and pure iron shots. There was no reason it shouldn't continue, right? I headed to Bradford Highlands to see if that line of reasoning would hold up.
Playing the back nine first, I popped my first drive way up in the air and slightly left. I've driven the ball to the end of that fairway before, so this was a little disappointing. With a tree in my way, I was forced to chip back to the fairway. No problem though, as I hit one of those pure 8-irons from 150 yards to within five feet of the pin, then drained the putt to save par. “It's still working,” I thought.
On hole #11, a par-5, I hit my drive straight, but it once again popped straight up in the air. I was so far back that I had to lay up before a creek that crosses the fairway. That left me with a long third shot into the green, and I came up well short. A pitch and 2-putt would have been fine for bogey, but I blasted my first putt well past the hole, en route to a double bogey. What the hell? Why were the greens lightning fast at Bradford Highlands?
My drive on hole #12 was truly disgusting. I caught the ball low on the club face and it sliced into a pond on the right side of the fairway. My irons on the remainder of the hole were no better, as I found some deep fescue and had a heck of a time getting out. I finished with a triple-bogey, and began wondering what on earth was going on.
My scores were better for the rest of the back nine, as I registered a par and five bogeys. Despite the results, I wasn't feeling confident. I had a couple of good drives, particularly on holes #14, #17, and #18. However, I hit a huge push slice off the tee on hole #15, a short par-4. Only a spectacular 7-iron from the opposite fairway enabled me to save par on that hole. My irons continued to be pretty good overall, but my chip shots were running right across the speedy greens. I've never seen the greens that fast at Bradford.
I made the turn with a score of 46, so you could say I was right on track for a score in the low 90s. A 3-putt on hole #1 produced double-bogey, but it was my tee shot on hole #2 that started a big, downward spiral. The group ahead let mine play through, so they had a front row seat for my atrocious 5-iron off the tee on this par-5 hole. The ball came out low and to the right, diving into thick fescue just 60 yards ahead of the teeing ground. I found the ball, but it was all I could do to hack it back to the primary rough. Double-bogey was the final result.
The next five holes included three bogeys, along with a pair of massive blowups. I took a score of 10 on hole #3, a par-4 of modest length. There is out of bounds along the entire left side, and a pond protects the front right of the green, but I've never struggled on this hole as I did this time. I hit a poor drive off the heel of the club, then shanked a 6-iron. I flared a wedge into the pond and found the water again after taking a penalty and drop. Ugh!
The other hole that killed me was #6. Unlike #3, this one HAS killed me in the past...OFTEN! I once sliced four consecutive tee balls out of bounds on the right side. That was a long time ago. In recent visits, I managed to find a tiny pond that sits short and to the left side. It's uncanny how frequently I managed to land in that pond. This time, I popped the ball straight in the air. Lo and behold, it went in the pond. After taking a penalty, I pushed a shot into a water hazard further afield. And so it continued, as I registered a score of 9 on this par-4. Ugh!
At this point, I was on track to finish above the century mark. Out of nowhere, I put together a birdie and par on the last two holes to save a final score of 99. The birdie came on a 140-yard par-3 from an elevated tee. I hit a 9-iron flush, but the ball was headed left of my target. Miraculously, it hit a mound near the left side of the green and kicked well right, settling just 5 feet from the hole. I took advantage and drained the putt.
On hole #18, a 505-yard par-5, I hit a pretty good drive that leaked ever so slightly to the right. A creek crosses the fairway, but I never reached it before, so I swung without hesitation. As I walked up to where I thought my ball was, I didn't see anything. The cart path cuts through the area, so I feared that I might have hit it and bounced into the creek. When I looked in that area, I spotted my ball 5 yards from the creek...on the other side! Woohoo! I was only 190 yards from the green, albeit in the rough and with a couple small trees to contend with. I hit a good 4-iron to just left of the green, then pitched on to give myself a birdie chance. I missed it, but tapped in for par.
Given the two disastrous holes that added 19 strokes to my card, I'm happy to walk away with 99.
Score: 99
Putts: 35
Fairways: 6
Greens: 4
Penalties: 5
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