Hello faithful readers – all three of you! OK, more like two and a half. It's been a long time since I recorded anything in this space, which is not surprising. It's a golf blog after all, and there has been no golf to speak of since the end of October. Precisely six months have passed since I last hacked my way around a golf course. Over that time, there were no trips to warm weather locations down south or visits to indoor practice facilities here in the Great White North – not even a jaunt to the lowly simulator. At my first round of the season, to be played at King's Forest Golf Club, I would be starting from square one.
I had no expectations going into the round. There's simply no way of knowing what will show up after a lengthy layoff. I was a little worried about the course selection, however. King's Forest is a stiff challenge for me, even when I'm in mid-season form. My best result there came in 2008, on my first ever visit. I shot a gross score of 95, which was good enough for low net on the now defunct Duffer's Dream Tour. Aah, those were the days! In seven visits since then, I scored between 97 and 107, averaging a couple of strokes over the century mark. The course is fair, but its challenges are varied. Some holes are long, while others are narrow. Elevation changes are a primary feature, and it's not uncommon to be shooting from an uneven lie.
The most surprising part of the day was my stamina, or lack of it. King's Forest is not an easy walk, to be sure, but I've had no trouble hoofing it in the past, even with my bag on my back. This time, I was noticeably tired in the late stages of the round. With four holes to play, my pace slowed considerably. Part of the problem is the fact that I get relatively little physical activity over the winter, tending to put on a few extra pounds. Then there's my knee, or what remains of it. I've lived with a torn meniscus for 15 years. As I get older, it's gradually becoming more of an issue. The hills at King's Forest definitely had my knee straining.
As for my ball striking, it was horrible. My results off the tee were decent – I hit many fairways and was only off by a couple of yards when I missed – but they don't tell the full story. I hit a lot of weak, cutting shots, and that was not the shape I was after. Most of these were with the driver, but I also hit a couple of 3-woods. A few of these tee shots also came out very low. In spite of my attempt to swing inside-out, I was clearly coming from the outside-in, with a relatively open club face. Surprise, surprise. Hole #16, a short par-4, was the only time I drove the ball left of the fairway. I kind of smothered the ball, after making a concerted effort to really turn the hands over at impact.
My second shots were truly bad and largely responsible for my inflated scores. I duffed on hole #1 with the ball above my feet. Same thing on hole #10. This despite choking up on the club and brushing the grass nicely with my practice swings. I topped my second shots on holes #2 and #6, connecting awkwardly with the heel of the club. Most often, I hit weak, slicing shots that came out with a low trajectory. From the fairway on hole #3, I hit one of these into the river. After a nice drive on hole #11, I hit an identical one into water hazard protecting the front right of the green. These were the most costly, as they resulted in penalty strokes.
There were only a handful of iron shots that I really liked. The best was an approach into the green on hole #13. I had laid up short of the river on this difficult par-4, leaving 170 yards to the putting surface. Normally, that's my 6-iron distance, but since I was shorter than usual all day long and the flag was at the back of the green, I opted for 5-iron. What followed was perfection. A crisp strike sent the ball dead straight to the heart of the green, flag high. Nice, but rare! Another great shot was my third on hole #18, a par-5. From 150 yards, I opted for 7-iron into the elevated green. I was left of the fairway near a pond and the ball was well above my feet. I choked up and took a nice, easy swing. The ball popped off the club face on a bee-line for the flagstick. It skidded past, finishing on the fringe at the back of the green. After a great lag, I tapped in for my only par of the day.
I have no complaints about my short game. I hit decent pitch and chip shots. I had mixed results from greenside bunkers. On hole #6, I got up and down from one with the help of a good putt. On the other hand, I sculled one clear past the practice green behind hole #9. My putting was fine. I left a couple of lags woefully short, leading to 3-putts, but I also made a couple to finish with 35 putts overall.
My final score was 114 – much worse than I ever shot at King's Forest. It didn't feel quite so bad out there, but the score doesn't lie. There's a lot of work to be done.
Score: 114
Putts: 35
Fairways: 6
Greens: 1
Penalties: 6
