I wanted to play once more before the Deepwoods season opener, so I booked an early afternoon round at Hunters Pointe Golf Course, in Welland. It was sunny, but cool, with a strong, steady wind throughout the day. On a links style course, wind is one of the major challenges. On this occasion, it tripped me up a few times.
Playing the back nine first, my driving was shaky. I pulled most of my drives left of target, often to the opposite fairway. There were a couple of exceptions, however. I hit a straight drive that found the fairway on hole #14, a par-5. I hit a baby cut on hole #18, but the wind carried it further right than desirable, bouncing off an embankment and into the lake. I was trying to replicate the move that seemed to help me in recent rounds – that is, to feel the point where my body naturally wants to stop rotating on the backswing and to extend further just a couple of degrees, instead of bringing the arms into play. I think I was extending the rotation just a bit too much. When that happens, it's easy to sweep across the ball, often catching the heel of the club.
Iron play on the back nine was mixed. I hit some bad ones on the opening hole, presumably because I hadn't gotten warmed up. I pulled one terribly off the tee on hole #12, a par-3. I pulled another on my approach to the 18th green, though there was little danger there. As I hinted at earlier, the wind is what tripped up some of my iron shots. On hole #14, a par-4, my third shot from 110 yards was straight into the wind. Judging it to be a 2-club wind, I opted for pitching wedge. I hit a crisp, straight shot, but it carried clear over the green, 30 yards past the flag and into a bunker. An almost certain par ended up as a triple-bogey, as I picked the ball clean out of the bunker sending it 50 yards across the other side of the green. On hole #17, a short par-4, I hit another seemingly great shot into the wind with the gap wedge. The ball sailed over the green and over a bunker into knee-high fescue. Two shots to hack the ball into the bunker and another that barely got out led to a score of 9 for the hole, my worst of the day.
Despite the negative outcomes with the irons, there were a few positive ones as well. I hit a beautiful 7-iron from the thick rough on hole #11 to nail the green and save par. I hit a solid 5-iron off the tee on hole #15, straight into the wind to find the green. With a pond looming right and in front, that was a good shot. I went on to 3-putt, despite a good lag from distance.
On the front nine, I had some work to do. My score was 55 at the turn, so I really needed to turn things around in order to salvage a respectable score. I tried to reduce the extra spine rotation on my drives and it helped slightly. I was still missing left, just not so far. The other thing I thought about was “finishing down the line.” If you think of a clock face with the target line pointing at 12 o'clock, I actually thought about finishing at 1 o'clock. This is because my tendency seems to be finishing at 11 o'clock – no good, as that is what leads either to pull shots or slices.
On hole #7, I got the drive just right. The last four holes run in a line toward the clubhouse and the wind was directly at our backs. This hole is a par-4, measuring 420 yards from the white tees, which we were playing. I picked my line and nailed it high and deep. I rode the wind and made use of the downhill landing zone. My ball travelled 320 yards, coming to rest in the fairway, right beside the 100-yard stick. Oh baby! From there, I bumped up an easy pitching wedge, rolling the ball near the flag at the front of the green. I missed a 10-foot birdie putt, but tapped in for par.
My irons performed well on the front nine too. Hole #2, a par-3, was playing 190 yards straight into a stiff wind. I hit a beautiful 3-iron low and on a string at the flag. I missed a 12-foot birdie putt, just burning the left edge of the hole. Still, I was happy with par. I had many more good iron shots on the front nine. My thought with the irons was once again to keep the left arm straight. This helps me hinge at the wrist better. It also helps the club bottom out at the right spot. It's satisfying when there are no topped balls or duffed shots that are hit fat.
Here's the best thing about this round: I went par, bogey, par, par, and bogey over the last four holes to salvage a score of 98. What a finish! This was my third 98 in a row and my handicap factor crept up to 20.4 as a result. I need to perform for a full round as I did over the last five holes at Hunters Pointe. If I do, I should easily score in the 80's on a regular basis. Why does it happen so rarely? That is the million dollar question.
Score: 98
Putts: 37
Fairways: 3
Greens: 6
Penalties: 5
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