I teed off a half hour before noon for my latest round at Twenty Valley Golf & Country Club. It was a brilliant day with lots of sunshine, but never more than about 22 degrees Celsius. There was nothing but a gentle breeze from time to time, making the conditions absolutely perfect for golf.
I made par on the opening par-5, but it was the way I did it that was interesting. My drive started on the left side of the fairway and smacked a lone, large tree squarely on the trunk. If it got past the tree, the ball would have travelled another 50 yards. Instead, it bounced backwards 50 yards! From way back on the the left side of the fairway, I hit a high 5-wood to the right edge of the fairway, 148 yards from the green. Some overhanging branches from a large tree were partially blocking me out, but I hoisted an 8-iron right over them and right at the flag. Pin high and 10 feet away, I made a really nice putt that just missed for birdie.
I smacked a similar tree off the tee on hole #2, forcing a layup on my second shot of this par-4. Unfortunately, from 50 yards away, I pulled one into a greenside bunker. There was little green to work with, so a good out from the hazard rolled off the other side of the putting surface. Thankfully, I managed to get up and down to salvage double-bogey. I sorted out my driver over the next few holes and really for the remainder of the round. The drive on hole #3 was especially good, as my ball came to rest 5 yards behind a creek that crosses the fairway. You couldn't walk down and place the ball in a better spot. My main thought with the driver was just to be fluid during the transition from backswing to downswing. With this in mind, I rattled off three bogeys and a par.
Hole #7 is a 152-yard par-3 over water. For no particular reason, I hit a terrible 8-iron off the tee. It was a low hook that didn't clear the pond. After a penalty stroke and drop, my wedge shot drifted right into a greenside bunker. There's no question about it – I am terrible at bunker shots right now. I am doing something really wrong, but I'm not sure what it is. This one wasn't horrific, but it carried further than I wanted and rolled off the green – right into another bunker! Of course, I hit the next one fat, barely getting out of the bunker. A decent chip put me within seven feet, but of course, I burn the edge. When you play a hole poorly, it seems you never get the benefit of that last putt to save a stroke. As it was, I carded an 8 on the hole!
Two more bogeys closed out the front nine with a score of 47. So really, I had just one bad hole on the front, but that's all it takes. Instead of something like a 43, which would be on pace for a mid eighties score, I'm in the high forties, on pace for the mid nineties.
The first six holes of the back nine were played in 5 over par. That included one double-bogey, four bogeys and a birdie! The birdie was on hole #11, a 344-yard par-4. Driver, gap wedge got me pin high, but 20 feet right of the flag. The approach was similar to the one on the first hole, as I hoisted it over a large tree, but this time it was from the left side of the fairway. The birdie putt was lengthy, but I judged the speed and subtle break perfectly. It was the second 20-footer in a row, as I had just drained one on the previous hole to save bogey. Greenside bunker problems once again put me in the position where I needed that putt badly.
Perhaps my best shot of the day was my tee shot on hole #13, the #1 handicap hole on the course. It plays 180 yards into this par-3 from the blue tees. A creek crosses in front of the green, with a huge slope up to a plateau on which the green sits. Trees pinch in near the creek on both sides. It plays a lot longer than the posted yardage, because of the green elevation. I opted for an easy 5-wood and it came off really pure. It popped off the club face and sailed high and right on line. It ended up a couple yards off the back of the green, but that's okay. With a better chip, I could have made par, but bogey ain't bad.
I had a disaster hole on the front nine, so it stands to reason that I was due for one on the back. It came on hole #16, a 200-yard par-3. You might think with that length that I had trouble with my tee shot, but that wasn't the case. I hit my tee shot flag high, just off the left side of the green. The ball was a bit below my feet and I had to flop over the edge of a bunker to reach the pin. The lie in the rough seemed okay, though the grass was a little sparse. What did I do? I sculled the shot like a real idiot – right into a bunker on the other side! Oh man, these bunkers are killing me in multiple ways. After a poor out that didn't reach the green, I made a good chip, but (here it is again) I missed the 6-foot putt to finish with a triple-bogey 6. Those poor holes always end with a missed putt from a makeable range.
At the end of the day, I shot a typical 95. Two bad holes (both were par-3) represented 14 of those strokes. Everything else was pretty good. I know I sound like a broken record, but I should really be a mid eighties shooter. Shaking my head.
Score: 95
Putts: 35
Fairways: 6
Greens: 5
Penalties: 1
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