I played Piper's Heath last month in uncharacteristically mild conditions, but the wind was up to its usual tricks on my most recent visit. It was by no means howling, but there was enough to make you think about club selection and target lines. In my previous visit I played the white tees (6088 yards), while this time I stepped back to the blue tees (6621 yards).
Despite a poor drive and horrific 4-iron to start things out, I managed to make bogey on the opening hole. I was lucky to find my ball in some fescue after the second shot and I took full advantage with a nice lob wedge to the green. My driver and iron shots were better over the next few holes, but I struggled with my short game near the greens. On hole #3, a par-5, my fourth shot from a greenside bunker was picked clean, with the ball ending up in some fescue 30 yards behind the green. I duffed a pair of pitch shots, before chipping one in from off the green just to save double-bogey. On hole #4, I duffed a pitch shot from 30 yards, leading to another double.
Fortunately, I settled down a bit on the remainder of the front nine. I made bogey on hole #5, despite finding a hazard with my tee shot and taking a penalty. I made par on hole #6, followed by a trio of bogeys. There were some mis-hits that resulted in some lost yardage, but nothing catastrophic. The short game came around a little bit, enabling me to limit any damage done. I made the turn with a decent score of 46. I hit five of seven fairways, but no greens in regulation. This turned out to be a sign of things to come.
The back nine was a little more shaky, with trouble coming in different forms. Poorly hit tee shots put me behind the 8-ball on holes #11 and #15. The former is a 205-yard par-3 that was playing longer with the pin tucked at the back of a deep green. I smothered and topped a 5-wood, leaving my ball buried in some fescue, 150 yards from the green. All I could do was hack out to the rough, leaving about 40 yards to the pin. A pitch and two putts earned double-bogey. Hole #15 is a fun par-5, but my drive attempt was fat, travelling almost nowhere. It took an extra shot to reach the green, resulting in another double.
When the driver worked well, other things faltered. I inadvertently opened up the face on my 7-iron attempting to find the green on hole #12. The ball sailed out of bounds, contributing to a triple-bogey. It didn't help that I collected my first 3-putt of the day on the same hole. Another 3-putt on hole #18 produced a double-bogey. On hole #14, it was another failed bunker shot that also resulted in a double. I didn't pick this one clean, but it sailed well past the hole and rolled right off the opposite side of the green. I had a chance to save bogey with an 8-foot putt, but didn't play enough break.
I ended up shooting 51 on the back nine. I hit three of six fairways, but once again, no greens in regulation. All in all, it was a decent effort, but certainly nowhere near my best.
Score: 97
Putts: 33
Fairways: 8
Greens: 0
Penalties: 2
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