It's been a strange year for coincidences on the golf course. On a visit to Victoria Park East, I ran into a guy I played with five years ago on the GTA Amateur Tour. The pro shop called him to the first tee over the loudspeaker and I recognized his name. He was in the group directly behind me. I chatted with him when things backed up on the third hole and he remembered me as well. On a visit to Century Pines, I got paired up with a guy I met and played with a year earlier at the same course. He was a good player and great company. He remembered my name and details of the small talk we exchanged a year prior. On a visit to Piper's Heath, a fellow member of the Deepwoods Golf Association called out my name as I was waiting to tee off on hole #17. He's a Deepwoods regular, but didn't play this year because of scheduling problems. We chatted a bit and agreed to get out for a round together later in the year.
The latest coincidence probably takes the cake. On a visit to Indian Wells, I pulled into a parking lot that was nearly empty. Another car pulled in at the same time and we parked side by side. The driver asked if I had the 11:48 am tee time, which I did. As we introduced ourselves, we realized that we knew each other. He works for a company that was my employer for many years and which I left almost five years ago. We weren't direct colleagues at the company, but worked in the same general area and had a number of common friends. We had lunched together and even played golf together at a mutual friend's private club. However, we hadn't seen each other or spoken for at least five years. It turned out to be a great round of golf. The course was nearly empty, as people were scared off by rain showers earlier in the day. Not only that, but it was a great opportunity to catch up with a former colleague. Amazing stuff!
As for the golf itself, I started with a mostly positive front nine. I was seven over par through the first eight holes, comprised of a birdie, one par, four bogeys, and two double-bogeys. The birdie came on hole #5, a 340-yard par-4. Thick woods line the entire right side of this hole, from tee to green. It's actually staked as a lateral hazard, as there is a creek or something down in the trees. I visualized a drive starting on the left edge of the fairway and curling back slightly. That's exactly what I pulled off. It's such a great feeling when reality matches the vision you have beforehand. From 110 yards, I hit a sand wedge toward the green, which sits below the level of the fairway and is wrapped on all sides by woods. I came up a yard short, but hit an absolutely fabulous chip that curled toward the pin and dropped in the centre of the cup!
Hole #9 features a very tough tee shot, as thick woods line both sides of a narrow fairway. The right side is extremely thick – balls in there are not playable at all. The trees on the left are less thick, but a steep drop off carries balls down into a creek, 20 feet below the fairway level. I hit a good looking drive, but I just caught the top of the slope and my ball went all the way down into the hazard. After taking a penalty, I pitched up to the fairway through an opening in the trees. Unfortunately, my ball carried right to the other side of the fairway. From that position, the green was not accessible. I was forced to lay up about 50 yards from the green. I duffed a shot before finding the putting surface and then burned an edge on my first putt. The result was a disastrous quadruple-bogey. At the turn, my score was 47.
The back nine also featured a lot of good golf shots, but also another quadruple-bogey. Hole #12 calls for another tee shot to thread the needle between thick woods on both sides. It's not a long hole at 355 yards, but it's tight. You can't drive the ball more than 255 yards or you'll go through the end of the fairway and into a deep gulley, covered in rough. I hit it right about that distance to the left side and the ball trickled down the cart path to the bottom of the gulley. Fortunately, I had an opening I could pitch through to get back to the fairway. I was on the putting surface in three, but 3-putt on a very sloped section of green where the hole was cut. Double-bogey was recorded on the scorecard.
The quadruple came on hole #15, a par-5. I flared my drive way right into the opposite fairway, then rushed my next shot as I wanted to get out of the way of other players. I had to lay up with my third and was still 190 yards from the green. I pulled a 4-iron left of the green, where it appears they added much fescue and new trees. All of this came together to produce the inflated score. In the end, the mix of good golf and a pair of blowup holes produced my typical result. Next up is the Deepwoods finale on Sunday.
Score: 95
Putts: 34
Fairways: 3
Greens: 4
Penalties: 4
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