At this time of year, you scrutinize the weather forecast, looking for a window of opportunity to play some golf. When there's no chance of rain, it seems like temperatures are at their lowest. When the mercury jumps up to a comfortable range, it seems like the threat of showers rears its ugly head. I managed to get out on a day when temperatures were quite good. Some rain was expected, but only after my round would be complete.
Unfortunately, weather is not the only thing that deteriorates this late in the season. Course conditions, particularly on the greens, become hit or miss. A lot of courses aerate the ground right around this time. It's a mere nuisance on the tees and fairways, but it's a real pain on the greens. Considering that Flamborough Hills had their greens aerated recently, they really weren't bad at all. Nevertheless, putting on an aerated surface is never like putting on unpunched greens. The greens at Flamborough were not receptive to approach shots, even high lofted ones. The grass itself, along with the top dressing, made the greens rather slick. I also found there were a lot of pine needles on most of the greens.
I'm going to blame the greens for my unimpressive putting. I tallied 39 putts in total, including four 3-putts. Had it not been for the poor putting performance, I would have certainly broken 90 for my third consecutive round. I drove the ball well and hit many nice iron shots. When I made an error every now and then, I followed up with some remarkable recovery shots. Many of these were punch shots below tree limbs that had to bounce through the rough in order to trickle onto the green.
I began on the Woods – the first time I had played this set of nine holes at Flamborough. At the start, it looked like this could be an epic round. I registered par on the first three holes – a par-5, followed by a par-3, and then a par-4. With all the bases covered like that, why wouldn't I be hopeful of a great round? I hit fairways and all three greens in regulation. My approach shots were particularly good. Hole #2 is a par-3 that's all carry over water and I judged the wind and distance perfectly, nailing the green below and just right of the hole.
Woods #4 is a lengthy par-4 at 445 yards. With the wind at my back though, distance was no problem. I had 170 yards into the green for my second shot, and I was barely in the right rough. The bigger problem was a huge tree, right in front of the green. You have to hit a really high shot to get over it, which would be more realistic from a shorter distance with a more lofted club. I tried to manipulate the face too much and ended up with a mis-hit that struck the tree trunk and deflected to the right. Fortunately, I made a great punch onto the green and 2-putt for bogey.
Woods #5 is a long par-3 that was playing right into the wind. I was probably thinking about the wind too much and flared my 3-iron short and to the right. I was on the side of a huge mound with the ball above my knees. I choked down so much on my club that my hands were off the grip. Nevertheless, I managed to thread the ball through some trees toward the green. The first bounce was in front of the green, but the ball had enough speed to roll right off the other side, into a bunker. I made a good out, but then collected my first 3-putt of the day for a disastrous triple-bogey.
Woods #6 was back in the other direction, which meant a helping wind. I had no real trouble on this hole and collected a bogey after a mediocre greenside chip and two putts. Unfortunately, Woods #7 was back into the teeth of the wind. This par-4, at 453 yards, is even longer than #4. With the wind in my face, the hole was playing beastly! I hit a pretty good drive and was still 250 yards away from the green. I made a mistake on my second shot, sending the ball left into an opposite fairway. It was a scramble to fly over some tall trees, chip on and 2-putt for double-bogey.
Woods #8 and #9 produced a pair of bogeys, for a score of 45 at the turn. My drive on the latter was particularly good, leaving just 35 yards into the green on this short par-4. I had to pitch over a depression fronting the small green and did so perfectly with the lob wedge. Despite the great shot, my ball released off the back and into the fringe. Sure enough, I went on to 3-putt.
Following the Woods, I proceeded to the Hills nine. I started to get a little more erratic, forcing a bunch of recovery shots. I hit beautiful punch shots on Hills #2, #3, and #4 to save double-bogey and a couple of bogeys. The one on #4 was particularly good, as I had to keep the ball low to avoid tree limbs and on line to avoid tree trunks. I used the rough to slow my ball and the contour of the ground to direct it back to the green. It was nice stuff. On Hills #6, another recovery shot into the green was of the aerial variety. I wasted that good shot by following up with a 3-putt for double-bogey.
On Hills #7, a par-5, I once again exhibited my punch shot prowess. My second shot was pulled left of the fairway half way up a sloped section of ground. I had to get the ball up to clear the top of the mound, but tree limbs were severely limiting how high I could go. I only had small opening to the green 100 yards away. To the right side, the opening was a little bigger, but not by much.
As I surveyed that part of the opening, I noticed it was aligned with a mound on the right side of the green. I calculated that if I could punch the ball to the right side of the opening, I could stay under the tree limbs and my ball had a good chance of kicking left off the greenside mound, right on the putting surface. I was discussing all this with my playing partner and two members of the grounds crew, who happened to be working right at that spot. I called the shot, and immediately executed it exactly as called. What a beauty! Everyone was impressed, which felt good. I went on to par the hole.
I also made par on the next hole, a 243-yard par-3! Yes, you read that correctly. My tee shot was to an opposite fairway, but I hit a 60-yard pitch over some tall trees to just below the hole and drained the subsequent 8-footer. It set me up to finish with a score of 91, or 18 over par on Hills/Woods, which is actually a par 73. It's too bad about the 3-putts, as they cost me a sub-90 round.
Score: 91
Putts: 39
Fairways: 5
Greens: 6
Penalties: 0
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