It was a warm, sunny day, so I headed out to Wolf Run Golf Club. Aside from a couple of beat up teeing areas, the course was in good shape. If it was closer, I'd play it more often, but that's the way it goes. I was looking to carry the momentum generated by my previous round at Scenic Woods, and fortunately, I did just that.
Each of the nines at Wolf Run begin with a lengthy par-5. They actually run parallel to each other. I made double-bogey on both of them, starting with hole #10. They were the only results I had that were worse than bogey. On #10, my drive was good, but I miss hit a subsequent 3-iron, then pulled a 5-iron from a bunker into some trees. On hole #1, I pulled the drive left and it trickled into some long grass bordering the woods. I had to hit a left handed pitch shot just to get back to the fairway.
Everything else was amazing, as I tallied 6 pars and 10 bogeys. It should have been 8 of each, but I missed a pair of par putts that were straight and no more than three feet in length. Both of them were pulled and burned the left edge of the cup. In the previous round, I was perfect at those, as I really took some extra focus on my technique. I tried the same this time, but for whatever reason, I gave away those two strokes.
Almost all of the holes were played under total control. One exception was hole #16, a 350 yard par-4, with a wide creek that crosses in front of the green. I hit a perfect drive, but duffed a wedge attempt into the green. My ball stayed out of the water, but was resting against a rock and I had to take an unplayable. My pitch after a penalty stroke was on the green, but far from the hole. No matter, as I drained the long putt to save par.
Hole #4 is worth mentioning, as it was quite interesting both on this occasion and on my previous two visits to Wolf Run. It's a short par-4, measuring just 305 yards from the white tees. Woods line the left side, with more woods pinching in on the right side. You can hit an iron through the gap, which is what I tried the first time. I pulled that one into the woods left, then pushed one into the woods right, leading to a blowup score. You can also hit over the trees on the right, as the fairway widens in behind. That's what I did with the driver the second time I played the hole. It worked like a charm, with my ball coming to rest at the end of the right fairway, just before a creek that crosses in front of the green. I think I finished with bogey that time.
I tried the same strategy this time around. I went with driver, hitting one straight down the left side. I swung nice and easy, but the ball just popped off the club face, then seemed to take a hard first bounce. Uh oh! I was worried that I had gone into the creek. When I drove up, there was my ball, well past the end of the fairway, but about two yards from the edge of the creek. The creek angles from the right side back toward the left, so I really used every inch of space. If the same shot had been to the right side, I would certainly be in the water. I pitched over the creek and 2-putt for a satisfying par.
Hole #9, a par-4 was my last of the day, and also one of those where I missed the easy par putt. Just off the green and flag high after two shots, I made a nice chip. Too bad I missed the easy putt, or I would have equalled my score from the last round at 85. I keep the scorecards from my very best rounds, and until recently, I had a couple scores of 86 in the mix. Now that I've added a couple good rounds, the 86 cards have fallen out of the collection. So this one won't go in the collection, but that's more than okay. It means I'm inching up a little more with each round. I have 11 rounds of 85 or better under my belt, and am looking to add more. I have still never broken 80. Could that be on the horizon?
Score: 86
Putts: 34
Fairways: 9
Greens: 5
Penalties: 1
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