Round 4 of the Deepwoods championship took place last Sunday at Nobleton Lakes Golf Club. I was still alive in the championship hunt and felt confident I could move to within striking distance of the leaders with a good round. I had never played at Nobleton Lakes before, but judging by the course tour on the club's website, it looked like a place where my competitors might falter. As it turned out, I was right about that – the field played poorly across the board. Unfortunately, so did I. It's a shame, because the first third of my round was great. The final two thirds was not bad, but I wasn't sharp enough and didn't collect enough points.
Beginning on Woods #1, a par-5, I hit driver, 3-iron to about 20 yards in front of the green. I sculled my pitch attempt straight across the putting surface, but managed to get up and down for par. I sculled two similar pitch shots on the back nine. Once again, I got up and down after the mistakes, but this time I took bogeys where I might have made par.
I hit great tee shots on Woods #2 and #3, with 5-iron and driver, respectively. I managed bogey on the former, but only a double-bogey on the latter, as my second shot with the 9-iron was short in a bunker. I made a good out, but then 3-putt. It was my first of seven 3-putts on the day. This was perhaps the greatest contributor to my poor scoring. When I left putts short, they broke way more than I anticipated. When I seemed to get the line correct, the ball rolled well past the hole. Familiarity with the greens would have helped, but I didn't have that luxury.
Woods #6 is a short par-4, at just 270 yards from the white tees. You have to carry the edge of a lake directly in front of the tee, but thick forest on both sides of the landing area are the greater danger. I had been striping the driver, so I went with it again, even though I could have used a little 8-iron. The ball faded into the trees on the right and was lost. Hitting my third from the tee, I sliced one even worse, but this one bounced back to an area where I could play it. I put the next shot on the green and almost made a long breaking putt for bogey, but it burned the edge and I settled for double.
Woods #7 is the toughest hole on the course, a narrow par-5 with forest on both sides for most of its length. Since the driver failed me on the previous hole, there was no way I was going to test it here. I hit 4-iron, 4-iron straight down the pipe, leaving 140 yards to the flag. My approach was actually short of the green, but I chipped one close and made a nice breaking putt for the par. Smart play, and it worked like a charm.
At this point, the wheels came off. Woods #8 is a 150-yard par-3 over a gulley from an elevated tee. I pulled an 8-iron into some trees left of the green. I found the ball immediately and had a nice opening up to the green, but my ball was on a fluffy pile of fallen leaves. I had to be careful not to touch anything around lest I cause the ball to move. I took a stroke and the ball went nowhere. I took another, and it moved a couple inches, coming to rest against a fallen branch. I whacked it a few yards forward into some rough, then pitched on and 1-putt for a score of 6. Terrible!
Had I been able to play steady over the next few holes, I could have recovered. Unfortunately, I was making more mistakes. I 3-putt Woods #9 for double-bogey and did the same on View #1 for a triple. This par-5 started so promisingly, with a driver, 5-iron combination, leaving just 80 yards to the green. I hit my wedge short into a bunker, and could only splash out to the rough. What a waste!
A nice 5-iron off the tee on View #3 went unrewarded. This is a par-3 with an island green. The shot was straight into the wind and flag-high, but about one yard too far to the right. The ball splashed into the water, forcing me to take a penalty and use the drop area. I finished the hole with another double-bogey.
And so it went for the rest of the round. I was not playing horribly, but finishing the final 3-holes with three consecutive 3-putts didn't help my cause. Heading into the final Deepwoods event, I am officially out of contention. It's not much consolation that many of my fellow Deepwoods competitors suffered the same fate at Nobleton Lakes. Right now, losing the 2015 Deepwoods championship in a playoff, as I did, stings even more.
Score: 96
Putts: 37
Fairways: 9
Greens: 2
Penalties: 2
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