What a horrible round! It's not just that I played terribly, but I really didn't enjoy anything about my latest outing. It was just my third ever visit to Maples of Ballantrae. The first was in 2006 and the second was the season debut in 2013. I don't recall the course being particularly bad, but after this latest visit, I don't see myself going back.
The first thing I don't like is the position of the clubhouse in relation to the property and the road nearby. When I visit a golf course, I like to feel like I'm getting away from all the commotion. The entrance to Maples of Ballantrae is on a busy highway and as soon as you enter the property, you're in the parking lot and beside the clubhouse. It feels like you're just stopping at the side of the road, rather than arriving at a pleasant retreat.
The next thing I don't like is hole #1. The teeing ground is within earshot of the road, but aside from that, it's just not very well designed. Despite being a short par-4, there's nowhere to miss with your tee shot. You have to carry 170 yards of water to reach the fairway, which is pinched by forest on both sides. The bigger the club used, the greater the likelihood that you will visit the trees. It's one thing to have a hole like this in the middle of a round, but it's terrible as the first hole of the day.
I also don't like hole #18 as a closing hole. It''s a fairly long par-3 that's all carry over water. There is some space to bail out short and to the right, but not much. A hole like this would be fine at another stage of the round, but it seems really awkward as the finishing hole. If the wind happens to be blowing, you could really mess up this hole and feel like you ruined your round at the eleventh hour.
Looking at the course layout, I immediately thought the natural place for the clubhouse is somewhere behind green #2. This is right in the heart of the property, where a few houses currently stand. The access road for the homes would make a great entrance to the clubhouse. Tee #3 is nearby, as is green #11. That would make a fine opening nine. Come to think of it, hole #12 through #18, followed by #1 and #2 would be a great back nine. It would solve all of the problems I mentioned earlier!
The revised routing that I imagined seemed too perfect, so I did a little research. Lo and behold, the routing I described was in fact the original routing of the course. It seems the clubhouse was moved at some point, resulting in the changes. Upon further review, I noticed that the driving range is just a few steps away from the ideal clubhouse location that I envisioned. There's even a practice putting green there.
It all makes perfect sense. The original routing had two par-3's and two par-5's on each of the nines (making them each par 36). Each nine started and ended at the clubhouse. With the changes, there's only one par-3 on the front nine (making it a par 37) and three par-3's on the back (for a par 35). The front nine ends at the opposite end of the property from the clubhouse location. The original routing also finished with a par-5, which is a design element I've always enjoyed. This particular par-5 is an interesting one that would make a great finishing test. I don't know what prompted the change, but the new routing is clearly inferior to the original.
So how did I play? Suffice to say that I really struggled with the driver, as shown by the fact that I only hit one fairway all day. There were occasions where I missed only slightly, but it seems my ball always came to rest under a spruce tree, where I couldn't even get a club on it. Worse yet was that after taking an unplayable, I was still often stymied and needed to chip sideways to get back in play. On a few occasions, I hit weak smother hook shots. This happens sometimes when I attempt to attack the ball from the inside. I needed to try because I was coming in from way outside, but it's very easy for me to over-compensate.
The irons were a bit better, but I hit a bunch short and to the right of target. It seems I had the club face open a tad. I hooked my first shot of the day into the forest, so perhaps it was another case of over-compensation. Finally, my putting was brutal. Actually, I shouldn't say that. I was around the hole all day, but not a single putt of any significant length went down. It was one of those days that I'd just rather forget.
Oh yeah, my handicap factor jumped back up (to 16.4). It seems I've stalled at 15.5 – which is scary because the last time I stalled there, I regressed and it took me six or seven years to get back!
Score: 98
Putts: 32
Fairways: 1
Greens: 5
Penalties: 5
No comments:
Post a Comment