We were gifted with another decent weather day, so I headed out to Twenty Valley for some golf. I arrived early, hoping they might find a spot for me earlier than my scheduled tee time. No such luck, as the tee sheet was completely full. After a bit of a wait, I paired up with three older ladies and off we went.
On the first hole, I hit a beautiful drive to the left fairway, ten yards short of a ditch that crosses the fairway. After such a great shot, I decided I had to go for the green on this par-5, but it would take a perfect 3-wood to get there. I blocked one well right into a large group of trees. A punch out was followed by a couple of pitches in order to find the putting surface. Two putts earned a disappointing double-bogey after a great first shot.
I went par, bogey, bogey over the next three holes as I settled into a nice rhythm. Drives were in the fairway and approach shots were close to the greens. In one case I got up and down, while the other two holes required a couple of putts to finish. I began hole #5 with a straight and deep drive, but this is a dogleg right and I ran through the end of the fairway. I tried to punch a low shot underneath some tree branches, but the ball didn't even get out of the rough, advancing just 20 yards or so. Next, I pushed one into a greenside bunker. Out of the sand, I hit the lip, then emerged safely. Two putts finished it up for a shocking triple-bogey.
It's amazing how quickly a score can run up on you, even when your mistakes are not terrible. The bad karma carried to the next hole, a short par-4 that requires a drive over a wide creek. I pulled my first attempt into the water, then hit one fat and found the water again from the drop zone. The result was even worse this time, as I finished the par-4 with a score of 8. I did comparatively well on holes #7 through #9, collecting a couple of bogeys and a double. The latter was due to a sculled pitch shot after missing the green on this par-3 by just a few yards on the right. My score at the turn was 50.
Two thirds of the back nine were free of major problems. I was 5 over par for the stretch beginning with hole #10 and finishing with hole #15. I was hitting a good percentage of fairways, but only found one green in regulation. That was on hole #12, thanks to the pitching wedge. I made a traditional 2-putt par. I also made par on hole #13, thanks to a great up and down from left of the green. The only questionable result during this run was a double-bogey on hole #13, a 180-yard par-3 to an elevated green, protected in front by a wide creek and huge hill. I didn't hit my tee shot clean and struck the retaining wall bordering the creek. After a penalty stroke and shot from the drop zone, I rattled a chip off the flagstick, then tapped in.
The final three holes ruined what was looking like a pretty good recovery. On #16, a 200-yard par-3, I pushed a 3-iron into a water reservoir right of the green. Penalty stroke and double-bogey ensued. On #17, a par-4, I was just left of the green after two. Unfortunately, I had to go under some spruce tree branches. I struck the ball into a bit of a slope and it died instantly. Another shot was required to get on the green and I 2-putt for another double. The last hole is a par-5 that I completed with 6 shots from tee to cup. The problem was that my first drive attempt was a huge pull into a lateral hazard. I could have taken a penalty stroke and dropped near the point where the ball last crossed the margin, but I wanted to replay the drive. I hit my third off the tee and it was a good one. Because of the first mistake, my score on the hole was an ugly triple-bogey – for a final score of 99.
That's pretty grim, but it's late in the year and I have played very little recently.
Score: 99
Putts: 31
Fairways: 7
Greens: 1
Penalties: 5
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