I headed out to Westview early in the morning, hoping to complete two rounds of play. I teed off by myself at 7:15 am, making my way through the Middle and Lakeland nines. Middle #1 is a 402-yard par-4 that plays straight uphill. That makes the hole hard enough, but it also faces east, so the early morning sun shines right in your eyes. I hit my tee shot and didn't see the ball at all. I had a feeling that I sliced it right, so I headed out in that direction. Sure enough, I found my ball in the middle of an adjacent fairway. I tried to pitch back to the proper fairway, but duffed a shot, then sculled one to the other side. I was still blocked by trees, but finally pitched safely back to the fairway. My approach was short and my chip was long, followed by a 3-putt for a score of 9. Great!
I was immediately in a bad frame of mind and it would take me a while to get over it. I spent the next three holes cursing the low hanging sun, as I repeatedly failed to see where my ball even went. Remarkably, I managed to find it every time, but certainly not in the fairways. The grounds crew was also out in full force, cutting grass and getting bunkers ready for the day. Every time I stood over a shot, it seemed a tractor would pay me a friendly visit. To say that I struggled to keep my focus is an understatement. When you're thinking about the sun and lawn mowers, you're not going to make good golf shots. I rattled off three double-bogeys in a row.
The remainder of the Middle nine was more normal. I made par on #5, a 201-yard par-3, and that seemed to get me back on track. My 3-iron off the tee was low and straight, settling in the correct portion of the green, very near the hole. Though I didn't make the birdie putt, I still felt good. I made bogey on hole #6, before making par on #7, another par-3. That one was playing 170 yards and a lovely 6-iron from the tee was just right. Another bogey followed on hole #8, setting up the final hole of the front nine. I hit a 235-yard laser of a 3-iron off the tee, splitting the fairway of this par-4. Yes, the teeing ground is elevated, which accounted for the healthy distance. Unfortunately, I ruined the hole with my wedge play and short game, finishing with a double-bogey.
The Lakeland nine started like the Middle nine – with a blowup hole! This time it was a score of 8 on the uphill par-4. Playing as a single, I breezed through the front nine, so the sun was still an issue. Once again, I had trouble pitching back to the fairway. However, most of the added strokes came after I sculled one out of a greenside bunker and through a hedge that sits behind the green. From that position, I had to play around the hedge to get back to the green. There was simply no chance to go over, under, or through it.
Nothing really good happened on the remainder of Lakeland. My best two holes were #6 and #7 – and those only produced bogey. When your best holes consist of a couple of bogeys, you know things aren't going well. Errors came in all facets of the game. Sometimes it was a bad drive, while other times it was an inability to hit the green or chip it anywhere close. I made a mess on the final hole, an easy par-3, finishing with a triple bogey and an overall score of 107. Okay, next!
Score: 107
Putts: 37
Fairways: 5
Greens: 3
Penalties: 3
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