I've played Century Pines quite a bit; aside from Bradford Highlands, it may be the course I've played most. With a rating of 70 and a slope of 125 from the Blue tees, it ranks about as difficult as the other courses I usually play. Rating and slope, however, don't tell the full story. My best score on the course is 93 and I've hit the century mark or higher more times than I care to remember. Why is that?
There are just a couple of holes that I consider quite difficult. The hardest may be #16, which is a devilish par-4 at just 343 yards. You have to hit less than driver off the tee, or you'll find trouble left, long and right. The ideal drive is between 200-220 yards, which for me is a 5-wood. However, it's not enough to hit the fairway. If you're too far left, large trees completely prevent you from going for the green. With a winding creek in front and left of the green and a large pond to the right, your second shot in that scenario would be a short chip to the right side, leaving about 125-130 yards to the green. My tee shot was pulled into the trees left and was unplayable. After taking a penalty stroke and drop, the short pitch to the right side of the fairway was my only option.
With a good gap wedge shot, I could get on and 2-putt for a double-bogey. However, I caught the wedge shot thin and failed to cross the winding creek. I had to take another penalty stroke and drop. My sixth shot was a short pitch that bounced once and hit the flag stick. The ball came to rest 8 feet away from the hole. I burned the edge of the cup with my first putt, walking away with a disheartening quadruple-bogey. I have made par on this hole in the past, when all my shots were good ones. The point is that this hole does not allow for even one bad shot. It's not like other holes where you can possibly recover after a bad shot. In a nutshell, that's what makes this such a hard hole.
Hole #17 is less difficult, in my opinion, but it can be a nightmare for right handed faders of the ball, such as myself. The hole is long at 440 yards. If an average drive is 240-250 yards, even a perfect tee shot will leave an approach of 190-200 yards to the green. With strands of trees left and especially right, that's not an easy shot. But the real problem is getting the ball to this position from the tee. There is a pond to cross, which is not an issue. The real issue is a half dead tree and a couple others just ahead of and left of the teeing ground. If you typically start the ball left and fade it back, these trees come into play every time. Avoid them by starting the ball straight and you will inevitably fade into thick trees on the right side of this dogleg left hole. You will have to be lucky just to chip one back to the fairway from that position. I can't tell you how many times I've smacked those “Vince” trees just ahead of the teeing ground. It's unbelievable.
This time, I smacked one of those trees with my first drive attempt. The ball deflected into the pond below. Hitting my third from the tee, I faded into the trees on the right side of the fairway. I actually lost the ball, but for pace of play, I took a penalty and drop at the spot where it entered the trees. My fifth shot was just a chip back to the fairway, as there was no other option. My sixth shot was a fabulous 5 iron from 180 yards that found the centre of the green. A 2-putt finished things off for my second consecutive quadruple-bogey.
Aside from the two quads, my back nine (which I played first) was actually pretty good. I collected a par, five bogeys, and a double. That doesn't really matter, however, when you take two disastrous holes like I did. More pars could have offset the blowup holes, but the course doesn't give you many opportunities for those, even on easier holes. A good example is hole #12, a 312-yard par-4. Although the hole is short, you have to be very accurate with your tee shot to set up an approach into the green. Your drive has to cut over the edge of a lateral hazard on the left, while not straying into the trees on the right side. I hit what looked like a perfect 5-wood about 213 yards. I had 99 yards to the green, but because I was a single yard into the right rough, a tree just ahead prevented me from going for the green. One or two yards to the left and I would have been in the clear. As such, I had to punch something low and try to run it up there. My punch was good, but the ball stopped about 10 yards short of the green. From there, I pitched on and 2-putt. Unless you have the short game of a pro, these potential pars always turn into bogeys.
On the front nine, I usually explode on hole #1, a long par-5 with OB along the entire left side. This time, I limited the damage to a double-bogey. My drive was deep, but to an opposite fairway on the right side. I've played there before by design. It's not a bad strategy, except that you have to contend with a pond on your second shot and the shot angle is back towards OB. I hit 5-wood over the pond, but it was tailing ever so slightly right and went into some bushes on the corner of the hazard. After a penalty and drop, I punched a low shot under some overhanging branches. The ball actually rolled through the back of the green, where I pitched on and 2-putt.
I rolled along smoothly on holes #2 through #5, collecting bogey, bogey, par, and par. Next came another hole that is problematic for me. Hole #6 is a par-4 with a dogleg left. The first part of the hole is all carry over marsh land. Thick woods continue along the left side right up to the green, as do some mature trees on the right side. I always play this hole defensively, intentionally fading a drive over the marsh to an area right of the fairway where there is some room. Unfortunately, this usually means laying up on the second shot because trees block out the green from that position. This time, I tried to hit a straight drive and I paid for it. I pulled the ball into the marsh and trees on the left. I was forced to hit my third from the tee and this time, I made my usual play. Sure enough, I had to lay up from there, but did so perfectly, finding a spot just left and short of the green. I chipped on and 2-putt for triple-bogey. I should have stuck to my strategy right from the beginning.
In fact, the last four holes were pretty weak. After the triple on #6, I recorded back-to-back doubles on the next two holes. Hole #7 is a 170-yard par-3 over water. I missed the sweet spot of the club face, and failed to clear the water. After a penalty and drop, I put one on the green and 2-putt to finish. Hole #8 is a relatively easy par-4. Unfortunately, I pushed my drive slightly into the trees. The green was blocked out, so I punched a low one to an area 20 yards in front of the green. The ball rolled into a bunker. Of course, my attempt to get out sailed right over the back of the green to some more trees. I bumped a great punch into a mound and it released onto the green, where I finished with a 2-putt.
Hole #9 is a par-5 rated the most difficult hole on the front. I disagree, as it's not as difficult as some of the holes I've already described. I pulled my drive to an opposite fairway, then hit a lovely pitching wedge over a massive tree to get back to the fairway, right beside the 150-yard stick. The green is on an elevated plateau, so I hit 7-iron. It curved ever so slightly – but enough to miss the green on the left. Unfortunately for me, it rolled down a slope and into a bunker. Well, guess what happened? Yes, the ball sailed straight over the entire green. Looking at the spot where my club made contact, I could see that there was barely any sand in the bunker. It may have been an inch of sand, with hardpan underneath. No wonder! I actually hit the correct spot for a properly maintained bunker, but this wasn't one of those. Looking back, the bunker on hole #8 was the same thing. I'm bad enough at bunker shots; I don't need poor conditions to make things worse. My fifth shot was from an area where some weeds had been cut down. Tough stalks where these had been cut were directly behind my ball. It was an impossible spot and of course, I was only able to advance the ball about five feet. From the regular rough, I pitched on and 2-putt for an unfortunate triple-bogey.
I hit many decent shots during this round. The problem is that when I hit a bad one it was in a very bad spot. Just look at the fact that I collected 7 penalty strokes. You can't score well when you do that. I'm disgusted.
Score: 101
Putts: 34
Fairways: 4
Greens: 2
Penalties: 7
No comments:
Post a Comment