My last two rounds produced disappointing scores of 101. I thought the best way to turn those results into something positive would be to return immediately to the same courses and to apply any lessons learned from the previous visits. So, first up was a return to Century Pines Golf Club.
As on the previous visit, I began on the back nine. I scrambled my way to bogey on hole #10, before reaching hole #11. This is a 309-yard par-4 with woods and OB on the right and a large hazard on the left. I decided to go for the green with driver, aiming over the hazard on the left side. I hit a laser of a shot directly on line. When I walked up to the green, I saw that I was in the fairway, just five yards short of the putting surface. Nice! I made a beautiful chip that very nearly dropped for eagle, just missing the hole. The birdie putt was a mere 10 inches.
Hole #12 can present a problem, as tee shots to the extreme right side the fairway do not leave a clear line to the green. It's dangerous to play too far left, however, as the hazard I spoke of earlier is on this side. I hit a great 5-wood, but as on the previous visit, I finished on that right edge once again. I punched a low shot in an attempt to catch the left edge of the green, but I finished three yards off the edge, flag high. I chipped on and 2-putt for bogey. This was followed by a 3-putt double-bogey on hole #13, a par-3 over water. I was not focused enough on my first putt and blew the downhill shot way past the hole.
The problem for me on hole #14, a par-5, is simply that it's a dogleg left. I cannot draw the ball with the driver and the trees on the inside corner are too large to flirt with. I hit my regular shot and faded it into the trees on the right, as I almost always do. After a good punch shot back to the fairway, I pulled a 9-iron ten yards left of the green, albeit flag high. A pitch and two putts earned a bogey. This was followed by a double-bogey on hole #15, another par-3. My 7-iron was headed right at the flag, but I failed to clear a bunker by about a foot. The bunkers at Century Pines are not good and I was prepared for that. Nevertheless, it took two more shots to get on the green and two putts to finish.
Next up was the killer hole, #16. The whole left side of the fairway is no good, as you are blocked out of the green from that side. This makes the hole much narrower than it appears. My 5-wood off the tee wasn't bad, but my ball finished precisely on the left edge of the fairway. All I could do was chip sideways, leaving a wedge shot into the green. Last time, I chipped to the end of the fairway, keeping my ball on the short grass. I ended up thinning a shot from there into a creek. This time, I chipped a couple yards further, finishing in the rough. This was by design, as I figured I could get a bit of a fluffy lie. Unfortunately, there was a bit of a clump directly behind my ball. My wedge shot only travelled two thirds of the intended distance, so I finished in the creek once again! After a penalty and drop, I hit one to the front fringe. I 3-putt from there for a disastrous quadruple-bogey. You simply can't make a bad shot on this hole or you're dead.
Hole #17 is also problematic for me, as discussed after my last visit. It's long, a dogleg left, and pesky “Vince” trees do not allow you to start the ball left off the tee. My strategy was to hit 5-wood off the tee. The hope was that it would not travel as far as driver, which inevitably ends up in the trees on the right side. The concession is that I wouldn't be able to reach the green in two, but that's fine. It worked as I envisioned, but despite landing short of the trees on the right, they still interfered with my next shot. All I could do was take a sand wedge high over the branches, finishing in the middle of the fairway, still 140 yards from the green. From there, I punched a low runner just off the right edge of the green. An up and down salvaged a bogey, so the strategy wasn't bad after all. I finished hole #18 with a bogey, for a score of 48 at the turn.
Hole #1 went remarkably well. I aimed for the very right edge of the fairway (away from OB) and finished just two yards into the right rough. A half swing with the 6-iron advanced the ball perfectly to 110 yards. Another half swing with the same club rolled just a hair long and through the back of the green. The half swings were by design, as a full swing with less club could miss by a larger margin and end up either in the water or out of bounds. I chipped on and 2-putt for bogey. Bogey was also the result on hole #2, after I nailed the fairway of this par-4 with one of my best drives of the day.
One of my worst drives of the day came on the next hole. Determined not to pull the ball, I push sliced it straight across the opposite fairway. A couple of recovery attempts were not very good, but an up and down salvaged a double-bogey. On hole #4, a 318-yard par-4, I hit a good 5-wood off the tee, followed by an excellent gap wedge that threatened the flag at the back of the green. The ball landed short of the hole, but released off of the putting surface. No worries, as I chipped on and drained the par putt. On hole #5, a par-3, I thinned my tee shot into a bunker fronting the green. I was right up against the lip, but that turned out to be good because there was actually a nice depth of sand there. I hit into the sand with a closed face and the ball popped straight up, landing gently on the green. A 2-putt finished off the hole for a bogey.
I discussed the challenge of hole #6 after my last outing. Just as I did last time, I pulled my drive off the heel of the club and failed to clear the marsh. Hitting my third from the tee, I somehow pulled off a baby draw that split the fairway, leaving just 120 yards to the green centre. The flag was at the front, so I hit sand wedge. I was playing to miss short and left and I finished flag high, three yards left of the green. I chipped on and made a great putt attempt, but got robbed when the ball lipped out. Triple-bogey was the result, all because of the first tee shot.
The rest of the round was great, as I registered a couple of pars and a bogey. I got lucky on the first par, as a thinned tee shot cleared a pond and still found the putting surface on this par-3 hole. The second par was well earned, beginning with an impressive drive. The bogey on the final hole was spectacular, as my fourth shot into this par-5 was a 70-yard punch from a sketchy lie, that crossed over a creek and through an opening in the trees. The ball bounced into a mound fronting the green and stopped a yard short of the putting surface. I chipped on and made the putt. The punch shot that set it all up may have been the shot of the day – not easy at all.
In summary, I think some of the strategic changes I made were successful. In some cases where there was no alternate strategy, I just failed to execute, so the result was the same as the last visit. I finished with a score of 93 – an 8 stroke improvement over the previous try. That also matches my personal best at Century Pines.
Score: 93
Putts: 33
Fairways: 3
Greens: 3
Penalties: 2
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