Small Positive Step at Shawneeki

Not a great round, but at least I broke 100 at Shawneeki. The front nine produced a trio of pars and a well-earned bogey, but unfortunately, the remaining holes were all double-bogeys. One of the pars featured an up-and-down from a greenside bunker, while the others were textbook results where you hit the green in regulation and then 2-putt. The doubles were not fun, but they included some nice shots, including recovery shots.

Holes #2 and #8 are both par-5 holes. I started both with excellent drives to the centre of the fairway. Both then require a second shot over water. On #2, I opted for a high lofted club, but sculled the ball into the water. On #8, I  was resolved not to try the same approach, so I pulled out 5-wood. Bad idea, as the result was the same. On holes #1 and #5, I hit great recovery shots after errant drives. The first was a wedge with backswing issues to get back to the fairway. The second was a low punch 3-iron to stay under some branches yet over a bunker.

The back nine started with more excellent recovery shots, but I couldn't make them pay off. On hole #11, I hit a great high wedge over trees to get back to the correct fairway. Unfortunately, I 3-putt the hole for double-bogey. On hole #11, I followed a miserable drive with a fabulous punch through trees to get right back on track for this par-5. I was unlucky when a bombed 3-wood from the fairway struck a tree left and short of the green. Another 3-putt compounded things for a triple-bogey.

I averaged bogey golf for the remainder of the round, with the exception of hole #17, which resulted in a triple. This includes some tricky holes, so I was doing alright. Five of these holes required just a single putt, which is always good. Of course, when you have a single putt, it should really be for birdie or par, not bogey. The problem on #17 was a low punched second shot, which travelled across the fairway and into some bushes. I thought I could find it, but had no such luck and had to take one of my three penalties on the day.

Score: 98
Putts: 32
Fairways: 6
Greens: 2
Penalties: 3