It was a terrible day for the latest Deepwoods event. Unseasonably low temperature was one thing, but steady wind of 35 km/hr, gusting up to 50 km/hr, was hard to deal with. This was especially true at Heron Point, which is a course I had never played before. I scored very few Deepwoods points, but the same was true for everyone else. As a result, my position in the overall standings remained unchanged.
The first three holes were actually very good, resulting in bogey, par, and bogey. My drive on hole 1 was magnificent, a 255-yard blast to the left fairway with the wind howling and a group of spectators looking on. Next, I hooked a 9-iron into a greenside bunker, but then made an excellent sand shot and 2-putt. My drive on hole 2 was to the right rough, but I hit a towering 8-iron over a large tree and a front right bunker to find the putting surface. Two putts earned the par. I hooked an 8-iron into the trees on hole 3, a par-3. I managed to punch a shot to the greenside rough, but then sculled a chip. No worries, as I drained a long putt to save bogey.
Hole 4, a 557-yard par-5, is where it all started to go wrong. I drove the ball right of the fairway into some fescue. It looked tame enough to get a 5-wood on it, but looks can be deceiving. I advanced the ball a whole 10 yards. I got back to the fairway with a lofted club, leaving 190 yards to the green. I pushed the ball about 40 yards right of the green. My fifth shot was a pitch that spilled over the other side of the green, down a steep slope and into a hazard. The ball was unplayable and I had to take a penalty. Shot 7 rolled off the other side of the green, requiring a chip and two putts to finish with a score of 10. Stuff happens. I thought I could get back on track.
The next three holes were fine, as I averaged bogey. An approach on hole 5 missed left and dove into another lateral hazard. This time, the ball was playable. I was surprised how easily the ball came out, given its lie, as I overshot the green with my third shot. A great chip got hung up in the rough. Another great chip lipped out, so I took a double-bogey. Fortunately, I made par on hole 6, a downhill par-5. It was a rare occasion when the wind was at our back. I went driver, 7-iron to the throat area in front of the green. A putt through the fringe went well past the hole, but a nice lag and tap-in completed the hole. Hole 7 was straight into the wind. I hit driver, 5-wood and was still 10 yards short of the green on this 358-yard par-4. After a poor pitch attempt, I made a good lag and tap-in.
Holes 8 through 10 were my worst of the day, producing triple-bogey, double-bogey, and a quintuple! Hole 8 is a par-3 that's all carry over water. I was worried about hooking the ball, as well as the wind. I hit mostly dirt and my ball took a splash. I sculled my third shot from the drop zone into a bunker behind the green. I made a very nice sand shot, but just missed my first putt, leading to the triple. Hole 9 features a forced carry over a lake from the teeing ground. It should be no problem, but my drive came out low and disappeared where the water meets the steep bank on the other side. Hitting my third from the drop zone, I finished the hole well, but the damage was done. Hole 10 was just ridiculous. I hit two tee shots high off the heel of the club. The first was lost, but I found the second. I duffed my way back to the proper fairway. At this point, I was already laying 6, so the score was massive, despite finishing up well.
I was 8-over par for the last eight holes, which is great. The run included two pars, four bogeys, and two double-bogeys. The pars were on a pair of par-3 holes, one measuring 154 yards and the other just 126 yards. Both were difficult because of the wind. One of the bogeys, which came on another par-3, featured a horrible sculled chip, followed by a beautiful up and down. Oh yeah, a few clubs were tossed in between. The doubles occurred solely because of the fescue. After finding it with a drive on hole 14, a mighty hack merely advanced the ball into a fairway bunker. Worse yet, my ball was up against the lip. I barely trickled into the fescue with my second shot on hole 17, a par-5. A huge hack was required just to advance the ball a few yards back to the fairway.
I managed large portions of this round well, but couldn't make up for a few blowups.
Score: 99
Putts: 31
Fairways: 4
Greens: 4
Penalties: 4
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