I headed out to Calerin Golf Club to see if I would be ready for the next Deepwoods event. Calerin is a 9-hole course that you can play twice from different tees. I played well for the most part, but blew up on a couple of holes each time through. The first time around, it was holes 3 and 4 that gave me trouble. I hit a perfect drive to begin hole 3, a par-4 with a pond protecting the right side of the green. I was so conscious of the water that I closed the club face right up on my approach shot, pulling the ball into the fescue on the left side. A couple of hacks to get out resulted in a triple-bogey. Hole 4 began with a low smothered drive that found some trees left. The ball was unplayable. Subsequent shots were very weak and I collected another triple on this par-5.
It's a shame I had that poor stretch, because the rest of my front nine was fine. I made par on the first two holes, a par-5 followed by a par-3. Driver, 5-wood, lob wedge set up the first par, while an up and down secured the second. I played bogey golf on holes 5 through 9, collecting one par, three bogeys, and a double-bogey. The par was on hole 8, a pretty par-4. I found the fairway with my drive and then nailed the green with a 7-iron. The double was on hole 6, thanks to a drive that I pushed into the trees right. My driver has been a problem and I was using this round to try and sort it out. I failed on that occasion, but followed up with a good one on hole 7. I was shooting 47 at the turn.
The second time through, I moved to the red tees, which is actually backwards. I started on the green tees because I joined a couple that was playing their second nine. Once again, I had a meltdown over a two hole stretch. This time, it was the last two holes of the day. The first of these is the par-4 where I made par earlier. My drive landed in a fairway bunker with a pretty high lip. I could not go for the green, so I hit a sand wedge to about 140 yards. Unfortunately, my third shot found a greenside bunker. I got out safely, but only to the rough. A chip and two putts finished the hole for a triple-bogey. That was better than the last hole, a par-4 which produced a score of 9. I pulled my drive left and behind a tree. My only shot was to an adjacent fairway, but I went long and rolled into thick fescue. Two shots to get out were followed by a duff from thick rough. My sixth shot was over some tall trees toward the proper green, but I found a greenside bunker. A nice sand shot and two putts were required to finish.
It's too bad, because the rest of the holes were once again fine. I averaged bogey golf on holes 1 through 7, with two pars, three bogeys, and two double-bogeys. One par was on hole 3 – the one with the water that scared me last time. I split the fairway with my drive, but this time, I hit a beautiful iron to the front edge of the green. The other par was on hole 6, which I spoiled with the pushed drive earlier. This time, I split the fairway and followed up with a nice 7-iron to an elevated green. The driver failed me on some of the other holes, but I recovered well enough to prevent any more blowups. I once again hit a beautiful drive on hole 7, however. In fact the hole played out like an exact replay of the first time through.
Score: 98
Putts: 36
Fairways: 6
Greens: 5
Penalties: 2
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