I had time for nine holes at Carlisle, so I headed out to the East course. The opening par-5 started well with a driver, 3-wood combination. Unfortunately, I thinned my third shot from 50 yards away to just off the back of the green. A chip and two putts resulted in bogey. Driver, gap wedge got me safely to the front of the second green, setting up a 2-putt par. Hole 3 is a par-3 over water. My pitching wedge finished on a hill behind the green. I made a delicate chip and two putts for bogey.
Bogey was also the result on hole 4, a short par-4. I thought I hit a perfect drive, leaving just a short shot to the green. In fact, my ball bounced left of the fairway, where some overhead branches impeded my swing. It was borderline, so I tried to reach the green, but I topped the ball just a few yards ahead. Clear of the branches, I pitched on and 2-putt. Things got worse on hole 5, as I pulled my drive directly off the tee. Luckily, I hit some trees that kept the ball in bounds. I was so far back, however, that two more shots were required to reach the green. Actually, I was right of the green, and needed a pitch and two putts, just for double-bogey.
The best hole of the round was number 6, a 378-yard par-4. I hit a 260-yard drive just left of a large tree that pinches the right side of the fairway. The fairway is actually split here, so I was in some rough despite my ball travelling dead straight. From 118 yards away, I hit a beautiful sand wedge three feet right of the flag. It was an easy putt for birdie. Those don't happen very often.
Hole 7 is a par-5 that starts out pretty wide, but narrows significantly as you get toward the green. I thought I hit a perfect drive, but I actually finished in the left rough. From that position, trees up ahead prevent you from attacking the green in two. I hit a little wedge to the centre of the fairway, leaving 90 yards for my third shot. Though my third shot finished flag high, I pulled the ball just left of the green. A nice chip gave me a chance to save par, but I missed the putt and tapped in for bogey.
No worries, as I finished the last two holes with a couple of pars. Sand wedge was all I needed on hole 8, a par-3. My shot was all over the flag, but finished about 15 feet behind. I made an excellent putt that just failed to drop for birdie. 3-iron was the club of choice off the tee on hole 9, a 300-yard par-4. It was a thing of beauty, splitting the fairway and leaving just 90 yards to the flag. My lob wedge found the green from there, albeit pretty far from the hole. The lengthy lag was excellent, leaving just a tap-in for the par result.
I had another 9-hole result still on my scoring record. It was a 42 on the front 9 of Battlefield at Legends on the Niagara. For handicap purposes, these 9-hole scores get combined. The resulting score of 83 lowered my handicap factor from 15.8 to 15.0 – my lowest ever! 15.4 was my previous best, established in September 2017. Let's hope I can keep it here, or even drop it further.
Score: 41
Putts: 17
Fairways: 4
Greens: 4
Penalties: 0
No comments:
Post a Comment