I found a good deal at Cardinal Golf Club and booked a tee time on the West Wing course. Hole 1 produced a par, beginning with a 3-iron to the left fairway, followed by a flag high pitching wedge, just right of the green. My chip went a little past the hole, but the comeback putt was perfectly judged.
Then the shenanigans began. A sliced drive on hole 2 put me behind some trees. After a lob over a tall tree, I thinned one over the green into some pine trees. I finished with a double-bogey. Hole 3 was worse, as I smothered a drive attempt short and left of the fairway. A small evergreen was blocking me and pushed my punch shot further right than I wanted. The ball entered a penalty area and I was forced to take a drop. Another lob got me over a tall tree, but my fifth shot into this par-5 missed the green to the right. I finished with a triple-bogey. I had a perfect drive on hole 4, but wasted it with a 8-iron that I pushed right of the green. My subsequent pitch failed to reach the green and I registered another double-bogey.
I averaged a little better than bogey golf over the rest of the front nine, with two pars, two bogeys, and a double. Both pars came on par-3 holes. I used 9-iron and gap wedge into the greens, then followed with standard 2-putts. The bogeys were fairly standard as well. I just missed the greens with my approach shots, requiring a chip and two putts to hole out. The double-bogey, which came on hole 6, would have been the same, but I duffed a pitch from a spongy lie 30 yards in front of the green. My score at the turn was 46, so I had some work to do to break 90.
I started the back nine as I did the front – with a par. Hole 10 is a par-4 that doglegs left around a large pond. The risk is all in the drive, but I placed one perfectly just past the water, leaving a clear 100-yard shot to the green. I actually came up short, but pitched on and 1-putt for the par.
The next seven holes were a bit of a grind. I was hitting some good shots, but collected just a single par on hole 15. That was despite topping my second shot on this par-5. I was trying to hit 3-wood, but the ball was above my feet and I missed badly. Luckily, I followed with a precise 8-iron. I actually had a birdie chance, but burned the edge of the cup and settled for the par.
It was a better result than I had on hole 13, another par-5. My drive went 295 yards to the right fairway, leaving just 200 yards into the green. With no real danger present, I went for it with 3-iron. However, the ball was slightly above my feet and I hit it really fat. I ended up in the left rough, 95 yards from the green. Worse yet, my lob shot flared a little right, landing in a bunker. I actually made a good out from there, but needed two putts to record a bogey.
With one hole to play, it looked like I was headed for a score of 90 or more. A par would give me 90 even, but I thought a bogey and final score of 91 was more likely. Hole 18 is a 489 yard par-5 with a 90 degree dogleg around a large pond. My drive was about 260 yards, stopping perfectly at the corner of the dogleg. I had 245 yards remaining to the green, with no water to carry. I did have to avoid the left side, however. I hit a low 3-iron straight down the fairway, leaving 40 yards to the green. A nice pitch finished below the hole near the front of the green. An uphill 8-footer was all that stood between me and a birdie, and I drained it!
As I tallied my score, I was delighted to break 90 with a score of 89. I've been playing great lately. I won't play for about three weeks, as I'll be doing some travelling (the non-golf variety). My next outing will be Round 4 of the Deepwoods championship. I'm hoping the layoff doesn't ruin my hot streak.
Score: 89
Putts: 31
Fairways: 6
Greens: 4
Penalties: 3
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