The final round of the 2019 Deepwoods season was held on the West Course at The Country Club. I was the leader at the start of play, with four other players still alive in the hunt for the championship. The one closest to me in the standings made a serious charge over the first third of the round, but he couldn't sustain it and ultimately fell short. The others struggled for most of the round, as did I. When all was said and done, I captured the title on the strength of my previous four rounds.
Hole 1 is a long par-4 that was playing even longer into a stiff wind. I was smart to play it like a par-5 by laying up on my second shot and walked away with a bogey. Hole 2 is a par-4 that was also playing into the wind, but it was 65 yards shorter than the previous hole. I tried to hit a 5-iron out of the left rough on my second shot, but the rough made all the difference, and I pulled the ball into a penalty area short and left of the green. I should have used a more lofted club and laid up as I had on hole 1. Instead, I ended up with a triple-bogey.
I made a mess of hole 3, a little 134-yard par-3. The front flag position caused me to choose less club, and when I missed the sweet spot, the ball came up short into a pond. My third from the tee drew too much and finished in a left side bunker. My ball was near the back edge and I had no backswing available. I finished with a quadruple-bogey. Hole 4 is a par-5 that began with some shaky iron shots. When I finally hit a good one from 150 yards, I was unlucky to just miss the green left. I finished with a double-bogey.
Holes 5 through 15 weren't that bad, as I played them just a couple of strokes over bogey pace. This stretch of holes included two pars, five bogeys, and four doubles. I smartly laid up in front of the river from the right rough on hole 5. The green wasn't out of my range, but that rough was going to cause a problem. I hit a beautiful approach with my third shot into this par-4, but failed to make an uphill putt from 6 feet to save par. Still, bogey wasn't bad. The bogey on the next hole was a bit worse, as I 3-putt after hitting the green of this par-3 in regulation.
Holes 7 and 8 both produced double-bogeys. A wedge shot with the ball below my feet failed to find the green on the former. After pitching on, I should have made no worse than bogey, but I 3-putt once again. The greens at The Country Club are very sloped and you're in trouble if putting from above the hole. I hit a perfect drive on hole 8 to the left fairway, stopping just in front of the river. Actually, my ball ran 6 inches through the fairway. You couldn't ask for a better angle to the flag and I was just 130 yards away. I proceeded to scull a wedge shot barely across the river, and then I fluffed one from a spongy lie. My fourth shot finally made the green and then I 2-putt. What a waste!
Hole 9, a par-4, resulted in my first par of the day. I found the green from the left rough, then 2-putt from below the hole. Holes 10 and 11 were typical bogeys, where I required one extra chip to reach the green, followed by two putts. I should have had the same result on hole 12, but I had to flop my pitch over a bunker. The ball released off the other side of the green, ultimately leading to double-bogey. On hole 13, I was back to the prototypical bogey. Hole 14 is a par-3 and I pulled my tee shot into a bunker left. My bunker shot couldn't hold the green and I had to chip on with my third. Two putts resulted in double-bogey. Fortunately, I made par on hole 15, thanks to an excellent drive and pretty good approach shot.
I finished the round with a bogey and two doubles. The first of the doubles, on hole 16, was an ugly one. This is a 148-yard par-3 that began with a hook that overshot the green by a large margin. I did well to punch below tree branches into some mounds beside the green, but the ball released off the other side into a bunker. Hole 17 was fine and resulted in the bogey. Hole 18, a par-5, should have been no worse than bogey. I reached the green in regulation with three excellent shots, but proceeded to 4-putt. Yes, a 4-putt!
I'll try to forget this round, but I'll hold on to the memory of winning the Deepwoods championship.
Score: 99
Putts: 37
Fairways: 3
Greens: 4
Penalties: 2
No comments:
Post a Comment