A Little More Hoot

I was hoping to play 18 holes on the Hoot Course at Osprey Valley, but only managed to finish 14. I didn't have any real blowup holes, though I did collect five double-bogeys. The first of these came on hole 2, a par-4. My second shot found a waste bunker short and right of the green. My third shot was sculled across the green, and this was followed by a poor chip and two putts.

The short game was a factor with some of the other doubles as well. On hole 3, another par-4, I was just right of the green after two shots. At worst, I should have been able to pitch on and 2-putt for bogey. Unfortunately, I duffed the first pitch attempt, completely wasting a shot. On hole 7, I intentionally laid up with my second shot. I should have been able to hit the green with my third, but I missed slightly, then failed to get up and down from just off the green.

By contrast, it was a bad tee shot that caused double-bogey on hole 12. I took a line that was too aggressive and failed to carry a pond on the right side. Hitting my third from the tee, I picked a better line and then nailed the fairway. From there, I made an excellent approach to the green, followed by a 2-putt. Had I made a better decision at the start, this would have been a par.

With the exception of par on hole 6, each of the remaining holes produced bogey. I hit a fair number of fairways, but didn't capitalize with greens in regulation. My approach shots were just weak enough to miss the greens, and my chip shots were just weak enough to still require two putts. Missing greens is not a terrible thing, as I often play to miss in a good spot. This helps avoid big numbers. However, it would be nice to get up and down every once in a while to convert some of those bogeys into pars.

I played enough holes for this round to count for handicap purposes. Stats below are an estimate of my totals, had I played the entire 18 holes.

Score: 94
Putts: 34
Fairways: 8
Greens: 1
Penalties: 1