I played at Tangle Creek a few weeks earlier and all my luck was bad. The greens were freshly aerated and rolling terribly. It drizzled for most of the round and rained more heavily for a couple of holes, despite the fact that I booked the round less than 24 hours in advance, when the forecast was calling for a mix of sun and cloud. I didn't play very well and ended up scoring in the mid nineties.
Looking for some retribution, I headed back to Tangle Creek recently. This time, the greens were in great shape and the weather was absolutely perfect. I was one over par for the first three holes, going par, par, and bogey. My first two shots on the opening par-5 weren't great, but my third was brilliant, setting up a 2-putt. My tee shot on hole 2 also left a lot to be desired, but I made a good recovery shot and perfect pitch, setting up a single putt. My pitch on hole 3 wasn't nearly as good, but I made a terrific 2-putt from distance to salvage the bogey.
The rest of the front nine wasn't as smooth, as I collected a couple of bogeys and four double-bogeys. The only good part about that is that I avoided taking any triples or worse. At the end of the day, limiting those bad holes to no worse than double-bogey actually makes a difference. It could be the difference, for example, between scoring 92 or 89. Psychologically, that's a big difference.
Most of my troubles were off the tee and on the putting green. On holes 4 and 8, both par-3 designs, I hit a poor tee shot that left me in a bad spot. On the former, I was in deep, lush rough, while on the latter, I was forced to punch under some low tree branches. On hole 5, I hit my 5-wood thin and failed to carry a creek. Although I made a great shot to find the green with my third after taking a penalty, I went on to 3-putt. I also 3-putt on hole 6 after hitting a marvellous drive over a creek and left of a large tree to find the middle of the fairway. My score at the turn was 47.
The back nine saved the round for me, especially holes 10 through 12, all of which resulted in par. My tee shots on these holes were fantastic. On the first two, I hit driver deep and to the centre of the fairway. On the last one, a par-3, I hit 6-iron into the wind and finished 10 feet below the hole. My putting was also good. I drained a 6-footer on hole 10 after a chip from just off the back of the green trickled a bit past the hole. On the other two holes, excellent lags set up easy tap-ins.
The remainder of the back nine was good too, though I cooled off somewhat. Over this stretch, I collected two pars, three bogeys and a double. The pars came on holes 15 and 16. For the second time in a row, I pummelled a perfect drive off the tee on hole 15, carrying a mound on the left side and actually finishing a yard past the end of the fairway. Despite a wedge shot that missed the green, I still made par with an up and down. Hole 16 is a par-3 from an elevated tee and I hit my 8-iron flag high, just left of the hole.
Hole 14 is the one that resulted in double-bogey, and it was really due to a 3-putt. My drive was perfect and though my approach didn't find the green, it was serviceable. After a decent chip shot, I really should have made no worse than bogey. The other bogeys usually resulted from one bad stroke over the course of a hole. On hole 13, it was a drive that I pulled off the heel and that went nowhere. On hole 18, it was a topped 5-wood following a perfect drive, where I tried to reach the green of this par-5 in two. The good news is that I limited my mistakes to one per hole, thus salvaging the bogeys.
In the end, I broke 90 with a nice looking score of 88. I'll take it!
Score: 88
Putts: 36
Fairways: 6
Greens: 4
Penalties: 2
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