I got out for a round on what might have been the last good weather day of the year. There was no rain or wind, and the temperature reached 17 degrees Celsius. Unfortunately, course conditions were terrible. The ground at Willodell Golf Club was saturated with water, making it difficult to walk around. The fairways were manageable, but the rough was full of puddles and your feet sank into the ground with every step. Worse yet, the course was covered in fallen leaves. If you hit a ball into the rough, chances are it was either plugged of hidden by leaves.
Under those conditions, it was not possible to play a real round, with accurate scoring. If I did, I would have to add about a dozen penalty strokes for balls lost in open areas. Trudging through the muck looking for balls in a pile of leaves is not my idea of fun. I spent a minute or two searching whenever I was in that position, and then just dropped another ball in the general area where I thought my ball should be. Since I knew this was not going to be a legit score, I started hitting some shots that I normally wouldn't, just for fun.
Fourteen of the holes played out more or less like they would under normal conditions. I was 15 over par for those holes, including a par and two double-bogeys. Everything else in that stretch was a bogey. I hit a couple of fairways early, and followed one of those up with a lovely 3-wood on a par-5, that left me just 50 yards from the flag. The 3-wood has all but disappeared from my game in recent years. On the few occasions when I need less than driver and more than an iron, I opt for the 5-wood. In par-5 situations, I usually hit a controlled iron for my second shot, setting up a wedge approach with my third.
Speaking of irons, they let me down a few times. After some good drives, I topped a couple of irons, thereby wasting some opportunities. Other times, I made good contact with the irons, but lacked a bit of direction. I hit what looked like a beautiful 8-iron on hole 3, a par-3, only to watch the ball bounce and roll backward into a front right bunker. Come to think of it, the same thing happened on hole 12, another par-3, with a good looking 9-iron. Both of these holes were blowups, as I was unable to get out of the bunkers safely. I have enough trouble with good sand on a dry day. Hitting out of the muddy sand was impossible for me.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention some good iron shots as well. Keeping on the par-3 theme, I hit a gorgeous 7-iron into the wind on hole 16. The flag was in the back right portion of the green. I aimed left of the flag, finishing precisely on my chosen line, but just behind the green. I then chipped and 2-putt for bogey. On hole 17, a par-4, I popped up a drive that sliced well right of the fairway. I was 160 yards from the putting surface, but completely blocked out by a creek and a strand of very tall trees lining its bank near the elevated green. For fun, I decided to go for it. I hit an absolute towering 7-iron. It had to be high to get over the trees. The ball dropped safely on the green, finishing behind and to the right of the cup by about 15 feet. It was a brilliant shot. I 3-putt the hole for bogey, but whatever. Between the moisture and varying amounts of top dressing, the green speeds were very inconsistent.
I already mentioned a couple of blowup holes – the par-3 designs where I got into the muddy bunkers. The other two came on par-4 designs and both produced triple-bogeys. In both cases, I was frustrated by drives into the rough that should have been found, but were either plugged or under the leaves. I tried recovery shots that I normally wouldn't, as on hole 17, but on these occasions I just didn't pull them off. For example, one was a low punch through a series of tree trunks in the direction of the green. Normally, I would just play a safer shot back to the fairway and then take my chances from there. Another contributor to the blowup holes were lob wedge shots from the rough that came up short because the lies were so muddy.
This score is just an approximation. It won't count toward my handicap index.
Score: 101
Putts: 37
Fairways: 5
Greens: 2
Penalties: 3
