Still Rusty at Ussher's Creek

I played my second round of the season on a beautiful day at Ussher's Creek. There were very few people on the course and the starter sent me off as a solo, beginning with the back nine. I immediately made a mess of things, exploding for scores of 10 and 8 on a couple of par-4 holes. On hole 10, I topped my second shot, sculled my third into the creek, and topped my fifth into the creek again. On hole 11, I pushed my second shot into the woods. After taking a penalty and drop, all I could do was pitch out sideways to the fairway. I failed to hold the green with my fifth shot, then duffed a chip shot completely. What a disastrous start!

It's not possible to salvage a good score for the round with a start like that, so I just tried to focus on one hole and one shot at a time. I averaged bogey over the next three holes, but that still included some topped shots and sculled chips. On a positive note, I did make par on hole 14, a fun par-5. Unfortunately, that was immediately followed up with a couple of triple-bogeys. On hole 15, a par-4, I pushed my drive into the woods on the right side. On hole 16, a par-3, I miss hit an iron off the tee. Incredibly, I lost the ball in the rough just a few yards ahead of the teeing ground. Penalty strokes inflate scores like nothing else, and after a couple of double-bogeys, I was shooting 59 at the turn.

I shot 46 on the front nine (my back), which more closely resembles my usual skill level. This included a triple-bogey on hole 8, mostly because of back-to-back topped irons from the middle of the fairway. What the heck? I wasn't too pleased with those, but on the other hand, I splashed out nicely from a greenside bunker. The other holes produced four pars, two bogeys, and two doubles. The doubles, on holes 1 and 6, both came as a result of duffed pitch shots near the green. Feel shots like that are the toughest to regain after the winter layoff.

The pars came in a flurry, on holes 2 through 4, with an additional one on hole 7. Hole 2 is a par 5 featuring a green perched on a little plateau. A perfect drive and 5-wood were followed by a little pitch and two putts. Hole 3 is a par-5 with a green protected by the creek in front and on the left side. I aimed right of the flag for safety and hit a beauty flag high. A downhill lag was followed by an easy tap-in. Hole 4 is a par-4 with a slight dogleg right. My approach shot into the wind came up two yards short, but I chipped and tapped in nicely. Hole 7 is a par 3 over water. I picked the perfect club, finishing on the right edge of the green, flag high. Another nice lag and tap-in finished the deed.

There is lots of work to do. Each of my first two rounds have included stretches of good golf, but terrible play overall. The winter rust is stubborn indeed!

Score: 105
Putts: 32
Fairways: 7
Greens: 3
Penalties: 5