I've only played Kedron Dells four times in the past decade, but it still feels like a familiar place; I played there frequently when I started getting serious about the game, and routinely shot scores well over 100. While the last handful of scores have been in the 90s, they still felt like failure. This is especially true of my latest visit, since I've routinely been scoring in the 80s this year.
The front nine at Kedron Dells is usually the problem, especially the first few holes. The opening par-5 is nothing fancy – just long and straight. Invariably, I mess up either my tee shot or second shot, drifting into the trees on either side. It was my tee shot this time, and it didn't help that I duffed one after pitching back to the fairway. After reaching the green, I blew my first putt well past the hole, ultimately 3-putting for a triple-bogey.
Aside from a textbook par on hole 3, it didn't get any better over the next few holes. A 3-iron off the tee on hole 2 was pushed close enough to the trees that I couldn't attack the green. An imprecise pitch and a missed putt added up to double-bogey. On the beastly hole 4, I popped up my drive near the tree line on the right. After pitching to the fairway, I hit a great 3-wood. Unfortunately, I sculled a pitch across the green en route to triple-bogey. Hole 5 is a 195-yard par-3. I hit 4-iron flag high, but 15 yards left of the green. A fabulous flop shot carried a bunker, but hit a downslope and kicked off the other side of the green into another bunker. Double-bogey was the result.
The remainder of the front nine included a couple of pars, but also a couple more triples. On hole 6, a par-5, I got lucky when my sliced drive hit a tree and bounced back to the middle of the fairway. I took advantage, hitting a perfect 3-iron and lob wedge to set up par. A perfect 3-iron off the tee started hole 7, but I then pushed an 8-iron, smacking a large tree and dropping into a penalty area. I got near the green with my next shot, but 3-putt from the fringe for triple-bogey. Hole 8 is a 149-yard par-3 wedged between woods on both sides. A good 8-iron gave me a chance at birdie, but par it was. The triple on hole 9 was due to a duffed drive that dove into a penalty area ahead of the teeing ground.
The back nine at Kedron Dells was much better, but with a score of 52 at the turn, my fate was already sealed. I went bogey, bogey, par, par, bogey over holes 10 through 14. A 3-iron off the tee on hole 10 drifted close enough to a tree to cause trouble. A great punch shot and pitch gave me a chance to save par, but I just missed. I was all over the place on hole 11, a long par-5. I actually visited parts of holes 12 and 13 en route to a bogey there. Hole 12 is a par-3 that was playing about 195 yards. A beautiful 4-iron carried me near the back hole location, followed by an easy 2-putt. I saved par on hole 13 by getting up and down from about 50 yards. Hole 14 is a 222-yard par-3 that I played by laying up to about 40 yards in front of the green, then pitching on.
Over the last four holes, I went par, par, quadruple-bogey, par. As you can see, there was only one blemish on this back nine. I'll get to that in a minute; first, let's talk about the pars. Hole 15 is a par-4 with a huge dogleg to the right. I hit 6-iron to the left side, followed by a fantastic 8-iron that settled on the green. Hole 16 is a par-4 with a drop in elevation that occurs halfway down the fairway. A deep drive allowed me to attack the green with a lob wedge, but I didn't really get close enough to birdie range. Hole 18 is the only easy par-3 on the course, at just 144 yards. I hit a nice 9-iron flag high to set up the par.
Hole 17, a tough par-5, is the one that produced a quad. I pulled and popped up a horrible drive into a penalty area well left of the fairway. My third shot clipped the top of a tall tree as I was trying to get back to the fairway. The ball ended up against a root between two bushes. I was able to punch through the bushes, but the root prevented my ball from going very far. My fifth shot was an attempt to reach the green from 160 yards, on a downslope. The uneven lie caused me to hit it fat, sending the ball into another penalty area. My seventh shot bounced off the right edge of the green. Finally, I pitched on and made a putt to end the horror show.
That hole aside, I was happy with the back nine. Overall, it was typical Kedron disappointment.
Score: 94
Putts: 35
Fairways: 5
Greens: 6
Penalties: 4
No comments:
Post a Comment