Time will tell if this is the last round of the year. It was an overcast day at Whirlpool Golf Course. Rain had fallen overnight and in the morning hours, but there was just a hint of mist at noon, when my round began. I played as a solo, which was a welcome change from my last two rounds.
I was hitting the driver with a slightly weaker right hand and it worked well, for the most part. I split the fairway on the opening hole, a 360-yard par-4. From 110 yards, my second shot was wasted, as I took a huge divot out of the soft fairway. For the rest of the round, I played to brush my irons more than I typically do, and soft turf was not a problem. I pushed a pitch shot into a bunker with my third shot, but splashed out well, giving me a chance at bogey. It didn't drop, so I took a double.
Hole 2 is a 361-yard par 4 that began much like the first, with a drive down the centre of the fairway. Bunkers, mounds, and a pond protect this green, so I did pretty well to hit sand wedge just off the left side. I lagged a putt from that position, setting up a tap-in par. I hit 5-wood off the tee on hole 3, a 189-yard par-3. It was playing a little longer than that with the flag in the back. A front right bunker snagged my ball, but I splashed out well and 2-putt for bogey.
My drive on hole 4, the first of back-to-back par-5 holes, was a weak slice that found a fairway bunker. Hitting a lofted club to clear the lip, I pushed my second shot to the paved cart path. There were some ruts in this path and my ball caught one such that the ball deflected sharply to the right, amidst some trees. All I could do was punch back to the fairway. My fourth shot was an 8-iron that came up three yards short of the green. Weary of stubbing a chip in the soft turf, I hit mine well past the hole. Two putts finished up for a double-bogey.
As I did after the first double of the day, I recovered well over the next few holes. This time, I followed up with bogey, par, bogey. The first bogey came on a par-5 that began with a perfect drive and second shot. My pitching wedge approach missed the green short and right by two yards. The par came on a 174-yard par-3 that was playing about 185. I made a nice up and down for that one. The last bogey came on a 404-yard par 4. It was a good result, considering my drive was short and a little right of the fairway.
Hole 8, a 414-yard par-4, was a fiasco. I pushed a drive into the woods right. All I could do from there was punch back to the left edge of the fairway. From 165 yards, I hit a pretty good 6-iron. It was headed to the left edge of the green, but clipped the top branches of a tree. I lost the ball, which was harsh, because there weren't any places for a ball to hide near that tree and beyond. I dropped in front of the tree, as I wasn't going to walk back down the fairway. From there, I pitched on and 2-putt. Luckily, I made a textbook par on hole 9 to ease some of the pain. I split the fairway with my drive, then hit a sand wedge just behind the flag. My birdie putt was very close to dropping. As it was, my score at the turn was 45.
Hole 10, a 438-yard par-4, is the hardest hole on the back nine. It began with a wild drive to the 18th fairway. I hit 3-wood back to the proper fairway, then got up and down from about 80 yards. What a recovery! My driver settled down after this, including a shot straight down the pipe on hole 11. My approach missed the green short and right, leading to bogey. It was the first of four consecutive bogeys. Two of these were par-3 holes, one measuring 186 yards and the other 149. I missed the green slightly in both cases. On the shorter one, I was flag high in a bunker and made another good out. My bunker play all day was surprisingly good.
Hole 15, a 481-yard par-5, was played about as perfectly as could be. My drive was a solid shot to the right centre of the fairway. From there, a 4-iron carried me nicely down the fairway, leaving 70 yards to the green. I had a great angle to the back left pin position and went after it. My ball mark was 2 yards behind the flag, with the ball releasing an additional yard. I made a perfect putt that just stopped on the lip. The greens at Whirlpool were a little shaggy and slow. I had about half a dozen putts that were headed for the centre of the cup, but stopped less than 12 inches from the hole. This was one of them, but par was still nice.
Hole 16 was a disaster that ruined what was looking like a comfortable round in the 80s. Though my driver was working well most of the day, I pulled it on this hole badly, smacking a tree just a few yards ahead of the teeing ground. A bunker low and branches high didn't allow me to play straight back to the fairway. I tried advancing along hole 12, but miss hit a mid iron. A punch intended for an opening through some trees smacked a trunk solidly. My fourth shot was punched to the area in front of the green. This was followed by a pitch and two putts for triple-bogey.
I was now in a foul mood and it cost me about a stroke on hole 17, a long par-3. An easy bogey ended up being a double. On a positive note, I did par the final hole, a 472-yard par-5. I hit driver to the right side of the fairway, followed by 3-wood about 50 yards short and a little right of the green. I pitched to the elevated green, but was a fair distance away, resulting in a 2-putt to finish. My back nine score was another 45, for a total of 90 even.
Score: 90
Putts: 33
Fairways: 7
Greens: 3
Penalties: 0
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