The golf season is winding down; opportunities to play in good weather are becoming scarce. The weather for my latest round was perfect, which makes the outcome so difficult to stomach. I drove a fairly long distance to play the Heron course at Cardinal Lakes. When I reached for my driver on the first tee, it wasn't in my bag. I thought it might have been stolen, but a call home confirmed that I left my driver in a different bag. I would have to use 3-wood off the tee on the longer holes.
I lost my spot on the course while investigating the driver issue and was added to a later tee time. This placed me with a threesome of very lovely people, who were just horrible to play golf with. Two of them couldn't hit the ball very far or get it airborne. One was a complete beginner, playing only her third round of golf ever. Her second round had been the day before. She would whiff multiple times on the same shot attempt, before hitting the ball 50 yards at a time.
Amazingly, we kept a satisfactory pace for the round. When we stepped up to the tee on hole 18, which is a par-3, the group ahead was just finishing their putts. The only reason this happened was because I was dragging my group behind me the whole way. It was exhausting. It's bad enough when someone just can't hit the ball, but nobody had taught this beginner how to move along the golf course. She routinely left her pull cart immediately behind her ball. After pulling a club, taking her stance and addressing the ball, she would realize the cart was in her way and then awkwardy try to push it away, before repeating the routine. It was difficult to watch.
I knew it was going to be a mental challenge to play with this group. Overall, I think I did a pretty good job. Looking at my scorecard, 16 out of 18 holes played out in fairly typical fashion. I was 14 over par for those 16 holes, comprised of 6 pars, 6 bogeys, and 4 doubles. Slightly better than bogey pace over a full round results in a score somewhere in the 80s, which leaves me plenty satisfied. Unfortunately, on the two holes where things went badly, they went bad big time. I had a score of 10 on a par-3 and a score of 9 on a par-4. Boom!
The 3-wood worked pretty well for me as a driver replacement. I used it to hit 5 of 7 fairways on the front nine. Of course, I was sacrificing some distance. The first fairway I missed was on hole 4, a par-4. Like many holes on the Heron course, this one features a pond alongside the fairway. I made solid contact off the tee, but pushed the ball straight into the water. After a penalty and drop, a fantastic 8-iron carried me to the green and I saved bogey.
My irons were generally good. Though I wasn't hitting many greens, I was getting the ball close and staying out of danger. This was true of the long irons, as well. I was hitting more of them than usual, since my tee shots were shorter. Hole 5 is a par-3 that was playing about 200 yards. I hit 3-iron off the tee and managed to find the green in regulation. Two putts secured the par.
Both of the explosion holes occurred on the front nine. Hole 2 is a straightforward 166-yard par-3. Here's how I got a score of 10. My first shot was a 7-iron pulled out of bounds left. My third shot, which I thinned well right of the green, was lost in long fescue. My fifth shot was a 40-yard pitch that rolled off the green into a bunker. Shot 6 was an unintentional pick out of the sand, which travelled 30 yards over the green. Shot 7 was a duffed pitch that barely reached the green. A 3-putt was the cherry on top.
Hole 8 is a medium length par-4. My tee shot missed to the right, but that area is open and presented no problem. I had an open shot to the green from about 155 yards. The flag was in the back, so I opted for 7-iron, which I generally hit 160-165 yards. That was a mistake. I hit a perfect shot and saw the ball bounce a couple times near the right edge of the green. Unfortunately, the ball rolled down a slope behind the green, settling near the edge of a wooded penalty area. My lie was fine and I had no interference with my stance or swing. Nevertheless, it took me 4 shots just to pitch onto the green. For the minute it took me to hit those 4 shots, I was like the beginner I was playing with. It was unbelievable. Of course, I 3-putt again, because I like cherries.
With those two blowup holes, my score at the turn was 55. Fortunately, I scored 43 (7 over) on the back nine to at least break 100. I only hit 2 of 6 fairways with the 3-wood, making par on both of those occasions. My misses with the 3-wood were all to the right side. On holes 10 and 11, both of those misses ended up in ponds. If I have one complaint about the Heron course, it's the fact that dinky ponds are used far too much. Water is particulary penal, while other obstacles such as trees or fescue offer a chance at recovery. On hole 10, I saved bogey, but on hole 11, double-bogey was the result.
I played the par-3 holes on the back nine quite well. Hole 12 is one of these, measuring 165 yards. I hit 8-iron to the correct green level with a slight helping wind. A reasonable birdie chance was followed by a tap-in. Hole 16 is a similar length, but was playing into a strong headwind. I clubbed up to a 5-iron and found the green, but could have even used a 4-iron. I hammered my lag putt well past the hole, ultimately 3-putting for bogey. Hole 18 plays 155 yards over water. I hit 8-iron to the left edge of the green and judged a downhill lag very well, then tapping in for par.
Score: 98
Putts: 37
Fairways: 7
Greens: 5
Penalties: 6
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