After getting paired up with some hackers at Cardinal Lakes, I was eager to play another round. Less than 24 hours later, I checked in at Willodell Golf Club, about 20 km away. Imagine my horror when I was introduced to my playing partners – the exact same threesome from a day earlier! Are you kidding me? How unlucky can a person be? I tried not to let my disappointment show and resolved to try my best, regardless of the company.
For the first three holes, everything was fine. I went par, bogey, par over a couple of par-5 holes and a par-3. I hit one bad iron shot on hole 2, which caused the bogey. I had a very good chance at birdie on hole 3, but my putt finished 6 inches short.
Suddenly, I erupted for back-to-back triple-bogeys on holes 4 and 5. Hole 4 is the hardest on the course, due to its length. I began with a perfect 3-wood off the tee; the ball sailed over mature trees on the left side and came to rest in the left fairway, 200 yards from the green. I couldn't be in a better position, so I had to go for the green. I made good contact with the 3-iron, but pushed the ball ever so slightly to the right side. It bounced off a slope and careened further right into the bushes, about flag high. After a penalty and drop, I pitched over the edge of a bunker. The ball landed in an ideal spot, but still released off the other side of the green. A chip back and two putts completed the triple. If I knew that was going to happen, I would have hit my second shot 50 yards short of the green and played for bogey. I basically was penalized for hitting a good tee shot.
Hole 5 is a par-3 that was playing 190 yards. The last time I played the hole, a nice 4-iron failed to clear a front bunker by a yard, or my ball would have released nicely to the back pin location. I hit the same club this time, but with a higher flight. I thought it was a solid shot – high and directly at the left edge of the green. I saw the ball bounce a couple of times and figured I was just left of the green by a few yards. When I got up there, the ball was nowhere to be found. The only place it could have gone was long and into the bushes well behind the green. After a penalty and drop, I hit a great pitch shot reasonably close to the cup. Unfortunately, I rammed my first putt well past the hole, requirung two more to complete the triple. Wow! Two triples in a row that I felt I really didn't deserve.
Despite being upset, I rattled off a bogey and par on the next two holes. On hole 8, I tried to crush my drive – only to hit a low pull that smacked a tree trunk less than 100 yards away. I punched through some trees to get back to the fairway, but my ball finished a couple yards short of the fairway in the left rough. I was still almost 200 yards from the green and tried to hit a low bullet under some overhanging tree branches up ahead. I pulled the ball straight into the base of a small bush. I was forced to take a penalty and drop. My fifth shot was just off the front left edge of the green. I chipped on and 2-putt for a quadruple-bogey. I made bogey on hole 9 for a score of 49 at the turn.
The triples on holes 4 and 5 were really too much to overcome. I was not in the right frame of mind, which showed on hole 8, even though I held it together on holes 6, 7, and 9. I didn't care about my score at this point and decided I would swing my driver with reckless abandon, to see if that would help my stress level. The swings weren't completely reckless, mind you. When I swing hard, I tend to yank the club at the start of the downswing. This time, I was trying to get my speed maximized at the bottom of the swing. I only hit one fairway on the back nine, but the timing felt pretty good and I was hitting the ball far. It was the epitome of bomb and gouge.
As it turned out, I also shot 49 on the back nine, comprised of one par, five bogeys, two doubles and a quad. The par came on a 150-yard par-3, after a beautiful 8-iron that was all over the flag. It was so nice, I thought I might have a hole-in-one, until I spotted my ball on the back fringe. The bogeys were of the usual variety, where I need an extra pitch or chip to get on the green, and then 2-putt. The two doubles were similar, except that they also included a penalty stroke for going into the bushes.
The quad was on hole 14, a short par-4. I tried to drive the green and my first ball popped up in the air. Not sure if I would find it, I hit a provisional. That one was a beauty, finishing five yards short of the putting surface. I found my first ball about 70 yards away from the green. I hit my pitch shot just a fraction right of target. The ball hit a slope and deflected into a bunker. My first sand shot was fat. Next came my patented clean pick (unintentional) that went 40 yards over the green. My pitch back hit the slender branch of a tree. My sixth shot found the green, followed by a 2-putt. I played out the provisional ball just for fun, and made par with that one. Of course.
What horrible luck to play twice with those hackers. Two horrible rounds were the result.
Score: 98
Putts: 34
Fairways: 3
Greens: 4
Penalties: 4
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