Looking at my scores this season, I convinced myself that things were moving in the right direction. Except for a round at Sparrow Lakes, where I felt extremely tired, my scores progressed as follows: 116, 108, 101, 101, 100, 93. I chalked the results of the first two rounds up to the long winter layoff, and the last round at Willodell had me feeling like I was back to where I should be. Looking forward to the second round of the Deepwoods season, to be played at Peninsula Lakes, I felt confident that I could shoot another score in the low to mid nineties.
On the practice range, everything felt good. I had some cuts and scrapes on my hands, thanks to a bathroom demolition project, but it was nothing a little tape couldn't fix. I hit just a few shots, being careful not to cause further damage. Everything I hit was pretty good. When I pulled out driver, I reminded myself not to overswing. I took a few half swings and was surprised that I was achieving my full distance. I shouldn't really have been surprised, as I know from experience that is often the case. I resolved to take that easy swing with me to the course.
The opening hole, Quarry #1, is a 407-yard par-4 that doglegs left around a large pond. With a slight tailwind helping out, I tried the half swing with the driver that worked so well on the range. The ball travelled slightly left of my target line, skirting the right edge of the pond. I watched with anticipation to see if I would avoid the water. To my surprise, I was not even close to the water, as the ball carried right over it, bouncing first in the fairway before coming to rest about two yards in the right rough. It was a great shot, even if not exactly what I was trying to do. With the right side of the green and the flag blocked by a tree in front of me, I took aim at the left side of the putting surface. I struck a perfect cut with the pitching wedge from 130 yards and the ball rolled just off the back of the green. No worries as I chipped to within three feet and made the putt for par.
I proceeded to make a double-bogey and two bogeys over the next three holes. The double bogey was thanks to a terrible 7-iron off the tee on a par-3, followed by a lob wedge shot where I slid right under the ball. On another hole, I duffed another lob wedge shot, but that was from a tighter lie in the fairway. Owing to a great drive plus an up and down near the green, I salvaged bogey on that hole. I hit a beautiful 5-iron from the rough on another hole to earn bogey after a weak tee shot. I was hitting a mix of very good and very bad shots, so I was hanging in there.
On Quarry #5, a 393-yard par-4, the wind carried my drive a couple yards right of the fairway. Unfortunately, an embankment in that location directs balls into a large pond. My ball was just a foot past the water's edge and half poking out of the surface. If there wasn't a clump of dirt directly in front of my ball, I would have had a go at it. As it was, I decided to take a penalty stroke and drop within two club lengths of the point where the ball crossed the hazard. Unfortunately, that left the ball well below my feet for the next shot. I duffed it into a bunker just a few yards ahead. My shot from the bunker was short and right of the green, requiring a pitch and two putts to hole out for triple-bogey.
As unfortunate as that hole was, things got plain silly on Quarry #7, a 525-yard par-5. The drive that worked so well on the range and on the first hole suddenly abandoned me. I pulled three straight balls out of bounds on the left side. With penalties, I had used up six strokes and was still on the tee! When I finally got off the tee safely, I followed up with a nice 5-wood, pitching wedge, and two putts. The damage was done early however, as I finished the hole with a score of 11. Brutal stuff. I finished the front nine with an excellent 6-iron into the wind on a par-3. Finishing behind the flag, I proceeded to 2-putt for my second par of the day.
Par was once again the result on Hillside #1, a short par-4. I hit the fairway, albeit with a weak shot, then found the green with an 8-iron. On Hillside #2, a 196-yard par-3, I pulled a 3-iron well left of the green on a huge hillside. I hit a nice downhill wedge from 40 yards and 2-putt to save bogey. Hillside #3 began with a weak drive off the heel of the club. I followed up with a mix of good and mediocre shots to earn double-bogey. Much like the opening nine, I began the back nine with a mix of good and bad, but I was hanging in there.
My undoing on the back nine came in the form of Hillside #4, the hardest hole on the course. My tee shot popped up and went left, finding a large pond. I had to drop under a willow tree, with a piece of the pond between me and my target. Twice more, I plunked a ball into the water directly in front of me. Laying six, I chipped backwards to avoid the water entirely. My eighth shot hit a tree on the right side. My ninth failed to carry the second of two ponds that define this hole. My eleventh shot was just off the green, flag high. From there, I got up and down for a lovely score of 13. It was just as bad on Hillside #7, a par-5 that I finished with a score of 12. I will spare you the gory details.
In the end, it was a brutal round. There were some good shots, but the bad ones were so penal, it wasn't even funny. Ball striking, off the tee or elsewhere, was hit and miss. Chipping and putting were good, as they've been all year, but that is little consolation. I can no longer hang on to the illusion that I'm “moving in the right direction.” Maybe that round at Sparrow Lakes wasn't an anomaly after all. Eight rounds into the season, I've broken 100 only once. That's the stark reality of my game right now.
Score: 114
Putts: 33
Fairways: 2
Greens: 3
Penalties: 11
No comments:
Post a Comment