I've travelled pretty far for golf this year, with rounds played in Paris, Niagara Falls, and even Gravenhurst. As a result, it was nice to play a little closer to home, at Glen Eagle Golf Club. I didn't play there last year, but shot a 99 the year before on the Original 18 layout. In 2010, I shot 92 on my lone visit, playing the Blue/Yellow nines.
Unfortunately the upward trend continued, as I finished with a score of 104, once again on the Blue/Yellow combination. My 52 on the Blue nine consisted of four bogeys, three doubles, and two triples. One of the triples came on the opening hole, thanks to a weak drive that popped up and right into a small pond. The other came on hole #4, a par-4 with a dogleg left. Right of the fairway after my drive, I failed to get over some trees between me and the green.
Holes #5 through #9 actually weren't that bad. My best drive on this stretch was a laser on hole #7, a 509-yard par-5. Unfortunately, I followed up with a horrific iron that I smothered and pulled left into a pond. Near the green, I made a nice up and down to salvage double-bogey. The only other disappointment on this stretch was a 3-putt on hole #9. Playing from above the hole, I left my first putt four feet short. You can figure out the rest.
The Yellow nine was pretty similar. I managed a couple of pars by reaching greens in regulation. On hole #3, I played a draw to the back of the green from 130 yards away. On hole #8, I hit a spectacular 5-iron to the green from the left rough. A tree trunk was interfering with my backswing and overhanging branches just ahead meant I had to keep the ball low. I should have had another par on hole #7, but 3-putt after reaching the green of this par-4 in two shots.
The problems on the Yellow nine really came at the start and finish. After pushing my drive well right on hole #1, I tried playing a 9-iron back to the fairway. I pulled it well left of target, sailing out of bounds. After a penalty stroke, I replayed the shot perfectly. I wish that had happened the first time. I also struggled near the green and ended up with a quadruple-bogey. I had the same result on hole #9. With a birdie on that hole, I would break 100, so I took a chance on my second shot. I was in the rough just left of the fairway, but the ball was above my feet and overhanging branches impeded my access to the green. I tried to play a draw, but shanked one right of the fairway, still 100 yards from the flag. My next three shots were all impeded by some obstacle, whether a tree in my backswing or a stance with my feet in a bunker.
My shot at 99 was gone, so it didn't really matter whether I finished with 100 or 104. Once again, I find myself in that brutal zone just above the century mark. More alarmingly, my handicap factor has now jumped to 24.6, exactly 9 points higher than my personal best. That is a tough pill to swallow.
Score: 104
Putts: 36
Fairways: 4
Greens: 2
Penalties: 5
No comments:
Post a Comment