OK, this is officially getting weird. It doesn't matter what I do, I will score 100 and change on any golf course, under any conditions, any day of the week. Tie one hand behind my back and take away half my clubs – I will shoot 102. Tee off just 100 yards from every hole – I will shoot 102. It really is unbelievable. For proof, I offer an account of my latest round, which was my first ever visit to Rockway Vineyards in St. Catharines, Ontario.
I began the day intending to employ the trick I had used effectively in the latter half of my previous round at Woodington Lake. On that day, I slowed my swing speed with the driver and ended up hitting 8 of the last 10 fairways. I tried the same thing for the first 6 holes at Rockway and hit a grand total of zero fairways. Two of those were par-3 holes, so I was actually 0 for 4. Still, that was enough for me to realize that the mellow approach wasn't working. Beginning on the seventh hole, and for the remainder of the round, I was much more aggressive on the teeing ground.
As a result of the switch, I hit 8 of the last 10 fairways. Isn't it ironic? I matched the driving results that I had at Woodington Lake by employing precisely the opposite approach! It makes no sense whatsoever, but that's golf. I challenge any analyst out there to explain it. I don't think anyone can. There simply is no explanation. This is why the game is such a challenge for me. What should I do at my next round? Should I take it easy with the driver, or should I be aggressive? It's a complete crapshoot. Aargh!
While my driver behaved very differently at Rockway, my irons turned out much like they did at Woodington Lake. Contact was once again very good. My ball flight was almost always straight. I even hit a few more greens in regulation than normal. Holes #6 through #9 featured particularly good approach shots with various irons. On #6, a medium length par-3 over water, my 7-iron sailed right over the flag to the back of the green. Par was the final result. I also made par on hole #7, a par-5. My third shot into the green was a beautiful 6-iron, also over water. On hole #9, I cut a 6-iron from the right rough to set up a birdie chance.
Driving was good, as was my iron play. So what was the problem? Once again, it was putting. For most of the season, putting was the lone bright point of my game. For the last two rounds, it has been atrocious. I made five 3-putts on the front nine, for a total of 23 putts at the turn. I left some lag putts short and others long. When my lag putts were good, I missed short attempts. On the back nine, I added another pair of 3-putts, along with a 4-putt! The 4-putt turned a birdie chance into a double-bogey. The birdie attempt was actually a nice putt that just burned the edge of the cup. I had a lot of those. Over the full round, I amassed a brutal total of 44 putts.
So once again, I shoot 102. I'm telling you, the golf gods want it that way, so they'll find a way to get me there every time.
Score: 102
Putts: 44
Fairways: 8
Greens: 6
Penalties: 1
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