After a slight layoff, I headed out to Hockley Valley Resort for my latest round of golf. If nothing else, it's a nice drive to the Orangeville area course. Things started out well, with a fairway hit and a 2-putt bogey on the opening par-4 hole. My first putt was excellent, breaking sharply at the end and almost dying in the hole for par. I can't really complain about it not dropping, but these are the kind of misses that kill me at the end of the day. It's virtually certain that I will have some blowup holes along the way, so I really have to conserve strokes elsewhere.
I made triple-bogey on the next two holes, a par-4, followed by a par-3. The results perfectly illustrate the dangers of Hockley Valley. After duffing my second shot on hole #2, I pulled an approach just left of the green. The ball was in some gnarly weeds, which are typical for the course when you're off line. You simply cannot afford to go in there. It took two good hacks to get out. On hole #3, I pulled a pitching wedge off the tee and into the woods. Just like that, I gave away two strokes and had to hit my third from the tee.
My play off the tee on the front nine was not terrible, but it didn't inspire a lot of confidence either. Though I hit the fairway on the first hole, it was a slicing drive that lost a lot of distance. On hole #2, I hit a straight pull a few yards left of the fairway. Hole #4 produced another slicing drive that finished in the rough just two yards right of the fairway. On hole #7, it was another straight pull that trickled into the weeds just a few yards left of the fairway. Hole #8 was the scene of a huge push slice and lost ball. I'm sure you see the pattern. I was spraying the ball left and right in perfect see-saw fashion. It's hard to adjust when you miss to both sides.
Penalty strokes didn't help me either. I tallied five on the front nine alone, including a pair on hole #9. I've said it before and I'll say it again – I absolutely hate this hole. It's a short par-4 measuring 263 yards from the gold tees. You can't hit driver off the tee because of a huge brush-covered gorge protecting the right side. The left side is no better, with a brush-covered hillside that slopes away. A mid-iron off the tee is the better play, but if your accuracy is poor, you could still leave the gorge between you and the green or slip off the left side. Oh yeah, you also have a forced carry over the weeds on your tee shot. Nothing about this hole suits my eye. I fear the tee shot and as a result, mess up every time. It's definitely a mental thing. This time, I finished with a quadruple-bogey.
I played a bit better on the back nine, but ruined it on the very last hole. My score was 42 through the first eight holes, thanks mostly to a bunch of bogeys. I actually tripled hole #10, a par-3 from a severely elevated tee, when my tee shot trickled into the brush just left of the green. I was flag high and barely missed the target, but that's how it goes. I was robbed a few more times with the putter in hand, which I knew would come back to bite me. A beautifully judged putt on hole #12 was particularly tough to stomach. The ball stopped right on the edge of the cup and I had to settle for a 3-putt.
On hole #18, a par-4, I hit a slicing worm-burner off the tee. After a good pitch to get back into position, I duffed a pitching wedge into the creek. At that moment, I didn't really care any more. I was already over 100, so a couple more strokes really made no difference. I took a 9 on the hole to finish the back nine with a 51.
Here's the thing. At this point, I don't even believe I'm capable of breaking 100. If you don't believe, you won't achieve. But you can't simply turn on a switch to begin believing again. That would fly in the face of the results I've had this year, all of which indicate that I can't break 100. Just look at my record. How did things get so bad?
Score: 107
Putts: 35
Fairways: 3
Greens: 1
Penalties: 7
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