On a gorgeous late September afternoon, I made a return visit to Willow Valley Golf Club. The first third of the round was horrible, even though it included a couple of pars. That's because it also included a triple, a quad, and two quintuple-bogeys. One of the quints came on the opening hole, a pretty tame par-4 at just 355 yards. I thinned my first drive into the hazard directly in front of the teeing ground. My third from the tee got airborne, but was lost in the same hazard, which hugs the entire left side of the hole.
When you collect penalty strokes in pairs like that, big numbers are inevitable. I went on to collect a pair of penalties on four additional holes. Add a couple more holes that produced a penalty each, and I finished with 12 penalty strokes for the round. Three times this season, I collected 11 penalties during a round, but a dozen takes the cake. You simply cannot score well with that many penalties. For the season, I am averaging almost six penalty strokes per round. That tells you all you need to know about my scoring.
It's not just the penalties themselves. That first hole is a great example. Because of the first drive, I had to hit my third from the tee. I collected just one penalty stroke, but really gave away two strokes in the process. That happened again and again, and again. On hole #7, for example, I tried to hit 5-iron off the tee. I stabbed the ground in front of the ball, sending the ball dribbling just a few yards ahead. Had it stopped in the rough, I would have played my second shot where it lay. Instead, the ball bounced on the cart path and buried just one foot into thick, nasty fescue. I wasn't even able to find it and was forced to hit my third from the tee.
I finished the front nine with a score of 56. I was spraying drives left and right. Not once did I manage to find a ball in the fescue. As bad as it was, there were some good moments that led to a trio of pars. On hole #2, I hit a 300-yard drive to the centre of the fairway. The drive was left of my intended line, but I avoided a hazard there and must have bounced on the cart path. My gap wedge got me very near the flag, just off the green. I lagged a putt through a few inches of rough, then tapped in. On hole #4, a par-5, I pushed my drive into a fairway bunker. I followed up with a good 9-iron to the left fairway, and a gorgeous pitching wedge to a pin tucked on the right side. I made a good birdie effort, but settled for par. On hole #9, I hit a high drive just right of the fairway. This greatly shortened the hole, leaving a 50-yard pitch over a creek to the green. I safely went past the hole, then finished with a solid 2-putt.
The back nine was a bit better, as I managed to shoot 49. Driving was still poor. Besides the straight pulls and slices, I also added a couple of ugly hooks to my arsenal. Other clubs off the tee were no better. On hole #10, I tried 5-wood, barely reaching the fairway with a mis-hit. On #14, my 3-iron leaked right into a pond. Worst of all, I mis-hit a gap wedge off the tee on hole #15, a really short par-3. Line was perfect, but I lost distance and failed to carry water in front. After a drop, I hit a beautiful lob wedge 85 yards to just below the hole. Of course, I missed the bogey putt from inside four feet!
I collected 34 putts over the course of the round, which seems decent. However, numbers can be deceptive. I had just a single 3-putt during the day, but I missed a lot of short, straight putts. On hole #3, I missed a simple 3-footer. On hole #6, I could have limited the damage by making a straight 4-footer. Nope! I've already described what happened on #15. On hole #16, another 4-footer would have given me par. Nope! Even good putts that were a bit more lengthy didn't drop. A birdie attempt on hole #17 comes to mind, that coming after a nice 7-iron off the tee on this par-3 hole.
Again, there were good moments. I hit a lovely 5-iron off the tee on hole #13, a par-3 that was playing 180 yards. Finishing below the hole, I drained a 13-foot putt for birdie! Wow, really? Overall, however, this was a lousy round. The good moments fade away quickly when dominated by so many bad ones. I was easily the worst player in my group – something which is becoming all too common. I just play really badly. No natural ability, it seems.
Score: 105
Putts: 34
Fairways: 3
Greens: 4
Penalties: 12
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