Round 1 of the 2014 Deepwoods championship was played last weekend at Copetown Woods Golf Club. The course has hosted the season opener ever since I joined the group and I've had some success there. It is not a difficult course, especially early in the season, before the fescue has had a chance to really grow in. When there's very little wind, as was the case last Sunday, there is plenty of opportunity to score well.
In fact, I scored very well for a large portion of the round. I was 3 over par for a 7-hole stretch beginning with hole #4. This mini-run included four pars and three bogeys. I was 5 over par for a 6-hole stretch beginning with hole #12. While this run included a double bogey, along with four bogeys, it also included a magnificent birdie on hole #14. After two shots on this par-5, I was in the fescue bordering a waste bunker, about 70 yards from the green. I did well to hack the ball out into the fairway, about 15 yards short of the green. I played a bump and run with the 8-iron and the ball rolled onto the green and into the cup!
Between these two stretches was hole #11, a lengthy par 3, which produced a disastrous quadruple bogey. I hooked a 4-iron off the tee flag high, but in the fescue left of the green. One pitch attempt only travelled half the intended distance. The next also failed to reach the green. When I finally reached the putting surface, I followed up with a 3-putt, which was one of two on a day when I amassed only 30 putts for the entire round.
Aside from that mishap, my other troubles came very early and very late in the round. I double bogeyed the opening par-5, thanks in part to a topped drive attempt. I hit a great recovery from the fescue with the 5-wood, leaving just 130 yards to reach the green in regulation. Unfortunately, I pushed a shot with the pitching wedge, then took two chips and two putts to finish.
Holes #2 and #3 were much worse than that. After a good drive on hole #2, I was nevertheless in the fescue, about two yards left of the fairway. In addition, the ball was well below my feet. I promptly shanked one into a pond right of the fairway. After taking a penalty and drop, I topped one badly, actually embedding the ball into the turf. I was forced to declare the ball unplayable and take another penalty. I finished with a score of 9 on the hole, which is a par 4.
I'll spare you the details of the blowups I had on holes #3 and #18. Suffice to say that I topped my tee shots, one with a 3-wood, and the other with a 3-iron. This put me in the fescue, with very uneven footing, leading to other mishits or struggling just to advance the ball. I hit a fair number of very good shots during this round, but when I missed, I missed badly. It's one thing to slice a ball or pull it slightly, but when you top the ball and it goes nowhere, it's like giving strokes away.
In the end, I have mixed feelings about the round. I'm disappointed with shots where I failed to make good contact, but I'm happy that I did hit a substantial number of good ones. I had some shaky chips, but was better than in my previous two rounds. Finally, my putting was far better than in those rounds. To be fair, poor conditions had a lot to do with my putting woes earlier in the season. Copetown Woods was in normal shape for this time of year.
Score: 98
Putts: 30
Fairways: 2
Greens: 3
Penalties: 3
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