Bradford Highlands Jinx

I'm not superstitious, but my most recent visit to Bradford Highlands has me thinking. In July 2012, I shot a 99 there, including 14 on hole #6. Yes, that's right. In late 2009, I also shot 99 at the club, including 11 on hole #6. Yesterday, I shot 97 at Bradford, including 12 on, you guessed it, hole #6. By the way, hole #6 is a modest par-4 measuring 357 yards. It is rated the #6 handicap hole on the course. There must be another 6 related to the hole, because it obviously has the mark of the beast written all over it.

It is a straightaway hole, though the right side is out of bounds from tee to green. In the 2012 round I described earlier, I pushed four consecutive balls out of bounds off the tee. In the 2009 round, I “merely” sliced two balls OB off the tee. This time, I smother hooked my tee ball into a small pond left of the fairway. After taking a drop, I thinned one into the very same pond. My next attempt was short and right, finding another hazard that crosses the fairway nearer the green. Next, I came up short in a bunker, then picked one clean into a hazard behind the green. I collected four penalty strokes on that hole alone!

It was really incredible, especially because the rest of my round was fantastic. I struggled to quadruple bogey on the opening hole, but otherwise played better than bogey golf. For sixteen holes, I was 13 over par. This included five pars, nine bogeys, and two doubles. If you eliminate the two bad holes, this actually felt like my best round of the year. I hit a decent number of fairways with the driver, as well as some good 5-woods. My irons weren't laser sharp, but good enough to get in the vicinity of the greens. My chipping was pretty good and so was my putting. I tallied 33 putts on the day, but only made one really bad one. It was a lag on a par-3 that came up well short, leading to my only 3-putt of the day.

My two worst irons of the day were responsible for the two double-bogeys. The first of these was a hooked 6-iron off the tee on hole #2, a par-3. The ball ended up under a bush and very nearly out of bounds. I was forced to declare it unplayable. The second was a thinned lob wedge from 90 yards out on hole #10. I had just piped a 280-yard drive straight down the centre of the fairway. What a waste! The worst part of the wedge shot was the fact that the ball ended up in a creek that crosses in front of the green.

Overall, I'm happy. I consider the 12 on hole #6 an aberration, even though I've blown up there before.

Score: 97
Putts: 33
Fairways: 6
Greens: 3
Penalties: 7