I was supposed to play Round 2 of the Deepwoods championship last Sunday, but a freak storm that brought non-stop rain for 48 hours resulted in the event being cancelled. A few days later, under perfect summer conditions, I played a round at Bradford Highlands. I've had some decent results there, but I've also had some terrible ones, thanks to a few blowup holes that ruin an otherwise solid outing. I was anxious to see what would happen this time around, but also feeling pretty confident.
On the opening par-4, I found the right side of the fairway with a 265-yard drive. My pitching wedge settled at the back of the green after I caught it a tad thin. It was the only green in regulation all day. The pin was at the front of the green, so I faced a tough 2-putt. I judged the weight perfectly, but overestimated the break, leaving an 8-footer for par. Unfortunately, I just missed on the low side, settling for bogey. The good news is it was my only 3-putt of the day. In fact, I collected only 30 putts total – my lowest of the season.
When I have a low putt total, I find it has more to do with chipping well than it does with the actual putting. Hole #2 is a good example. I hit 5-iron off the tee on this 180-yard par-3, finishing ten yards right of the green. My pitch shot was all over the flag, but released right off the back edge of the green. No worries, as I made a solid chip that nearly dropped. An easy tap-in secured bogey. That went down as a 1-putt hole, but there really was no putting skill involved. The same thing happened on hole #3, but that single putt was for double-bogey. I hit my first tee shot on this par-4 out of bounds, so I was forced to play my third from the tee.
Mind you, there were some 1-putt holes where the putt was much more than a tap-in. On hole #5, a lengthy par-5, I made a 10-footer to save par. This came after a nice pitch from 40 yards away. On hole #6, it was a 15-foot breaking putt that I judged perfectly for yet another par. I've had disastrous (double-digit) results on this par-4 in previous visits, so that par felt really good. My trouble usually starts on the tee, either flying out of bounds on the right, or finding an impossibly small pond short and on the left. This time, I piped a beautiful drive down the middle, finishing beside the 100-yard stick. I actually think it's less than 100 yards, because my sand wedge flew well past the green. No worries, as my chip and putt saved me.
A wicked pull off the tee on hole #7 led to double-bogey, but it was a double on hole #9, a par-5, that really bothered me. I hit about a 250-yard drive off the tee to the left side of the fairway. This is a shorter par-5, so I had just 215 yards to the green. Though my angle to the green was ideal, I was actually about a foot into the left rough. The lie seemed fine to me, so I went for the green with 5-wood. Of course, I topped it badly, sending the ball dribbling into a creek that was crossing the fairway 20 yards ahead. Aargh! That green was so tantalizing! Oh well.
My score at the turn was 46 and my goal was to try breaking 90. After bogey on hole #10, I was still in good shape, but hole #11 put a damper on things. This is a longish par-5 that I don't usually have too much trouble with. If anything, the green can be tricky if you're putting from above the hole. This time, my trouble came off the tee and on the shots that followed. The drive was pulled far left and now I had a decision to make. I could either pitch the ball 60 yards to lay up on front of a creek crossing the fairway, or I could go over it, being careful to avoid the small trees that were sort of in my line. I opted to go deep with the 5-wood, but the ball was on an upslope and I lost my balance as I swung. Once again, it was a topped ball and I was in the same predicament. This time I pitched to the layup area. Unfortunately, my subsequent 4-iron drifted right into a hazard and I took a penalty. Ultimately, I missed a short putt to take a score of 9 on the hole.
I struggled a bit on the last par-5 of the day, which was hole #18, carding a triple-bogey. I don't know what it was about the par-5 holes, because the rest of the back nine was fine. I strung together mostly bogeys, but there were a couple of pars as well. One was thanks to a very long putt, while the other was on the #1 handicap hole, which is hole #17. Again, a pitch shot from about 40 yards that was all over the flag and an 8-foot putt were the keys.
In the end, I had one of my better results at Bradford Highlands, but I still felt like I left a lot of strokes out there. What's it going to take to start breaking 90 with regularity? Ninety percent of my game tells me I could do it easily, but that other ten percent is what kills me and greatly inflates my scores. Oh, the life of a 18-handicapper! (currently 18.8, to be precise)
Score: 94
Putts: 30
Fairways: 5
Greens: 1
Penalties: 4
No comments:
Post a Comment