BraeBen is not a course I've played often; my maiden visit there was many years ago and last year marked my only return to the Mississauga area facility. Though my rounds there have been sparse, I do enjoy the layout. I was looking to play something close to home, so I headed out to BraeBen in hopes of a solid round.
I pounded a drive on the opening par-5, leaving just 180 yards to the green. I came up just short of the putting surface with my second shot, but with the pin tucked at the extreme back, I had lots of green to work with. It didn't help, as I sculled a chip right across the green. The comeback chip was no better, rolling well past the hole. After blasting my first putt well past the hole, I had to make a lengthy putt just for bogey. I drained it, but really should have done better on the hole.
Pitching and chipping was poor at my previous round, so I was worried that it would continue as such. It went from bad to worse on hole #2, a 144-yard par-3. I pulled my tee shot slightly, but that was enough to catch the wrong side of a mound, propelling the ball into thick fescue and thistles. Those areas are treated as lateral hazards, so I was able to take a penalty and drop when the ball was not found. Unfortunately, my pitch rolled off the opposite side of the green. Next, I sculled a chip attempt back over the green. I needed yet another chip just to get on the green with my fifth shot. Two putts closed the hole out with a score of 7.
At this point, I settled into a long period of relatively steady golf, which lasted for the rest of the round. Though it was steady, I was not collecting enough pars or birdies to offset the quadruple-bogey already on my scorecard. It was the proverbial bogey train, as I seemed to collect one after another. I did make par on hole #3, a short par-4, but followed it up with a 3-putt double-bogey on hole #4. Hole #8 produced a triple, with all the trouble coming near the green. A bunker shot rolled off the other side of the green, while the comeback chip – a delicate one – got caught up in the rough near the fringe. I was shooting 50 at the turn.
The back nine was more steady, as I collected just one double-bogey, along with six bogeys and two pars. The bogeys were fairly nondescript. I was hitting shots that were not perfect, but really not bad either. This usually left me just missing out on par, but getting fairly easy bogeys. The two pars saved my round, as they came on the last two holes of the day. On hole #17, a short par-4, I hit just my second green in regulation, then 2-putt. On #18, a par-5, my third shot slid under the ball in the rough, coming up 30 yards short of the green. Next, I hit my best pitch shot of the day, settling right beside the cup at the front of the green. I made the 4-foot putt easily.
So while my pitching and chipping started out terribly, they seemed to be better by the end of the round. Let's hope they stay good for a while. I also need some bunker practice.
Score: 94
Putts: 35
Fairways: 6
Greens: 2
Penalties: 2
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