I played Mill Run a couple of weeks ago and I was back at the Uxbridge area course for another round on November 1st. Scores registered in Ontario from this date forward don't count toward a handicap factor, so I was simply aiming for a low overall score. I ended up with a fairly average score of 94, but that included an 11 on one blowup hole. Had the round counted for handicap purposes, my factor would have actually dipped to 17.3 (down three tenths of a point). As such, I was just glad to play at all in November.
I teed off shortly after noon, with the wind gusting, the sky covered in cloud, and even a bit of rain. My grip got wet and I lost control of the club on my first drive attempt. This put me underneath a tree and after a decent punch shot, I was blocked by another tree near the green. It all led to double-bogey, which was not the way I wanted to start on the Grist nine. By the second hole, the rain had stopped, but the wind persisted. I pulled a drive attempt into a spruce tree immediately ahead of the teeing ground. After a penalty stroke, the next drive attempt was not much better – a big hook shot way left of target. I was cursing the weather and the rough start, duffing a couple shots en route to a score of 11 for this par-5. The chance of a good overall score was effectively gone.
At this point, I just tried to make the best of a bad situation, playing each hole and each shot one at a time. In fact, I was 15 over par for the last 16 holes, for a slightly better than bogey pace. The stretch included a triple-bogey on Grist #6, another par-5. Aside from that, I amassed 2 double-bogeys, 8 bogeys, and 5 pars. I got robbed on those double-bogeys too. The first was on Grind #6, which is among the prettiest on the course. I hit two great opening shots on this par-5, placing the ball in the left fairway, 100 yards from the green. I caught the next shot thin and sailed over the green. That was my own fault, but my ball came to rest right up against the trunk of a pine tree and I had no backswing whatsoever. The second double-bogey was on Grind #8, as a result of my only 3-putt of the day. That green has given me fits in the past and it did so again. The result on both those holes should have been no worse than bogey.
There were a couple of missed putts, also on the Grind nine, that resulted in bogeys, rather than pars. Both were four to five feet in length, with a fair bit of break. On Grind #2, I burned the edge of the cup on the high side. On Grind #7, the ball lipped out violently, also on the high side. The greens were a little faster than I expected for this time of year, but I have no complaints about their condition.
For all the moments of frustration already described, there were just as many moments of brilliance. I hit a beautiful 4-iron off the tee on Grist #3 that was all over the flag. After trouble in a greenside bunker on Grist #4, I recovered miraculously to save bogey. On Grist #5, a 200-yard par-3, I hit a very nice 5-wood through the wind to just in front of the green. On Grist #7 and #8, the 4-iron was once again spectacular. On the former, I hit it out of a fairway bunker to find the green from 175 yards. On the latter, I used the wind to curl my tee shot into the par-3 green, 190 yards away.
Good shots continued on the Grind nine, including a 6-iron into hole #1 from 150 yards. The green is elevated and the wind was in our face, so it was really a nice play. A 3-iron into the green on Grind #2 also stands out as a nice shot. On Grind #3, my driver finally started to join in the fun, as I cut the corner on this dogleg left absolutely perfectly. On Grind #4, a par-3 with an elevated green, I chose the perfect club and was all over the flag. The 5-wood worked like a charm off the tee on Grind #6, while the trusty 4-iron did the same on Grind #7, a par-3.
Too bad I had a rough start adjusting to the weather, but overall, there was plenty to be happy about.
Score: 94
Putts: 34
Fairways: 4
Greens: 4
Penalties: 2
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