I got a little busy recently and wasn't able to go golfing for almost two weeks. Finally, I made it out to Willodell Golf Club for a mid morning tee time. It was raining with no signs of letting up, so I told the starter I would forge ahead alone. The rain lasted for about four holes and then it was actually pleasant. Playing alone and with nobody else out there, I zipped through the front nine in no time.
My scorecard on the front nine was interesting. I made eight bogeys and one triple – the latter coming on hole #2, a par-5. After two shots, I had 135 yards to the green from the left centre of the fairway. Inexplicably, I sculled one directly into a small pond on the right side. After a penalty stroke and drop, I flew one over the back of the green. It's always disappointing when a hole that starts up so promising, ends up so horrible.
Aside from that poor sequence, I was getting around the course quite nicely. I missed the greens on a couple of par-3 holes, but hit some nice pitches to give me a chance at saving par. Those putts didn't drop, but bogeys were fair results considering my tee shots. Whenever I missed fairways, I was able to punch shots below overhanging tree branches. I had a decent number of par attempts, but they just didn't go, so my score was not great. Despite the score, I was not really struggling at all.
On the back nine, I got caught behind a threesome of old guys. When I reached the tee on hole #10, they were just 50 yards up the fairway. They should have let me through right there and then, but they didn't. So I played the entire back nine waiting on every single shot. I don't know what it is about some of these old guys; it's as though they feel less like men if they allow someone to play through. I find it's much less of a problem with younger players. Oh well.
I managed three pars on the back nine, as my putting started to heat up. Single putts earned par on holes #12 and #13, while a more conventional 2-putt did the trick on hole #15. I had just 13 putts on the back nine, and 30 overall. Unfortunately, there were a pair of double-bogeys and another triple thrown into the mix. Hole #14 is a short par-4 that I got aggressive on and it backfired. On hole #17, a wild slicing drive was the culprit. Both holes produced penalty strokes and the aforementioned double bogeys.
The triple came on a par-4 after finding a greenside bunker with my third shot. My struggles with bunker shots have been well documented. This time, it took three shots to get out, and then only into the rough. A chip and a putt ended the misery. Once in a while, I pull off a satisfactory bunker shot, but overwhelmingly, it's a real slog.
In the end, it was a score of 94. Now that I'm in the 15-16 handicap range, anything over 90 is kind of a bad round. It's better than shooting 100 or more, but I'm aiming to be in the eighties almost every time.
Score: 94
Putts: 30
Fairways: 3
Greens: 3
Penalties: 4
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