The last few days of summer have been gorgeous, so I headed out to Hunters Pointe just a day after playing Ussher's Creek. I played Hunters Pointe earlier this season and it was one of my worst rounds of the year. Fortunately, I was able to exact some revenge, as I played a mostly solid round and finished with a respectable score of 92.
Over the first three holes, I made a couple of mistakes, but they were isolated and I was able to save bogeys. One mistake on a hole is tolerable; any more than that is the kiss of death. On hole #4, a 140-yard par-3, I tried to hit a 7-iron to the back pin position, into the wind. It was a miss and the ball ended up well short in a bunker on the right side. I was hoping that would be the only mistake of the hole, but my next shot rolled through the green and into a very deep bunker on the other side. Another miss blasted into the grassy bank, popped up in the air and finished in yet another bunker on the opposite side of the green. Wow, three different bunkers on the same hole, which led to a disastrous score of 7.
Fortunately, I came back with a par on hole #5, a 510-yard par-5. This hole, along with the two preceding it and the one following it, were redesigned last year to prevent wayward balls from finding their way to the nearby highway. The redesign created some awkward situations for those not familiar with the changes. Since this was my second time playing the new holes, I knew where to position the ball in those situations. On #5, I hit the left side of the fairway, then made the correct layup, leaving 105 yards to the semi-hidden green. I hit just over the putting surface, but made a downhill chip and a 4-footer for par.
The rest of the front nine was great, with two bogeys, followed by two pars. Despite a penalty stroke on hole #6, a couple of crisp irons and a sublime chip and putt saved the day. On hole #7, a 420-yard par-4, driver followed by 9-iron got me just off the back of the green. This time, the chip wasn't as good, so a pair of putts were required to finish. On hole #8, a 215-yard par-3, I hit a 3-iron 240 yards off the back of the green! The tee is a little elevated and the prevailing wind is at your back. I semi-duffed my chip shot, coming up way short, but I followed up with an amazing lengthy putt for par. Hole #9 is a great par-5 requiring good shots, especially on the approach to the green over water. I hit a lovely 7-iron just off the back of the green, but once again got up and down for par.
The back nine started out well, with only one costly mistake on hole #11. A pond protects the right side of this par-4 from the mid-point up to the green. I opted for 5-wood off the tee to take the water out of play. Unfortunately, I hit a high shot that drifted to the right side. It caught a mound and kicked further right, barely rolling into the pond. I was forced to take a penalty and drop. I finished up the hole with good shots, but double-bogey was the result. I was just off the back of the green with my approach, as I was on the previous hole and on many holes throughout the day. On the previous hole, I saved bogey.
Holes #12 through #14 produced par, bogey, and par. The first of these is a 160-yard par-3. I hit an 8-iron to four feet behind the hole. The birdie putt had a slight bit of break, but I played it straight and burned the edge. On hole #14, I faced an 8-foot birdie putt, but that burned the edge also.
On hole #15, I dropped back to join a threesome that was playing behind me. I had played as a single all day, except for holes #7 through #9, when I joined up with a couple ahead of me. They only played nine holes, so I was alone again for the start of the back nine. I was on the tee at every hole with the foursome ahead of me, but they didn't let me through, reasoning that there was another foursome ahead of them. That was fine, except that on #15 tee, I had to observe a 5-minute discussion about one particular player and how much he should bend his knees at address. At this point, the group ahead of him was long off the green, so this was really uncalled for.
Perhaps I was distracted by the nonsense with the foursome ahead, or maybe the group I dropped back to join gave me bad karma, but the hole was a disaster. Two guys who teed off before me hit terrible shots – one barely got off the tee and bounced into a pond ahead and on the right. The other followed him, but his ball stayed dry. I went next and had the worst shot of the lot. I stone-cold topped the 5-iron, dribbling the ball five yards ahead into a creek. After a penalty stroke and drop, I flared one right and short, straight into the pond. I did have a nice chip near the green, but ended up with a score of 7 – my second such score of the day on a par-3.
The good news is that I rebounded again with a par on hole #16, a short par-4. I took bogey on the second-last hole of the day and a double-bogey on the last. My approach shot over the water on this par-5 was hit fat and ended up wet. Other than that, I played the rest of the hole well. My handicap factor is back to 18 even.
Score: 92
Putts: 31
Fairways: 6
Greens: 4
Penalties: 5
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