I picked a perfect day and headed out to Calerin Golf Club for an early afternoon round. This is a 9-hole course, which I played twice, each time from a different set of tees. On the opening par-5, I drove the ball over some bunkers to the safety of the fairway. Next, a nice 5-wood carried me to the right edge of the fairway, 90 yards from the flag. Lob wedge to the green left me an uphill breaker for birdie. I lagged it to within a foot and tapped in for par.
Next up was a par-3 measuring just 108 yards. I stuck a sand wedge within 12 feet and had a really good look at birdie, but it didn't drop. I tapped in for my second stress-free par of the day. Hole #3 is a 405-yard par-4 and I started by splitting the fairway, leaving 160 yards to the green. Left of the green is a hillside, while right is a large pond. I normally play to miss left, but I hadn't made a bad stroke yet, so I aimed for centre of the green. Of course, it was my first miss hit and it trickled into the pond short and right of the green. After a penalty and drop, my pitch shot was mediocre, leading to a 2-putt and double-bogey.
The rest of the front nine was marvellous, though I only tallied one more par, to go along with five bogeys. The par came on hole #6, a well-designed par-4. It's well designed because it makes you think off the tee and the green is nestled nicely into a hillside, protected by a deep bunker and large tree. I opted for driver off the tee, fading one beautifully to the 100-yard marker. Next, I sculled the sand wedge, but it hit the hill above the bunker face and settled gently on the green, flag high. I had a really good go at birdie, but just burned the edge.
With one exception, the steady play continued on the back nine. The exception was hole #13, a 552-yard par-5. After a perfect drive, I chunked a 3-iron, leaving myself too far back to reach the green in three. My third shot, also with the 3-iron, was perfect, but I had 65 yards remaining to the flag. I would have been happy with lob wedge on and 2-putt for bogey. Unfortunately, I sculled the lob wedge shot and ended up stymied by a large tree behind the green. It took two more shots to get on and then I 3-put for a disastrous quadruple-bogey.
Those first two putts weren't even that bad. I lagged the first to inside five feet, but left a downhill breaker, which was very tricky. I made a really nice attempt, but missed. In fact, this happened a lot on this day. I counted about ten putts that were very good and seriously threatened the hole, but just didn't drop. Most burned the edge and finished a foot behind the hole, but I also left a couple hanging right on the lip. If half of those go in and I avoid that sculled lob wedge on #13, this would have been a score in the very low eighties.
The one putt of any length that did drop came on hole #15 and it produced a birdie. This is the same hole (#6) that I made par on earlier, after catching a break with a poor approach shot. The second time around, I hit the same great drive, although this time I was in the right rough, 90 yards from the green. My lob wedge landed on the very front of the putting surface, setting up the opportunity. From 14 feet away, I lined it up and drained the uphill putt.
I was pretty happy with this round. I hit 10 of 14 fairways and whenever I missed one, I was still in a very safe position. I also hit six greens in regulation. That's not a lot, but it's more than I usually get. Of course, I would have liked to break 90, but alas. Last year, I broke 90 three times in my first seven rounds. This year, I've played nine rounds and have yet to accomplish that. Patience.
Score: 90
Putts: 38
Fairways: 10
Greens: 6
Penalties: 1
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