During my last few rounds in Deepwoods competition, I was keeping track of my score and points throughout the round. Years ago, this seemed to work well for me. If I was playing well, it gave me the confidence to continue or to put a poor hole behind me. However, this hasn't been the case lately. Instead, I found that I was rueing over points lost early and then pressing to get them back immediately. This was a big reason for my terrible round earlier in the year at Peninsula Lakes. For the latest Deepwoods event at Glen Eagle, I decided to play without keeping track of my score and to let the chips fall where they may.
I hit some balls on the range prior to the round and was pull hooking almost everything. I was unable to figure out a solution, so I just put it out of my mind completely. I don't want to think about that stuff during a round, so I was happy to accept whatever showed up on the course itself. We teed off on the Red nine and my start was excellent. I was just 2 over par through the first five holes (par, bogey, par, bogey, par). There were some great signs early. I hit the first green in regulation from a fairway bunker. I found the putting surface from a green side bunker on hole #2. I got up and down for par on hole #3. Miraculously, I did the same from a green side bunker on hole #5.
I sculled a 70-yard approach shot on hole #6, then sculled a chip from the back of the green en route to a double-bogey and the first blemish on my scorecard. On hole #7, a par-4, I was just in front of the green after two shots. What should have been a simple pitch and 2-putt began instead with another sculled pitch and finished with a 3-putt triple-bogey. You could say I had a momentary lapse in my short game. I recovered well, finishing the front nine with a bogey and another par. My score at the turn was 44, though I didn't know it, since I wasn't keeping track.
Moving to the Blue nine, I began with a solid bogey. Blue #1 at Glean Eagle has given me trouble in the past, though always when played as the first hole of the day. This time, I drilled a drive down the pipe, which the sloped fairway pushed into the right rough. From 150 yards, some overhanging branches forced me to play a lower lofted club into the green. I took a half swing with the 5-iron, finishing flag high, just right of the green. A chip and two putts finished the hole.
I scrambled my way to a double-bogey on Blue #2, a par-5. However, the real tragedy came on Blue #3. This is a par-3 over a valley that was playing 176 yards to the flag. I hit a 5-iron the perfect distance, finding the green to the right of the hole. In fact, this hole was being used for the “closest to the pin” competition, and I ended up taking the honours. Closest or not, I faced a long birdie putt and proceeded to race one 8 feet past the hole. The downhill comebacker missed as well. Worse yet, I missed a two footer for bogey. I actually earned a 4-putt double-bogey after making the best tee shot of the entire Deepwoods group. Unbelievable.
I missed another short putt for par on Blue #6. On those two holes alone, putting cost me 3 Deepwoods points. I say that in retrospect, as I wasn't thinking about that at all during play. One reason I was able to do so is that I was still hitting lots of very solid shots. One of the nicest was my tee shot on Blue #8, a long par-3 with two ponds protecting the front of the green. Playing into the wind, I launched an easy 5-wood over the pond on the right to the pin that was tucked in behind. I finished on the back fringe, then 2-putt for par. On the last hole of the day, a short par-4, I hit my best drive of the day, followed by an accurate sand wedge and two putts for another par.
When I tallied my score, I was satisfied with 90, though it would have been nice to break that level, even by one stroke. I earned 35 Deepwoods points, which is good, but I really had an opportunity to reach the 40-point maximum. It's okay, I had a good time and the attitude adjustment I made for this round was a big reason for that.
Score: 90
Putts: 37
Fairways: 4
Greens: 5
Penalties: 1
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