My dilemma in golf has always been the same. I miss the majority of my targets, but I can at least get the ball around the course reasonably well with my home-made swing. It's not the swing any professional would teach – relatively little shoulder and hip turn, combined with too much arm movement, resulting in a steep, outside-in swing path. When I try to increase rotation or flatten my swing, I can barely make contact with the ball. The result is either topped shots, fat shots, smother shots or hooks. It only takes a few of these at the start of a round to remind me that I can't possibly continue that way. If I did, my score would be well over 100. And so, I go back to my old faithful swing and just try to “tone it down” a bit. Pretty soon, I'm getting around the course pretty well, but of course, never really improving either.
My last round at the Deepwoods event was so bad that I was, once again, contemplating a swing makeover. As long as I was careful not to over-correct, I felt like I could make some positive changes while still enjoying a round. I hate swing analysis; I'm much more of a feel golfer, so this was a bit unusual. Nevertheless, I headed out to Century Pines to put some of these swing thoughts and changes into effect.
Hole #1 at Century Pines has not been kind to me in the past. This par-5 seems like it should be pretty easy, but it's not. Out of bounds protects the entire left side from tee to green. A large pond protects the right side from about 150 yards out. If you bail right on your tee shot, you'll find an opposite fairway. Any shots from there will angle toward the pond or back across the fairway and out of bounds. Even from the 150-yard stick, it's very easy to hook one OB. Perhaps if it was played in the middle of a round, it wouldn't be so tough. But as a starting hole, it's no picnic.
Fighting myriad swing thoughts, I blew up on this hole even worse than I ever have before. My drive was smothered and went about 60 yards. I had to flop one over a large tree and a creek, just to reach the start of the fairway. A 5-wood was pulled OB. After a penalty and drop, I pushed one to the right rough. The rough was lush and I advanced the ball about 40 yards. Next, I hooked my approach to the green OB. Another penalty and drop. My next approach attempt was pushed right into a bunker. The bunker shot was a little fat, but the ball got out into the rough. This was followed by a chip and two putts for a score of 13. Oh geez!
Any chance at a good score for the round was ruined by the first hole, so I put it behind me and resolved to take one hole at a time. Through hole #6, I had some good moments, but they were outnumbered by the bad. A pulled drive on hole #3 meant I was hitting my third from the tee. Double-bogey ensued. A smothered 5-iron from tee #4 left a bad taste, even though I recovered for a bogey. A short iron was hooked badly on hole #5 for another double. Finally, a pulled drive on hole #6 produced another penalty. Hitting my third from the tee once again, I could only manage a quadruple-bogey.
At this point, I said forget it. I could not continue this way and had to go back to old faithful. The “better” approach had me 19-over through just six holes. At that rate, I was destined for a score of 129. No way! Hole #7 is a 170-yard par-3 with a forced carry over a creek and pond. I cleared my mind and went for it, nailing the green. I then made two great putts for my first par of the day. That's better! On hole #8, I hit the fairway and just missed the green, chipping on and 2-putting for a bogey. On hole #9, a par-5, I hit three good shots to nail the green, then 2-putt for another par.
From the seventh hole onward, I only had one bad hole, and that was #10. I pulled a 5-iron into some trees then had to chip sideways, away from the fairway. My third shot hit a tree trunk, while my fourth landed in a bunker. I barely got out with my fifth, then chipped on and 1-putt for a triple bogey 7. Even with that hole, I scored 42 on the back nine, which is great! For the final 12 holes, I was just 7-over. Think about that. I was 19-over for one third of the round while I tried to swing “the right way,” and I was 7-over for two thirds of the round while I tried to swing “my way.”
I made birdie on hole #11, bombing a drive 15 yards short of the green to set up a chip and putt. After bogey on hole #12, I made par on #13. This 155-yard par-3 is all carry over a pond. Another par ensued on hole #14, a par-5. Driver, 9-iron, sand wedge got me to the green, followed by two putts. A 3-putt bogey was the result on #15, a 150-yard par-3. Hole #16 may be the hardest hole on the course and I made par with a precision 3-iron off the tee and a pitching wedge into the well protected green. I scrambled my way to a double-bogey on hole #17, a long par-4, before finishing with par on #18.
I feel like I exorcised the demons from the Deepwoods round. They lingered through the first third of this outing, but over the final two thirds, I was back in full force. “My way” will be the way going forward.
Score: 98
Putts: 32
Fairways: 6
Greens: 7
Penalties: 4
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