Osprey Valley Heathlands celebrated its 25th anniversary with a special promotion on the 25th of July. The event sold out in about 15 minutes and the best I could do was take a spot well down on the waiting list. Fortunately, I hooked up with someone who managed to snag a tee time – and it was the first of the day to boot!
As our foursome prepared to tee off on the first hole of the original routing, a piper perched atop a nearby mound played the bagpipes for the small crowd that was on hand. Shortly thereafter, the course architect, Doug Carrick, was introduced. He took the ceremonial tee shot before our group followed suit.
The last time I played Heathlands was in 2010, as part of the GTA Amateur Tour. It was a 2-day major, in which I managed to collect rounds of 96 and 85. If I could replicate that sort of form, especially that of the second day, I would have been very happy. Alas, it wasn't meant to be. Though I had a fantastic time on a great course, I blew up for a massive score on hole #9. I also struggled over the last four holes with some more big numbers.
The first eight holes were decent enough. I got up and down for bogey from a tough bunker on hole #1, before making a textbook par on #2. My only penalty stroke during this stretch came on hole #3, when I pulled my approach shot into a water hazard. That led to double-bogey, which was the same score I hand on hole #4. My approach from 140 yards found a deep bunker and though I splashed out well, I was above the hole and 3-putt.
A bogey on hole #5 was followed by a double on #6. I made my first excursion into the long fescue on this hole and wasted a shot completely trying to hit it out of there. I went on to bogey the next two holes, mostly by staying out of trouble. The last one was a bit disappointing, as it came on a par-3 after I hit the green in regulation. Once again, I was above the hole, with little chance to stop the ball near the cup.
On hole #9, a long par-5, I sliced my tee shot into a water hazard. Despite the penalty stroke, I managed to get beside the green with my fourth shot. Unfortunately, I was in a bunker. The rest of the hole played out like this. My fifth shot released off the back of the green into a water hazard. After another penalty, I sculled one back into the bunker I had already been in. I hit one fat, then rammed two more into the lip. My 11th shot found the green and I 2-putt for a score of 13. The round was ruined right there.
I averaged bogey golf on the first five holes of the back nine. This included a par on hole #11 and a double-bogey on hole #14. The others were bogeys, obviously. I needed to play bogey golf the rest of the way just to break 100. Instead, I collected a couple of quadruple-bogeys and a triple. On hole #15, my drive went into the fescue. I hacked it out to the fairway, but then found the fescue again near the green. This time, the ball was lost. On hole #16, a par-3, I pulled an iron into the thick fescue again. Another lost ball. On hole #17, my drive wasn't terrible but dove into the fescue. I found that one, but it took three hacks just to get out to the fairway. You get the picture.
To score well at Heathlands you MUST avoid the fescue. On a few occasions, I wasn't able to do that and that's what killed me. You also have to putt from below the hole. I was often putting from the high side with no chance of stopping the ball near the cup. Oh well, maybe next time.
Score: 107
Putts: 41
Fairways: 6
Greens: 4
Penalties: 5
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