Nobody Gives a Hoot

Having completed the other two courses at Osprey Valley, we headed to the Hoot to complete the tripartite. My last visit to Hoot was in 2009 on the GTA Amateur Tour; it was a 2-day major where I shot rounds of 90 and 89. It's hard to believe that was eight years ago, but the numbers don't lie.

I hit driver, 3-iron, lob wedge into the opening par-5 and then drained an 8-footer for birdie. Boom! Then I hit the second green in regulation, but 3-putt for bogey. What's the opposite of boom? A group of young lads let us through on the third tee and I proceeded to duff my drive just 60 yards ahead. That was embarrassing, but I followed up with a nice deep 5-wood. I had more trouble near the green and finished with a double-bogey.

I made the turn with a 10-over score of 46. That's not bad, but it certainly wasn't very good, either. I was hitting some good shots, but I was also sprinkling in some not so good ones. A giant pull hook off the tee on hole #4 comes to mind. Shots like that are just inexplicable; they seem to come out of nowhere. On hole #8, which is another par-3, albeit shorter, my tee shot was excellent, setting up a routine par. Sometimes the game just doesn't make much sense.

On the back nine, I started thinking about whether or not we would finish the round before sunset. I was pretty confident we would, so it didn't really affect my play. Holes #10 through #15 produced pretty good results, with the exception of #13. I recorded four bogeys over the stretch, plus a par on hole #11, a fun par-5. Unlucky #13 started out with a great drive, but the hole was ruined when my second shot layup was pulled into some woods. I also struggled near the green and finished with a triple-bogey.

Dusk started to affect my play beginning with hole #16. From the fairway, I spotted a group of players making their way to hole #17. In front of us had been clear, but this group jumped in, no doubt to start making their way to the clubhouse. It really wasn't an issue, but I wasn't focused on the right thing. I pulled my approach into a water hazard and finished with a double-bogey.

I was in rushing mode over the last two holes, which is never a good thing. Not surprisingly, I collected a pair of triple-bogeys. An approach shot over a water hazard was pulled on hole #17, resulting in a penalty stroke. On hole #18, the sun was right in our face as we teed off. Without another person watching your ball, there would be no way to track it. I took an aggressive line over a pond and just failed to carry the water. Hitting three from the tee, I completed the hole just fine, but the damage to the score was already done.

In the end, my score was nothing to write home about. However, the round on Hoot wrapped up an epic golf outing that I will remember for some time.

Score: 97
Putts: 36
Fairways: 6
Greens: 4
Penalties: 8