I don't have much to say about this round, except that it was horrible. I wasn't striking the ball particularly badly, but I couldn't catch a break, especially in the early stages. Turnberry is a par-3 course, with a pair of par-4 holes to start and end the round. It's very different from the courses I usually play, but a good way to test your iron play and short game. On this occasion, the course exposed my iron deficiency, to say the least.
Holes #2 and #3 were playing into the early morning sun. The former, at 160 yards, features a large green (it's a double green, shared with hole #8) wrapped in front and on the left by a dangerous creek. I hit a 7-iron to the right edge of the green, but lost the ball in the sun. If you miss the green, the right side is where you want to be, yet I was not even able to find my ball. It was a very penal situation, for a shot that actually wasn't bad. I took a penalty and finished with a double-bogey.
Hole #3 measures 201 yards, so I attacked with an easy 5-wood. The green angles to the back from left to right, with a bunker located in front. The ball flew to the right portion of the green, but I lost it in the sun again. Up near the green, the ball was nowhere to be found. It was not in the bunker or the long grass above the lip. It was not in the rough to the right or behind the green. I found my ball mark in the fringe beside the putting surface, but it was no help. Once again, I was penalized for a good shot and took a double-bogey.
On hole #5, I blew up for a triple-bogey, but this was fully deserved. I plunked my 7-iron off the tee into a water hazard. Hitting my third from the forward tees, I managed to somehow find the water again, this time with a lob wedge. Seriously? After this, it was robbery once again on hole #6. My 9-iron off the tee went ever so slightly right of target, where there is a collection area beside the green. My two fellow competitors hit their balls to the same place. Both of them found their balls. Me? Yeah right! Mine was lost, perhaps a foot into the longer grass. I don't really know. It was not a bad shot, but it was another penalty and another triple-bogey, as I duffed a chip and missed a makeable putt.
On hole #7, which was playing about 115 yards, I finally hit a green in regulation. I even followed up with a decent lag putt from distance. Only problem, was, I needed three more putts to finish! The par putt lipped out cruelly and the bogey putt burned the left edge of the hole. Gotta love those 4-putt double-bogeys! Hole #9 was the first time I actually found a ball that went into the long grass. It was the only time I had a clear view of the exact spot where it went in. The ball was just a foot into the long stuff and I hacked it out well to find the green. Unfortunately, this was followed by a 3-putt for double-bogey. I was shooting 47 (or 19 over) at the turn.
I resolved to treat the back nine as a separate round and immediately shanked an 8-iron off the tee on hole #10. Sigh. Hitting my third from the tee, I nailed the green and 2-putt for a familiar double-bogey. With the exception of holes #14 and #18, the rest of the back nine was fine. I made five bogeys and my lone par of the day on hole #15. I stuck a 9-iron to about 7 feet. Even then, I got robbed, when my birdie putt lipped out on the high side.
On hole #16, a 156-yard hole over water, my misfortune continued. Myself and one of my fellow competitors hit our balls to virtually the same spot. His ball mark was on the green, three feet ahead of mine, and just a few yards right of the flag. His ball spun back and stopped against some long grass on the edge of the pond. My ball spun back and avoided the long grass to drop back into the water hazard, half submerged. Typical! My fellow competitor chipped on and made a putt for par. I did the same, but since I had taken a penalty stroke and drop, it was for bogey. Unreal.
Even the last hole of the day, a 393-yard par-4 was cruel to me. My drive was struck well, just a hair to the right. It cleared a fairway bunker and I thought I would be fine. On the opposite side of the bunker, the ball was nowhere to be found. It would have been hugging the edge of the long fescue and it must have gone in, despite the fact that everything slopes away from the danger there. I had enough and tossed a club in disgust. The triple-bogey finish put an exclamation mark on a round that was particularly cruel.
Score: 88 (par 56)
Putts: 39
Fairways: 1 (of 2)
Greens: 3
Penalties: 9
No comments:
Post a Comment