For years now, I've been struggling to hit shots from greenside bunkers. I never had a problem when I first started golfing, but at some point, things changed. Typically, I pick the ball clean or too thin, when I'm actually trying to hit behind the ball and allow the sand to push the ball up and out. Most often, I overshoot greens, but sometimes I ram the ball into the lip of the bunker. On rare occasions, when I absolutely make sure not to hit the ball thin, I hit it too fat and fail to emerge from the bunker. One way or another, it takes me two shots just to get on the green. During my latest round on the New Course at Hidden Lake, this flaw destroyed an otherwise excellent outing. Instead of breaking 90, I shot my typical mid nineties score.
On hole #1, I nailed the centre of the fairway with a great drive. My approach with the 8-iron curved slightly, finding a front, left bunker. My bunker shot finished on the green, about 6 feet above the hole. Trust me, this is an exception. I had a legit chance to save par, but missed the putt and took bogey.
Hole #3 is a 182-yard par-3. With a front flag location, I chose to hit 6-iron. The ball hooked left of target, straight into a large bunker. Let's see if I could replicate my last bunker shot. Nope! I sculled the ball and it deflected off the lip, coming to rest well to the right, but still in the bunker. My next attempt got out, but only made it a few feet ahead into the rough. I chipped on and 2-putt for a triple-bogey. See what I mean?
On hole #5, I hit another picture perfect drive, 250 yards to the centre of the fairway. I pushed my sand wedge approach ever so slightly, finishing in a bunker on the front, right. Geez! I actually caught this one decently, but the ball carried past the flag, released forward and rolled off the green. I made a good pitch back toward the flag, but the green was falling away severely and my ball rolled to the fringe. I made bogey, only because I drained the uphill putt from about 10 feet away.
Hole #7 is the first par-5 on the course, measuring 504 yards from the tees we were playing. My drive once again found the centre of the fairway. I tell you, I was striking the ball well, especially off the tee. My second shot squirted a little right, as the ball was in an old divot. It ended up a yard into the fescue, which was laying down, so I was able to see most of the ball. Given the lie, I did well to hit a sand wedge flag high. Unfortunately, it was flag high in a left side bunker. My sand shot overshot the green, finishing on a slope overlooking the green. I barely pitched the ball on the green, but it released well past the hole before stopping. A 2-putt resulted in a double-bogey.
I was shooting 47 at the turn. This would have been 44, even with extremely average bunker play.
On hole #10, I hit another great drive, but was a little unlucky to finish in some thick rough, two feet off the fairway. From 150 yards, I took aim at the back pin position with a 7-iron. Due to the rough, the ball came out a little weak and dove into a front left bunker. I had lots of green to work with, but I overshot the green by 10 yards or more. Now I was completely short sided. I tried to bounce one through the rough and land softly on the green, but the ball got caught up and failed to reach the putting surface. A good chip gave me a chance to save double-bogey, but I missed a short putt and had to take a triple.
Fast forward to hole #18, a 488-yard par-5. I drove the ball to the right side of the fairway. There is a slight bend to the right, with trees on the inner corner. I tried to punch a low 4-iron down the fairway, but clipped a tree trunk, deflecting the ball to the left side of the fairway. I was 190 yards to the green, so I still had a chance to reach it in regulation. Danger loomed on the left side, so I didn't want to hook the ball. I favoured the right side and hit a great 4-iron directly to that spot. Only problem was that the ball finished in a right side bunker. I was determined not to overshoot the green with my bunker shot, and I didn't. Instead, I hit the ball fat and it didn't emerge from the bunker. My second attempt made the green, but just barely. I then 2-put for a double-bogey.
I shot 49 on the back nine. This would have been 46 with average bunker play. I finished with a final score of 96. If I could hit any part of a green from the bunkers, this would have been a score of 90. Six strokes is a big difference when they're all lost for exactly the same reason. I don't know what to do.
Score: 96
Putts: 37
Fairways: 8
Greens: 3
Penalties: 1
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