I was disappointed with my last visit to Battlefield, because of the conditions and because of my performance, so I returned quickly to have another crack at the course. I teed off at 1:30 pm, which should have provided plenty of time to finish before sundown. Unfortunately, a group of hooligans was playing ahead of me and they had no regard for time or for anyone playing behind them. The round took just over five hours to play, with the last two holes played after the sun had dipped below the horizon. All the while, these good ol' boys were having the time of their lives, hooting, hollering and holding committee discussions after every shot. This continued with a boisterous chipping contest on the practice green, as my group tried to putt on the nearby 18th green.
The good news is that conditions were better than the last time at Battlefield. It had not rained in the days prior to my round, so the ground was not completely saturated with water. Unfortunately, I got off to a bad start. A perfect drive on the opening par-5 was wasted with a duffed second shot. This made the third shot much longer than it needed to be, and I landed in a bunker fronting the green. My out from the bunker overshot the green by 10 yards and the comebacker rolled downhill off the putting surface. I made a decent chip, but still needed a couple of putts to finish with a triple-bogey.
The next two holes were quite good, producing scores of bogey and par. A great pitch from 30 yards gave me a chance to save par on the first of these, a par-4. Unfortunately, I just missed the putt. A fantastic tee shot on the second, a par-3, gave me a legitimate chance at birdie. Unfortunately, I missed the putt again. These misses would be costly, because I blew up for another triple-bogey on the subsequent hole, a par-4. My drive missed the fairway to the right and I had a poor lie, with a clump of dirt and grass right behind my ball. My second shot went 10 yards and my third found a greenside bunker. Two shots to get out were followed by a chip and a putt for the offensive triple.
The rest of the front nine was smooth sailing, as I registered four bogeys and a par. I wasn't striking the ball great, but I was avoiding bad misses and making progress with each shot. In fact, I had chances at more pars, but could not make the putts I needed. I 2-putt all of these holes, but almost all of those first putts were makeable ones that I barely missed. Over the course of a round, you really hope to drain a few of those. I made the turn with a score of 47, which is pretty typical.
The back nine is when I really became concerned about finishing the round before sunset. I peeked at my watch on the 10th tee and knew that we were going to be in trouble. I'm not sure if this upset my focus, but I started the back nine with three consecutive double-bogeys. On hole #10, the problem was a horribly pulled tee shot into the woods. On hole #11, it was a shanked pitch attempt from 50 yards that dove into a pond near the green. I hit two good shots on this par-5 to get into that position, so it was a complete waste of two strokes. On hole #12, the problem was a series of bad shots in a row, beginning off the tee.
The middle third of the back nine was fine, as I collected a par and two bogeys. One of the bogeys resulted from a 3-putt on a par-3, so that was a bit disappointing. At this point, we were already fighting the light, so my mind was not really in the right place. We waited for ages on the 16th tee, as the hooligans ahead had a cart parked near the woods on the right side of the fairway. I figured one guy must have been looking for balls in the woods, as he simply drove off when he finally emerged. Of course, I duffed my tee shot after the wait. Since my ball didn't even reach the fairway, I was just trying to save bogey. Alas, I was a little imprecise and double-bogey was the outcome.
As I mentioned earlier, the last two holes were played after sunset. Hole #17 is a 166-yard par-3 over water. Every player in my foursome dunked a ball in the drink, including myself. I proceeded from the drop zone and took a ridiculous triple-bogey. No way I would blow up like that in decent conditions, but playing in semi darkness has a way of throwing you off. In spite of the dark, I managed to par the last hole, a 480-yard par-5. My drive split the fairway, followed by a 5-wood that did the same. From 50 yards out, I punched a low one to the front of the green and finished with a 2-putt.
Score: 96
Putts: 36
Fairways: 6
Greens: 5
Penalties: 3
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