Putter Goes Cold at Carlisle

I headed out to Carlisle to see if I could get my driver under control. On the East nine, I only hit one fairway in regulation, and that was with the 5-wood. Holes 1, 4 and 7 produced low pulls to the left, while holes 2, 5 and 6 produced high blocks to the right. I had more control than I did at Lowville, but nowhere near the accuracy I had to open the season at Granite Ridge. The pull on hole 4 was particularly bad, as my ball went out of bounds, leading to a double-bogey.

Fortunately, I hit some good iron shots. The best was a 7-iron from an opposite fairway on hole 5. I judged the distance well and nailed a high shot to the front of the green. A great lag putt and tap-in earned my first par of the day. An equally great 7-iron from a mound right of the fairway found the green on hole 6. Unfortunately, it came after a failed attempt from the same spot moments earlier. I pulled that ball into a tree just ahead and couldn't find it. The penalty stroke led to a double-bogey.

Two pars finished the East for a score of 44 and off I went to play the North nine. I continued to block my drives to the right. The only fairway I hit was on hole 8, a par-5 that finished with par. The 5-wood served me well on shorter holes, such as 3 and 5. Hole 3 resulted in par after a great approach with the sand wedge. My wedges were also great on anything less than 100 yards. It's nice to know you can pitch one close when necessary. I hit a beauty 4-iron into the green on hole 9 that rivalled the 7-iron from East 5.

Unfortunately, my putter was letting me down. I shot a decent score of 92, but 40 of those were putts! That's a bit misleading because I made many great lag putts from distance that were followed up with mere tap-ins. However, I didn't have a 1-putt on a single hole. There were really just three bad putting holes. I 3-putt hole 1 after my first attempt rolled 10 feet past. I 3-putt hole 7 after the opposite; my first attempt was woefully short. The worst was hole 6, which finished with 4 putts after reaching the green in regulation.

Score: 92
Putts: 40
Fairways: 2
Greens: 7
Penalties: 3