I headed over to Dragon's Fire and matched my worst round of the year, which was the first of the season. Though I saved bogey on the first hole, it included a duffed approach with the 8-iron. I duffed a 6-iron off the tee on hole 2, and this time it cost me double-bogey. When I made par on hole 3, it looked like I may have gotten on track. I hit a lovely 7-iron from the right edge of the fairway that skirted some trees up ahead before settling on the green pin high. Unfortunately, I collected penalty strokes on each of the next two holes, finishing with a double and triple-bogey. Driver was the culprit, as I pulled one into the trees and duffed one into the junk just ahead of the teeing ground.
I saved bogey on hole 6 with a great up and down from a greenside bunker. The bad part was the pitch attempt that put me in the bunker to begin with. Nevertheless, the sand save felt good. Perhaps due to that positive momentum, I managed to make par on hole 7, a par-5. It was a textbook play – driver to centre of the fairway, followed by an easy low iron to advance the ball, and a 9-iron to about 15 feet. I gave the birdie putt a good chance, but it didn't drop. That was the end of the positivity, as I finished the front nine with a pair of double-bogeys, thanks again to a couple of penalty strokes. On hole 8 it was another disturbing drive attempt that didn't get airborne and dove into the junk ahead of the green. On hole 9, a par-3 over water, it was a pushed 7-iron that took a splash. My score at the turn was 49.
At this point, I was still hopeful of salvaging a decent round. Then I pulled a drive that barely went 100 yards. I was blocked by some bushes and pushed my second shot across the fairway and into the bushes on the other side. This time, I had to take a penalty stroke. By the time the hole was finished, it was another double-bogey. I was in full collapse mode at this point, unable to hit a safe drive to save my life. I duffed another one off the tee on hole 11 that found trees short and left. After a penalty and drop, I pulled a 5-wood into more trees up ahead. I took my second penalty of the hole en route to a quintuple-bogey. And so it continued, at least for a while longer. I made bogey on hole 12, but collected triple-bogey on hole 13 and quadruple-bogey on hole 15.
At this point, I was not playing for score, so I said to hell with it. I decided to enter “berserk” mode with my driver. This is where I think about nothing and just swing as hard as I can. Whatever happens, happens. Well, can you guess what happened? I finished the round with three consecutive pars, that's all. My drive on hole 16, a par-5, finished in the right centre of the fairway. I advanced the ball with 5-wood and attacked the green with 9-iron. It was too much club and I finished behind the green. No problem, as I bumped a chip toward the elevated green and drained the putt. Hole 17 is a short par-3 over water. I hit a wedge safely on and 2-putt from about 20 feet. Hole 18 is another par-5. My drive finished in the left rough on a downhill lie. I was only 205 yards from the green and wanted to go for it. The lie and stance made it impossible, with my ball dribbling to the 100 yard marker. That's okay, as I followed up with a wedge and 2-putt for the par.
So don't mess around trying to finesse those drives. Just step up and crank one out there with all you've got. I guess that's the lesson, except when it backfires. Oh, what a game.
Score: 102
Putts: 32
Fairways: 3
Greens: 4
Penalties: 9
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