We had a couple of unseasonably warm days, so I jumped at the chance to play the Hoot at Osprey Valley. Unfortunately, my game was very rusty. I had plenty of holes that were fine, but when things went badly, I exploded for some massive numbers. Untimely misses put me in bad situations and I compounded problems by stringing mistakes together. Mind you, there were no such mistakes on the opening hole, a 520-yard par-5. I piped a 3-wood to the middle of the fairway, followed by a 4-iron once again down the middle. My approach with the 9-iron finished inside 10 feet. I didn't make birdie, but a stress free par is always a good way to start.
The 3-wood that worked so well on the first hole failed me on the second. I duffed my tee shot into thick fescue just ahead of the teeing ground. I was forced to take an unplayable, leading to double-bogey on this par-4. The same thing happened on hole 3, although it was driver that let me down off the tee. I hit a weak hook to the edge of the forest, then had to chip out sideways. Every once in a while, I smother the ball with that club so badly that the ball appears to actually have topspin. I never did that a single time with my old driver – and I used it for well over a decade! The tail end of these two holes featured some good shots, but there's no real recovery from tee shots like that.
The next four holes were a roller coaster ride. I made par on hole 4, a 167-yard par-3, by hitting the green in regulation and 2-putting. On hole 5, a long par-4, my drive sliced to the right, with the ball nestling right up against a tree trunk. When I tried to punch back to the fairway, my ball moved just a couple inches, getting tangled up in some long weeds. My third shot emerged a couple yards from the weeds, while my fourth missed the green to the left. A chip ran long off the other side of the putting surface. Now short sided, I chipped one well past the hole, requiring two putts just for a score of 8 – the dreaded snowman!
On hole 6, a par-5 that's actually shorter than the par-4 that precedes it, I hit driver, 3-iron just left of the green. I chipped on and 2-putt for par. The success was again short-lived, as I exploded for another quadruple-bogey on hole 7. This time, my drive was perfect, finishing in the centre of the fairway. Unfortunately, I pushed the attempted approach shot into some spruce trees on the right side. My ball was unplayable. I chunked a pitch shot after taking a penalty. To add insult to injury, I finished with my first 3-putt of the day. I closed out the front nine with a decent bogey on a par-3 and a disappointing double-bogey on a par-4. Bad chipping cost me a stroke on the latter. My score at the turn was an ugly 51.
The back nine was even worse than the front, so I'll spare you the details. I was nine over par for seven holes, excluding holes 13 and 14. This included only one par, which came on hole 15, a par-3 that plays over a huge waste bunker. The remaining holes were split between bogeys and doubles. I 3-putt for one of the doubles, while poor chipping and a poor drive led to the others. The bogey holes generally featured good drives, but less than stellar approach shots.
I was 8-over for holes 13 and 14 alone, thanks to a quintuple-bogey and triple-bogey, respectively. How does that happen? Consider hole 13, a par-5. Start with a topspinning smothered drive to the trees short and left. Take an unplayable and then hit a 7-iron to the middle of the fairway. The fourth shot is a carry over a large pond from 175 yards. Hit that off the toe and splash into the water. After your second penalty stroke of the hole, hit a lob wedge that spins back off the front of the green and comes to rest in a weird depression with longer than usual rough. The seventh shot travels one yard to barely get on the green. All of this is followed by a 3-putt.
It's a shame because it was such a beautiful day on a beautiful course. I still enjoyed myself, but I'd be lying if I said it didn't feel like a waste. I'm better than this, but it just wasn't my day.
Score: 104
Putts: 38
Fairways: 7
Greens: 3
Penalties: 4
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