I can still remember when breaking 100 was a big deal. After it became common, breaking 90 was the new goal. I've done that often enough now that the goal posts have moved again – not all the way to breaking 80, mind you; that remains an elusive feat that I've accomplished only once. The new measure of excellence is breaking 85. Let me put it this way: if I break 85, I hang on to my scorecard; otherwise, it gets chucked in the bin.
I'm happy to say that my latest scorecard will be added to the keepers. I shot 84 at Calerin Golf Club, which holds a special place in my heart as the site of my only ever hole-in-one. There was no ace this time, but there was a birdie and a handful of pars. The birdie was on hole 11, a short par-3 with a large waste bunker protecting the green. Wind pushed my tee shot well right of the hole, but my ball remained on the putting surface. I surveyed the situation and proceeded to drain the long, downhill putt.
Pars came on holes 1, 3, 7, 8, 14 and 16, despite the fact that my driving was up and down. On hole 1, for instance, I nailed the centre of the fairway with a very controlled drive. Though I finished in the left rough, my drive on hole 8 was also very good. On hole 3, however, I hit a weak drive off the heel of the club. I could not reach the green of this par-4 from that far away. The same thing happened on hole 7. In that case, it was long fescue that prevented me from reaching the green in two.
The key to making pars, even after I hit a poor tee shot, was not trying to make up for the bad shot all at once. On hole 3, my second shot was an easy iron to the 100-yard stick. I managed to get up and down from there, thanks to a great lob wedge shot that finished 8 feet from the hole. On hole 7, my second shot was a sand wedge to 40 yards from the flag. I managed to get up and down again, this time with a lovely pitch shot that bounced on the green before hitting the flagstick.
The same approach limited the damage to bogey on other occasions when I got in trouble. On hole 4, a par-5, my second shot drifted right into the fescue. The lie wasn't bad, but a tree was blocking my path to the green. I merely hit a pitch shot to the 100-yard stick. I didn't get up and down from there, as my approach just missed the green right, but it was still the correct play. A chip and a putt saved bogey. On hole 6, I pulled my drive into the trees left. After a penalty and drop, I was within range of the green, but hitting from the rough. I chose a more lofted club, knowing that I would finish short of the green. This took a deep bunker near the green completely out of play. A chip and a putt once again earned bogey.
It was largely a trouble free day. My worst holes resulted in a pair of double-bogeys. One was the result of a 3-putt – my only one of the day. The other, ironically, came at the site of my precious hole-in-one. My tee shot finished short in a bunker. I splashed out with my next shot, but just barely. A chip and two putts were required to finish the hole. Not bad. If the most trouble I have during a round are a couple of double-bogeys, I'll usually be alright.
Score: 84
Putts: 31
Fairways: 4
Greens: 5
Penalties: 1
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