The Ontario government allowed golf courses to open on May 16, following a period of closure brought on by Covid-19. I headed out to the Oaks of St. George a couple of days later, on May 18. Last year, I began the season on May 6, so the delay caused by the pandemic wasn't really that bad. Like any year, the bigger problem was trying to get back in form after not touching a golf club for over six months. To complicate matters, I'm not in particularly good shape at the moment.
Somehow, I managed to make par on the opening par-4. This is a difficult hole, mostly because of a large tree protecting the front left side of the green. I hit a masterful third shot from the left rough, 80 yards away from the hole. The ball took a lofted flight path and stopped dead just right of the hole. A 6-foot putt completed the up and down. It was nice, but not a sign of things to come, as I proceeded to butcher the next eleven holes or so.
Mistakes came in all facets of the game. On hole 2, I duffed two pitch attempts near the green en route to triple-bogey. On hole 3, I deposited two short iron shots into a pond, finishing with quadruple-bogey. I failed to get drives airborne on holes 4, 6, and 9. I couldn't get out of a greenside bunker, sculled a chip attempt, and duffed yet another. Worst of all, I topped a couple of shots that went absolutely nowhere. These are all score killers – strokes that don't even advance the ball. My score at the turn was 55.
I would turn things around, but not before a couple of quads on holes 10 and 12. Hole 10 is the hardest on the course, in my opinion. This par-4 from an elevated tee demands that you drive the ball over a creek, between thick trees both left and right. There is no bail out area. I hit a decent drive, but found the trees right. After a drop, I foolishly tried to hit a full shot out of long grass. The ball went nowhere, and only then, did I pitch back to the fairway. Hole 12 is a fair challenge, but I began by twice pulling a 3-wood into the woods. When you're hitting your fifth shot from the tee, you're not going to score well.
Interestingly, those two quads were interrupted by my second par of the day, on hole 11. I went driver, 3-wood, lob wedge into this par-5, to set up a nice birdie chance, which just missed. The final six holes of the day produced six bogeys, which is my typical game. I didn't miss a fairway over this stretch, hitting the carpet multiple times with driver and once with the 5-wood. Irons were not great, but serviceable, often finishing just a couple yards off the green. The only green in regulation came on hole 17, a short par-3. Ironically, it was also the only green that produced a 3-putt all day. For what it's worth, my putting was pretty good all day. My pitching and chipping was also serviceable over the final third of the round – no complaints there.
Expectations were low, following the winter layoff, but it never feels good to shoot 100 plus!
Score: 105
Putts: 32
Fairways: 5
Greens: 2
Penalties: 5
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