a good walk spoiled: part four

I went to bed last night with an itch. An itch to play more golf. I woke up around 9 am, showered and shaved, and went to check the weather. Despite the previous forecast for rain, it looked like a nice day, and the forecast had been updated to hold off until afternoon showers. So I looked up nearby courses and found that there was one just a couple minutes away. According to this Google page, the greens fee was $12.00 and a reviewer mentioned playing the par 3 course.

When I arrived, I was surprised that the greens fee was $18.00. However, I was more surprised to find out, on the first tee, that this is not a par 3 course. The first hole is a 300-yard par 4. And I don't have a single wood in my bag.

But I rationalized, I haven't hit a wood since high school, so it probably would do more harm than good anyways. The father and son in front of me were nice enough to let me play with them. Here's how I did:

After three-putting the first hole, I decided it would be a good idea to keep track of my swings and my putts. Overall, I thought I swung the ball okay, and was more frustrated with my putting. The only penalty was on hole 5, the longest hole with a sharp dogleg, when my ball went a couple feet into the woods. I found it but had to take a drop. On the 3rd hole, it took me two swings to get out of a green side bunker, and I remember a pretty bad duff on the fairway. But those were the only holes where it took me more than 4 swings.

I marked my three best holes, all bogeys. On #2, I hit a 5-iron just to the left front fringe. From there I chipped it past the hole, onto the center of the green. My par putt was too long to be considered a real threat, and I did well enough just to get it close for the two-putt.

On #6, I crushed a 3-iron straight down the fairway, about 190 yards. Easily my best drive of the day. With 130 to the pin, I hit a 9-iron. It didn't come off cleanly, and it rolled into the bunker, and over the bunker. From where I hit it, I couldn't tell if I was in the rough or if it was going to keep rolling to the parking lot. When I walked to the green, I discovered the green extended past the elevated bunker, and my ball had actually landed completely on the green. This was my first and only Green In Regulation. My goal was to two-putt and get a par. But, as is so often my case, I can't get the first one close enough. I left myself probably an 8-footer or so, and I couldn't convert. That was my only chance at par.

On the last hole, it took me 3 swings to get up near the green. I found myself under a tree, with a bunker in front of me and not much green to work with on the other side. I wasn't even sure what to do. But I hit it and it came up and nicked some leaves above me. It cleared the sand trap, and rolled to about 6-8 feet from the hole. I walked over and nailed my first decent putt of the day. If only I was able to put together those two short game shots, with some of my good strokes from holes 2 or 6, then I would have had something.

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I found it funny that I was +22 today, and I was also +22 two days ago at the par-3 course of Walnut Greens. Also, I think I've only played one full 18-hole course, in high school, and I'm pretty sure I shot a 123. I remember sending an email to someone with the subject line, easy as 1-2-3. So when I counted up my 57, I was pleased that I was able to outshoot a 61.5, my only previous benchmark. People always talk about breaking 100, so I guess that 50 would be a good score to aim for the next time I play a full 9-hole course.