One in the Books

[Fairway_CY]

So... despite some REALLY cold weather and a one hour plus frost delay... I got in my first round of 2010 as a member of the club I joined this winter. It was a shotgun start... overcast skies... and a little rain mixed in towards the middle/end of the round. My goal for the round was to shoot a 95 or better... and it looked like things might work out that way, but in the end... the weather and my lack of putting practice got me and my score suffered. On top of playing a net score tournament format... we also play a singles match (match play) and a doubles match (team score total match play).

I began on the 9th hole... a 430 yard par 4 with very little trouble. Despite having NO time on the practice tee (the course kept the range and practice green closed due to the frost)... my first swing of the day produced a drive right down the middle... 224 yards. Throughout the day... drives were 15-25 yards shorter than average... and it was a club to two club difference because of the colder, damper weather. I thinned my 5 iron approach and ended up in a bunker fronting the green... got out of there and then three putted my first green of the year. Double bogey six. From there, however... things got a little better. Par - bogey - bogey - par. By that point, I had played five holes and was up five holes on my singles opponent... and as a team, we were two up in our doubles match. Got to a straight forward par 4 of only 389 yards and I had my first REAL trouble of the day. I hit a poor drive that ran nearly ALL of the 210 yards that it finished at... then hit a crisp 5 iron but it faded a bit too much and landed in a trap short of the green. It took me three shots to get out of there (fat, fatter, just fat enough to get out)... then I chipped up to about six feet... and four putted. I lost my concentration over the putts, let bad thoughts creep in to my head... and I paid for it. A nice, tidy ten on my scorecard. A thin 4 iron off the tee of the next hole actually worked out for me... but I still bogeyed after a poor chip from just short of the green. A poor drive left me an unplayable lie on the next hole... a 7 iron to get out of trouble after the unplayable drop... and a 4 iron to the green followed by a 2 putt gave me another double bogey. Finished the 17th and 18th with a bogey and a par (missed a seven footer for birdie). At that point in the matches... I was up five holes and we were up three holes as a team.

Luckily... my opponent had checked out early on in the match and gave me an easy route over the remaining holes. I began the final eight holes with triple - triple. It didn't cost me much... in the end, I didn't lose either one of those holes. We both made par on the 155 yard par 3... and then I had my second blow-up hole of the round. Hooked my tee shot (the weather at this point was brutally cold and wet... and I had NO grip on my clubs which caused a LOT of hooks) and ended up in a fairway bunker. Hit a GOOD 6 iron out of there, leaving me about 190 yards to the green. My 3 hybrid was fat and yanked... and I ended up in ANOTHER fairway bunker, about 90 yards to go to the pin. Fat from there... then a thinned sand wedge from the fairway... my flop shot caught a tree... chipped OVER the green... putted from the fringe... then sank the seven footer for a nine. Got myself back on track on the next hole... good drive followed by a good pitching wedge and two putts for a par. This closed out BOTH matches at 5 & 3... but we still had to post our scores... and my partner's singles match was still up for grabs. I finished the final three holes bogey - par - double.

I ended up posting 51 - 48 = 99 ( 73 ) for the tournament... got my first victories as a member of the club (1-0 singles and 1-0 doubles)... and ended up in 10th place all alone, picking up 10 points for that (100 for first, 90 for second... all the way to 10th place) in the season long points total (Ryder Cup style challenge at the end).

Stats wise:

8 of 14 fairways (196.64 yard average)
4 of 18 greens hit in regulation
37 putts (18 front - 19 back)
2 of 8 up and downs for par
0 of 2 sand save opportunties

Next round is going to be April 11th. I'll have plenty of opportunities to practice before then, and hopefully I can reach my goal and continue the strong start to the match play record.

'Til then...

CY

[McGolf-Doggie]

" faded a bit too much and landed in a trap short of the green. It took me three shots to get out of there (fat, fatter, just fat enough to get out)... then I chipped up to about six feet... and four putted."

Just goes to show, golf can be a little like trench warfare, and you had weather to match.

But hey you battled through and got the win and, more important, some good shots after some rough ones.