Today’s round at Riverbend was an exciting one as it was my first round with my new Wilson Infinite Grant Park putter. With the exception of a slightly firm putt on the second hole, the putter performed very well on most of the greens. I decided to shorten up the course for today’s round and play from the blue tees, which measure 6328 officially. Let’s get right into this one and see how the round went.
The first hole started off well with a booming 280 yard drive that found the center of the fairway. A 58 degree wedge found the center of the green and my birdie putt ended up inches to the right of the hole. A tap in par started the day. The second hole started off poorly with my drive drifting left and finding the 18th tee box. A pitching wedge over the trees landed on the front edge of the green where a three putt awaited. The par 5 third was a much harder hole than it had to be today. My drive drifted right to the 4th fairway. A solid 5 iron found the greenside bunker, without sand of course. I caught the third shot out of the sand and picked it too clean and found the water on the opposite side of the green. I dropped 4, chipped on for five and one putted for a bogey 6.
Moving along to the long par 4 fourth, my drive found the third fairway but was playable. My second shot pulled up just short of the green where a quick chip and 2 putt finished the hole. My first putt on 4 burned the edge of the hole, which would have saved my par, but it didn’t have enough of the cup to drop. On the par 3 fifth, my Pitching Wedge found the left center of the green leaving me about 15 feet for birdie. A solid stroke and the putt found the bottom of the cup. That moved me back to 2 over after 5 holes. I felt like a pinball bouncing my way through the sixth hole. My drive went right, punch out went left, 7 iron went right and my 4th shot found the back edge of the green. 2 putts later, I landed a bogey 6 and escaped a crazy hole.
The 7th hole played about as good as possible, thanks to a lucky kick off a tree that put my drive back in the fairway. A nice 54 degree wedge landed on the back edge of the green and a solid two putt left me at three over after 7. The par 3 eighth wasn’t quite so friendly today. My 7 iron fell to the left of the green and bounced further left. My pitch shot to the green landed right where I needed it to, but again, a bad bounce took it off line. My putt stopped 3” to the right of the hole and I tapped in for a bogey. The ninth played pretty straight up, with my drive finding the right hand rough. I cut under the ball with a 58 degree wedge, only to have to hit the same shot again from 20 yards closer. The next shot landed about 20 feet from the flag and a two putt took me down to 5 over for the front side.
The back nine started off much stronger. A solid 1 iron off the tee didn’t fade back to the fairway from the left side rough. My ball hit the cart path which gave me a great drop and a decent lie to hit from. A solid 58 degree wedge found the front of the green where a two putt awaited for my par. The undercut wedge got me again on the 11th after a good drive that ended up in the right rough. I knocked the third wedge about 20 feet again as the rain began to pound the course. The wind was also starting to blow pretty hard at this point, so a quick two putts and we retreated to our cart to hit the 12th. A good 1 iron on 12 was matched with a good pitching wedge to the green. I just missed another birdie as my putt skidded past the hole and wrapped around it by about 2 feet.
The par 3 thirteenth was next up. My 9 iron from 145 found the left greenside bunker. A very strong bunker shot found the green but rolled about 15 feet past the hole. A solid putt missed the hole by about 6 inches, which was an easy tap in for my last bogey of the day. My drive on 14 set me up for some major trouble, but once again, I played my second shot from the 12th tee boxes. A 5 iron landed right of the green where I was able to pitch on to the right fringe. A two putt from the fringe earned a hard earned par. Another one putt par on 15 had us headed back to the main section of the course, while I was clinging to my 7 over score.
On the par 3 sixteenth, my 7 iron found the back left portion of the green. My birdie putt came up just short, but another tap in par had me moving on to the 17th without any issue. I struck a solid 1 iron off the tee on 17, but it didn’t have quite the height I was hoping for. Still, a strong pitching wedge found the green for a two putt par. 18 was bound to be a nightmare, but an amazing 58 degree wedge from behind the trees still found the green in a position for a quick two putt par, which left me at 79 for the day.
The round was far from flawless, but it was a very solid round given the weather conditions and the fact that I was only able to hit about 30% of my fairways and 50% of my greens today. When I look at the overall stats, there are some areas to improve on for my next round two weeks from now. Hopefully I can work on straightening out my tee shots and hitting a few more fairways in the process. Till next time!
No comments:
Post a Comment