Well the competitive season is here and I need to get 5 official rounds in the books to establish a handicap or I’m going in as a scratch player for the first few tournaments. Fortunately, today I was able to sneak out for a quick round at Echo Falls again, and even better, my Winter Player’s Card still offers a discounted rate on it through the end of this month. So, with a gorgeous day on tap, I hit the course this afternoon for a round – hopefully avoiding the sleet and snow that fell during my last round there. As I packed the bag and headed to the course, I actually couldn’t believe that I was going to start establishing an official GHIN handicap. It was nuts to think I’d be playing in my first actual tournament in just 4 weeks with a game that was so untested on other courses. I arrived at the course and walked right on. The afternoon was looking gorgeous and I couldn’t wait to get my rounds started.
The first hole started out with a 17° hybrid off the tee and to say I missed this shot would be the biggest understatement of the day. The only way I can describe what I did was a topper/push/hook or something like that. The ball floated down the right side of the hole with this top spin/hook action on it. It caught the side of the hill and died in the rough. The 150 yard tee shot left me about 180 into the green. I pulled a 6 iron, which should have been plenty of club, but due to the side hill lie that I had, again, the shot hooked downward, just short and right of the green. I flopped a 60° wedge onto the green before two putting for a bogey 5. It was not the start I was hoping for, but not a terrible recovery after such a bad start. The second hole started out much better. A nice 17° hybrid found the right side of the fairway about 220 yards up the hill. A decent 50° wedge found the back edge of the green for a two putt par. As I rolled up to the third, I was feeling pretty good about the flight on the hybrid, so I pulled the 17° for the third time in three holes. Again, the distance on the shot was right at 220 yards, so a bit short of what I am hoping for in the regular season, but for the damp conditions, it was a pretty good shot. An easy 60° wedge found the right edge of the green for yet another par and I was one over par after three holes.
As I approached the fourth tee box, I wasn’t sure about pulling the driver or keeping with the very successful 17° hybrid that was working so well on the last two holes. I decided that the extra distance of the driver may come in handy on the short par five, so I went with the F5 which was set at 9.5° for the round and was equipped with the Aldila Rogue Black (95msi) X-Stiff shaft. I hit a weak fade, a bit off the toe, that just didn’t have much pop in it. It faded from the center of the fairway to the light rough on the right side of the hole. What followed should have been an easy 8 iron to the green. Instead, I caught it a bit heavy and the ball ended up just short of the green. A poor pitch on left me a two putt par on what should have been a very easy birdie hole. The par 3 fifth was up next. Usually this hole plays very difficult for me, but today the yardage and pin placement was a solid 7 iron. I hit a great shot in that the wind took just short and left of the hole, leaving me about a 50 foot putt. I missed the first putt, but dropped the tap in for par. The par streak continued with another par on the par 5 sixth. A great drive drifted a touch too far to the right, which left an interesting angle over a tree to the green. That’s a tough thing to leave yourself on the 6th since there’s like 2 trees on the hole, but none the less, I managed to find it. I tried to cut an 8 iron around the tree, but just clipped a branch that slowed the ball just enough to slow the ball and cause it to come up just short of the green. Another poor pitch and 2 putts later, I had that elusive par and was headed on to the seventh.
AS I came to the seventh, everything looked pretty solid for making an easy par here. The pin was slightly forward, but more middle and completely out of harms way. A good 8 iron should have been the play, but for some reason, the shot failed to draw into the flag and landed a touch right and short of the pin. A poor pitch in left me a challenging putt. As the putt rolled for the hole, it stopped breaking about 3 feet from it and rolled by the hole. A tap in second putt netted me my second bogey of the day and a 2 over par score after seven. I went back to the trusty 17° hybrid for the par 4, eighth hole. I was lucky, or unlucky enough to hit my tee shot down the left side of the hole, to where I was sure that it was going OB into someone’s backyard. I hit a provisional tee shot and went up to take a look for the ball – dreading the thought of lying three in the fairway. As I drove up the path, I saw what looked like a ball well out of range of my normal hybrid shot. I went to check it out as I didn’t see a ball in any of the yards that were in the normal range that I would have hit it to. I arrived at the ball, just left of the path, was most amazingly mine. Back to lying one and having a great shot into the green. A 55 yard lob wedge found the green just left of the pin for an easy two putt par and a continued 2 over round. The ninth hole was my last chance at landing birdie and getting back to one over par on the front side, so off to the tee box I drove, hoping that the hole would play well for me today. As I approached the tee box, I had a glitchy moment and wasn’t sure which option to take off the tee – a 17° hybrid or my driver. I struggled at the bag for a few seconds before pulling the hybrid, even though the hole sets up better for a fade than trying to draw the ball at the tree line. Still, I’d made plenty of good shots from the left side of the hole, so I didn’t worry about it at all. Then, disaster struck. I hit a solid shot off the tee, but I didn’t leave enough room for the ball to clear the tree line and I clipped a branch. The ball ended up center of the fairway, but I had 155 yards, uphill, left to the green. A good 8 iron in left me a very makeable two putt, but I misjudged the speed of the first putt terribly and ran it a good 10 feet past the hole. My recovery putt missed the hold by inches and left me a tap in bogey to move to three over on the front and one of the worst starts I’ve had at Echo in recent history.
The short, par 3 tenth is normally a tap in par hole for me, but this was anything but an ordinary day. My 56° wedge found the trap, short and right off the tee, which, to be honest, I didn’t know was even there. I made an incredible shot out of the bunker and tapped in for a par, which given the way my day was going, was a nice feeling. Three over par wasn’t looking like a bad number right now, as long as I could hold this together and maybe make a chip shot at some point. Things really got interesting as I pulled up to the 11th tee. The long par 4 was even longer today as they slipped the tee boxes all the way back to where the blues play from. I pretty much made up my mind to hit driver off the tee as soon as I saw the placement, and it was a good decision. I hit a soft fading driver about 260 yards into the fairway. There wasn’t much behind it, but it settled nicely on the left hand side of the fairway and left me about 100 yards to the front pin placement. I hit a solid wedge to about 8 feet and made the putt for my first birdie of the day. Instantly, the round was starting to feel better. The par 5 12th followed and it played about as straight forward as possible. A 290 yard drive found the left center of the fairway and a solid 8 iron followed that to make the green. What should have been an easy birdie turned into a nightmare as once again, I ran my first putt 10 feet past the hole and missed the comeback for birdie. Fortunately, I tapped in for par and escaped a four putt, which would have killed what little momentum I had going. Still, it was time for the long par 3 13th and my irons were going pretty strong.
And then… this happened. What should have been a nice 7 iron, The 177 yard shot to a center pen is normally not much of a challenge, but somehow, my perfect 7 iron just didn’t draw in quite enough and caught the greenside bunker. the ball plugged in the side of the beach and left me a early impossible shot to get out, much less think about making a par. The defenses of the 13th finally got me. I grabbed my sand wedge and stepped into the bunker with only one thought, “Hit this thing hard.” So, that’s exactly what I did, and somehow, the ball drifted out of the bunker and landed softly on the green. I didn’t leave myself an easy putt by any stretch of the imagination, but somehow the ball found the cup on the first try and I managed to escape with a par. The 14th played as text book as possible for me today, a perfect 137 yard pitching wedge and two putts for an easy par. It was a good hole and nice to get through it without any water being involved. Then it was time for the 15th. The dog leg par 5 was playing back today, which made for some interesting tee shot thoughts. I still pulled the hybrid instead of the driver as the fairway runs out about 260 from the tees and I wasn’t sure that the driver would draw enough to stay in a good position. I hit the best hybrid of the day about 245 yards out into the fairway. I followed that with my second best hybrid (the 20° this time, that landed on the back of the green and held on the downhill slope. The first putt finished about 3 feet from the hole and the tap in for birdie found the bottom of the cup. I was back to one over par with three to play.
The final three holes today played about as well as possible. The tight tee shot out of the boxes on 16 was no major issue. My driver found the right side of the fairway, but was perfectly playable into the green. I over-drew an 8 iron to the green but a great lob wedge left me a tap in par putt. Finally, a short game shot worth bragging about. It was getting rough out there for a while on these short pitches and chip shots. Yikes. 17 played about the same with my drive finding the left rough, but a great 8 iron into the water guarded green found the back edge. Another two putt par and it was off to finish at 18. It was then I realized that I only needed a birdie to shoot an even par 70 today. As I looked at the 18th green, I saw the pin was up, making the hole play about 130 yards. This was my “perfect pitching wedge” to the hole and I pulled it from the bag and walked up to the tee box. As I lined up, it just felt good and I hit the ball just about perfectly. It was slightly toed, but the ball started off just about two paces right of the hole and had a perfect draw at it. I got a bit excited as the ball flew towards the flag, thinking just maybe, it would give me a chance at grabbing a birdie (or better.) The ball hit the green, but barely. It checked and stopped just at the front of the green, about 9 feet from the front pin placement. I read the putt with a slight left break, and wouldn’t you know, it hung dead straight and didn’t move an inch. Fortunately, the speed was good and I managed to roll it in for a par.
Echo Falls was kind to a game that wasn’t quite as sharp as it needed to be today. My short game was sloppy, my putting was far from sharp and my approach shots were a bit less than perfect today. What I can pull from today’s round is that even on an off day, I can still scramble to score well. It may not win many tournaments, but it will keep me in the running until it sharpens up and I have a game worthy of winning with. I’ll try and hit Echo Falls a few more times before the end of the month, just to get a few more scores posted with that discount card. Hopefully I can get enough in to get that 71 posted for a 3.6 handicap before my first tournament next month. If not, I’ll be staring up at the competition as a scratch golfer – which I am definitely not – yet.
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