Well the 2017 season has officially begun for me. Today’s outing at a rain soaked Riverbend Golf Complex in Kent, WA was far from perfect, but it was much better than it probably should have been. The rain drops held off during my round just long enough for me to finish up on the 18th green, before getting a bit wet on the walk back to the car. Driving was a bit hit or miss, but due to the softer fairways, distance was not something that was going to be had on this day. Fortunately, the softer conditions also carried forward to the greens, which meant plenty of sticking power for the balls that were able to find them from any distance. The most pleasant surprise of the day was definitely my putting. There were a total of 32 putts, but there were quite a few long ones that dropped, as well as a few that very easily could have. Overall, the round was a major success for the starting point of the season.
The first hole started out with a drive that sailed right off my Wilson FG Tour F5 Driver. I had it dialed in at 9 degrees of loft with the Fujikura Speeder X Stiff shaft in it. It’s low, penetrating flight was probably less than optimal for the day, but for the most part, it behaved itself quite well. From the edge of the 9th fairway, I hit my gap wedge about 15 yards over the green. A nice lob wedge back onto the green and a one putt got me a scrambling par to start the round. I led off the second hole with another driver down the middle of the fairway that rolled through to a very mushy gully. A very tricky sand wedge from a very sloppy lie came up just short of the green. A poor play from short of the green left me a 40 foot putt, which missed just left for a tap in bogey. A perfectly played third hole led me to an even par 5, which left me at one over par after three holes. 
The par 4 fourth hole proved to be a bit of a pain for me. A drive into the right tress left me no chance of hitting the green without a miracle punch shot. I hit a very strong 6 iron that just couldn’t cut enough to turn to the green. I left the 35 yard pitch to the green about 45 feet short of the pin, where a two putt left me with a bogey on the hole. The par 3 fifth hole has played well for me the last few times I played Riverbend, and today was no exception. A solid tee shot left me a 25 foot birdie putt, which just ran past the hole. A tap in from 3 feet left me with a par on the short hole. That brought me to the par 5 sixth hole. Another solid drive followed by a smooth 5 iron left me an easy 107 yard sand wedge to the back edge of the green. Another 2 putt performance left me an easy par on the long, dog-leg left hole. The round was shaping up quite well at just 2 over par after 6 holes.
The par 4 seventh is one of the easiest holes on the front side at Riverbend, yet I tend to like to put myself in areas without shots to the green. I did just that during today’s round. Fortunately, I had just enough loft to clear the tree line with my lob wedge, but not enough distance to make the bunker with the amount of loft it took to do it. From the front bunker, I hit a strong lob wedge again to about 10 feet. I perfect putt found the hole and saved a par on what should be an easy hole to score on. The par 3 8th was playing longer than usual, and my iron distances were off just a touch, so I opted for hitting a smooth 6 iron to the back pin placement. On a nearly perfect flight path, the 6 carried the green and landed on the back fringe. A quick two putt cleanup and I was off to the 9th hole, still two over par. The par 4 ninth is always one of the easier holes at Riverbend for me. It’s not particularly long, nor is there any real trouble spots, unless the pin is tucked far left. Fortunately, it was center/middle today, so when my drive sailed right of the fairway and just past the tree line, I was left with a very interesting, but possible shot. A strong 9 iron cleared the tree line in front of me and found its way to the front of the green. The first put stopped just left of the cup and left me a 3” tap in for par. 
Moving on to the back side, the par 4 tenth played very easily with a driver off the tee finding the fairway and a sloppy gap wedge coming up just short of the green. From there an easy pitch on and a nice 15 foot one putt saved par. The normally troublesome par 4 eleventh didn’t end up being as much trouble as it normally is for me today. A stellar drive down the left center of the fairway left me a solid 9 iron in to the green. A beautiful draw landed just past the pin and left me 10 feet for birdie. The putt rolled smoothly right into the cup for the first birdie of the round. The sister hole to 11, the par 4 12th also played like a dream, a perfect drive to the center of the fairway, a gap wedge to 40 feet and a two putt for par. I was back to one over par after 12 holes.
Unfortunately, I gave that shot right back on the par 3 13th hole. Not trusting myself enough, I didn’t start my tee shot far enough right to hit the right side/middle pin placement. The shot drifted left and found a very soggy bunker to the side of the green. A decent play out of the wet sand left me a simple 2 putt for bogey. I played the par 5 14th very well, though I should have scored better than I did given the fact that I had a great drive that found the fairway bunker, then an 8 iron that flared open against the hard sand. I had to punch a 3 iron out of the trees and then hit a very strong shot into the green. The shortfall of this hole was the fact that my gap wedge carried the green by 2 yards and left me a nasty shot from the fringe. I chose a putter to play it, but there was just zero chance of making it. That brought me to the par 4 15th hole, and a very simple driver, 8 iron, two putt par. I was now 3 over
I have to admit the that final three holes are a bit of a blur. The par 3 16th is normally a serious headache for me, but a very straight forward 8 iron draw found the center of the green for a quick 2 putt par. The par 4 17th played almost as easy with a very good drive down the middle of the fairway. A perfectly placed sand wedge found a landing spot 15 feet from the flag. The putt drifted to the left and ended up about 6” below the hole for an easy tap in par. That brought me to the par 5 18th, and the rain. I tried to finish up before it started to rain, and for the most part, I was successful. My drive was a bit of a pull, but still found the center of the fairway as I was aimed down the right side. Really no major penalty, just lengthens out the right turning hole a long ways. I followed that drive with with a very sloppy 5 iron that left me a solid 7 iron into the green. The 7 iron fanned slightly causing the shot to end up just short right of the green. I hit a lob wedge to the front of the green that just stopped immediately on impact. That left me a very long putt to save par, which ran about 2 feet by the cup to the high side. A bogey on 18 left me at four over, 76 for the day.
All in all, I couldn’t ask for a much better start to the season than a 4 over 76. Just about every aspect of my game survived the winter without any major issues. Driving was short, but accurate. Much of that could be attributed to the extremely wet conditions, but some of it may continue to lengthen out a bit as I dial in the F5 for this year. Most important with driving, I didn’t lose anything left today. The ‘spraying’ effect was something that killed me last year and that doesn’t appear to be a problem with the new shaft and head combo. While my long irons may need some work, the short irons and wedges were almost polished to mid season form. Also, my putting was spot on. I gave just about every first putt I had on the course today a chance to get in the hole. Speed was good, aim was good and reading was good. I was very happy with my putter after the round. Given all of that, it’s a great building block to get started on my journey to getting to scratch this year. Hopefully as the weather improves, the scores will as well.
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