Impromptu nine anyone? That’s what I decided to tackle yesterday afternoon in the rain and wind that was blowing through the area. While it may not have been the best decision to head out to the course yesterday, it did turn out to be a very enjoyable round of golf – except for the few downpours and plugging balls. Still, even with the horribly wet weather, The Golf Club At Echo Falls still played very well. There were quite a few spots of “where did that ball go?” due to the new water hazards that could be found all over the course, but if you stayed to the higher side of the holes, it wasn’t a bad day to play. I did make a few decisions prior to teeing off that were strange but fun… First off, I continued my simplifying my wedge game idea by deciding to only use my 51° wedge for approaches inside 125 yards. Then I also pulled out a classic, the 2005 Nike One Gold balls that I still have about a dozen and a half left of for the round.
The round started off pretty much as normal. A nice 185 yard 3 hybrid found the center of the fairway on 1, but there was ZERO roll to be found on this hole. Plus the wind and rain were really keeping distances in check. I caught my 51° wedge a bit heavy our of the slimy fairway and came up about 30 yards short of the pin. A chip on and a 6 foot putt for par had me rolling. The second hole, for some strange reason, played even better than the first for me. A 17° hybrid climbed the hill about 205 yards and left me another partial wedge to the green. I hit a 2/3’s strength 51° wedge to the green and landed about 10 feet from the flag. I needed a bit of help on the putt as the greens were playing very slow and this particular putt looked a bit bumpy, but fortunately, the putt bounced its way towards the hole and found it for a birdie 3. The par 4 third was up next and I was sitting at 1 under par after 2. A 218 yard 17° hybrid found the left edge of the fairway off the tee, even with the wind pushing straight back at me. The lower loft cut through it rather nicely and actually even gave me a bit of a rollout on this shot. A 51° wedge from 60 yards found the back edge of the green and left me about 20 feet for another birdie. I ran the putt up to about 2 feet of the hole before it stopped short and tapped it in for my par. Still holding at one under after three holes.
The par 5 fourth hole was up next. The wind was a bit more swirling on this hole, but I still managed to poke a 261 yard drive off the tee but opted to play the slightly drier right side of the fairway today. It got hung up a bit in the hills, but had just enough draw to find the edge of the fairway. Going down the hill, a 169 yard 8 iron barely found the front edge of the green. I should have paid closer attention to my GolfPadGPS on this one as the pin was more center and my max yardage on my 8 iron had me pinned to front of the green with a perfect shot. Still, I had my 8 iron in hand and hit that ‘practically perfect’ shot into the green. Came up a full club short, just like I thought, but it was still on the green. A 40 foot putt for eagle came up about 3 feet short of the hole, but an easy birdie was all mine on the short par 5. The 171 yard fifth hole was up next. I learned my lesson on the 8 iron at 4 and pulled the extra club on on 5. My 168 yard 7 iron found the left edge of the green, and left me about 40 feet for birdie. Again, a good first putt to about 2 feet left me an easy putt for par and kept me at 2 under. Finally the weather let up a bit on the 6th hole. In fact, it was while I was driving over to it that the rain stopped a bit and the wind died down. I grabbed the driver from my bag and managed to hit a very strong tee shot for the first time all day. The 335 yard drive caught a dry part of the hill and rolled out nicely into the right side of the fairway. A 160 yard 9 iron came to rest on the front of the green, but left me almost 70 feet to the hole. Again, not knowing what to expect from a shot on a hill like this made club selection a bit precarious to say the least. From there, I hit a brilliant first putt that actually looked like it was going to fall with about 10 feet left. The putt then stopped breaking and rolled about a foot past the hole. Another tap in birdie and I moved myself to 3 under par for the round.
The par 3 seventh, or my arch nemesis was up next. Of all the holes on the front side, this one seems to be the toughest for me to get a good look at birdie on. Today was no exception. Even with the wind down a bit and the rain not falling for the moment, This 160 yard hole plays perfectly between clubs for me. A full 8 iron finds the front fo the green and a full 7 iron finds the back. Take a bit off of that 7 and I’m in the right front bunker. Try to muscle up on the 8 and it’s usually stage left for me on this one. It’s just “that” hole. Today I opted for the solid 8 iron, which sure enough, found the front edge of the green. My 50 foot putt came up short and left me a scary 5 footer for par. Luckily, my putt literally bounced into the hole for that par and it kept me stead at 3 under par. The par 4 eighth was up next and by this point in time, the wind and rain were starting to come back again. I hit a quick 17 ° hybrid out to the middle of the fairway, leaving myself about 140 to the flag. A solid pitching wedge should have gotten there, but it hung in the wind just enough to come down on the front edge of the green instead of settling pin high. My 30 foot putt came up a touch short again, but it did leave me a 3 foot tap in for par. Even in the wet and wild weather, I was clinging to a 3 under par score entering the last hole of the front side. On the ninth hole, i finally hit the shot I have been dreaming about on this hole. A perfectly struck, bomb from my driver that started straight at the bunkers lining the right side of the fairway, then drawing in to the center of the fairway, like it was drawn up on paper. I figured it had to be a solid 260-270 off of that tee, but when I pulled up on the path near the ball, my GPS was still showing 100 yards in – or about 240 away from where I started. I didn’t get it, I killed that ball and it was just dead in the fairway. Oh well, off to a nice 56° wedge to the green and a two… Wait… My first putt from 40 feet didn’t exactly go as planned. In fact, it was by far, the worst shot of the day. I struck the putt and watched it roll towards the hole. It slowly rolled, right online, towards its target. Then, it just stopped. About 12 feet from the hole, the putt just put the brakes on. I had the line on the finishing putt, but I hit it a bit firm (mainly due to the one before it stopping on a dime) and rolled it about 18 inches past the hole. There was my tap in, but it was for a bogey 5 on the ninth hole.
That left me to make the turn or head home at 2 under par for the day. Since conditions and the weather were so sketchy, I decided to call it a round and head home for the day. Overall, it wasn’t a round where anything was learned and it wasn’t something I would write home about. I took advantage of the two easy par 5’s on the front today and had a somewhat lucky birdie on 2. I also had a somewhat unlucky bogey on 9, so it all evened out nicely. With us now entering our ‘wet time’ of year, I’ll see how many quality rounds I can get in between now and the end of my Winter Membership at Echo Falls, but I’m not too excited for the next couple of weeks. We had a very dry winter up until January, but it looks like the wet pattern in here for a bit. Still, any round where you can hit 7 fairways and 8 greens is a pretty good day – even if the weather is awful and the outlook is for more of the same. Those 7/8 days just make you want to get back out there and do it again. On the flip side, I love the ease of getting to Echo Falls and I love the course itself, but I’m really looking forward to playing a few different courses when the weather turns this spring. I almost feel that Echo sets up too well for my game and that may be helping me generate some better scores than I should be getting. Maybe next round I’ll try and play from the Gold tees to give the course a different look, or maybe a few more rounds at the Blue tees for a bit of a mix. All I know is my game it working very well at the moment and should only get better with the weather.
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