I’m a bit late posting my round from last weekend, but hey, better late than never right? So, a few things. First off, it was a competitive event, or at least it was supposed to be a competitive event. I made my way around the very windy and rainy Golf Club At Echo Falls in more than good fashion, even with a few pretty ‘blundery’ shots to put on the card. The good was the 5 birdies that I carded and the bad was the 6 bogeys. Add that all together and you have a pretty frustrating round that could have been amazing. The other way to see it is that it was a terrible round that some amazing shots saved. Either way, here’s the recap of my round from January 6th.
The front nine started with a sloppy and soggy first hole. Knowing that the ball wasn’t going to have any roll today, I pulled my 20° hybrid from the bag to give me a bit more carry. Unfortunately, I was chatting with the group I was playing with so much that I didn’t notice that I pulled the 23° instead. In the end, the mistake didn’t matter too much as I caught what I will call a “bladed draw” with the bottom edge of the club and clipped the only tree around with my tee shot. The ball fortunately bounced back into the fairway, but it left me 170 into a very wet and difficult green. Again, a slight miscalculation on the swing left my 8 iron short and right of the putting surface. A decent chip with my 51° wedge left me with a very makeable putt for par, but it ran about 12” past the hole for a tap in bogey. Not the way to start that first competitive round in forever.
I moved on to the second hole, which only really had the defense of being uphill in today’s weather. The left fairway bunker really doesn’t come into play unless you really hook your tee shot off line and the greenside bunker also appeared to be clear with the pin placement. I went back to the 20° hybrid for this tee shot and hit a brilliant shot about 190 yards up the hill. A 3/4 swing with my 51° wedge settled down about 5 feet from the flag. With a good stroke on a relatively flat putt, the ball found the hole for a birdie 3. I’m pretty sure that this is the first birdie I’ve had on that second hole, which blows me away with how simple it sets up. So, after two, I sat at even par.
The easy par 3 third hole has given me an eagle, a few birdies and a few pars over the times I’ve played at Echo. I was really looking forward to going low on this shortened hole, but things don’t always go the way we plan. I hit a gorgeous 2 hybrid off the tee that sailed off towards the green. Then a strange thing happened. The ball didn’t draw, or at least it didn’t draw enough. Instead of bouncing safely in front of the green and rolling on or plugging, the ball appeared to land in the hazard to the right of the green. The group agreed that the ball must be in the hazard and I took my drop where we agreed that it had to cross the line. A nice 1/2 51° wedge onto the green followed by a near miss on the first putt left me with a second bogey in three holes and an one over par total.
The par 5 fourth hole is usually one that I can make a bit of a move on the ball, but today’s weather just made it impossible to take advantage of the short hole. My drive was in a good position but with 211 yards to go down hill, my 5 iron found the tree covering the left of the green and the ball was knocked down. A good 51° wedge found the green, but again, the first putt just missed short and I tapped in for a solid par. I stayed at one over after 4.
The long par 3 fifth was next up. I still have nightmares about hitting to the wrong green on this hole, but today’s play was a bit different. I chose to go with a solid 8 iron into the 171 yard hole as the wind was helping ever so slightly and a 7 iron would have been too much club for the mid pin placement. The shot that followed was breathtaking. As it started off the clubface, I was sure that the ball would be left of the green, but it held it’s line and headed straight for the flagstick. Everyone in the group began to get really excited, and for good reason, the ball ended up less that 2 feet from the stick and my tap in putt left me with a birdie to get back to even par.
The next four holes all turned out pretty poorly. The streak began on the par 3 seventh hole with a wind blown 8 iron that came up short of the green. A poorly struck 25 yard 51° wedge left me with over 20 feet to the pin. My first putt came to a stop just past the hole and the tap in left me with a bogey. The par 4 eighth left me in a similar spot with a good 20° hybrid off the tee, but my 9 iron approach found a bit of trouble to the left of the green. Another poor 51° wedge shot left me 25 feet for par, which I missed, but I tapped in for my second bogey in a row. That left me 2 over par with one hole to go on the front side.
The par 4 ninth hole is usually one of the better playing holes for me, or at least it seems to be a rather routine par hole. The dog-leg left design only has a large tree on the left defending it, so keep right of that and you are golden. My tee shot found a bit of trouble left of the tree, but a good 51° wedge found the right side of the green. I putted from off the green, but the ball slowed badly because of the wet conditions. This left me a first putt of over 25 feet again, which ran about 3 feet past the hole. From there, a tap in bogey took me to 3 over par on the outward nine. The short, par 3, tenth is normally a 100% par or better hole for me, but for some reason, today, my SW landed left of the green. A straight forward pitch landed about 10 feet from the hole and checked up in the wet conditions, leaving me a 2 putt bogey once again. That took me to 4 over par after 10 holes.
The wet conditions weren’t helping much of anything on the course, and by the back nine, the winds were picking up as well. The 11th hole played rather simple for me. A 270 yard drive followed by a nice 51° wedge left me a two putt par that broke the bogey cycle. What happened on the par 4 eleventh though, was nothing short of a perfectly lucky hole. My drive didn’t roll out at all and actually only carried about 240 yards (which is terrible for this downhill hole.) I had about 220 left to get around the corner to the green, but looking at my GolfPadGPS readings, the direct line was only about 180 yards. I decided to chance it and see if the 23° hybrid could clear the trees and still have enough distance to get there. I knew my 6 iron wouldn’t have the height and my 7 iron wouldn’t make the distance, so an easy hybrid seemed like a good idea to try. I hit a very solid, high shot with the 23°, but I could tell right away that it wasn’t going to have the height it needed to clear the trees. I prepared myself for another drop, just like the third hole. Instead, as we drove up to the green, there sat a ball on the front edge of the dance floor and three more about 50 yards short. The ball had cleared the trees (somehow) and gave me a simple 2 putt birdie.
That moved us on to the nasty par 3 thirteenth, and the 180+ yards in to the wind that that beast was playing. I pulled the 23° hybrid (though a 5 iron may have been a better choice with that wind?) to attack the flag and made a good effort out of it. My ball found the left edge of the green for another 2 putt par and my round was starting to look like it may have a chance of staying in the 70’s. The par 3 fourteenth had the flagstick in its evil position, just over the mound that protects the front of the green and makes the water come into play if you go after the stick. With my round at 2 over, it was a critical decision to play it safe and bring bogey into play or go over the water and bring birdie into the mix. I attacked the flag with a strong pitching wedge and somehow landed the shot on the green and it rolled towards the hole. A simple 3 foot put scored me my second birdie of the back side and took me back down to two over par.
The 15th is one of those annoying par 5’s that doesn’t kill you with length, but it just plays long. It’s a 90° dogleg that turns left at 175 yards out and then drops down a hill. It’s not a super challenging hole, but for some strange reason, it plays way tougher in reality than it should. I hit a great 17°hybrid to the corner, this time holding the left line instead of the right that i normally do. The 23° hyrbid that followed was tracking straight online until it clipped the last tree on the hole and fell just short of the green. A good 51° wedge found the green and left me about 15 feet for birdie. My birdie put came up about 6 inches short of the hole and I tapped in for par. I should have walked away with a birdie on that hole, but a solid par kept me at 2 over. The tough par 4 sixteenth was up next. A good drive, though short in the wet conditions, left me a solid 51° wedge to the front of the green and a 4 foot birdie put which found the cup. and took me to one over with two holes to play.
My race back to even was almost complete as I stepped on to the tee box on 17. This long par 4 has water running down the right side and out of bounds on the left. I played my fade drive down the left side of the fairway and it resulted in a nice 170 yard approach shot over the water to a back pin position. my 23° cut through the wind just enough to find the back edge and left me an easy two putt for par and set up the final hole challenge of birdie for even. It’s a tough hole over water to a semi-island green. With the pin up, it’s a pitching wedge – with the pin back, it’s a 9 iron. Today the pin was back, so a solid 9 iron was the club of choice. Unfortunately, the wind played a bit of havoc with the ball and it ended up on the left side of the green. Another 2 putt par finished up the round and I posted a one over par for the day. Not a bad for the weather conditions and for being my first “pressure” round in quite some time.
