Played an early afternoon round on August 9th with Lucas and a couple randoms. Started off a little slow but with some solid drives, but true to form lately, it took a few holes to really get going.
Hole 1: Doubled it — slow start. Hit a tree on a chip, that didn’t help.
Hole 2 (Par 5): Bogey. Had to go over a tree on the second shot, landed just short of the green on a really good 3rd short, three putt really for the bogey.
Hole 3 (long Par 4): Nice drive, blind second shot onto the green, one putt for par.
Hole 4: Really started noticing the irons were flying — had to drop down a club, maybe two. Two good shots but both went long over the green, landing in almost the same spot. Chipped out of the sand, two-putted for a double.
Hole 5 (long Par 3): Pushed the shot right, chipped up, two putt for bogey.
Hole 6 (short Par 4): Not the best drive of the day, pulled left into the rough. Hit out of the junk, onto the green, one putt for par. Real happy with that one.
Hole 7 (dogleg left, Par 4): Rough drive into the sand trap, clean escape, ended up pin-high just off the green. Chipped and two-putted for bogey.
Hole 8: Pushed the drive right, tried to get cute on the second shot and ended up in the trees, had to take a drop. Really good recovery shot after that, got up and down for a bogey.
Hole 9 (long Par 5): Good drive but got a bad kick behind the trees, near where a sand trap used to be. Had to punch it out short, then hit a nice wedge onto the green — just missed the birdie putt, tapped in for par.
Hole 10: Not a great drive, got nervous with the water so played the second shot safe and short, but it was solid onto the green. Two-putt bogey.
Hole 11 (long Par 5): Worst drive of the day, not sure what happened there. Hit the ground about a foot behind the ball. Decent second shot, third shot missed the green, doubled it.
Hole 12: Good drive, so-so second shot that landed in the sand — got frustrated, Lucas told him to shake it off and move on. Hit a great bunker shot right under the pin, one-putted for a bunker-save par. Very happy about that one.
Hole 13: Smoked the iron again, right over the green. Bad chip led to a rough hole.
Hole 14: Decent drive, but smoked the iron long over the green again. Hit a couple bad chips. Chipping still giving me problems but getting better
Hole 15 (uphill): Smoked the drive (for me) up the left side, followed with a really good second shot right onto the green, 2 putt for par.
Hole 16: Pushed it right but got a good bounce through the sand and down the hill — one of the better drives of the day. Took two clubs less than usual into the green since he’d been striping his irons; landed a bit short but still on the green, 2putt for par.
Hole 17: Took a club down again since the irons had been flying all day — just right of the pin and off the green. Chipped on, two-putt bogey.
Hole 18: Another great drive over the sand, setting up a strong second shot that landed a little left. Third shot caught a divot just off the green — thought about fixing it but played it as is, chunked it slightly right. Then chipped in for birdie to close out the round.
Final score: 89.
Overall felt good about the round — happy anytime there’s solid contact throughout. Definitely still work to do, but real signs of improvement. If I can get my distances dialed in and eliminate some of the bad chips I could hopefully get into the low 80s.