Rained all day. Figured the course would be empty, so threw on some rain gear, got my walking bag out and loaded, then off I went on the back nine.
Started off cold. No range. 2 practice swings. Then put my tee shot in the rightside fairway bunker. Thought I had cleared it, but nope. Smack in the middle. However, my shot from the bunker gave me hope that I would have a good round. The pin was back, a little breeze in my face and light rain. Under normal conditions, it would have been a 7i for me. I pulled out 5i, choked down and aimed a little left so as not too much over the water, in case I got it fat at all. I hit it perfectly, a touch left, with a tiny bit of fade, which safely got me around the water and onto the center of the green. 25 feet away. Awesome first putt, with no idea how the greens were rolling, into the cup. Birdie start.
Then on 11th (my second) hit a decent drive down the left side of the fairway, into the rough. Had left my rangefinder in my other bag so walked off from a sprinkler head, made some calculations, hit 9i pin high, 5 feet right of pin, but it rolled another 4 or 5. Liked my chances for birdie birdie start when I stood over the putt. Looked good all the way, fell off the last second and lipped around the cup, somehow, not falling in. Okay, tap in pars aren't bad either.
The 3rd is where it went downhill. Snap hook off the tee. Left rough, too far away to try to get over the hazard. Wedged it out and toward the end of the fairway on this side of the hazard. Unfortunately the lie ended up quite downhill. I hate downhillers! Even though I know how to set up for them, I can't help myself from tensing up, thinking of what the result could easily be. This time, of course, the result was as expected. Fat and right into the hazard. Penalty. Gotta work on that shot.
The rest of the round was nothing special. Drives were erratic. Some good, some not so good, but the weak fade has not shown up lately which is good. Most misses are over-cooks or pushes, but distance is usually okay. Only the snap hook on 12 left me very short today.
Again, hit fairway woods pretty well. No bad ones. Putted fairly well, too. No 3 putts. A couple of up & downs, though should have been at least one more. On 16th, chipped what looked perfect. Thought it might trickle in. Then just before it got to the hole, it found a channel and picked up speed, traveling 10 feet past. Never saw that in my read. Lipped out the comeback par saver.
Had a nice sandy on 15. Between the fairway bunker on 10--making birdie--and the up and down from the sand on 15, it was a good day at the beach today. Even on 17th, where I was in the left greenside bunker, pin high, my shot out was close. Only about 5 feet past pin.That putt should have been made. It wasn't, but the sand shot to get there was very good. So if there is any complaining to do on that one, it is about the missed easy putt.
Rained or spritzed the entire round. I bet there were only about 7 or 8 players on the entire course. Never waited or was waited on. My favorite way to play. Sunday weather is much better. Course is booked solid. First tee time available is after 4 pm. Not sure if I'll play. Monday the same.
