My Journey 2 Scratch

Played a round at the Vineyard again today, was one of the toughest days I’ve had at the vineyard, the pin locations were all crazy tough.  They were either located on a slope, or a few paces on or from the back of the greens…really difficult locations.  You will be punished if you miss them green on the wrong sides today.

The Vineyard Golf Course 6,531 Yards Par 70

Front 9

Hole 1: 420 Par 4

2^nd time in a row on this opening hole, I’ve hit my opening tee shot down the middle over 300 yards, maybe that’s a good sign going forward when playing in tournaments and dealing with those first tee nerves, I don’t know.  Hit in the fairway, but on an uphill slope only 95yards in, pulled a wedge pin high, but short sided off the green to the right.  Had to hit a real delicate chip to get it to stop on this pin location and it rolled a good 15ft by, 2 putted for a bad opening hole bogey from less than 100 yards in the fairway….I can’t continue to do that if I expect to score low. Bogey

Round (+1)  

Hole 2: 351 Par 4

Short dogleg left with water surrounding the left side and green.  Tees were way back today and into the wind so I decided to take a hybrid instead of my normal 5iron, I hit a solid shot that started down the left side, but didn’t want to turn over back to the fairway.  It hugged the edge of the water, bounced a few times and then leaking into the hazard.  Had to drop and hit my next shot just over the pin into the back rough.  Impossible chip shot again as I left myself in the absolute worst spot.  Severe downhill chip with no green to work with and I couldn’t stop it, 15ft by again.  Hit my first putt about 4ft short, had an uphill straight putt, but I pulled it and missed the 4ft putt and made triple bogey!  Yikes, not the way I wanted to start out this round, need to do a lot of work to get this round back.  Triple Bogey

Round (+4)

Hole 3: 125 Par3

Short par 3, tees and pin were up today and only played about 85 yards, crazy short.  Hit a punch lob wedge that skipped on and stopped.  Had about 15ft left up the hill for birdie, had the perfect line, but I left it about 3inches short, tap in par. Par

Round (+4)

Hole 4: 404 Par 4

Hit a 3 wood off tee and pushed it left, but only had about 135 in with a clear shot. Hit a gap wedge, onto the center of green, pin high, but about 25ft left of flag.  2 putted for a par. Par

Round (+4)

Hole 5: 401 Par 4

Hit a 3wood off the tee, didn’t want to go left like I seem to always do on this hole, so I ended up pulling it right into a fairway bunker.  A 3 tier green, with the flag on the back tier today, had about 130 in, decided to smash a gap wedge.  Hit a good shot that landed on, but spun back and settled just off the green.  Took out my PW and had about a 15ft chip up the hill, so I could be aggressive.  Really confident in my chipping right now and I hit a perfect chip that broke left to right and fell into the cup, chip in birdie!  Needed that badly.  Birdie

Round (+3)

Hole 6: 152 Par 3

Pin was in the far right of hole, hit a PW, but pushed it way left onto the far left fringe.  Had about a 90ft chip, I played the same shot as last hole, but this time with a 9iron and it rolled down to about 5ft….made the next putt to save par. Par

Round (+3)

Hole 7: 295 Par 4

A sharp dog leg right hole, but gives you an angle to drive the green in 1.  Usually about 250-260 to carry the hazard and drive the green.  Tee box today, seemed to be back farther than last round, so I decided to hit a 3wood.  I knew if I blocked it I would be ok, at least I thought, I blocked it and I thought it would be just 20yards left of the green.  When we got up there, we found it up against the fence line and I was forced to take an unplayable lie and drop it for a penalty.   So frustrating to have to take a drop on this hole, this is a very easy birdie hole; I guess I hit that 3wood over 270 in the air, looks like I can only hit 5wood on this hole from now on.  Had to hit a big flop for my 3^rd that landed by the hole, but rolled 12 by.  Putt for par was perfect, but left it just short again and made a bogey.  Frustrated because I was starting to turn this round back around after the triple bogey on the 2^nd, but it’s just not to be today. Bogey

Round (+4)

Hole 8: 419 Par 4

Hit a driver down the left side and it ended up on a side hill lie above a fairway bunker.  Just tried to punch a gap wedge up, but hit it fat because of the lie and it ended up in an ok spot, just short of green on fairway.  Pitched it up to another side hill pin location and it stopped about 6ft away.  6ft up the hill, left to right breaker for par, that I played a little too much out to the left and I missed on the high side, bogey.  Bogey

Round (+5)

Hole 9: 503 Par 5

Very reachable par 5, finally hit a good drive, bombed a 3wood down the middle, hit in the perfect spot and got some roll, only had 183 in, a 320 yard 3wood drive!  Pin was tucked only about 5 paces on from the left and in the front of the green.  So you couldn’t miss left…..which of course I did!  Hit a 6iron that I pushed and was pin high, but short sided left.  Had to hit a big flop and wasn’t able to stop it very close, 12ft for birdie.  Missed the putt and 2 putted for par.  I’ll take pars all day, but after that drive, I had a prime opportunity for a birdie or better and I need to start taking advantage of those. Par

Round (+5)

After the triple bogey on 2, I was only 1 over the final 7 holes.  However, still extremely disappointed with having 2 penalties and shooting a 40 (+5) on this Par 35 Front 9.  Fairways Hit (FW): 2/7 28.5% Greens in Regulation (GIR): 3/9 33% Up/Downs: 2/5 40% Sand Saves: 0/0 0% Penalties: 2

Back 9

Hole 10: 389 Par 4

Pushed a 3-wood down the left side, but it again got caught up in the fence line, couldn’t play it from there, had to take another unplayable.  Hit a 9iron and short sided myself again.  Had to land the ball in the fringe and let it feed down a slope to the hole, got too cute with it and left my chip short.  Dead now, pin was at the bottom of a down slope, no way to get it close, had to just get it on and 2putted for another triple bogey.  Disgusted, can’t remember the last time I had a triple bogey, yet alone two in the same round….felt like this round was slipping away from me now. Triple Bogey

Round (+8)

Hole 11: 457 Par 4

A very tight driving hole, that I’ve found you can go right over some trees and play it from the opposite fairway.  It’s a bigger target that even runs down a hill so you gain distance and is a great angle to the green.  Hit a driver on purpose over there today and it worked out very well, had only 140 into the green.  Hit a PW that ended about 10ft for birdie, let the putt few inches short and made par on this difficult hole. Par

Round (+8)

Hole 12: 154 Par 3

Another par 3 over water.  Hit a gap wedge just onto the fringe short of green.  Chipped a PW up to about 5ft and made my par save. Par

Round (+8)

Hole 13: 477 Par 4

Downhill long par 4.  Hit one of my best drives in a long time, high, solid and straight ended in the fairway only had 125 out, a 352 yard drive!  Pin was in front, hit a 56 degree sand wedge to about 10ft, but missed the birdie, 2 putt par. Par

Round (+8)

Hole 14: 412 Par 4

Water on the left and out of bounds on the right; hit a 4 iron down the middle to 130 out.  Another tough pin location on the down slope in the back of the green, tried to hit a PW, but pushed it out left into a trap.  Really tough bunker shot to get close; I ran it a good 15ft by.  Left my first putt short about 5ft and missed another straight in par putt because I pulled it.  A bad double bogey, from the middle of the fairway with a wedge in my hand. Double Bogey

(Round +10)

Hole 15: 551 Par 5

Hit a drive that missed left again on an uphill slope.  Hit a 7iron to lay it up, and then hit a wedge on the green, but about 25ft short of hole.  Had a great line, but left it just short again and made a par.  Par

(Round +10)

Hole 16: 453 Par 4

The most difficult hole on the course according to the handicap on the scorecard.  Took my driver out today, rather than my normal 3 wood play and hit it down the left side.  Ended up in an ok spot where I hit a 9iron to the back left pin location.  Couldn’t get much spin out of the rough, it ended up landing perfectly in the center of green, but rolled to the back just in the 2^nd cut.  I chipped it out to about 3ft and made a par. Par

Round (+10)

Hole 17: 157 Par 3

Hit a 9iron pin high, but 25ft left of the flag, a quick 2 putt for a par. Par

Round (+10)

Hole 18: 411 Par 4

Very scenic 18^th hole heading back down the hill to the clubhouse.  Normally I play a 3wood off this tee, but today the way the round was going, already at +10, I wanted to just see how far I could bomb a driver down this hill, didn’t care at that point.  Bomb it I did, over the bunkers on the right and it ended about 68yards from the green in the fairway, 343 yard drive! Hit a punch lob wedge that ended about 8ft below the cup, putting uphill.  Unfortunately I couldn’t end my round with a nice birdie as I missed the putt, but made par. Par

(Round +10)

Another (+5) 40 on the Par 35 Back 9.  1 triple and 1 double bogey accounted for the entire +5…was even par on the other 7 holes.  Fairways Hit (FW) 3/7 42% Green in Regulation (GIR) 5/9 55% Up/Downs 2/2 100% Sand Saves 0/1 0% Penalties: 1

Final Score: 80 (+10) Fairways Hit (FW) 5/14 36% Green in Regulation (GIR) 8/18 44% Up/Downs 4/7 57%. Sand Saves 0/1 0% Penalties: 3 Putts: 33

Obviously I’m very disappointed in this round.  2 triple bogeys and a double are just not acceptable at this stage in my game.  I guess it’s going to happen from time to time, but I have to drive the ball in bounds, I can’t afford to make triples or doubles because I hit the ball into a hazard or out of bounds off the tee.  Other than those 3 holes (which accounted for +8 of the +10), I was only +2 on the other 15 holes.  My score was not so much a reflection of the difficult pin locations as much as it was just my poor ball striking, leaving myself short sided. Did not putt as well as I’d like today either with the new grip, it felt good, but was leaving a lot of putts short.  I had 3 goals going into this round, but I failed in 2 out of the 3:

1) To have zero penalties (Failed, 3 penalties today)

2) Have a 50% or better up and down percentage (Completed, 57% today, 4/7)

3) Shoot a round in the 70’s (Failed, 80).

So I still have a lot of work to do, felt like I took a small step back in my ball striking today, but I’m not going to let this round get me down or discouraged, I know that I’m heading in the right direction and that with constant practice, patience and positivity, I will reach my goals!

“If you lose today, win tomorrow.  In this never-ending spirit of challenge is the heart of a victor.” –Daisaku Ikeda