My Journey 2 Scratch

First of all Happy 4th of July to all of my fellow American viewers! Yes….I realize that I’m posting this just after midnight here and it is technically the 5th, but I just couldn’t finish it in time!  Today is a day to celebrate and give thanks to all those who have sacrificed their lives to protect this nation for us over the past 237 years.  Us Americans are all so blessed to live in a nation where we have the right to pursue our own happiness and the freedom to go after the dreams in our heart.  I for one do not take that for granted, I know there are millions of people across the world that unfortunately do not have that luxury.

Played my 2^nd round at Riverwalk today, completed back to back days of golf on the fantastic Riverwalk course, playing the exact 9 hole combination as yesterdays round of 78 (+6) Friars/Presidio.  A really fun round out there today, that included a crazy accident that we witnessed on the back 9.  Will probably never see that again in my life, check it out!

Riverwalk Friars/Presidio 6,627 Yards Par 72

Front 9 Friars 3,230 Yards Par 36

Hole 1: 384 Par 4

Straight away par 4; today hit a great 1^st tee drive down the right side of the fairway.  Hit my 2^nd shot in almost the exact same spot as yesterday on the front right portion of the green.  Flag was on middle right today, so I did not have an extremely long putt.  About 20 ft up the hill, left my putt a good 6 ft short (continuing my trend from yesterday) and I missed the 6 ft par putt, for a bad opening hole 3 putt bogey. Bogey

Round (+1)

Hole 2: 509 Par 5

Dog leg left par 5, hit my drive down the left side and it took a nasty bounce left and found the hazard.  Got to drop at the spot and laced a 5 wood up just right of the green.  Even with the penalty I had a nice opportunity for an up and down par and I hit a good chip to about 8 ft.  Made the uphill slight right to left breaking par putt! Par

Round (+1)

Hole 3: 342 Par 4

Dog leg right hole, where a lake runs down the right side, from playing yesterday I knew that I could take a 3 wood or driver and cut off the hole yardage significantly by going over the lake.  Decided on a 3 wood and although I thinned it low, it had a perfect draw on it and ran out around the corner of the lake.  Only had 70 yards to green, but still struggling to put it close from this distance, 35 ft over the pin.  A quick tricky 2 putt, somehow left my lag putt short again a good 6 ft and lipped out my par putt for ANOTHER 3 putt…..ughhh! Bogey

Round (+2)

Hole 4: 171 Par 3

I started reading this great book my sisters got me called “Zen Golf” by Dr. Joseph Parent….only a few chapters in, but the ideas he has presented about letting go of bad shots, focusing and thinking of the bigger picture have really hit home to me.  I’ll talk more about the book when I’m finished reading it, but wanted to mention it because I used his techniques after the two 3 putts in my first opening 3 holes and it had amazing results.  Focused on this next difficult shot and hit a great 6 iron to about 15 ft.  Had the putt right online, but it stopped a few inches short, solid par on this #1 handicap hole. Par

Round (+2)

Hole 5: 395 Par 4

Straight away par 4 where you can let the driver fly.  Hit almost the same drive as yesterday, crushed down the middle, only 75 yards in.  Hit a solid wedge this time that played off a slope on the green and ran towards the cup, finished about 12.  Birdie putt burned the edge, tap in par.  Par

Round (+2)

Hole 6: 175 Par 3

Hit an 8 iron to center of green, about 25 ft away, good lag putt and made my 3 ft par putt. Par

Round (+2)

Hole 7: 507 Par 5

Out of bounds to the left, hit a great drive down middle of fairway.  Only had 200 to reach this par 5 in 2, but I blocked a 5 iron out to the left.  Hit a solid chip to about 6 ft, but missed my right to left breaking birdie putt on the low side, par. Par

Round (+2)

Hole 8: 403 Par 4

Slight dog leg right hole, blocked my tee shot out to the left, but it stayed in.  Had a fluffy lie in the rough 140 out, hard to get any spin, took a PW, hit center of green, but just ran off to the back.  Nice little bump and run and made the putt for a par. Par

Round (+2)

Hole 9: 344 Par 4

Decided to hit my driver today and hit a solid drive down the right side of fairway.  Hit a lob wedge, that I clipped perfectly and it finished just 5ft from cup, but unfortunately was above the hole and a real quick putt.  Had to play it off the toe to kill the speed, looked in, but hit a spike mark at the cup and darted right and missed….dang, great opportunity missed.  Par

Round (+2)

Started off shaky with two 3 putts in my first 3 holes and an out of bounds tee shot on #2, but gathered my focus back and finished the 9 with 6 consecutive pars for a 38 (+2) on this Par 36 Friars Front 9. Fairways Hit (FW): 4/7 57% Greens in Regulation (GIR): 7/9 77% Up/Downs: 2/2 100% Sand Saves: 0/ 0% Penalties: 1 Putts: 18

Back 9 Presidio: 3,397 Yards Par 36

Hole 10: 398 Par 4

Bad drive out to the left that caught a fairway bunker.  Had about 160 into the wind, hit a knock down 7 iron through the winds, drew in perfectly and finished just 1 ft away from the cup!  Almost a hole out eagle, but after that tee shot, a tap in birdie feels about the same as if I had holed it. Birdie

Round (+1)

Hole 11: 178 Par 3

Crazy thing happened on this hole as we approached, a guy from the group in front of us tried to make a u-turn to the side of the lake, but instead of stopping to reverse, he drove right into the lake!!  I have never seen anything like that in my life, pretty funny actually, the guy was alright and they eventually finished the hole after the staff brought out another cart for him.  What an idiot, but we all had a nice laugh and my buddy took a picture.  After we waited for the situation to clear up we played this difficult par 3 over the lake and that had a steady cross wind left to right.  Hit a 6 iron today that over drew slightly and ended just in the back right.  Hit a great little bump and run chip to about 4 ft…..but horrible missed the putt, pulled it. Bogey

Round (+2)

Hole 12: 511 Par 5

Dog leg right Par 5, reachable in 2 if you hit a deep drive, but I hit mine left again.  Hit a nice 5 wood up just right of the green.  Had to hit about a 30 yard flop that I flew a little too far and had about a 18 ft putt slightly downhill…..2 putted for par. Par

 Round (+2)

Hole 13: 440 Par 4

Hit another really good drive down the left side of the fairway.  Hit a solid gap wedge on to about 10 ft, but left the birdie putt a rotation short, par. Par

Round (+2)

Hole 14: 393 Par 4

Straightway par 4, but the fairway is separated by a river in the middle, so you are forced to lay up to about 220 from the tee.  Hit a 4 iron that just missed the fairway on the right side.  Had about 190 to flag, hit a 6 iron hoping to land it about 180 and run the rest…came off perfectly and ended about 8 ft below the hole.  Rolled in the putt for a great birdie on this #1 handicapped hole on the Presidio 9. Birdie

Round (+1)

Hole 15: 538 Par 5

A nice par 5 to try and get a shot back….hit my drive over to the left and then tried to hit a 5 iron up, but caught it really thin and it just squirted forward.  Bad shot, but made it up with a nice 8 iron that ended just short of green.  Little bump and run with my PW and tapped in for a par. Par

Round (+1)

Hole 16: 374 Par 4

Pushed my drive left into the fairway bunker.  Had about 145 into a cross wind, punched a 9 iron that drew just too much and spun right off the green.  Hit another great little chip to about 5 ft and made the par putt. Par

Round (+1) 

Hole 17: 148 Par 3

Heading into 17, I was sitting at only +1, my dream of shooting an under par round is a possibility if I can play the final 2 holes in -2.  Admittedly I was not even paying attention to my score, I knew I had a great round going, but did not know I was only +1.  Like I said earlier, I am reading the book Zen Golf and it talks about just clearing your mind and focusing on the next shot in front of you and not thinking about your score as a whole.  Double bogeyed this hole yesterday when I hit a PW short, so I took out my 9 iron today.  Would have been pin high if I did not leave it out way left where it took a horrible bounce off a cart path.  Had to hit an amazingly high flop over a few trees to a short sided pin location with a bunker in-between.  Impossible shot, but I did flop it over the trees, but too far and it landed in a bunker on the other side….where it plugged.  Bad break, but was able to knock it out to about 6 ft, but of course I missed the putt for back to back double bogeys on this hole, which I now will forever hate! Double Bogey.

Round (+3)

Hole 18: 417 Par 4

Straight away par 4 that has out of bounds on the right side.  Sliced my tee shot over to the left around some trees, but was able to advance it up just in front of the green.  Little too strong on my chip and was left with about 8 ft for par.  Looked good, but died left at the very end….finished this round double bogey, bogey….disappointing end to an otherwise great round.  Bogey

Round (+4)

Was -1 on this 9 heading into the final 2 holes, but blew up to finish with a 38 (+2).  At least no 3 putts today on this 9, compared to the 3 I had yesterday and I saw a cart in the middle of a lake so that’s a plus.  Fairways Hit (FW): 1/7 14% Greens in Regulation (GIR): 4/9 44% Up/Downs: 2/5 40% Sand Saves: 0/0 0% Penalties: 0 Putts: 14

Final Stats: Fairways Hit (FW): 5/14 36% Greens in Regulation (GIR): 11/18 61% Up/Downs: 4/7 57% Sand Saves: 0/0 0% Penalties: 1 Putts: 32