An Inexplicable Inability To Hit A 2 Foot Putt
Yesterday, I played in the AJ Harper tournament in the Grapevine Golf Association at Grapevine Golf Club. We went off in a shotgun start around 7:30AM in the second group off the 4th hole on Mockingbird. The weather was quite cold, and a heavy dew covered the course. Due to heavy rain previously, the cart-path only rule was in effect, and that made play especially slow. It took more than five hours to finish the round. By the 10th hole we played, the sun had warmed things up enough that I was able to strip down to short sleeves and enjoy the nice fall weather.
| Hole | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | Out |
| Par | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 36 |
| Score | 5 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 47 |
| Hole | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | In | Total |
| Par | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 36 | 72 |
| Score | 8 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5* | 7 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 52 | 99 |
* Hit green in regulation.
Themes:
- Off the tee. I hit seven fairways, but unfortunately, none of the par-3 holes in regulation. I had two penalties off the tee, both balls lost in the woods on big pushes with the driver.
- Approach shots. Because the course was wet and soft, there was no rollout at all, so I was hitting longer clubs into the greens than usual. I hit only one green-in-regulation, the par five 5th hole on Bluebonnet. In many cases, I was just off the green, so things weren’t as bad as it seems. I did have one penalty on an approach, from the middle of the fairway, a ball lost in the hazard behind the green on #7 of Bluebonnet.
- Wedges. I hit some really nice wedge shots, and wasted nearly all of them on missed short putts. Really short putts.
- Chipping. I hit only a few chips, but got up-and-down only twice. I wasted some good chips on missed short putts. Really short putts. On the short par-3 #7 hole on Mockingbird, I hit a stellar, downhill chip in the rough on the mound to the left of the green to 2 ft, and missed the putt for par.
- Sand shots. I was in three greenside bunkers. On Bluebonnet #1, I hit a really nice bunker shot to 6 ft, and on another hole, hit a really nice bunker shot to two feet. I missed those putts. My third bunker shot was well past the hole, but it was a long difficult shot and I wasn’t really that disappointed.
- Putting. Ah, putting! How bad can it possibly get? I turned a round of 92 into a round of 99. I had a 4-putt, yes, a 4-putt, from 6 feet on #1 on Bluebonnet after a really good bunker shot. I ended up with an 8 on that hole. I had four other 3-putts to go with my 4-putt, and at least two of those I missed 2 foot putts. 40 putts total, how pathetic is that?
Equally inexplicably, I came in 4th on gross score and 3rd on net. D flight, of course.
Why do I play this game?