Anyhow, wake up to rain and wind yesterday morning. Great…the course will be the host of the USGA Senior Amateur Open in a couple months so they are “toughening” it up. Bent grass greens and fairways. Greens were like putting on undulated concrete. Nicest course I have ever played though.
The course is built on an old coal mine field so there are lakes on pretty much every hole left and right. See for yourself:
Wind was swirling all day. Seemed like only 1 or 2 holes we had a tailwind. Rest were left/right or dead into the wind. Wind was constant all day from 25 mph to gusts of 50 mph. Fairways relatively narrow and if there wasn’t water left or right, there was vegetation 4 feet high. We found only 2 balls all day in this vegetation of more than 20 that found it’s way into them from our group.
I tried to play smart and use the Nickent hybrids off the tee but no dice. The wind just took the ball where it wanted to. I lost 10 balls on the day, all but one off the tee. Rain was constant too, grips getting wet, one club flew from my hands on the downswing. All in all, a horrendous day for me.
First cut of rough off the fairway was 5” tall and THICK. I hit a drive on 1 hole that was a short 385 yard par 4 just into the first cut. Ball was buried but I was only 90 yards to the sand guarded 25 foot elevated green. I take out my 53* Cleveland Weed Eater and start hacking away. First swing the ball went about 5 feet. Second went about 2 feet but the ball somehow sat near the top of the 5” rough. I take a full swing at the thing and coon it dead into the lip of the bunker in front of the green. One more hack to get the ball out from under the lip and then a pristine bunker shot 5 feet from the pin where I drain a putt for a 7. Beautiful. Now consider about 12 other holes just like that…
My uncle that is a member there tried to comfort me saying he has never played a course as tough as that one was yesterday with the conditions. He’s a 1 handicap on our home country club. He is a 9 at Victoria National. He shot an 89 yesterday. Lowest score of the round was 76 and there are some DAMN good golfers at Victoria. Oh yeah, Stag Tourney we played in had over 100 players.
We stuck around and drank Jack/Coke Double Talls and had some prime rib they served us but had no interest in seeing who all beat our asses. I think we actually finished in the middle of the pack. We posted a net 148 in the 2 best ball tourney. Lowest score I saw when I left was 132. Highest I saw was 159.
Anyhow, there’s always the silver lining…rain and wind let up at the end of the round. Just fine mist. Second to last hole I hit a great drive that just faded ofer the trap on the left of the fairway and was sitting barely in the short grass. Cart paths only and I thought I was about 120 out into the now 20 mph wind. I brought a 9 iron. I find out I am 145 to the pin. I said fuck it. I didn’t want to walk back to the cart. I’m just going to hit a low cut, keep it out of the wind and my 155 yard club will get me there. I stuck it 8 feet from the pin. Of course, I miss the putt and get par.
Last hole, tiny landing area if you hit driver, but it is only 323 yards. I nail one up by the green about 25 yards out but in the first cut of high rough. Somehow I am able to get my 53* wedge under the ball and pop it onto the green 15 feet from the cup. I drain the bird to finish the day. 1 under….on the last 2 holes.
Yeah, I’ll keep coming back.
Rack Victoria, unrack God and his choice of weather for the day, rack my uncle for staking the 200+ it must have cost for my guest fee, unrack my choice of bringing only brand new Pro V1’s to the tourney and rack the ever-loving hell out of beer cooler on every other hole.[/Dinsdale]
