UPDATED: Best (9 Hole) Rounds Ever!

[MaxEntropy]

In the “How’d You Play” thread, I threatened to create a blow-by-blow of my round from league Tuesday evening. It’s been a busy week at work, but here it is….

In case you don’t read that thread regularly, on Tuesday evening I shot an even par 35 in league – all facets of my game were mostly working simultaneously. 7 pars, a birdie, and a (3-putt) bogey. I’ve had a few +1, +2, +3 nines, but never ended up E, especially since it was mostly stress-free. At any rate, here is the hole-by-hole:

Hole 1 – 308 yard par 4

The layout of this hole takes driver out of my hands. With the tee box on the left side and how close the trees on the left are, I can’t aim as far left as I’d like. The times I have hit driver, I mostly end up in the trees on the right. A few years ago, I finally decided the prudent play was to hit a 200-ish yard drive (3H until I replaced it with a 7W). A well-hit shot will not reach the bunker on the right side and leaves 100-ish yards to the green. Tuesday, I hit the 7W a little out on the toe, which turned the ball over a bit. I hit the cart path and bounced completely over the pine trees on the left. This left me about 50 yards to the middle. I have been struggling this season with the 30-60 yard shots – I swear I have some form of the yips at this distance. I shanked the second, but luckily ended up only a few inches off the fringe. Nice chip and 1-putt for par.

Hole 2 – 353 yard par 4

This hole fits my eye nicely, but I still don’t play it all that great very often. I always hit driver (even though I can and have reached the water on the left) mostly as a warmup for the 4th hole as driver is required and I don’t want it to be the first driver swing of the day. Tuesday, I hit my usual fade, but it was a push fade. Fortunately, I am long enough that I carried the trees on the right and was far enough right to be able to get over the trees in my line. I hit a GW over the trees (it did catch a couple leaves, but did not appear to effect the ball flight) to about 8-ish feet past the hole. The birdie putt was a downhill slider, so I could not really be aggressive, but I am always happy with a par on this hole.

Hole 3 – 154 yard par 3

Pin was middle/left. I’ve had “the pulls” on this hole the last few times I’ve played it, so rather than aiming left edge and trying to fade it in like normal, I aimed center just in case. This time, I hit my usual baby fade, so ended up on the far right edge of the green. A good 35-ish foot lag for a tap-in par.

Hole 4 – 380 yard par 4

This hole is into the prevailing wind, so it almost always plays longer than 380. I hit a nice drive that faded to the right 1/3rd of the fairway. Second shot was not great. I hit it pretty thin, but got a lucky bounce near the edge of the bunker guarding the right front and ended up a couple feet off the green, pin high. I hit a perfect chip that hit the center of the hole for a birdie. In the "How'd You Play" thread, I mistakenly claimed this was the hardest hole on this 9. Apparently #2 is the lowest handicap hole, this is the 2nd lowest. I always assumed this was the hardest. Oh well, still a birdie on a difficult hole.

Hole 5 – 167 yard par 3

Pin was back right and we had a pretty stiff breeze at our back. I was kind of between clubs with the “plays like” distance, so I chose the shorter club because being long on this hole (with the pin location) is all bad. I mishit the 9 iron a bit and ended up just barely on the left front edge, leaving a really long first putt. I had a good line with the first, but did not hit it hard enough, leaving about 6-7 feet for my second putt, which I barely missed. 3-putts from this distance don’t really bug me that much, especially the way this green falls away as you get close to the flag.

Hole 6 – 523 yard par 5

I really like this hole. The satellite view doesn’t do it justice. Also, Google Earth still shows the old configuration, but at least the elevation profile is accurate. This used to be holes 5 and 6. Old #5 was really dumb. It was a par 5 that was an iron off the tee to the corner, then a long 2nd shot up the hill. It has been reconfigured. The Arccos view is how it looks now and I think it is much better. Tee shot is uphill. The goal is the get up on the flat area, but with a really, really good tee shot and firm ground, there is a slight chance of catching the downhill (making a HUGE drive), leaving an iron for the second shot: if the ball reaches the bottom of the hill, it can be 7-9 iron to the green. I just caught the right rough. The tree on the right did not interfere with my 2nd. Decent chip, but a bit long. 2-putt par.

Hole 7 – 456 yard par 5

I hit a really good tee shot into the wind and ended up in the middle of the fairway with about 210 to the front edge, but was playing more like 220. A good 3W would be too far, so I pulled a 7W. I also tried something dumb, even though it did not end up hurting me. I put the ball back in my stance to try to keep it out of the wind a bit. I didn’t get the face closed, so I flared it right. 3rd shot was almost really good, but a few feet short and bounced in the rough and trickled onto the fringe. 2-putt par (OK, technically a 1-putt, but I hit the ball with the putter twice).

Hole 8 – 406 yard par 4

This hole has been one of the harder ones for me due to the right side being death. As I have mentioned a couple times, many of the trees on the left no longer exist, which has made this hole much easier for me. Aim left – a straight drive is playable more often than not and my usual fade is in the fairway. Solid tee shot with an anti-right swing and a bit of a pull meant I was way left, but no big deal – I had a good look for the 2nd. Decently close approach, but even though I’ve played this course many, many times, this green still confuses me – I know what it’s going to do, but my eyes don’t see it and my feet don’t feel it so I struggle to believe what I know it will do. 2-putt par.

Hole 9 – 149 yard par 3

Slightly downhill and downwind. Tees back, pin back so actual yardage was longer, but “plays like” was pretty close to the yardage on the card. I knew I needed a good shot and got one. Nearly pin high, to the left edge of the green as the ball didn’t fade. 2-putt par for a 35!

Strangely, I never felt any nerves even though I was intimately aware of where I stood down the stretch and felt comfortable with what was happening, especially once I saw the tee shot on 8 NOT flare into the woods.

So there it is – my best 9 hole round ever. There was some luck, there was some skill, and I didn’t do anything too terribly dumb - just tried to play boring golf. Now I know I can put it all together, I just need to do it for a full 18. I hope this can happen more as it felt really good. I'm playing this weekend with @MattF, @DiscipleofPenick, and @Mr_Theoo about halfway to Columbus. I'd really, really like it if I played like this again.

By the way, at risk of “jinxing” myself, I am a combined -1 on holes 2 and 4 (hardest and 2nd hardest) for this season. Most of the time I am satisfied (or more accurately, not terribly dissatisfied?) with bogey on either of these holes.

Thanks for reading, just wanted to share my fun.

Edited May 3 by MaxEntropy

[MaxEntropy]

I'm happy to update this thread! Last night, I had a personal best on the back 9 - 38 (+2). It was not nearly as boring as the above round on the front and took some more scrambling, but here are some details:

Hole 10 - 315 yard par 4

Good starting hole to ease into a round. Not too much trouble, although a really bad flare can (and has) end up across the street. I can usually carry the bunker, so I don't even think about it. Decent drive just in the left rough. 2nd shot was a really bad push and got a crappy bounce away from the green. Tried to get too cute with the 3rd shot, decent chip for 4th for 1-putt bogey to start.

Hole 11 - 485 yard par 5

The elevation profile for this hole is pretty similar to #6 above. Even though it is shorter than #6, I've never put two good shots together to get there in 2, but if you can get your drive up to the flat area, it should be reachable. Prevailing wind is normally right-to-left on this hole, but last night it was mostly into the wind. Good drive up to the flat, good 3w to about 20 feet short of the green, good chip to about 4 feet and missed the birdie putt (!!!). The is one of the trickier greens on the course - severely sloped from back-to-front. I left my 3rd shot just short, leaving a relatively easy birdie. Another guy in our group was on a similar line so I knew exactly what would happen, I just pushed it. Opportunity wasted.

Hole 12 - 193 yard par 3

This is a pretty difficult par 3. It almost never plays as long as the number on the card as the prevailing wind helps a bit. It was a lot of help last night, so I pulled a 7 iron hoping for middle of the green with a back pin. A solid 6 could have been too long. I hit the 7 a bit thick, but straight as a string, ending up in the rough just short and left. Decent chip, but not great. 2-putt bogey.

Hole 13 - 398 yard par 4

I feel like par is always a good score on this hole and I am rarely disappointed with a bogey. I pulled my tee shot among some trees on the left, but there is a sweet spot in those trees where you can actually have a shot if you can get the ball up quickly. I would have liked to have been about 20 feet further left, but I still had something I could do. I opened up a wedge some to try to facilitate a fade/slice but hit it dead straight. As I'm watching it fly, I'm thinking "no big deal, I should catch the left side of the green... WAIT! Is the wind pushing that ball to the pond?!?! Oh crap!" My opponent saw it bounce and thankfully the rough on the bank is pretty thick, so the ball stopped. I hit a really nice chip and made the par putt.

Hole 14 - 493 yard par 5

This hole plays shorter than the number on the card as it is usually downwind and the landing area for 2nd shot is downhill and feeds to the green. Long is really, really bad, so I usually play one less club than the front number. I had a good drive and was sitting about 200 out. That would normally be a 7w, so I pulled my 4h. I hit it a little thin so the ball came out much lower than normal, but on a perfect line. The ball rolled just through the back into the rough. Good chip, 1-putt birdie.

Hole 15 - 397 yard par 4

Last year, this hole was my nemesis. I tripled it something crazy like 4 straight time (pulled tee shot into the woods and 3rd shot never has a chance to go for green, etc.). This year hasn't been as bad, but I have been ending up among the trees on the right. Same thing happened last night, but I had a cleaner view for my punch that I tried to fade into the green. It didn't fade as much as needed, but I was just left of the green. Really good chip that just died into the hole for back-to-back birdies. (I hadn't noticed that Arccos has the scaling wrong on this hole and the next 2 - apparently time to send them an email.)

Hole 16 - 334 yard par 4

There really isn't much trouble on this hole, but right can be an issue. I pushed the tee ball, but it was very solid. It had to have hit the far tree on the right and kicked it forward (either that or cart path, but no scars on the ball). Whatever, I'll take it. Pretty average second shot, that I just hit a bit too hard and rolled through the green. 3rd shot was pretty average as well. 2-putt bogey.

Hole 17 - 164 yard par 3

Uphill, into the wind with a pretty nasty false front can make this hole a little tricky. "Plays like" last night was about 175, which is a pretty normal 6 for me. I hit it dead straight but pulled it. Thankfully, it did not hit the cart path. Delicate 2nd shot (since I short-sided myself). I don't think I could have hit a better 2nd shot - just barely reached the fringe and rolled to about 4 feet. Slight misread and I pushed the par putt by on the high side for a bogey. Another wasted opportunity.

Hole 18 - 354 yard par 4

The hardest part about this hole is how narrow it is. It's something like ~20 yards between the bunker and the trees on the left. Fortunately, I can carry the bunker so that opens it up a bit, but there are some small trees on the right that are hard to see in the satellite view. I hit a solid drive but had tree trouble. I hit an 8i punch that looked really good but rolled out to the back of the green (I'm always happy with a punch that ends up on the green). First putt was pretty pitiful, ending up about 6 feet short, but fortunately made the par putt.

So there it is - 2 birdies, 4 bogies, 3 pars for a +2. I know I had some luck, but I can't help but think about the two wasted opportunities in the missed short putts - if I make those and everything else stays the same, I'm at E for the 9. Oh well, I am thrilled with a 38 on this 9 - across our entire league, the back averages 4 strokes harder than the front. For me, it is 2 strokes harder (I'm a nerd and have tracked all my league rounds since 2020). 

Both last night and three weeks ago, I really wanted to make the turn and keep going to see if I could keep it going for 18, but the course is always really busy around the time we are finishing. Maybe someday....

Edited May 22 by MaxEntropy