I've had a few bad starts in recent rounds, but kept the faith that better holes were coming. I remained patient and refused to give up. I was rewarded each time.


Golfers Don't Give Up by lolla_sig at flickr.com

I played in a men's tournament last Sunday on a blustery day and struggled to hit many greens in regulation. I only hit six greens! I missed a few too many fairways too. Just to make the day even more challenging, the greenskeeper gave us some pretty nasty pin placements too.

On the par 4 seventh, a golfer in my foursome with a 3 handicap got on in 2, then 5-putted! Any missed putt just wouldn't stay near the hole. On the following hole, the pin was placed on the upslope in the back-left corner of the green. I missed my 8 foot birdie putt by inches and rolled down the bank 4 feet from the hole. I barely missed my return putt, and rolled back to the same spot. I made my third putt for bogie. I added one more 3-putt on the ninth for a double bogie after getting my first birdie on the par 3 eighth.

For a stretch of seven holes in the middle of the round, I went 7-over. I went into fifteen 9 over par - not the kind of round I was hoping for, and certainly not in the running for a top-three finish. Still, I was pretty sure, the majority of the field was struggling for pars right along with me, thanks to the wind and challenging pin placements. I hung in there and pared the long par 3 fifteenth from off the green.

But I hit a horrible drive on sixteen, landing way right near some bushes, just a couple feet from a small shed. I managed to move the ball forward about 20 yards with a pitching wedge and ended up on the upslope of a huge mound in long fescue. The mound was so large that it obscured my view of the flag. I was only about 85 yards out, but knew I'd need a huge swing with a sand wedge to get the ball loose. I picked a spot on the top of the mound to fly over and let it rip. The ball flew so high up in the air, I knew I'd hit it pure. I ran up to the top of the mound to watch. It finally landed on the back fringe above the hole and rolled back to the middle of the green to within 4 feet of the pin. I made the putt for par! I made another par on seventeen. At least I was keeping the round under control.

Then I hit a bomb on eighteen, carrying a ridge about 240 yards out in the fairway with plenty of room to spare, allowing the ball to catch the downslope to run towards the green. I'd hit good drives here before, but this was among the best I'd seen. I got to my ball and found it about 20 yards short of the center of the green. I'd hit a 365 yard drive on this 385 yard par 4! I pitched up and made another 4-footer for birdie!

I came in with a respectable 8-over 79. Only 3 golfers in a field of 40 shot lower rounds that day.

Tuesday, I played the course again with my regular foursome. I started off worse than Sunday. The winds were even stronger and it was noticeably colder. My score reflected it. I finished the front nine 6-over after shooting 2 bogies and 2 double bogies. I failed to tally a birdie.

I made a good par on ten, one of the hardest par 4's I've ever played, hitting a good drive and approach into a strong headwind. I decided right there to keep at it. If I finished the back at 2-over, I'd still be able to break 80.

I followed with another par on the par 3 eleventh, another difficult hole with a strong headwind off the ocean, and one more on the twelfth.

I finally landed an approach close to the pin on thirteen and made the 5-footer for my first birdie. I followed that with great recoveries on fourteen and fifteen for pars. My first bogie on the back then came on sixteen after failing to hit the green from a fairway bunker. So far, I'd kept the back nine to even par.

After finally learning to finish strong in the past month, I knew I had it in me to come in with a good score, but I surprised myself on the next 2 holes.

I nearly hit a 300 yard drive on the par 5 seventeenth and hit the green in two with my 5-wood. Two putts later I had another birdie. I then hit another extraordinary drive on eighteen, just 10 yards short of the drive I hit on Sunday! I pitched this approach to 2 feet and made my second birdie in a row and third birdie in the last 6 holes, finishing the back 2-under!

This became my fourth-ever 75 at Monarch Dunes, second only to my one and only par round, which I shot just last week. I'm especially happy about this round because I didn't give up after such a poor start and after only hitting 8 greens and 8 fairways all day. The round also lowered my index to an all-time low 3.4!

Labels: Disciplines, Monarch Dunes, Rounds