I was planning to take this weekend off from golf because rain was forecast, but a friend called this morning when the weather appeared to be clearing, so I agreed to join him. It turned out to be a perfect day - blue skies with big cumulus clouds and mild winds. If anyone spent the day watching the AT&T at Pebble Beach today, you got a glimpse of how nice it was here on the Central Coast. I live about two and half hours south of Pebble Beach. The recent storm passed and left us with a gorgeous day.


Monarch Dunes 9th, photo by Aidan Bradley

We played Monarch Dunes Golf Club in Nipomo which is located just 4 miles inland from the Pacific Ocean and Guadalupe Dunes, south of Pismo Beach. The eleventh tee provided incredible views of the dunes and ocean today.

I was especially excited about playing today too after getting some good suggestions from a couple golfers who posted comments on yesterday's blog entry. I've been collapsing at the end of some great rounds lately, and I was eager to try out their advice to finish strong.

I started with a good drive on the challenging first hole, followed by a 5-iron in which landed on the right edge of the green, 50 feet from the pin. I made a great lag putt, leaving me with an easy 2-footer. I missed it to start off with a 3-putt bogie.

My drive on 2 ended up just right of the fairway, behind a tree. I cut a wedge around the tree from 120 yards out and landed short of the green. I pitched up to about 3 feet, but followed with another missed putt for bogie #2.

I didn't get discouraged and focused instead on how great it was to be out with a good friend on an empty course and on such a beautiful day. I decided right there to let go of any concerns about score and to just enjoy the round. I knew a great round would eventually come, I just needed to stay patient.

I parred the next 4 holes, then birdied seven after sinking a 25-foot putt. I parred eight and nine, and finished the front just 1-over!

I hit a pretty poor drive on the par 4 tenth, leaving me about 230 yards out with an uphill approach into the wind. I hit a great 3-wood, but came up short of the green. I pitched my third shot over a bunker to about 4 feet and made the putt for par.

I hit a 6-iron into the wind on the downhill 180 yard par 3 eleventh overlooking the ocean, to about 6 feet from the pin. I made the putt for another birdie, getting me to even par.

At this point in the round, I didn't know my score. I took the advice of one of my readers and didn't tally my score until the end of the round and just kept taking things one shot at a time. I usually don't record my score on a scorecard, but keep track in my head of how many strokes I am above par. Today I decided to write down my scores on each hole, but not keep track of the total. This seemed to help me remain unattached and unaware of my score throughout the round.

I shot another par on twelve, but managed another 3-putt on thirteen for bogie, missing another 2-foot putt. I came through and followed up the bogie with pars on fourteen and fifteen.

So, I walked up to 16 just 1-over par, but at the time unaware of my actual score. I knew I had a good round going, but didn't focus on that. I actually didn't realize I was scoring this well, since all I remembered was all the missed short putts. On the sixteenth green, I remembered the advice from another reader who suggested I treat the last 3 holes like a new round. I did just that. I made a mental note that I'd just finished a good 15 hole round and was starting a new 3-hole round. I wasn't feeling any pressure to score.

I shot a par on both sixteen and seventeen. I'd now played the last 15 holes in 1-under par and was 1-over for the round! I walked up to eighteen unaware that I was shooting my best-ever round. Although I shot a 1-under 71 a couple months ago at another local course, it was from the white tees with a slope of only 124. Today, I was playing the gold tees on a harder course, with a slope of 135. Being 1-over after 17 at Monarch Dunes is quite an accomplishment.

My drive on 18 faded a little too far right, but stayed out of the eucalyptus grove bordering the fairway. I hit a sand wedge from 106 yards out just a little too strong and ended up on the upper tier of the green, above the pin. I made a pretty nice downhill sloping putt from 30-40 feet, leaving my ball just 3 feet below the hole for par. Unfortunately, I missed the putt slightly right and ended with bogie and my third 3-putt for the round.

I then tallied my score and learned I'd shot 1-over on both nines to end with a 2-over 73, beating my previous 3 best rounds of 75 at this course! The score was rated with an index of 1.9, beating my previous best 2.1 from the 1-under round just mentioned. I can't help but consider what could have been if I hadn't missed 4 putts from within 3 feet. Nevertheless, I'm thrilled!

My index has now trended down to an all-time low of 4.1. Thank you to Nolan and Greg, whose responses to my last post helped make this career round possible!

Labels: Courses, Monarch Dunes, Rounds