I did it, I finally broke 70! My goal for this forth year of playing golf and my last year before turning fifty is to shoot my first round in the sixties. It happened this weekend at Glen Annie Golf Club in Goleta, CA. I shot a tidy 3-under 68, recording 4 birdies and only 1 bogie! I didn't even drive the ball well. But I was hitting my irons solid and finally making putts!


Glen Annie #2, by Aidan Bradley

I've flurted with the 60's on many occasions over the past 2 years, once even from the back tees on my home course (6810 yards, 73.0/137). But I've always fallen short down the stretch, usually on the final hole. I do however play very challenging courses nearly every round, where much better golfers than me rarely break 70. It's not like I've been making it easy on myself to reach this goal. I'm confident that I would have broken 70 much earlier if I'd been playing shorter or easier courses. That's what I did this weekend.

We played Glen Annie from the white tees (5945 yards, 68.9/125). Although the course is short, it isn't easy. The course has a ton of elevation changes, just enough trees, and some narly rough. It's short overall length is primary due to a handful of short par 3's and 4's. There's plenty of long holes too. In our group of eight solid golfers, only one other player broke 80 that day. It was especially challenging for me, being my first time playing the course. I usually tack on a few extra strokes the first few times I play a course. But I let go of any expectations of playing well and just played.

I got away with a wayward drive on the 1st hole, then hit my 4-hybrid from 190 yards way uphill to a bunker left of the green. I got up and down for par. I birdied the short par 3 2nd and short par 4 3rd to get to a quick 2-under. My only hiccup on the front nine was when I tried to reach the uphill 504 yard par 5 7th in 2 and hit my long approach into a lake bordering the right-side of the narrow fairway. I dropped 120 yards out, but came up short of the green with my gap wedge. I then rattled the pin with my chip, nearly holing it, leaving me an easy tap-in for bogie. I finished the front nine at 1-under.

I started the back nine with another poor drive that never really got airborne and ran to about 220 yards out, barely reaching the fairway. I then cut the right dogleg with an impressive 2-hybrid over some trees, leaving me about 100 yards out. I tucked a lob wedge to about 10 feet and sunk the putt for birdie. My best shot of the day came on the short downhill 270 yard par 4 12th. I hit my driver right over the pin, landing the back of the green and bounced about 1 foot to the back fringe. I had a testy downhill putt for eagle. I just had to get the ball moving or I'd run down to the front of the green. My speed was good, but my line was just off. I settled for an easy birdie. I made an impressive up-n-down from above the hole in some deep rough on 15. I continued making pars through 17.

On the final hole, I hit the fairway and landed the middle of the green on my approach. I knew I had a good round going. I didn't know I was 3-under. I didn't know I had a chance to break 70. I knew I had choked in similar situations in the past. I decided to let go of the results and stayed calm and relaxed over my lengthy putt. I still came up a little short, leaving a testy 4 footer for par.

All day, I'd avoided 3-putts and managed to 1-putt on 8 holes!. Just the day before, I tried out a new putting stance on the practice green on my home course. I got down low and really put some extra weight on my front foot. For some reason, it helped me not only to make a solid stroke, but to see the line better and get the ball moving along that line. It was obviously working! Standing over my 4-foot putt on 18, I relaxed and decided to keep trusting my new putting stance. I picked the right edge and made a solid stroke. It turned slightly left and dropped! I came in 2-under on the back nine with no bogies. I'd just shot my first round of 68! The next best score from our group was 79.

What surprised me about the round is that I didn't feel like I was playing any better than usual. Like always, I made a couple bad shots. But I got up-n-down when I needed to and didn't miss any putts I felt I should make. And my ball striking with my irons was excellent. Like any round though, I left shots on the course. I lipped out 2 makable birdie putts and never should have hit that ball in the water on 7. Regardless, the experience was very rewarding - especially learning that I could actually putt!

This was truly an artful round. I never felt anxiety over a single shot. I just stood over the ball, picked my target, and swung the club. I trusted my swing, accepted the results and moved on. I let go of the outcome and stayed open to the possibility that this could be an artful round! It really was that simple.

Labels: Glen Annie, Rounds