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January 08, 2006
Knocking on the door again
Before I get packed off in a box, one of my goals is to post a golf score beginning with 7. I've only had a few legitimate chances to break 80, but two of them have come in the past couple of weeks. Yesterday's adventure went roughly like this:
I go down to Prescott and tee it up on the North Course at Antelope Hills. Starting off eight over par after seven holes, I proceed to make 9 consecutive pars. Not really thinking too much about it until after the 15th, at which point I think, "hey, even-par for the back nine -- that means I have to go one-under over the last three holes to shoot 44-35-79." A par on 16 means I need to birdie either 17 (478-yard par-5) or 18 (392-yard par-4).
Second shot on 17, I get tentative with a 4-iron and practically lateral it -- fortunately, it hits a brick OB wall and caroms back into play. I almost recover and make par, but can't quite coax in a putt from the fringe.
So I think I have to make 2 on 18. My tee shot isn't bad, but it's in the left rough, leaving about 185 yards downhill to the green, with some overhanging branches from a tall poplar. Trying to hole the shot, I go for broke, attempting a low borer with a 4-wood. But I come across it, pull it wide left, and it hits the poplar and bounces OB.
Drop, hit 3-iron (maybe a better choice), miss the green... etc. End up making a snowman. OK, that's the price you pay for trying a Hail Mary shot and failing. I shove the card in my pocket and head home; or actually, to meet Meg and a friend at a restaurant in Flagstaff.
Later in the evening, I sit down at my desk, take out the card, and add up the back nine: 4, 4, 4, 4, 3, 4 ,3, 6, 8: um, 40? Wait a minute: five over par -- shouldn't it be 41?
At this point, I finally look up and realize that THE COURSE IS NOT PAR-72, IT'S PAR-71 (36-35). Even-par on the last two holes would have done the trick! This would change the strategy on 17 -- maybe not so aggressive trying to make birdie. And even assuming the bogey on 17, there was no need to hole that second shot on 18! Had I realized that, I'd have tried a higher-percentage shot -- maybe punching something down in front of the green to set up a birdie chip. Having already chipped in twice on the back nine, a third one would not have seemed impossible. AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!
Oh, well -- this is why we keep coming back and trying again. And I certainly shouldn't be complaining -- 84 isn't a bad score on the 6551-yard North course (although driving distances were aided by the winter dormant-grass conditions).
Posted by Urbie at January 8, 2006 01:09 AM