Course Rating: N/A Slope: N/A Par: 72 My Score: 113

Putts: 38 Fairways: 4 G.I.R.: 0 Sand Saves: 0 Up & Down: 1 Penalties: 2

I played Timber Point again only this time I played with my good friend Joe S. and there was a little twist. There was a lot of rain the night before so my favorite part of the course, the Blue Course, was closed. That would mean that we would have to play the Red Course for both the front and the back nine. I wasn’t really happy about it but there was no choice. The conditions were wet and windy making for a challenging and cold day

The Front Nine

We started out as a twosome and I got off to a quick start with a bogey on the first hole. Finally I was able to play on some greens that weren’t covered with sand and I was pleased to say the least. I was using my new sand wedge for the first time (review to be posted after a couple more rounds) and wasn’t really hitting it that well. On the second hole my par 3 woes continued as I ended up pin high about 15 yards to the right of the elevated green. In addition to bad tee shots on par 3 holes I also have continued to chip and pitch very poorly resulting in a double bogey.

In general I was very average for this half of the round. The things that I usually do well, putt and hit my irons, I did well with a few good drives and short shots mixed in. My two problem holes besides the the par 3s are the 6th and 7th. The 6th is a short par 4 but the green is well protected on either side with bunkers that are well below the putting surface and it also slopes from front to back. I can not seem to hit this green and get the ball to stay on and today was no different. I hit the edge of the green in my first attempt and the ball slide off and into the right side bunker. The second time around I sliced my approach right into the bunker.

The 7th is a dog leg left with a water hazard in play off the tee to the right. I have never hit a tee shot into this fairway in about 20 rounds. This attempt was no different as I sliced it over the cart path and right into the water hazrd for my first lost ball and penalty of the day. I was able to come back on the second attempt of the day and get the ball in the fairway off the tee which is great but I was not able to capitalize, more on that in the next section on the back nine.

The Fall Off… I Mean Back Nine

As you can tell from the heading I was not able to continue my decent play the second time around. Part of it may have been bordom in playing the same holes or being tired but I was way worse in all aspects. It wasn’t just the score, 59, that was really disappointing, most of the shots that I hit just weren’t good. I was not transfering my weight well at all and when I stay on my back foot I slice the ball really bad. There were a couple of highlights, a putt in from a foot off the green on the 16th and a pitching wedge onto the green on the 14th after a poor tee shot, but most of these were followed by a 3 putt or a terrible iron.

Some Positive, Some Negatives

As far as overall progress this season I think I am just about where I expted considering I have had no lessons and only a couple of practice sessions. My GPS is really helping me manage the course becuase I am now able to hit irons that give me the distance I need instead of just trying to get it as close as possible to the green. I am hoping that this will result in getting the ball closer to the hole for my first putt and in turn reduce the number of 3 putts that I have.

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