I had one of my better rounds ever this past week. On Wednesday, C.J. and I took on Bruce in a best ball/score match. I figured C.J. and I had a fair chance to beat Bruce if we worked together.
As it turned out, Bruce struggled (for Bruce) and C.J. and I worked really well together. We went one up right away because Bruce struggled his way to an eight. Then we went two up with our two pars to his bogey on #2. We stayed at two up on #3 when Bruce and I matched each other with pars, and then we all got bogeys on #4. We went three up on #5 with our two pars to his bogey again. On #7, he got it back to just two down with a birdie (more like the Bruce we know). It was on this hole I figured out that...
Bruce wasn’t paying attention to match play; rather, he was looking only at stroke play. By the end of the front nine, we were ahead by five strokes. We had won, but Bruce and I chose to continue the match the very next day after I had called to see if he wanted to go back and finish the full round.
The challenge for me was to stay ahead of a charging Bruce for nine holes with a five stroke lead. It was terrifying! I would have rather been behind, but it was a true test of my abilities and Bruce’s. He gave it a great effort, shooting a 36, just plus one! Normally, that would have been the score to do it, but not this time. I managed to keep my confident swing and my low score going from the day before. After 18 holes, I was able to get it to just six over for a super 78. Admittedly, luck and some smoother greens had something to do with it, especially on holes #16 and #17.
On #16, I had missed the green to the right. My lie was on the mud between the grassy clumps, so my chip clunked out and flew across the green. My second chip was a little better, but not by much. It headed toward the hole with too much speed, so it rolled past and went down the hill. It managed to stay on the green this time, but it was 25 feet away. Well, that putt rolled in for a bogey, allowing only one stroke to his par when it could have easily been two or three strokes instead.
On #17, I had quite the adventure. When we played this past weekend, C.J. commented that we should name this hole the “Dingwall Hole,” since Bruce has it mastered. He swings for the green every time, ends up just a pitch or a chip away, and he usually earns a birdie or a par. He has an advantage every time we come to #17 with his bold, consistent play.
Contrarily, I play it conservatively and not always very well. I swing my approach wedge to the corner for my tee shot, and I hope for a 9-iron or a PW for my approach from there. It doesn’t always work out, though. This time, my approach wedge was skulled and pushed, so I ended up farther away than I wanted and in the taller grass. My 8-iron approach was pulled badly, and it headed straight for the top of the huge cottonwood that guards the green from approaches just like this one. It rattled around a bit before it was spit back to the right side of the fairway.
From my clean lie on the fairway and from 100 yards out, I used my sand wedge to swing my ball onto the green. I still had 25 feet, a similar distance to the putt on the previous hole, but this time it was downhill and it broke from left to right. On #16, it was all uphill and mostly straight. This one slid in for an amazing par, though, and it really helped me keep the momentum I needed to head to the final hole.
I ended up shooting a 39 on both nines for a total 78. I had managed to hold off a charging Bruce...barely.
As it turned out, Bruce struggled (for Bruce) and C.J. and I worked really well together. We went one up right away because Bruce struggled his way to an eight. Then we went two up with our two pars to his bogey on #2. We stayed at two up on #3 when Bruce and I matched each other with pars, and then we all got bogeys on #4. We went three up on #5 with our two pars to his bogey again. On #7, he got it back to just two down with a birdie (more like the Bruce we know). It was on this hole I figured out that...
Bruce wasn’t paying attention to match play; rather, he was looking only at stroke play. By the end of the front nine, we were ahead by five strokes. We had won, but Bruce and I chose to continue the match the very next day after I had called to see if he wanted to go back and finish the full round.
The challenge for me was to stay ahead of a charging Bruce for nine holes with a five stroke lead. It was terrifying! I would have rather been behind, but it was a true test of my abilities and Bruce’s. He gave it a great effort, shooting a 36, just plus one! Normally, that would have been the score to do it, but not this time. I managed to keep my confident swing and my low score going from the day before. After 18 holes, I was able to get it to just six over for a super 78. Admittedly, luck and some smoother greens had something to do with it, especially on holes #16 and #17.
On #16, I had missed the green to the right. My lie was on the mud between the grassy clumps, so my chip clunked out and flew across the green. My second chip was a little better, but not by much. It headed toward the hole with too much speed, so it rolled past and went down the hill. It managed to stay on the green this time, but it was 25 feet away. Well, that putt rolled in for a bogey, allowing only one stroke to his par when it could have easily been two or three strokes instead.
On #17, I had quite the adventure. When we played this past weekend, C.J. commented that we should name this hole the “Dingwall Hole,” since Bruce has it mastered. He swings for the green every time, ends up just a pitch or a chip away, and he usually earns a birdie or a par. He has an advantage every time we come to #17 with his bold, consistent play.
Contrarily, I play it conservatively and not always very well. I swing my approach wedge to the corner for my tee shot, and I hope for a 9-iron or a PW for my approach from there. It doesn’t always work out, though. This time, my approach wedge was skulled and pushed, so I ended up farther away than I wanted and in the taller grass. My 8-iron approach was pulled badly, and it headed straight for the top of the huge cottonwood that guards the green from approaches just like this one. It rattled around a bit before it was spit back to the right side of the fairway.
From my clean lie on the fairway and from 100 yards out, I used my sand wedge to swing my ball onto the green. I still had 25 feet, a similar distance to the putt on the previous hole, but this time it was downhill and it broke from left to right. On #16, it was all uphill and mostly straight. This one slid in for an amazing par, though, and it really helped me keep the momentum I needed to head to the final hole.
I ended up shooting a 39 on both nines for a total 78. I had managed to hold off a charging Bruce...barely.
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