Replicants everywhere at Tour 18 Houston.

For my latest round I ventured out toward Humble to play Tour 18 Houston, a course that has "simulations" of holes that can be found on other famous courses in the country. Unlike Golden Ocala Golf Club, the holes here are not quite as detailed and they don't copy any holes from other places in the world. Still, it was an interesting course concpet and its the kind of setup that I find fun to play.

The course starts with the 18th at Harbour Town Golf Links, which to me seems like a hole to end with, not start with. Their version looks like this :

The 1st hole at Tour 18 Houston

I butchered it like it was the real thing though. I hit a good drive on this 420 yard monster of an opener. I then chunked a 4-iron into the junk short of the green. I found the ball and played it out, wedged on fairly close but missed the bogey putt. The green seems awfully small though, maybe the real thing is that small but for such a long par-4 I'd have thought it would have been a bit larger.

Next we have their rendition of the 6th at Bay Hill. Interesting that they chose this hole as the 18th would have been the common choice. I'm not sure many people would know of this one but having been to the Arnie Classic a few times I thought it did a reasonable job of keeping the terrifying carry over the water front and center in your mind, especially if you are prone to missing left :

I hit three good shots here and walked away with par. The threesome that I was paired with did not do so well. If I remember correctly they combined to shoot 34 on this hole. Yeah, it was a slow day and I haven't mentioned the fivesome in front of the foursome that was hacking it up in front of us... oh, wait, meh, more on that later. Maybe.

I birdied the next hole, which is supposed to be the 3rd hole at Pinehurst #2. It's kinda closeish, though from what I could tell a trap was missing from around the green. Hey, I didn't know it at the time so I really shouldn't complain after carding a 3. I promptly gave that birdie back with a 3-putt bogey on the 5th, the copy of the 18th at The Inverness Club. Now we get to some of the fun stuff at "Amen Corner", or their version of it :

The 11th at Augusta National, portrayed by the 5th hole at Tour 18 Houston

The 6th hole is an attempt at Augusta #12

The 7th hole posing as #13 at Augusta

I parred all three holes. On the 5th I hooked a drive left and left myself about 170 yards to a front pin, not exactly ideal for this hole. Even better was that my ball with perched on a tall patch of grass that was even taller than the tee I use for my driver. I managed to pick it clean and had about 15 feet for birdie, a putt that I would miss on the high side.

I hit the green on the 6th hole but it was well to the right, a common theme for me lately. I was happy the ball was dry as I wasn't sure it would make it across the creek. I hit a good drive on the 7th but I was just a little too far back to have a good shot at going for the green in two so I laid up. I didn't hit it well and left myself about 130-135 yards to the hole. I hit 9-iron that I thought was going to be good, and I guess technically it was, however my ball landed at the top of the ridge in front of that back right part of the green and it rolled back down. I did well to take only two putts to get my par.

So after a double bogey start I've now hit 6 straight greens in regulation and remained at 2-over for the round. I was driving the ball fairly well also, the only bad one was that hook on the 5th. The iron shots were kinda iffy sometimes and I was still hitting them shortish. I was getting around somehow though. On the 8th, which is allegedly the 4th hole at La Costa's Champions Course. The thing is, that hole is a dogleg left, this one goes right. Anywho, I hit another good drive but came up slightly short on the approach. I didn't hit a great chip but I had a decent chance to save par, but missed.

We now come to their version of the 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass :

The famous island green, in non-facsimile

All four of the fellas playing ahead of us found aqua, so their up there at the drop zone, chipping for par.I managed to get my ball a little past pin high to the right, leaving myself a downhill 20-footer for birdie, which I missed high on. Again, I was happy I was dry and made par for a 39 on the front.

After somehow making par on the 10th hole (which was the 10th at the old Desert Inn), we moved on to the 11th hole, a copy of the 6th hole on Disney's Magnolia Course :

The 11th hole, complete with a weak attempt at The Mouse's Ears

How close a copy this one might be is lost on me, I've never played the Magnolia Course (surprising, I know, I've hit all of the others). I coaxed my ball onto the front right of the green and made a par. From here it was mostly downhill though as all of the mirrors I've been using started to crack from side to side.

I bogeyed the next hole, which was tailored after the 3rd at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth. I don't have a picture of it (its not that visually appealing) but they set up the hole poorly here. The hole is loooong and doglegs to the left, but they have houses just off the fairway at the bend of the dogleg. The tee aims you that way a bit also and it is VERY easy to hit a drive through the corner and into a beer that is sitting on some dude's patio table. In fact, another hint might be that many of the houses had buckets hanging on their fence full of golf balls, free to take at your leisure if one desired.

The 13th hole is one from Pebble Beach. Don't get too excited. Its not the 18th, or the 7th, or the 17th, or the 9th, or whatever else you can picture in your head. Since Texas seems to be missing part of the Pacific coastline they had to use the par-5 14th, an uphill beast of a hole. Again, this is Texas so our copy is dead flat. I hit a good drive but as the hole is playing 553 yards we're not thinking about reaching it in two. I hit 3 wood well but it went a little left. I had to knock down my third shot under some branches in an effort to get to the front right side of the green but I hit it just a little too hard and it rolled into the bunker. Could have been worse though. I hit a decent shot from there but misjudged the speed of the par putt and knocked it by about 6 feet. I then missed that one too and took a bad seven.

I followed that debacle up with a bogey on the 14th, which is the 3rd at Oakmont Country Club, complete with an attempt at the church pew bunkering. I managed a par on the next hole, which is supposed to be the 8th at Shinnecock Hills. We then arrive at the 16th hole, a rendition of the 11th hole on the East Course at Merion Golf Club :

The approach at the 16th hole at Tour 18 Houston

The tee shot was downhill and less than driver was called for. I hit a poor 3-wood to the left and into the hazard down the left... well, actually I was on the other side of it as it was just a little stream of water. I pitched back to the fairway and had a chance to at least hit the green and try for par. Instead I half-skulled a wedge over the right side of the green. I managed to get up and down after the drop for a double bogey. Quite a shame as I kinda liked the setup of this hole.

The 17th hole is fashioned after the 8th hole at Oak Tree National :

The par-3 17th at Tour 18 Houston

I'll admit I took a mulligan here. The club nearly flew out of my hand on my first attempt and I wasn't too thrilled about it. Perhaps it was because it was so hot and humid. It was probably more because I was getting a little tired at waiting on every shot while waiting for the fivesome and the foursome to get the hell out of the way. I could have played it, I kept it dry and it would have been a fairly simple pitch from just in front of that bunker to the right but I really wanted to see if I could make a better iron swing. I did, it wasn't great, but I did get on the green and make my par.

The last hole is admittedly well chosen, the 18th at what I would still simply call The Blue Monster at Doral. I hit a good drive but maybe a little more right than I should have since I left myself with 166 yards to the hole. Or I think I did, I'm not sure. I hit a 5-iron and I actually thought I hit it solid. It was a little left, which isn't good, but I thought I'd still catch the left side of the green. Nope. I didn't even clear the water. Being left didn't help, if it was on the line I wanted to be on that ball probably stays dry. That should have been plenty of club, even if I am hitting my irons a bit on the short side. That lead to another double bogey, closing the back side with a 44 to shoot 83 on the day.

The closing hole at Tour 18 Houston

I knew that eventually the band-aids would fall off and cost me some shots but I somehow still managed to hit 11 fairways and 11 greens on the round. Most of the drives were hit fairly well, one or two more so than the others, but the irons are still a weakness. Yeah, I managed to take an extra club often enough to get on the surface and stuff but I'm not really giving myself great chances at scoring when I do. Needing 35 putts didn't help but I didn't feel like I was awful, I just didn't have many that I really could expect to make. Yeah, I missed a couple of six-footers and I had two three-putt greens so maybe it really was as bad as it sounds.

I still killed the guys I was playing with though. I will say that despite a 5-hour-plus round I managed to handle all the delays really well, I can't say it affected me at all outside of the one slip I had on the 17th (and I probably could have gone back to the cart and toweled off my hands again). I'm surprised the course allowed a fivesome to go out on a Saturday morning right behind a tournament and in front of two other foursomes. One of those five was playing barefoot, maybe it was Jim McMahon... I should have asked for an autograph.

Back to the drawing board for that elusive iron swing again. I think we'll go back to BlackHorse and play the North Course this weekend and see what that one has in store for us.

The South Course at BlackHorse.

This past weekend I decided to stay right here in Cypress and play one of the two courses at BlackHorse Golf Club, which is just a mile down the road from while I live. They sent me out to the South Course and since I've not played either course I had no issue with letting them make the choice for me. Surprisingly, the first tee was wide open and I was able to start at my leisure.

The first hole was a straightaway par-4 with tress lined along both sides of the fairway. I hit a decent drive but pulled my wedge shot to the green to the left side of the green, leaving myself with about 40-50 feet for birdie. I hit a decent putt but still left it about 6-8 away for par. I thought I made that putt but it tailed away on me. From where I was a 3-putt wasn't a terrible sin, especially on the first hole.

The par-4 second hole

On the second hole (seen above) I hit my drive with a bit of the tail off to the right, toward the hazard. It wasn't too serious and it was still hit solid but while it was in the air it concerned me a bit. I ended up only being about a foot from the edge of the fairway. Again, I had a wedge for my approach only this time I managed to hit it more toward the spot I aimed for, leaving myself about 20 feet for birdie. I made that putt and went back to even par.

The par-3 fourth hole

On both the third and the fourth holes I hit indifferent iron shots to the green, each of which managing to find greenside bunkers. Neither shot was terribly difficult with all things considered, in fact the bunkers where damn near perfect, especially compared to what I've played in lately. Both times I blasted out to within two feet of the hole for tap-in pars.

The tee shot on the par-5 fifth hole

The first of the par-5 holes on this track was next. Since I didn't have an idea as to how far the water tracked down on the right side I played it safe and took a wider line to the left. I hit a good drive but managed to semi-block myself from taking a decent shot at the green in two due to some trees in between me and the green. I tried to hit 5-wood over and around them but hit it heavy, turning my go-for-it into a layup. I had about 50 yards left to the front hole location and managed to hit a lob wedge to about 5 feet. I thought that putt just had to go right but it refused my suggestion, giving me the cellophane treatment and I settled for par.

I played the next three holes bogey-par-bogey mainly due to the fact that I started to hit those weak iron shots again. I felt decent with the driver, though I wasn't exactly mashing it every time I hit that club either. This has gotten to the point that I am really starting to purposely overclub in hopes that I can avoid trying to swing too hard or out of control. Its worked for the most part as I'm at least keeping it in play. The biggest problem with the distance thing tends to be with anything longer than a 9-iron or wedge, even then I'm still hedging my bets with a longer club.

Anyway, despite this issue I found myself only two-over coming into the par-5 ninth hole :

The view from the tee of the ninth hole

This is really a pretty short par-5, measuring only 420 yards on the card from the tees I was playing. However, as you might be able to see there is trouble everywhere. There is a hazard running across the fairway that you need to carry and trees line the fairway on both sides. A hazard hides in the forest to the right and the hole just looks narrow. Naturally, I hit what would be my worse drive of the day here, snapping it hard to the left around and/or into the trees to the left. I hit a second ball since I had no idea what was really over there and managed to coax that one into the fairway.

I never did find the first ball. While the trees thinned out a bit over there I just never saw it. Of course, I have no idea just how far the ball ended up travelling or exactly how far left I hit it. I might have clipped a tree branch along the way. Whatever the case, now I lie three in the fairway, about 195 yards from the hole. The green looked as if it was sorta tucked toward the trees to the right so I had to be sure if I missed the green it was to the left. Using 5-wood I managed to hit a pretty good shot to about 25 feet left of the hole and two-putted for a bogey. Yep, what could have been.

To the back nine we go and my drive on this hole was kinda pathetic. Granted, it was humid and now the club feels like it wants to start slipping and such but I only managed to drive it about 200 yards, leaving myself a 7-iron into a 353-yard hole. I reached the green but just barely and walked away with a par despite the lack of power with either shot.

I hit better drives on the next two holes and went par-bogey, failing to get up and down from the bunker on the 12th green. This brought me to the short but attractive par-3 13th :

The 13th green

The tees were up as I only had 96 yards to the hole according to ye olde range finder so I grabbed my gap wedge and swore I was going to try and take a better cut at the ball this time. I did, though I did pull it just slightly, and ended up about 20 feet long and left. The putt for birdie had a fairly decent swing to the right and seemed a bit fast as well. While I didn't quite play enough break I did coax my ball down to tap-in range and earned my par.

The view from the 14th tee

On the 14th I hit another really weak drive and left myself about 170 yards to the green on a 370-yard par-4 that had a fairly sharp dogleg right in it. My 5-iron approach was hit a little better but it had that little leak to the right I've been getting, causing it to trickle off the green on the right. I had an iffy lie at best as the rough here can be a bit of an issue. I ended up pitching my ball much like a sand shot and got a similar result, placing it about two feet away for par.

The 15th is a par-5 that had a hazard left and another that crossed the fairway about 250 yards from the tee. I managed to navigate my ball over that crossing hazard with a rather poor layup shot but at least I was still on grass. My wedge to the green was solid for once and I now had about a 12-footer for birdie that I would go on to make. Despite the way I was hitting the ball I was even par for the back nine. I'm not sure how long I can keep this up to be quite honest.

The short par-4 16th hole

 The 16th is a short par-4 that gives you a couple of choices. You can take driver and try to go toward the green or take something less than driver and play out to the right, over or around the traps. By this time I ran into a threesome and joined them for the rest of the round. Two of them took the risky play and they told me it was about 230 yards or so to get to the little fairway over the hazard and in front of the green. Not feeling incredibly confident in my ability to accomplish that feat with a breeze in my face, I took 3-wood out to the right. I hit that pretty well, technically going through the fairway and in essence lengthening the hole. I still only had about 80 yards left so I grabbed my sand wedge and promptly hit one of those weaker filet-like shots that was lucky to get on the green. From there a three-putt for bogey, though again I'm not terrible angry about it as the hole was cut in a fairly silly place on a downslope toward the edge of the green. In fact, I think all four of us took three putts to get in since no one could gauge the speed or the break very well.... and they were members!

A look at the par-3 17th hole

Measuring 138 yards on this day I elected to hit 8-iron on the 17th hole. I hit this shot a bit more solidly but again had that little flair to the right. I caught the right side of the green and again faced a challenging first putt, this one having a ridge between me and the hole that was about 30 feet away. As what usually happens, I hit this putt a little too hard after leaving the previous putt on the last green a little short of the hill. This time I managed to make the 10-footer coming back to save my par.

The approach to the green of the par-5 18th

The closing hole is another short par-5 that gives you a chance to go for the green in two, however trouble is again everywhere. The fairway is a but tight and has a turn to the left where the landing area would be. If you are too far left you block yourself from the green a bit.There is also a hazard running in front of the green and going left is in the trees and/or the hazard. My drive was decent but a little left and in the rough, but not in horrible position for a go at the green. The problem was the lie I had wasn't very clean and the pin was tucked way to the left side of the green (if you can tell in the picture above).

I decided to just punch a 9-iron short of the hazard and leave myself with some sort of wedge to the green. I now had what should have been a very comfortable gap wedge left from here but I hit another of those annoying leakers to the right. Good thing there was plenty of green over there so I was still putting for birdie. I had about 40 feet left but at least this putt was simple compared to the last couple of chances. I gave it a good rap but left it about two feet short, close enough for a par and a score of 37 on the back side, giving me a 76 for the round.

I still don't know how I'm doing it.

I made a few putts. I somehow hit nine greens in regulation. The tees I played are a little short (about 6100 yards) but I will have to say that the course was playing a little long as some recent rain has prevented any real roll outs on the drives (I even had a couple of pitch marks in the fairways to cover up). Outside of that wild drive on the ninth hole I never had any trouble keeping the ball in play. Regardless, I need to figure out what I'm not doing to get the clubface squarely into the back of the ball. I'm sure its only some degree of hand-eye coordination is keeping the ball relatively straight right now.

As I type this on Friday, I have hit the range a couple of times since this round. Yesterday I decided to strengthen my grip by turning the hands a good bit to the right on the club. I do remember that there was a time in the past that my hands would creep further and further to the left, just because it feels more comfortable sometimes. While it can be hard to tell with range balls it did feel as if I was making solid contact with the stronger grip.

Another problem that keeps creeping up is my alignment. I've always been bad about aiming further right than I think I am (a lot of us do) but in an effort to "fix" that tendency I tend to end up with my shoulders angled left in comparison to my body. Sometimes my hips end up that way as well. I believe that can cause my weak leakers as I try to correct all of that with my arms and/or hands. For whatever reason it seems more prominent with the longer irons than anything else.

In any case I'll give it a go again tomorrow. I'll make a conscious effort to align myself a bit better and see if the stronger grip and a better turn helps get me more on track. Or I'll shoot 95. We'll see!

Slick Rock at Horseshoe Bay.

Technically my third round of the week, Slick Rock was in a separate location from the other two courses that the resort boasts. Of the three, I think this one was probably the one I liked the least, though I'd have no problem playing here again if the opportunity called. I played from the regular tees this time as the yardage was the most appropriate at 6342 yards, though the rating (71.4/132) suggested a good challenge was ahead.

Since we just finished the morning round at Apple Rock there was no need to hit the range and the first tee was wide open. My first drive was hit solid but pushed right and I caught the fairway bunker. I was near the lip so I didn't think I could go toward the middle of the green. Fortunately I was only about 120 yards away so I was able to get the ball to the left fringe. My chip wasn't great though and I settled for a bogey. Off to the second hole :

The par-3 second at Slick Rock

 The wind was coming from the left and against me so I took an extra club and hit the front of the green, about 20 feet left of the hole. I didn't hit it great, just good enough. That would pretty much be the case for the entire round, especially with the irons. For the most part I was hitting my driver solidly enough but I just felt I was leaving a few yards in the bag on those iron swings.

The view of the par-5 third hole from the tee

The third hole was simple enough, a dogleg right par-5 that did have a simple water feature near the green. The hole was playing long (540 yards) and while I did hit the green in regulation I needed a 9-iron to do it and I didn't hit it particularly close. A par is always a good score so I took that without complaint.

I proceeded to par the next two holes, having decent birdie opportunities on each slip by me. I found another fairway bunker on the par-4 sixth hole and that led to my second bogey of the round. I started to struggle a bit at this point, missing the greens the rest of the front nine and ended up with a 40. The eighth hole, a medium length par-3, was kinda cool though :

The par-3 eighth hole

The pin was back right and I aimed to the left of the hole. I hit a 6-iron (or was it a 5? I don't recall now) and it started to cut toward the hole. I thought I was on the surface but I was actually a shade short of the fringe. I managed to get up and down from there but to see that I was short of the green there was disappointing. This is about where I knew something wasn't quite right with my contact.

I made the turn and started off par-bogey-par, the two pars would be the final par-5 holes on the course. I didn't hit any of the greens but I was hanging around them close enough to make getting those pars simple enough. The 12th hole was kinda cool, a picture of it is below :

The par-5 12th hole from the tee

I hit my drive to the left of that fairway bunker, it was solid but I tug-drew it to the left. I missed the trap but I had an awkward lie with the ball being well above my feet. Water crossed the fairway in the landing area for a layup to this green so I had to try and figure out where to hit my ball. I guessed right and had another 9-iron to the green but I hit it pretty poorly and left it short right. The chip was simple enough, one I thought I could make so it wasn't horrible in the end.

After another up-and-down on the par-3 13th we moved on the the signature hole of the course, the par-4 14th :

The so-called "million-dollar hole" at Slick Rock

The waterfall doesn't come into play really, in fact the hole was only about 330 yards. I hit a good drive and had an uphill shot to the green that I promptly left short (again) but still made par with a good chip and a putt (again). The hole was pretty cool to play though and the cart path goes along the waterfall, just a level below the fairway. Neat.

I managed to finally hit a green in regulation on the par-4 15th and again on the 16th but I three-putted the latter for a bogey there. The 16th was playing long, 405 yards into a wind that made a difference. I hit 5-wood into that green and ended up probably 60 feet from the hole, thus the three-putt bogey. I can't be too hard on myself for that as the putt had a good deal of break in it. Getting down in two putts would have been an accomplishment.

The long par-3 17th hole

The next hole was the last par-3 on the course, playing at 180 yards on the card. With the back pin and a strong headwind I had to use that 5-wood again. I hit it solid enough but a shade lower than I hoped and the ball ended up rolling off the back of the green. I had very little green to work with to try and pitch it close but I almost pulled it off, in fact I got what I thought was a bad hop off the fringe that caused the ball to shoot off to the left and roll a bit further than I'd have thought. I missed the 10 footer for par but a bogey here didn't feel terrible.

The last hole wasn't quite picture-worthy, in fact I don't remember much about it off the top of my head. I did manage a par that would give me a pretty solid 79 for the round. While I didn't hit many solid shots with my irons I did manage to keep the ball safely in play, giving myself chances to recover when I missed the greens.

So there we have it. Overall, Horseshoe Bay is a pretty nice place to come for a little golf getaway though I was not my first choice. I originally wanted to try my hand at Barton Creek Resort but one of there signature courses was going to be renovated this summer so I wouldn't have been able to play it. Maybe next year, assuming all four of the courses are open, I'll take a shot at them.

As far as for the more immediate future, I'm not really sure. This weekend might be tough for me to get out to play. If the weather holds up I might go out on Sunday but we'll have to see how things feel. If I go I'll likely try one of the courses at BlackHorse Golf Club since that place is literally a mile down the road from me. I gotta play them sometime...

My two rounds on the Apple Rock course at Horseshoe Bay.

I played this course in the morning on both Thursday and Friday. One thing that I learned before teeing off on Friday was the fact that they were in the process of doing some type of restoration of the greens and the sand traps. I suspected something was up since the greens seemed to be kinda small but with a wide fringe cut. The traps were always a bit damp and clumpy, almost as if they were mostly clay. In any case both situations made Apple Rock play a bit tougher than it might normally have.

The first hole wasn't exactly a simple opener :

The look down toward the fairway of Apple Rock's opening hole

The first green from the fairway

Right of the sand and into the trees is just dead as a lateral hazard lurks in there, a spot that my various playing partners found with regularity. I managed to hit two solid drives here, leaving myself with 9-iron to a green guarded by water short and left. The biggest problem was that the fairway had a severe slope downhill and the green was awfully narrow, even more so with the way they were being cut. I missed the green right both times despite solid contact. The first time I was dead. The pin was cut in the very front of the green in a narrow tongue, so to speak. That section of the green couldn't have been more than 15 feet wide and naturally I was above the hole to boot. I took a double bogey that day and made bogey the next. Tough hole to start the round on.

The second hole was a long par-4 that doglegs right, sorta. I never could figure it out exactly. I hit solid drives both days but ended up either "left" or "through" the fairway both times. From there I had a ball-below-my-feet lie that I had to hit over a tree to the green. The first day I pulled it off, not so much on the second as that one squirted off to the right and into a bunker. I hit a nice shot from the trap to about 8 feet but lipped out the putt for par. On Thursday I managed to two putt for par though.

The par-3 third hole

This cute little buggar almost got me both days, I was lucky to hit enough club each time to clear the water as I pushed both attempts. I made a good up and down the first day but lipped out on the second one. I don't have a picture of the fourth but its a par-5 hole that I had a fair share of poor luck on. The first day I had a wedge into the green but hit it short and plugged into the lip of the bunker. I managed to get out and bogey the hole. On the second day I hit it pin high bit spun it back down the slope of the green about 35 feet away. I three-putted from down there.

One thing I didn't mention in my last post was all the spin I was getting on the greens. Several times I backed up iron shots on Ram Rock and those greens just seemed... different. They looked a little greener and had a texture unlike the other two courses. There was some evidence that the greens on Apple were punched a couple of weeks ago but they rolled just fine. Still, they seemed different. I didn't get the spin every time on Apple Rock like it seemed that was happening on Ram Rock. Curious.

Anyway, enough about that. I managed to par the par-4 fifth hole each day. On Friday I hit a wedge to within 15 feet. The problem was that I hit it a shade long and still had 8 to 10 feet of fringe and rough to navigate to the hole. When that ball hit the green it didn't check and spin back, oh no. It had to bounce. Friday was a weird day, it really was. I tried to bounce the chip off the fringe but I had to be sure I hit it hard enough to get out of the rough. Because of that the ball hit a little hard and rolled past the hole about 10 feet. I made that uphill putt and finally had my first par of the round.

The sixth hole kicked my ass on Friday. I hit what I thought was a perfect drive, solid with a slight draw. Too bad it was the wrong line as it one-hopped into a fairway trap. The previous day I didn't get to the trap but it was a little bit of a push and the hole doglegs to the left. Anyway, I hit fat out of the tap, chucked a wedge into the greenside trap, blasted out short of the surface and took a seven. On Thursday I was 4-over after the sixth hole, Friday I stood 7-over. The thing is I felt I was making better swings on Friday!

The par-5 seventh hole

The seventh hole is a downhill par-5 that is easily reachable in two... if you can find the fairway. I don't think its an incredibly difficult challenge to do so but I failed on both attempts. I hit solid drives but a little left, blocking myself out by the trees you see down the hill. The first day I didn't realize how close to the green I was and I hit my punch shot under the branches harder than I needed to. I was lucky it hit the big rock that acts as 100-yard marker or it would have gone who-knows-where, probably out of bounds. The second day I took a better line and got into the fairway. Both days I hit the green, but while on Thursday I landed my ball on the slope and held it above the hole, on Friday I hit it pin-high but spun the ball back down the same slope. Frustrating little bastard. I made par both times though so no damage done.

The par-3 eighth hole

I ended up hitting the front of the green on both days on the par-3 eighth hole. For whatever reason I simply couldn't hit the shot as solid as I'd have liked. At least I didn't back either one into the water or something. I finished up the front nine with a par on both days, giving me a 40 on Thursday but a 43 on Friday. The back nine starts off with back-to-back downhill par 5s, pictures are below :

The view from the elevated 10th tee

The 11th green

I had vastly different results on these holes over the two days. On Thursday, I pushed my drive right on the 10th and never found it so I had to assume it was out of bounds. I ended up taking an eight on the hole. On Friday I hit a perfect drive and then hit 3-wood to within about 60 yards of the hole, but ended up with an iffy lie. I hit what I thought was a well-judged lob wedge to the front of the green but it didn't have much spin on it, rolling to the back of the green and leaving me about 20 feet away. However I made that putt for a very much-needed birdie.

On the 11th, Thursday was played well, I hit the green in regulation and had a pretty decent chance for birdie but couldn't convert. I did the same thing on Friday except for the fact that I snap-hooked my drive out of bounds to the left. I "parred" the second ball to take a seven.

The 12th hole, a nice par-3 over Lake LBJ

The 12th hole also had a little bit of frustration. Thursday was fine, though through my playing partner I discovered that the slope on this green could be pretty damn fierce. The pin was back right and he was back left. He hit his putt just a shade firm and it just didn't stop, falling off to the right and rolling down the hill to toward the front of the green. On Friday the pin was up and remembering that slope I took the longer club, planning on using said slope to bring the ball back down in case I did hit it long. I hit the ball right over the flag, about 8 yards past the hole in right into that slope... where it rolled back about six inches and stayed there. Of course I couldn't stop the first putt down the hill quickly enough. Three putts gives me bogey. Fuck. That really should have worked, LOL.

So on Thursday I'm now 7-over after the 12th while on Friday I'm 9-over par. At this point I still believe I've made better swings on Friday that I did on Thursday. I guess I did make a few more putts on Thursday up to this point but both days had its share of bad holes. We'll just blame them.

I don't have pictures for the 13th through 15th holes but the 13th was an uphill par-4 that I never was comfortable on and bogeyed both days. The 14th was a short par-4 that dogleged right. On Thursday I hit 3-wood off the tee but went through the fairway on the line I chose and made bogey. On Friday I hit driver in an attempt to hit over the short trap to the fairway beyond. I didn't hit it well but managed to hit a pull-fade around said trap, hit the green and made par. The 15th was a straightaway par-4 that was also fairly short. On Thursday I hit 3-wood off the tee but it ended up left and into a trap. I managed to get it close to the green from there and got up and down for par. I hit driver on Friday onto the fairway, hit my wedge to about 10 feet and make the putt for my second birdie of the day. Yay me.

The weird but scenic 16th hole

Now we come to the 16th hole. A dogleg left, the hole it cut in half by a rock/water feature about 200 yards from the tee. The thing is the hole is about 340 yards long, playing uphill from the fairway to the green. Cool hole but the yardages just seemed a bit awkward. I was forced to hit 4-iron off the tee both days since I couldn't be sure I could stop 5-wood in time. From there I hit 7-iron to the green on Thursday and got my two-putt par. Friday called for a 6-iron but I hit it poorly, leaving it short and right to a pin tucked just off the front of the green. From there I hit what had to be the best lob shot I had all week, leaving my ball about 5 feet above the hole. That putt was a slick left-to-right slider down that hill but I coaxed it in for a satisfying par.

The 17th is a nice par-3 that I didn't take a picture of. I hit the green both days and got my pars. I had a good chance at birdie on Friday but it just slid by on the left on me. The 18th is a dogleg left that demanded you cut off the corner of the fairway to get a good look into the green, which I managed to do on both days. That leaves you with this look up to the green:

The 18th green at Apple Rock

My well-positioned drive on the 18th hole on Friday

Two different results here also. My wedge to the back pin on Thursday was about 20 feet short of the hole, not awful by any stretch. The putt for birdie never had too much of a chance as I misread it a little but I did have a tap-in par. On Friday the pin was up and I took just a little too much off, leaving it short but on the wide fringe. I was sorta lucky that I didn't spin the ball too much or it might have rolled down the hill a bit. I had what I would consider a makeable chip for birdie but I didn't hit it well, I think I caught it a shade thin and the ball just didn't check up for me. I missed the 12 footer for par to give me an 81 for the day... actually I had 81 on both days.

A pair of 9-over days on that course isn't bad at all but I know I left a few strokes out there, especially on those two par-5s to start the back nine. Taking a triple on the sixth hole didn't help on Friday and starting off my Thursday round with a double wasn't exactly ideal either. I came away feeling better about my swing and my play on Friday though. I was really trying to make an effort to turn my body more through the ball and I saw some results. I seemed to hit my irons a little more solid and I hit some pretty good drives as well. I have something to try and build on, that's for sure.

So that was Apple Rock, which leaves us with Slick Rock for the next entry. I'll try to type that one up either tomorrow or Thursday, at worst I'll have it up before I go out for my next round this weekend.

Wednesday at Horseshoe Bay's Ram Rock course.

I took a few days off this last week to drive out to Horseshoe Bay Resort so that I could (what else?) play a few rounds of golf in the Texas heat and humidity. With three courses to conquer I figured this was as good of a place to head out to as anywhere else in the area. Horseshoe Bay is west of Austin and pretty much has the resort, some homes and little else. Seems like a good place to get away for a while.

I played four rounds while I was there. On Wednesday I played the Ram Rock course, shooting my best score of the week with a 75. While it wasn't easy, in hindsight I probably played a tee box too short if judged solely by length. Though it was a par 71 track the tees I played was under 6000 yards so maybe it really isn't quite so bad. The next tee would have been over 6400 yards and while that should be doable a few of the holes would have measured out to be pretty long. Also, the rating for those tees was pretty stout (73.2/135) and since it was my first round I wasn't really looking to beat myself up so soon.

No matter the length I did play pretty well overall. My first few drives were solid enough but I picked the wrong lines a few times, blocking myself from the greens by hitting through the fairways. Still, I managed to get the ball around or even on the greens and shot 37 on the front. Here are a few pics of the holes I encountered :

The par-4 first hole

The island green of the par-3 fourth hole

The green of the par-5 seventh hole

The par-3 eighth hole

The approach shot to the narrow par-5 ninth hole

Making the turn, the tenth hole definitely took driver out of my hands, as shown below :

The view from the tenth tee

The elevated tenth green

 The hole is only about 300 yards but from what I could figure out the fairway ended at around 200 yards out. I decided on 4-iron and managed to get my ball down there to within gap wedge range. The pin was up close to edge of the green but I actually managed to get my ball within 10 feet and make the putt for my first birdie of the trip, putting me at even par for the day. Of course, I can't stand success...

The view from the 11th tee

The 11th is a par-4 dogleg left that I just could not get comfortable on. The landing area is blind from the tee and I wasn't exactly sure how far to the left I could go. With the water lurking left I didn't want to cut it too close and eventually I just put up a flare to the right and into the trees. I was forced to punch out and managed to get on the green from there for a bogey. It could have been worse.

A par on the par-3 12th was followed by a bogey-5 on the 13th. Two more pars later I found myself on the 16th tee at 2-over for the day. The tee shot was uphill and the hole was a dogleg right, that much I knew for sure. From what I could see the line looked to be to hit my drive toward the corner of the dogleg, using a tree there as a likely target. I hit it pretty well, just left of said tree, and saw my ball land up on top of the hill. Assuming I was either on the left side of the fairway or just off I felt good about the shot.

I never found the ball.

The fairway ended up being a sharper turn than it looked and that tree was closer than I thought... at least I think that has to be true. There was a lateral hazard to the left so I can only assume my ball went through the fairway and took a hike in there. I dropped, punched out and eventually took a double bogey. Quite a letdown when made a pretty decent swing off the tee. That is one of the drawbacks of playing unfamiliar courses though.

I did finish out the round with closing pars to score that 75 so at least I managed to keep it together to do that. Still, I wonder what could have been. The 16th hole was a good looking hole but with all of the ball hunting I forgot to get a picture of the green. I did manage to get these though :

The par-3 12th hole

The uphill approach to the 18th green

Looking back from the back of the 18th green (and a nice look at my ball on the green, I missed the putt for birdie though)

I really liked Ram Rock, though the closing hole was pretty bland to be honest. The hole plays a bit uphill and does have out-of-bounds to the left but the fairway seemed pretty wide and just didn't seem terribly imposing or attractive compared to what was before it. Despite that I still think Ram Rock was my favorite of the three and not because of my score either. The greens were probably the best of the lot, that helped also.

A nice storm is rolling through Cypress as I type this so I think I'll break Horseshoe Bay up into two or three entries. We'll cover Slick Rock and the two rounds on Apple Rock later in the week!

The Golf Club at Cinco Ranch.

I decided to venture toward the west side of Houston to play what I got the impression was a higher-end daily fee track called The Golf Club at Cinco Ranch. The place reminded me quite a bit of a number of places in Central Florida like Metro West Golf Club in Orlando. Both courses are in large master-planned communities and give you that semi-country-club feel to them, just busier. Braving the hot and humid Texas weather also reminded me of Florida as my assigned playing partner and I teed off short shy of noon.

I played decently, though I felt like I was coming up out of my full shots just a bit early. Somehow I managed to hit 12 out of 14 fairways with the driver so I stayed out of trouble for the most part. I started the round off with a birdie on the short first hole, hitting a wedge to about 10 feet and knocking it in. My putting stroke felt better than it had for about two months, hopefully that keeps up.

With no one in front of us we managed to play the front nine in about 75 minutes, only running into a slow threesome on the 9th green. I doubled that hole, hitting a very poor approach to the green, half-shanking a pitch and then failing to get up and down for bogey. I still managed to shoot 39 on the front despite that clusterfuck at the end. I nearly had two more birdies along the way, narrowly missing both from about 12 feet or so.

Things really slowed down on the back nine. The threesome we ran into let us through on the 10th tee, however and even slower threesome was on the green and they never offered to let us play through them. Those guys were clearly recreational players and the course didn't have a marshall out on the course to help move things along. We eventually joined up with another twosome that caught up to us on the 12th tee, so that helped smooth out the pace a bit but it still took about two-and-a-half hours to play that back nine.

The wind didn't help either. The last four holes were playing pretty long (521, 159, 436 and 397) and that certainly didn't help. I shot 41 on the back but I was 5-over on that closing stretch. I had just birdied the 14th and started this bad stretch with a three-putt bogey on the par-5 15th. On the 18th hole I hit my worst drive of the day, leaving out to the right. The problem was I couldn't find it once we got there. The ball must have nestled down in the grass or something, either that or it went further than I thought it did. While it wasn't a great drive that ball wasn't heading for any serious trouble... or so I thought anyway. Still, closing with a double bogey bummed me out.

I didn't take many pictures but what I did take are here :

The ninth green.

The par-3 16th hole.

The view from the 17th tee.

The course wasn't easy so I'll take an 80 here without much fuss. Considering that the rating was over par (71.2/129 compared to a par 71) and the tees I played measuring 6400 yards I'd say it would be one of my better rounds overall. The wind wasn't too strong until the end but I can't recall more than one or two holes where the wind was helping much, it seemed most of the holes were played in a hurting crosswind for some reason.

Again the elbow held up and after resisting the urge to go out and practice or play between this last Saturday and now I think I'm as ready as I can be for my next little golf trip. This time I'm driving out to Horseshoe Bay Resort to play their three resort-access courses. I'll play four rounds while I'm out there, hopefully I'll remember to take some more pictures while I'm there. Good luck to me.