Cypress Lakes Golf Club.

Last weekend I had the good fortune to play as Paul Willner's guest at one of his home courses, Cypress Lakes Golf Club. I've used the putting green and the chipping area a few times since I've been here but this will be my first trip around the course. We were to go out around 10-ish but we were paired up with another twosome and got to go out a bit earlier, which may have been a bad idea. More on that later.

The first hole was simple enough, a straightaway and short par-4 then I tried to screw up with a semi-chunky 3-wood off the tee. My 7-iron to the green was good though and two putts gave me par. The second hole was a little more visually appealing :

The par-5 second hole

After a pretty decent drive down the right side I elected to take a shot at the green, over the water, with a 5-wood. I hit it solid but a shade left and ended up right on the edge of the trap. My stance was a little awkward but I was able to get to the ball without much issue. To my surprise, the ball jumped a little bit and ended up a bit long and left, leaving me a downhill putt for birdie. I grossly misjudged the speed of the putt and ripped it about 10 feet by the hole. I missed that also for what has to be a bad bogey. Taking four shots from where I was, bad stance or not, isn't very good.

I didn't get any better for the rest of the day, at least it didn't feel like it. I hit a decent drive on the par-4 third but my 6-iron approach was another one of those weakish leakers than I had avoided the last time I played. My 7-iron on the par-3 fourth did the same thing and found the bunker. I bogeyed both of those holes as my pitches and putts were good but not great. We then come to the fifth hole :

The view from the tee of the par-4 fifth

This is a cool little hole, especially now that I know that the water around the green actually comes down the right side of the fairway further that I thought. I hit my drive right and caught the bunker that you might just be able to see in the picture above. I'd say that was a break as the water isn't all that much further than that. The traps were damp but I had a clean lie. My 9-iron was solid, actually it was too solid as I went long. Another pitch seemingly defied gravity and failed to roll out down the hill, leaving me to miss another par putt. See a theme here?

I did manage to par the sixth hole, I think driver/wedge/two putts did the job. The seventh is a par-3, as shown below (I think, my memory today is sketchy at best):

This is where I could tell that things just weren't going according to plan. I hit the green, though I did pull the 7-iron a little left, leaving me about 30 feet or so for birdie. Now, the two guys we were playing with were playing from the tips as one of them was practicing for an upcoming qualifier of some sort. The problem was that he was having an awful day. His friend had no business playing from there at all. Regardless, with those two playing from a different set off tees from us made the play choppy at best, especially when they were constantly looking for balls and other stuff.

Anyway, once everyone was on/around the green I got ready to putt since I thought it was my turn. I go through my routine and just as I take my last look at the hole and pull the trigger I see a ball rolling up to the hole. I don't know whose ball it was and it doesn't matter, but it threw me off today. Normally, I'd just start over, no big deal. I could have been wrong in thinking I was away. However, the day was taking long enough with these guys and I just didn't want to take more time. So I tried to simply restart without stepping off and hit my putt too hard. Not horribly long, maybe 4 feet or so.

That wasn't the mistake. The mistake was feeling hurried and proceeding to hit the next putt as if I was taking a gimme. As I did that I realized that it was waaaaay too long for a gimme but I still didn't stop and missed the putt. Now, nothing says if I did things "right" that I would have made either putt, I know that. However, it bothered me that I didn't have the discipline to just play my own game and not worry about taking a extra few seconds, even if I felt we were taking enough time as it was. So, I marked down a bogey and moved on.

The par-5 eighth hole

I did bounce back and parred the par-5 eighth, shown above. I don't really remember it but I think I burned the edge of the hole for birdie on this one. I know I had a few putts miss that I thought I had made and something tells me this was one of them. Anyway, I bogeyed the par-4 ninth by simply hitting a bunch of average shots. My drive was right but not terrible. My wedge to the green was on line but just short of the green. The chip was also short and weak and the putt for par went wanting. With that I ended up with a 42 for the front nine despite hitting five greens. Needing 19 putts doesn't help.

Even making the turn took too long. We were going to go ahead without the other twosome (they said they were going to eat) but they pulled up to the tee just as we hit our drives so we waited for them. I don't think they would have cared but it just felt like it would have been a dick move to simply leave them like that.

I started off the back nine decently enough. The 10th is a par-5 that doglegs right with water in play down the left side in several places. I had a decent shot at birdie but could only give the hole a scare. The par-3 11th was a simple looking hole from what I recall. I hit another weak leaker and left myself with a fairly long chip across the green. I thought I hit the chip about perfect but the damn thing just kept creeping past the hole and ended up about 8 feet past. Naturally I missed the putt for par.

The 12th is a par-4 that seemed fairly simple as well. I hit my drive left and found a bunker. The ball was below my feet but was sitting clean and far enough from the lip to not give me an issue. I pulled the 9-iron a little but ended up about 15 feet left of the hole. Naturally the putt wasn't an easy one, being downhill and left-to-right. I didn't make it but I left myself a tap-in for par.

The came the 13th. Its a short par-4, maybe the traps making the hole seem like it had a slight dogleg left. Since the wind was in our face I decided to use driver instead of going with 3-wood. That wasn't the mistake. The mistake I made was I had forgotten my glove in the cart. I've been using a glove for a few weeks now and its become part of the routine. Well, I didn't want to go back for it and I decided to go ahead and take a swing.

Out of bounds right.

The club slipped, of course. The day was humid, I've been sweating pretty much the whole time and using a towel after every shot. Considering that was the very reason I decided to start wearing a glove again you'd think I'd know better. Maybe on a different day I would have but not on this day. Like before, I felt a little rushed... well, not rushed, but the timing of the foursome was awful. To me it felt like we were playing in two different twosomes, just playing the same hole at the same time.

Anyway, I went back for my glove and a new ball and promptly did almost the exact same thing. I was lucky enough that the second ball stayed in bounds. From there I hit what has to be one of the best shots of the day, hitting a 9-iron from an iffy lie about 20 feet past the pin on the green. I missed the chance at bogey and pretty much waved the white flag at that point, marking myself down for a double-bogey and moving on.

I played the par-5 14th hole fairly well overall, so it was a decent recovery from the mess on the previous hole. I went for the green in two and ended up in the greenside trap. It was a fairly long shot to the hole however and I left it about 20 feet short for my birdie putt. I missed that but made par. The 15th is a par-4 that was unusual due to the trees along the fairway. Its as if the hole was cut through a small forest or something. I hit my drive solid but into the group of trees left. I was lucky to even find a path between the trees to get back to the fairway. I then hit a slighty chunky 8-iron on the green and two-putt for another bogey.

On the 16th hole I hit my drive to the right but managed to get away with it. I then proceeded to hit another 7-iron to the right as I had been doing seemingly all day. At that point I was getting pretty annoyed with myself and I let the course know it with a vile word or two. The shot wasn't awful, I was on the fringe pin-high, but that feeling that I had regressed back to where I was a couple of weeks ago just irked me at that point. I've still hit 8 greens out of 16 holes so it wasn't all bad by any stretch. Perhaps I was expecting too much, I don't know. Anyway, I couldn't get up and down (again) and made bogey.

Maybe I've said this before but I actually like letting myself vent after a bad shot or whatever. I learned from my time playing poker that holding on to even a little bit of anger can just make things worse later. I prefer to let myself get angry, whether its with a choice word or two or maybe a quick slam of the ground with the club doesn't matter. The point is once I do that, I'm done. From that point I'm already looking forward to the next shot. Even on a day like this day, that was the only time I felt the need to do that. Sure, I probably said something after the drive out-of-bounds and other shots along the way, but this one time I just felt the need to really get it out of the system.

Did it work? Maybe. I came to the 17th tee and saw a cute little par-3, shown below :

The short par-3 17th hole

The shot required just a gap wedge on this day. I hit the green but again it wasn't a great shot. Two putts later gave me a par though so I couldn't really complain a whole lot. That brings us to the closing hole, the par-4 18th :

The look from the tee at the 18th hole

I think the hole was playing a little shorter than usual, either that or I hot my drive nearly 300 yards since I only had about 110 yards left into the green. Either way, the drive was probably the best one I hit all day, it actually had a little draw on it. I then finally hit an iron shot online and put my ball about 5 feet above the hole... a legitimate birdie opportunity! The putt was downhill, of course, but not horribly so, and it looked like it had a slight turn from right to left. Certainly doable.

I missed that one too.

I swore it had to go left. I could see where the water rolls off the green, I saw the spot there. I started the ball exactly where I wanted to, exactly where I thought I had to start it. Nope. In fact, I think the putt actually ended up going the other way, which still perplexes me now. Maybe I'm blind, maybe it was grain, I don't know because if I did know I'd have seen it and made the damn putt. But I didn't and ended up with a par for an 83.

Now, I realize that I'm not going to shoot 74 every time. To be honest, 83 feels about right for the way I thought I played. Surprisingly, it was the putter more than anything. I had 37 putts and I didn't make a single thing outside of a tap-in the entire day. I thought I made quite a few when I hit them but for whatever reason they failed to drop. I probably hit the ball about as well as I had when I was shooting 74 and 76 at other places, however here I found more trouble (out of bounds or trees) and didn't make those putts.

The course was fun, even if some of the holes could be considered a little ordinary. The track does have some interesting holes and everything outside of some of the bunkers was in good shape. I'll have to give it another go sometime soon and see if I can't manage a few of those holes a little better than I did on this round.

Sometime will not be this weekend, however. As I type this I'm holed up in my apartment while riding out the start of the weather event dubbed "Harvey". Where I am it won't be the winds that causes all the issues, it'll be the mega-fuckton of water that'll get dumped on us over the next week. Who knows when I'll get to play again.

A solo run at Meadowbrook Farms.

This past Sunday I decided to play another course out toward Katy, Meadowbrook Farms Golf Club. I was originally set up to play with three random people but the starter said I could go it alone if I was ready to it the first tee, so I took advantage. This enabled me to play in just about three hours, which was great considering that I took my time in the heat. Whether it was using a towel to dry off, putting a glove on, using the rangefinder or taking pictures there are some things that take a while to do. The best thing was I wasn't waiting for anything but myself.

After a routine par on the first hole we came to the second, which actually wasn't much different from the first, maybe just a little longer :

The second green at Meadowbrook Farms

I hit a great drive, maybe about 250, and then hit a wedge about 15 feet past the hole. I misread the putt for birdie but the tap-in gave me a par. So far I've hit four solid shots and I'm quite happy with the swing keys I'm using today.

The third hole is a par-4 that turned into a crosswind from left to right, not my favorite. My drive was pushed a bit and missed the fairway to the right but fortunately not so poorly that I was at risk of finding the hazard :

The third green as seen from right of the fairway

 I had about 165 yards to a back pin so with that crosswind I elected to hit 5-iron. From what I could tell I think my ball landed about pin-high or maybe a little past, however it didn't hold and I ended up long. My chip was too strong and two-putted for bogey. The 5-iron swing felt really nice though so I wasn't unhappy about it overall.

I then butchered the par-5 fourth. I was just left of the green in two and then semi-shanked a pitch. Another underwhelming effort left me on the fringe where I managed to get down in two for a bogey. I still haven't figured out why I do that, its kinda like rolling a 1 on a 20-sided die with those shots. Its irritating for sure.

After a solid par on the par-4 fifth I came to the first par-3 of the day at the sixth :

The sixth at Meadowbrook Farms

With the wind coming in at a decent clip from the right and maybe slightly into my face I went with an 8-iron for this 135-yard shot. I pulled it left a bit and the wind made it worse. I ended up above the trap to the left somewhere, effectively short-siding myself. Unlike the episode at the fourth, I hit a great pitch here and tapped in for par. I felt as if I redeemed myself as I moved on to the seventh hole :

The seventh green, as seen from my position from the fairway

My drive here was solid as well, giving me an outside shot at going for it in two... or so I thought. After checking the card I realized that the hazard in front would prevent any reasonable chance so I laid up and wedged on to about 10-12 feet for birdie. I missed that one also but easy pars are always welcome. On to the eighth hole, a par-3 thats exposed to the wind :

The isolated look of the eighth green

No bunkers but water hazards surround an elevated green that is out in the open. That open green made the wind more prevalent here, which today was dead in my face. I guessed 8-iron again but this time I guessed right and nearly jarred it, landing about a foot past the hole and ended up maybe 18-inches away for a kick-in deuce. That swing felt very solid, in fact all of the irons I've hit so far have felt better than most anything I've hit in the last few months.

I then hit my worse drive of the day on the ninth, weakly flailing it off to the right into the wind. I then hit a solid 4-iron just past the green, staying on the fringe. I was still about 40 feet left of the hole and had to chip over about 15 feet of said fringe as I was at an odd angle with the back of the green. The chip was decent but not that great and I missed the putt and made bogey. However, I shot 38 on the front, a score I'll gladly take.

I forgot to take a photo on the tenth but it was an odd short par-4 that dogleged right. I could figure out what to hit off the tee for the life of me. I tried 5-wood and hit it well but went through the fairway anyway. I was lucky enough that I still had a shot to the green. My wedge was a bit long but I managed to get down in two putts from about 35 feet for par.

On to the eleventh, another shortish par-4 that had me wondering what to do. I considered just hitting driver but the water down the left side looked as if it would come into the fairway a bit so I went with 3-wood instead. I snapped it left, over the trap and into some tall weed-like grass. I hacked it out toward the green, pitched up to about 5 feet but missed the putt. That would have been a nice save but it was not to be today. Next up is the par-5 twelfth :

The 12th hole. as seen from the tee

This hole wrapped back around the same lake as the previous one. My drive was solid, though it ended up hitting the fairway and kicking a bit right and ended up in the rough. I had a good lie so going for this green was possible. While it was uphill (one of few shots that had any noticeable elevation changes) I only had about 230 yards to the green from what I could tell so I took a shot at it with my 3-wood. I caught the ball a little heavy though and left myself about 45 yards to the pin. Partial wedge shots can be pretty iffy but I managed to get this one right, putting the ball about five feet away for birdie. I made this one and had my second birdie of the day.

After a par on the par-4 13th hole (where I hit yet another really solid-feeling iron shot) I came up on a foursome that until now hadn't been in my way. Fortunately they waited for me on the tee and let me play through immediately on the par-3 14th, shown here :

The 150-yard par-3 14th at Meadowbrook Farms

The pin was up and the wind seemed down so I selected a 9-iron. I pulled it a bit but still ended up on the green, slightly past the pin. I left the 40-foot birdie putt about 5 feet short but I was able to make that for par, keeping myself at even par for the back side. I then came up another short par-4 at the 15th, but it was playing REALLY short, like 240 yards short, as seen here :

The driveable par-4 15th at Meadowbrook Farms

Well, the card says its 260. The GPS in the cart said it was 239 to the middle, though the cart wasn't next to my tee box. The wind was coming off the left but wasn't hurting so I said "fuck it" and grabbed my driver. I ended up here :

See the white dot in the right-middle of the lower left quadrant? That's where my drive ended up on the 15th hole

From what I could tell my ball landed on the green somewhere around the hole. I forgot to look for a ballmark (shame on me!) but the ball bounced and/or rolled off the back of the green. The chip wasn't easy but I could have done better than eight feet, I wasn't too pleased with it to be honest. All was forgiven after I made the putt though! I'm now one-under for the back and just one-over for the day.

Another good drive led to a solid 7-iron approach into the par-4 16th, where I two-putted from 20 feet for another par. The 17th hole came next :

The short but somewhat dangerous 17th hole

The card has it at 125 yards but the front pin had it playing about 112 yards, an awkward distance. The wind was from the right so that wasn't helping matters much. I definitely can't get gap wedge there so I had no choice but to choke down a little on the pitching wedge and give it a go. This was my worst iron swing of the day, at least as far as contact goes. I caught it a shade heavy and ended up short but on target. The chip was fairly simple but I didn't hit it quite hard enough and left myself about four feet for par. The putt was uphill and I was able to handle it and escape with par.

That brings us to the closing hole, the par-5 18th. I hit another strong drive, the wind helping from the left. The problem was that I hit it too far and ended up through the fairway, leaving me with a downhill and sidehill lie from here :

The view of the 18th green

The bottom of the picture didn't quite catch it but there is a creek running across the fairway. I'm on one side, the rest of the hole is on the other. A lateral hazard is in those tress you see to the right. The good news was that I only had about 210 yards to the flag and I had plenty of room left and long. I decided to be aggressive and go with a 3-wood. Realizing that I'd be losing loft I figured I'd need the extra club to get up to the elevated green. There was only one problem.

I suck at downhill-sidehill lies with my 3-wood.

I was lucky to get over the creek. I don't know if I hit it heavy or if the ball just shot itself down into the rough on the other side and just stopped. Well, it did manage to bounce out far enough to get into some manageable grass but I was now about 165 yards away. I still had a chance to hit the green with 5-iron, thinking the wind, the lie and the elevation pretty much cancelled out. There was only one problem.

I hit the damn thing too well.

I might have hit the green on the fly but I think it actually landed on the fringe and then kicked into the rough over the green. It wasn't an awful shot, in fact I was only about 15 feet left of the hole so the line I took was pretty good. I wasn't grossly over either, I was still only about 25-30 feet or so from the hole, maybe. The swing was good, I guess I only needed a 6-iron on this one. If that keeps up it'll be a good problem to have.

The chip wasn't easy. I had a downhill lie. The green was uphill to the hole but just past it the green sloped away again. I had to hit the ball into that hill and have it just run up with just enough speed so it could settle around the hole before it could scamper away. I figured my best chance to do that was with my lob wedge, which is a shot I commonly like to hit around the greens anyway. The was only one problem.

I couldn't spin it enough to check up.

I had to hit it pretty firmly so that I'd get the ball to check up, the problem was with the downhill lie and the iffy lie I couldn't catch it cleanly enough, or so I suppose. I think I also hit it too far and landed the ball too far up on the hill. Naturally it rolled past the hole about 12 feet or more, leaving me an uphill putt for par. I still had a chance but of all things I left it short. I think I would have missed left also but to leave that putt short irked me. I thought I hit it firmly enough but I really should have been sure to get it there.

So, after that disappointing bogey finish I shot even on the back for another 74. Again, the course wasn't long but it was a decidedly "better" 74 than the one last week. The main reason I say that was because of how I hit the ball, everything just felt so much more solid than it had been. I don't know if I hit it that much further but everything was definitely higher, which for me has always been indicative of how well I was doing with the irons.

What did I do differently? Good question. I tried to change how I took the club back in an effort to get myself a little more inside. The bigger deal was on the way down though. I tried to make a concerted effort to lead with my hands to the point that I felt I was getting the handle to the ball first, leading the clubhead into the ball with my hands out in front more instead of flipping my hands at impact. Meh, I'll never explain it here. All I know is that I felt I was able to use my shoulders more and not simply try to hit the ball with arms and hands alone.

Yesterday (which was Tuesday) I went to the range and really tried to get this same feeling. I came away pretty happy by the time I finished. I don't own it yet, far from it, but I was able to repeat and maybe even improve on what I did on Sunday when I did it right. I still hit some of those flailing drifters at times but at least I feel like I have an idea of what I'm trying to do. I'll try again tomorrow or Friday and then see if I can bring it to the course on Sunday. Either that or I'll go down in flames and crawl back to the drawing board. Tune in next week to find out!

The short and long of it at Longwood Golf Club.

I kept it local once again and took the short drive over to Longwood Golf Club right here in Cypress. The have three sets of nines here so I just let the course randomly select the two that I would get to play. I ended up going out on Pine for the front side and finished up on Palmetto. I'll have to come back another time to see what Post Oak has in store.

The day started off with a thunderstorm that popped up just as I finished up with some range balls. After about a 20 minute delay I joined my three playing partners over at the tee. Not really thinking much about it I simply teed up where they were at, which was the Middle tee. On Pine that wasn't a big deal, the Middle plays to 3054 yards while the next tee back is 3311. The Palmetto was quite a bit shorter though (2696), if I could I would have played the Back tees to at least bring the round to over 6000 yards. As it ends up the rain made the course play a good bit longer so in a sense it sorta worked itself out.

The first hole on the Pine nine was a pretty nice place to start:

The first green on Pine

After a good drive that nearly plugged in the fairway, I missed the green just short right. It wasn't an awful shot, the downhill lie caused it to slide off a little more than I thought. I hit a decent chip and made the putt to start off with a par.

A good drive and a 5-iron on the second gave me another par, bringing me to the par-3 third. This hole was playing up and only took a wedge to get hole-high. I made the 15-footer for birdie and suddenly I was 1-under par in the early going. Considering how wet and humid it was I was pretty happy about that.

On the par-5 fourth I hit probably the worst drive of the day, leaving it out weakly to the right. I hit a nice cut 4-iron around a tree and back into play, wedged onto the green and make par. That brings us to the fifth hole :

The par-4 fifth hole on Pine

I hit a solid drive that just ended up missing the fairway left, right next to that trap you see there. I'm not sure what happened on the second shot. Maybe it was the wet grass, maybe I tried to hit it too hard but I pretty much topped-skulled a 7-iron. Weird is the best explanation I have for it. I was lucky to do no worse that bogey here but it took a good putt to get that.

The sixth is a par-4 that plays 375 on the card. I hit what I thought was a pretty solid drive down the left side, however I was slightly blocked out from the left side of the greenm where the pin was. The other thing was I still had 170 yards left. There is no way I hit my drive only 200 yards so I have to think the tee was back at the 415-yard tee box. Anyway, I missed the green right, pitched up but missed the putt for par.

I then missed a 5-footer for birdie and the short par-3 seventh (but I made a good stroke, I just can't read greens). I hit a really good drive on the par-5 eighth, one of the very few holes where I actually got a little bounce and roll. The hole is short (425 yards) and I had just a 5-iron into the green from a slightly ball-above-my-feet lie. I missed the green left but not quite far enough left to hit it in the water that guards the green. A pitch and two putts gives me par.

The closing hole is the long par-4 ninth :

The green of the ninth on Pine

Again, I hit a good drive into a fairway that could have been considered casual water over the entire hole. I still needed 4-iron to reach this green, which I failed to do as I caught it a shade thin. The ball hit just about the left side of the bunker and rolled back in. I blasted out of the hard-packed wet sand and took two putts for a bogey. I still ended up with a 38 for the nine, which I'll take every time. While it sucked to go 3-over on the last five holes I was happy with the way things were going.

Moving to the Palmetto nine, the first hole was a short par-5. I hit a solid drive down the left side and had only 190 yards left to a front pin, however I had a fairly steep downhill lie. I went for the green with a 5-wood anyway, hoping that any low shot would have a chance to scamper up to the green. The plan almost worked, the problem was the slope in front of the green really needed a shot hit with a draw to get up the hill, I can't hit that shot from that lie. Still, I was in front in two and hit my best chip of the day, close enough that I tapped in with my wedge for birdie. Another good start!

However, another storm was closing in. We teed off on the second, a short par-4 with water right, shown here :

The second green on Palmetto

I had about 85 yards left when me and the guy I had in my cart decided that we'd better haul ass back to the clubhouse. Its a decent ride between the first green and the second tee so I marked my ball and boogied back as fast as we could. The wind was howling, the clouds looked ugly and leaves were blowing everywhere... but it never rained. Maybe it did on the course somewhere but at the clubhouse it stayed dry. We waited about 20-30 minutes or so, decided the worst was over and headed back out.

The problem was that the other two guys I was with played on. The guy in my cart wanted to catch up with them as they were all together. By now they were on the adjacent 4th hole so we drove to the tee there and played on. I wasn't too keen with the idea but someone else was already on the fairway at the second so I figured that I'll just come back later, hoping no one would pick up my tee in the fairway where I had marked my ball.

So, the fourth is another short par-5, just 400 yards in length. The thing is, the fairway is nearly cut off right at about 220 yards from the tee, driver is a no-go unless you can thread the needle down the left side. With that, I hit 3-wood/3-wood onto the green and two-putted for another birdie. Yep, I'm 2-under par after two holes completed and even on the day. Here's a look at the hole from the tee, you might barely be able to see where the water comes into play to the right of the trap :

The really short that doesn't play so short par-5 fourth on Palmetto

The next two holes are really short also. The fifth is a 296-yard par-4 that has a sharp dogleg right. Not having any idea what to do I decided to just hit driver over a set of trees. I hit it very well but the ball ended up about 15-20 yards too far, through the fairway, pretty much giving me visions of a hole at Huntington in Florida. Luckily I had a shot to the green, though that shot was one that had to go over/around a tree with a sand wedge to a front hole location. I pulled it off (somehow) and made par.

The next hole was even shorter at 250 yards but it was straight on, quite simply a driveable par-4. Those are fun to try so I honestly have no issue with it, even us shorter hitters should get the chance to hit a hero shot. This is where my second-worst drive of the day was hit. I was nearly pin high but quite a bit right, not awfully so but enough that I had to pitch off of some watered-down hardpan dirtlike stuff. The hole was cut pretty close to the edge of the green and I did well just to get my ball 30-35 feet past the hole. I nearly made it. I hit the back of the hole but it was running downhill and had a shade too much speed to stay in. Still, another par is always good.

Then I blew it on the seventh. Its the longest par-3 of the day and was even playing back a tee. I had 5-iron to this green but pretty much bladed it, better than the one earlier but the wet grass in front of the green just ate it up. My pitch from about 20 yards short of the green was pretty darn good, I had a chance to save par but I missed a six-footer and took my first bogey on Palmetto. Ugh.

After a nice drive on the par-4 eighth I stupidly under-clubbed my approach to a front hole position. I should know better by now. I wasn't short by much at all, maybe a yard, but the ball backed down the hill a bit in the soft conditions. My chip was decent since I was able to take advantage of said soft conditions and got it to check up quickly (probably too quickly) and made the putt to save par.

The ninth is a mid-length par-4 that played a little uphill to the fairway. I hit another good drive and now had 8-iron to a back hole location. I hit it solid but hung it out to the right, catching the green and leaving myself about 25 feet or so for birdie. I coaxed that birdie putt up close enough to knock it in for a par. Now, I just had to kick the old fella out of my cart at his car and run back out to finish the other two holes!

My tee was still in the ground when I got back to the second fairway. All I had left was a full sand wedge and I hit that shot pin-high, just about 5 feet left of the hole. Too bad the ball came back down the hill about 15 feet. Still, I had a makeable putt for birdie that would get me back to 2-under for the side. Nope. Not today. Par is always good so we'll take it and move on!

My final hole of the day ended up being the short par-3 third :

The par-3 third hole on Palmetto

I was in-between a gap wedge and a pitching wedge as the hole was about 110 yards from the tee. Pitching wedge it is then! I hit it clean but I pulled it a little, which caused it to fly a little further than I wanted, which means I ended up in the trap over the green, left of the hole.

I was dead.

The sand in the trap was wet, packed down, and even had grass growing in it. The pin was just a few feet from the edge of a green that was running away from me. I was back in the trap as the ball rolled on the wet sand after popping out of its pitch mark. The only way I was hitting this close was if I hit the flagstick.

So I tried to hit the flagstick. I tried to get some spin on it with my 60-degree but there was no way I could get that ball to stop on that slope. I thought I did well to get it to about 20-25 feet past the hole. There was no way I could chance leaving it short so I had to make sure I was past the flag. Could I have hit it closer? Yeah, I think I could. Give me 10 tries and I believe I could hit the shot with enough precision to clip it just right and have it stop within 10 feet. I just couldn't do it on the first go.

Anyway, I gave the putt a decent run but hit it a little too low and a little too weak to really have a chance. With that bogey I ended up even-par for the side and a 74 on the day. Yeah, it would have been nice to shoot an under-par 9-hole score for the first time in, hmmm, ten, maybe twelve years? I'm pretty sure I can now say that this is the first time I've ever had nine fours in a row. At least I can check off that novelty, right?

OK, the course was only 5750 yards. True, it was playing longer due to the conditions. For a course that short I hit quite a few long irons into some of those greens, especially on the Pine side. On the other hand I had legitimate chances at hitting three of the par-5s in two, one with a 5-iron in hand, and three of the par-3s were no more than a pitching wedge. But a 74 is still a 74, I don't care where you card it. The rating for the course wasn't silly easy (68.0/120) and some of the par-4s are more than sturdy enough. While I didn't have much issue with them this day, the course has a fair amount of water hazards and the trees bordering the fairways are plentiful. My playing partners easily proved that the course isn't some pushover.

I am by no means overpowering anything despite how well I've scored lately. This is all still being down with smoke, mirrors and maybe a little guile (and luck?). The courses I've played haven't exactly been long and that has helped me. I'm still not getting the distance on the irons that I'm hoping for. The course was so wet that I couldn't get a true read on my drives but for the most part they seemed to be solid, though it would have been nice to see where they'd have ended up under more normal conditions. I hit the ball fairly high as it is so I don't get as much roll as some other guys might but I'm sure I lost out on at about 10-15 yards on most holes.

Am I hitting good shots? Yes, obviously I'm doing something right with whatever it is that I'm bringing to the course on any given day. At worst, my bad shots are just not as bad as they could be and that could very well be the biggest difference. Who knows, maybe this is all I have nowadays and I just have to live with it. I can't help but imagine what I might be able to do with some stronger iron shots, shots that I know I still have somewhere inside me. A club shorter into every hole might not sound like much but it could make a difference over the course of a round.

Anyway, the rain has continued through Monday and into today (Tuesday), so much so that we've had flood warnings and such. The courses I like to practice at here were all closed up and it could be more of the same tomorrow for all I know. If I want to get some practice in I might have to hit up Top Golf after the dentist appointment we have tomorrow. Hmm, that sounds like a good idea...

Heading North at BlackHorse.

This week I decided to take on the North course at BlackHorse Golf Club. I enjoyed the South a good deal (not just because of my score there) so I figured the North couldn't be too far behind. I went out at around 1 PM and the heat and humidity were in full force. Even hitting balls on the range was enough to just soak my hands in sweat. I could tell this was going to be an issue.

The first hole was straightforward but pretty long for an opener. My drive wasn't great, I pulled it left and sorta mishit into a fairway bunker. I still had nearly 200 yards left to the green so I decided to try to hit a 5-wood out. I think I hit it solid but a little low, catching the lip of the bunker and almost ended up on the range and out of bounds. I had no shot due to some trees so I pitched out, finally hit the green and took two putts for my double bogey. Not a good start.

The second hole was a short par-3 over water (which I forgot to take a picture of as I was too busy trying to towel off my hands). I didn't hit that incredibly well either but did manage to get the ball pin high and on the right fringe. I got up and down for par easily enough. At this point I knew that this towel shit wasn't going to cut it, I could already tell I was more concerned with just holding on to the club rather than where the ball was going. Fortunately I still had a glove in my bag and decided that it would be best to use it. I have no idea how old this glove is but it seemed to be in good shape.

You might wonder why I make a big deal out of the glove. I just never have liked wearing one, just like some hitters in baseball don't use gloves, neither do I when I play golf. For whaever reason I have always felt like my hands were different on the club, like my grip position was off, and I'll usually start hitting the ball left. When I was in Florida I usually managed to go without one but there were times I had to break down and put one on. I guess I'm going to have to do the same here in Houston.

So, glove on hand, we headed to the par-5 third. I hit a pretty solid drive down the right side of the fairway, so much so that I had inside 200 yards to the green. I didn't notice while on the tee but I'm assuming the tee had to be up as the yardage on the card was 488 yards. I really don't think I hit that ball 290 yards. It was downwind but not 30-40 yards worth. I had about 190 left and decided that with the slight downwind breeze I was going to take a swing at a 4-iron and try to get it there. It worked, though I was a bit left I caught the green and had about 40 feet for eagle. A good two putt earned a birdie. So far so good for the glove idea.

Next was the par-4 fourth, shown below (with what I have to assume is either a drop of sweat or a finger):

(Most of) the view of the fourth hole from the tee

 My playing partners, who both proved to be worthwhile guides, warned me about the hidden water over the bunkers on the right so I hit a near-perfect drive just left of them. The hole on the card is 352 yards and yet I still had about 140 to the middle of the green. I'm sure the tee had to be back. All this means is I wasn't paying enough attention. Anyway, the pin was back so 7-iron was the play. I leaked it right but it held the fringe and a chip and a putt made par.

The fifth was another par-4 that came back around the other side of the water feature on the fourth. I drove the ball well again but then half-skulled the 6-iron from the fairway. Fortunately I hit it fairly straight and ended up on the left side of the green and had about 25 feet for birdie. Two putts from there gave me another par. So far the glove isn't giving me any issues, in fact I could even say its helped me forget about any problems with the sweat on my hands. This could be why I felt like I was finally making more aggressive swings.

The sixth is another par-3 with water, I have a picture this time :

The par-3 sixth hole

The pin was up so it was merely a 9-iron but I caught it slightly fat. We had to wait a while before playing this one as the cart girl took plenty of time to serve the group ahead of us and, naturally, our own. I pitched up to about five feet and made a tricky little downhiller for par. I was quite happy about that one.

The seventh is a shortish par-4 with a severe dogleg right :

A look at the seventh hole

I figured a drive just to the left of the trees would work fine, so instead I pushed it even further right. I didn't push it very far right, just another one that leaked away, but I hit it solid and cleared the trees, ending up in the fairway about 100 yards from the green. I pretty much accidentally hit the perfect shot. What wasn't perfect was the wedge to the green, it was not a solid strike and I left myself about 50-60 feet short to a back hole location on a long, narrow green. Of course, I made it. Birdie. Easy game, isn't it? I'm pretty sure that's the longest putt I've made since I've started back playing again.

The eighth is a par-5 that doglegs to the left a bit. Nothing special to report, just three solid shots and two good putts netted a par. So, I head to the ninth at even par for the round. Of course, I forgot to take a picture but the hole is a par-4 that has water left near the green. I crushed a drive, slightly left of my line but still well within the range of the landing area... or so I thought. Little did I know that the water kinda jutted out a bit, hiding in a valley of land. The water starts about 100 yards from the front of the green and I found mine 99 yards away, but wet. I was not pleased. Well, not pleased that it was in the hazard. I was pleased that I hit that fucker about 260 yards to get there. Anyway, I dropped, hit a wedge to about 7 feet but just missed the par putt to shoot 37 on the front nine. Considering the start I had I'm calling that a win.

The back nine started with my first pulled drive of the day. As luck would have it I had a shot over some shortest trees to the green after taking a drop from the cart path. It was here that I made the swing that felt like a solid iron strike. Maybe it was something about the way I set up to the ball for this shot, I can't explain it. Maybe that glove made me feel I could take a firm swing without worrying about losing control. Whatever it was I almost hit the ball over the green. I was still losing it a little right but it was staying in play. I had another 60 footer for birdie but the odds evened themselves out and I three-putted for bogey.

The par-5 eleventh was a disappointing bogey. My drive was decent enough, the layup was fine, my mistake was on the approach. I didn't take into account the uphill lie I had. I took a solid swipe at it but hit the ball a mile in the air and ended up short. I know better, I should have taken one more club. I hit a little chip that seemed to nearly stop in its own pitch mark and missed the putt. The bogey train was moving along strongly now.

The par-4 12th hole

On the 12th I hit a really solid drive, probably about 250 or so off the tee, leaving me with about 85 yards to a front hole location. I decided to go ahead and try hitting sand wedge, again forcing myself to take a strong pass at the ball. I hit it about 88 yards and slightly left, a good shot that left me about 15 feet or so for a birdie. I nearly made it, in fact I really thought I had it. After several curses I tapped in for par and moved on.

I nearly made a huge mess of the 13th. After another solid drive I ended up leaking another iron shot right, this one was a little more than I had been. However I was past pin high and left myself with a bit of a tricky pitch. The real issue was the lie, the ball decided to settle down in the grass and take a nap. I had a shot but I executed poorly and hit a shitty little semi-shank and left myself with a short pitch to the hole. Fortunately the lie was better and I nearly holed out for par and saved the bogey.

We then came up to the par-3 14th hole, shown here :

The short par-3 14th hole

The hole was playing at about 115 yards but with a crosswind that was starting to freshen up a bit, perhaps even turning into our face a little. I hit pitching wedge and tried to let that wind push it from left to right but naturally I started the ball more at the flag than I wanted and ended up about 30 feet right. Still, two putts for a par gives me a three and I'll take a three on any hole.

The 15th hole is a long par-4 playing with that same left-to-right breeze. Good fortune was with us this day as the tees were up, turning a 417 yard critter into a more manageable 383. I hit my drive solid but left, however it cleared the bunker on that side but settled into the rough. I was left with about 155 yards to a front pin that I knew I would never get close to without having the ball land short of the green and bouncing on. I thought about hitting 7-iron but figured the rough would make it tough to make clean contact so the 6-iron it'll have to be. Again, I was dead-set on making sure I took a lash at it just so I could get to ball out, if anything. I caught it clean, surprising well in fact. I flew the ball to the middle of the green and it ended up in the back, leaving me with another 60 footer. I got down in two for par and left the hole satisfied with that result.

The par-3 16th hole with its sucker-pin on the left of the green

I hit another leaking push with a 5-iron on the par-3 16th, shown above. My ball landed pin high but caught the side of the fringe and bounded away, down a hill and under the branches of a tree that you can barely see on the right side of the photo in the background. Not good. The pin was back left on the green so I wasn't even sure I could keep the ball low enough under the branches and still hit it firm enough to land on the green. Somehow I pulled it off, in fact I managed to put more spin on it that I realized and left the ball short of the hole. I missed the par putt but a bogey there seemed just fine considering where I was earlier.

My drive on the par-4 17th was also a little right but not terribly so, however I thought I might get blocked out by some overhanging tree branches. I managed to get past those and had about 120 yards left to the hole. With that wind now in my face I knew I needed an extra club so out came the 9-iron. I finally managed to not hit that leaker to the right, instead I pulled it slightly left and missed the green, though I was pin high again (a welcome change from being constantly short like I had been recently). I had another iffy lie but at least I managed to get this one up and on the green, in fact I'd say it was a pretty good shot. I still had about 8 feet left as again I somehow got the ball to spin a little. I made that putt and went to the last hole at 5-over par for the round.

The 18th hole is a short par-5, only 440 yards on the card, but much like the 9th hole it has water around the green that come down the right side of the fairway. How far I was not sure at the time (though today I was out there and it looks like it starts about 240 yards from the tee) but I knew it was there. I aimed down the left side of the fairway and hit the best drive of the day. I ended up hitting that one about 270 or so and it felt gooood. I finally finished turning through the ball and hit the damn thing without it wanting to leak out right. The pin was on the front part of the green and I have only have around 155 yards left (I think the rangefinder said 157). With the slight tailwind we now have a decided that 7-iron was the best way to play this shot :

The only issue was that the ball was a little below my feet, which normally causes the ball to go a bit right. That is NOT what I needed here, all the trouble is right as you can easily see. Still, I've been hitting the ball solid most of the day, even if a good bit of them were drifting right, so I just aimed toward the left side of the green and tried to allow for it. I just had one main thought in mind : FINISH YOUR TURN THROUGH THE BALL.

The shot came off about perfect. I started the ball just left of the pin and it started to gently work  toward the pin, landing about 10 feet short of the hole. I don't think I could have imagined it much better than that. Maybe I caught it a shade low on the club, I could have hit it a little further if I didn't have that ball-below-the-feet lie. Maybe. Whatever. I now had 10 feet for eagle, slightly uphill with a bit of a right-to-left break to it. A very makeable putt.

I missed.

I thought I had it, I really did. I hit it what I thought was firm enough. I thought my line was high enough. Obviously one of them was wrong as the ball curved right in front of the cup at the end. To be honest I was in a bit of disbelief as that ball looked like it was center-cut for a long time. After a few more curses I picked up my putter and tapped in for a birdie to shoot 76. I'm not about to complain about that score on a day that started with a double bogey. Nope. Not gonna do it.

I thought about playing more but decided I probably shouldn't. The elbow was fine and it wasn't an issue but I could tell it was a little sore. Could I have played? Probably. Instead I found a few balls on the range and tried to concentrate on two things. One was to keep duplicating the feeling I was getting with how I was setting up. I can't really explain it but I feel as if my hands are at a point where I can clear them easier, that doesn't make sense in words but its all I can come up with. Second was to finish that turn all the way around so that I can square that clubface up with my body turn, at least that is how I feel it. I guess its more around than up and down, like my hands go more inside after getting through the ball. In a way both points are connected, the setup helps give me the feeling of where my hands need to go when I make that turn. Anyway, I tried it out more today (Tuesday) and I can definitely tell a difference compared to what I had been doing. I'm hitting the irons with more power again, like I did on the back nine on Sunday. I just hope I'm doing something correctly.

So this coming Sunday I'm going to head out to another local course called Longwood. They have 27 holes so I might be tempted to play more than 18, even if its just an extra 9 instead of a full round. I just hope I can build on what I started this past week, it was nice to finally hit some irons solidly again. We'll hit the range again on Thursday and see what happens.