On Tuesday I had a disappointing range session. I didn’t hit the ball well at all. Yesterday, I flew to Florida for some appointments. Today, at Old Palm Golf Club, I had a hole in three.
What’s a hole in 3, you might ask? Well, on the par 3 2nd hole, I hit my tee shot, a hybrid, right and it plummeted into the water. Confident in the club, I reteed, choked up a little, and proceeded to hit the ball 155 yards in the air, nice and high, right into the hole. For par. I’ve never had a hole in one, but honestly, a hole in 3 might make for a better story.
My stereotypical hole-in-one photo:
The rest of the round was fun, but unremarkable.
On the 1st hole, a par 4, I hit a great drawing drive 243 yards and a nice wedge toward the back flag that just skidded off the back of the green. I then proceeded to skull a short chip from just off the green, leaving me in the rough farther than I’d started and I walked away with 6.
On the 3rd hole, I hit a great drive, a decent short iron, and holed a lengthy putt for birdie (not a bad followup to the sorta-ace).
On the challenging par-5 4th, I hit a decent drive that popped up a little to the right, but still found the fairway. I hit two mediocre fairway woods and a couple of mediocre bunker shots (one was a fairway bunker) for double.
On the 5th hole, my drive ended up in the left rough, on a big downslope. I hit my pitching wedge approach too far right and ended up in the water. I hit a nice 40-yard flop over the bunker that guards the green, but only managed a two-putt for double.
On the 6th hole, I again had trouble with a hybrid on the 1st shot of a par three and finished with another double.
On 7, I hit a really nice, high draw that somehow managed to get no roll whatsoever, then left my 2nd shot right. My third shot left me pitching up over a bunker to a narrow green that sloped away from me to a steep dropoff. I hit a decent shot, but hit to a number that was too long, and rolled off the green. Double again.
On 8, I hit a great driver 223 yards to the left side of the fairway. I hit a nice 9-iron approach just left of the front pin, about 4-5 yards off the green. I almost got up and down, but walked away with 5.
On the par-5 9th, my drive trailed a little right, but carried the hazard and found grass. I hit a nice 3-wood layup to about 75 yards. My 56-degree wedge trailed right of where I was aiming, but still found the green. My birdie putt, from 30-40 feet, came up 3 feet short, but thankfully left an uphill putt. I drained the 3-footer for a closing par.
Several doubles, a hole in three, a birdie, and a par summed to 46 from the blue tees, not great, but not terrible. I definitely felt like I hit the ball better than I scored. All in all though, it was a fun nine.
I hit 4 of 7 fairways with an average driving distance of 209 (+- 23 yards). My drives were reasonably consistent, especially given that I didn’t warm up, and almost all of my irons were good or great. My putting was excellent. My 3-wood and hybrid need a little consistency work, as do my short chips off of closely mown lies (realistically I should have putted the chip on one). I do need to work on getting a more penetrating ballflight (and more distance) out of my driver, so that I can continue to take advantage of my short irons and wedges on longer courses.
Michael Golfs 