Epic necro bump, and a jolly good Mothers Day to all of our mothers and grand mothers on tour.
Once again today I locked horns with the evil beast named Olympic, and once again I'm left wimpering away with my tail between my legs. :( My country club is currently running a 4 round US Open courses tourney, and the opening round is an unlimited play at Olympic. This is without a doubt one of the toughest courses on WGT for me. If you can just manage to make it through the first 4 holes in level par the course will start to open itself up for some Birdie opportunities, but sadly this is MUCH easier said than done. I must have rage quit at least a dozen times or more after a bogey at either 1, 2, 3, or 4. Finally after what seemed like the umpteenth attempt I finally made it to the 5th without a blemish on my card.
On the par 3 8th, I finally started to show signs of life:
Made par at the 9th, leaving me at -1 at the turn. Not too shabby. On 10 I think it was I hit a great Pitching wedge inside 6 feet and I was able to convert. -2 under. On 12 my 9 iron had the perfect line, and I tapped in for Bird. -3 under.
That brings us to the dreaded 13th. In my opinion, the hardest hole on the course without question. You absolutely can not miss short OR right of the green, missing long is an EXTREMELY difficult 2 putt due to the slope of the green, and the wind has a huge (imho) effect on how the hole plays out. So when I stepped to the tee with a starter ball and a right to left tailwind, I knew I was screwed. My 5i found the front right corner of the green, but naturally rolled a good 50 feet past the pin. I had a 5.5 footer left for par, and I just did manage to sneak it in. Hugesighofrelief.jpg.
Had a chance for another Bird at 15, but a) I can't putt, b) I'm a terrible putter, and c) I suck at putting.
On 16, its better to be lucky than good. Found the rough off the tee, and after punching out with a 3i I'm still 200 yards out into the wind for my third. But a miracle 3i with just enough roll had me back inside Birdie range. -4 under. 17 is another good birdie opportunity if you play it right. Just stay out of the bunkers, and you absolutely CAN NOT miss long on this green. I opted for the conservative approach with the 4i, and stopped perfectly in the center of the lip. I often struggle with the 3rd shot here, but a precision flop left me with another tap in. -5 under.
So that leaves just a simple par on 18 for a bogey free 65. Driver, wedge, 2 putts -- nothing to it. Driver was fine and found the fairway, ~61 yards short of the pin. Hit my 80 yard wedge for my second, but didn't give it enough power and it finds the bunker. Picardfacepalm.jpg. I managed to flop out below the hole, leaving just a 5.7 footer for par. 5 point 7 feet!!!!!!!!! Surely that is a makable putt, right??? I looked at front view, reverse view, and even chip view, but I was struggling to get a good line on the putt. It looked like the dots were running both right to left and left to right, with right to left dominating closer to the hole. So I aimed just a tiny bit right, and gave it my best shot:
Price is Right failhorn.wav. In retrospect I probably should have taken dead aim. Certainly doesn't help that I missed the ding, either. It was pushed right basically the whole way, and never had a chance. Absolutely furious at myself that I fought so hard for 17 straight holes, only to piss it all away on 18, one of the easiest holes on the course. I swear Olympic, one of these days I WILL BEAT YOU. Mark my words, you haven't seen the last of me.