Thanks Corwyn, LOL, BK, and Mainz!
MainzMan:
I've never managed 18 under with flat lies, never mine uneven.
I still haven't managed a -18 on the flats from the tips, either. I reached -19 in the flat shorty tee Cabo RG a year ago when multiple players shot 49s, and -20 off the fronts at Kiawah. From the big boy tees, I'd fallen short at the end several times, most recently in the GolfNow qualifier when I was -17 thru 16 and bogeyed the 17th. That's been my deepest run at a true perfect 18.
I broke from my normal routine of playing the UEL tour event on Friday or Saturday because I had a fresh, quality round Wednesday night in squeaking out a tiebreaker win over poolmaniac in the 500cr RG. I started par-bogey in that one, so it felt good when I drained a tricky 7.5 footer on 1 and I didn't at all mind barely missing a 14 foot eagle try after I was lucky enough to have my drive settle at perfect full 3W range on 2.
I pushed my drive into the sand on 3, got a relatively good lie, and was just competent enough with my out to leave a routine straight 8 footer for birdie. Eagled the 4th thanks to a nice approach that again found a straight putting line. I'll admit that I didn't have the greatest confidence in that shot...I had to add 8 yards to compensate for the downslope, and was afraid it would scream into the bunker or shoot off the back. But it had a soft enough landing thanks to the elevation drop and WGT's unrealistic equipment.
The back half of the front 9 was a streak of uninteresting birdies...good lies, 8-12 foot putts on straight lines. The trickiest putt was on 9 from 10.5 feet, but I lost the replay thanks to the "making the turn" ad glitch. I was extremely fortunate with my leaves on the front. The putts were no tougher than I'd expect at Bethpage.
The back began with a great chance for birdie from 125 with a nearly flat lie, but I missed my mark on the approach, then overpowered the 19 footer. My slightly pushed drive on 11 barely avoided danger and almost crested the hill to roll close. I think a dinged drive there had a chance to be perfect, but it would probably have caught the downslope on the fly and gone off the back. I was happy to lag it close and take the birdie.
I eagled the 12th thanks to my longest putt of the night, a 28 foot triple-breaker that I've seen more than a few times. I pulled a very makeable13 footer on 13, lipped in from 12 on 14 after a missed 83 punch, and eagled 15 thanks to my shot of the round, helped by the wind and the contour of the green. 16 and 17 were routine 10 foot birdies, again along nice, nearly straight lines, and there I was, a par away from 18 under.
I stuck my drive exactly where I wanted it, then butchered the PW to make bogey a lot more likely. I went with a choked pitch for the up, but was so concerned with power and roll that I completely forgot to adjust for the sideslope of the lie and sent it down the slope. Like the drive on 11, it might have been better to miss where I did...certainly in hindsight saving par from 15 feet is far better than possibly leaving the pitch above the hole had I hit it to a higher apex as I imagined it.
So that was it. I'm still not sure that anything on Cabo can truly count as being "from the tips" in the same way as it is on the Open courses, not with its six eagle opportunities, but it was still a lot of fun and extremely satisfying...even if Konrad or Seb should happen to top it.