Good Morning....
I just shot a round on Bethpage Black - and I finished it with a dead-even PAR at 70. While this is not a particularly mind-blowing event - the route I had to take to this score was one filled with some valuable lessons (for me, and I hope others) so I thought I would share.
In short, I had to fight like hell to get it. I will begin with the scorecard - and following I will share some "highlights" (and some lowlights LOL) regarding how this round progressed and what I learned. I hope someone reading it may also learn something.
By viewing the scorecard you can see that the simple summary of saying this round was a PAR (i.e. sounds "boring", "by-the-book" or "Regulation") COMPLETELY BELIES THE FACT THAT it was a complete roller coaster.
So here is what happened to me....
Hole #1 - Birdie - off to a great and optimistic start!
Holes 2 and 3 - PAR on each. Nothing reportable BUT still carrying forward at -1 from the first hole. Onwards!
Hole 4 - Chapter 1 of "Learning Not To Be Stupid" - Standing on the tee and there is a Left-to-Right 6 MPH crosswind. Due to the left-side fairway bunker AND the bend in the fairway, this type of crosswind causes me to want to ever so slightly "hang the drive" out over the left side bunker knowing it will blow back and land in the fairway. UNFORTUNATELY FOR ME - even though I aimed it as described, I messed up on the meter timing and struck the ball a good bit LEFT of the line. So guess what? IN THE BUNKER. :-( Landing the drive in this bunker means - for ME anyway, NO shot at the upper-tier of the fairway with my second. To attempt this is to risk the all-too-familiar 2nd shot landing EITHER in the steeply-banked mid-fairway sand OR EVEN WORSE in the nastiness surrounding it (IN THE LONG WEEDS, 60-70% ROUGH etc). No thank you. I learned THIS PARTICULAR LESSON ABOUT HOW NOT TO BE STUPID LONG AGO. So...I took a Sand Wedge for my second shot and popped it out to the very end of the lower fairway. Laying 2 BUT I can still save a Par. I have done this many times. Unfortunately, the rest of the hole did not work out according to this plan and I wound up with a BOGEY 6. NOT the result I had hoped for BUT "at least it was not a 7 or an 8". Even finishing with a Bogey, My knowing "not to be stupid" worked out OK here. (Things will not go so well on a later hole as you will read.) OH - and now I am back to dead-even par for the round.
Hole 5 - Saved a PAR. The usual "up-and-down" from the back ROUGH.
Hole 6 - PAR. Nothing reportable. Still running at EVEN on the round.
Hole 7 - Chapter 2 of "Learning Not To Be Stupid" - This is where catastrophe struck. I am on the tee and I have a 9 MPH FULL TAILWIND. From the back tees, this suggests a tantalizing possibility - If I dare to aim a bit RIGHT to save 40-50 yards on the hole - (I thought) "My ball will CERTAINLY carry the sand and the rough. The aiming cursor is entirely (though barely) into the fairway and AT WORST I might BOUNCE THROUGH the rough - but with this tailwind I should be able to do this!" "No guts, No glory" I step up and hit my drive PERFECTLY - right on the line. And then I heard The Sound. That sickening leaf-rustling twig-snapping sound. "IN THE LONG WEEDS" (60-70% Lie). I had just made a catastrophic mistake in trying to be bold and save a few yards. In the end, this experience ended up costing me a DOUBLE BOGEY 6 on the hole. Egads. Consider this lesson in how not to be stupid NOW LEARNED. Until I change my gear again (not soon), I shall not be flirting with this again. I walked off this green deflated and now at +2 on the round.
THIS ROUND IS NOT GOING SO WELL NOW....BUT AS ALWAYS I AM GOING TO STICK WITH IT BECAUSE THIS IS HOW I LEARN (I lied as I thought to myself). LOL
Hole 8 - PAR. No news. Still at +2 for the round.
Hole 9 - Just when this set of 9 holes could not get any worse...guess what? IT GOT WORSE. BOGEY 5 due to a STUPID missed 7 foot par putt. Maybe nerves, MAYBE indifference setting in due to what had happened on 4 and 7 ? Who knows.
I SWALLOWED MY PRIDE AND WALKED OFF THE 9th AT +3 AND HEADED FOR THE BACK 9.
Hole 10 - PAR. Standard textbook par. Still at +3 for the round.
Holes 11, 12, and 13 - REDEMPTION: The Birdie Streak - Suddenly, The Gods of Golf began to smile. I BIRDIED ALL THREE OF THESE HOLES! All of a sudden my +3 after the 10th Hole was back to an EVEN for the round. Things are looking up. FINALLY! I felt really good at this point.
Here I have to make a comment.....Is it JUST ME? Or when playing this stretch of holes - do others of you get a bit of a sickening feeling - specifically - I know I am doing OK right NOW...BUT...The 15th Hole looms, lying in wait like an Ogre. The 15th Hole can ruin ANYTHING. Does anyone else get this feeling when playing the holes right before it? (But bury that thought for now...there is work to be done...on to 14).
Hole 14 - PAR. Birdie streak is over. Back to reality BUT EVEN on the round and I am HAPPY compared with where I was just 4 holes ago!
Hole 15 - We know what this Hole is capable of. I call it "The Destroyer of Rounds". So here is what happens..... DRIVE into the center/left of the fairway. 2nd shot will be 199 yards to the extreme elevated green. So I hit my second shot - and it lands in the rough at the front of the green. 3rd shot will be an 11 Yard Chip shot. IF I CAN GET THIS REAL CLOSE I can save PAR - is what I was thinking. So what happens? I hit it short. I left an 18 Foot Putt for Par. An 18 footer is certainly makable on MOST greens...BUT THIS IS 15. All bets are off - in fact the "smart money" knows that sinking an 18 footer is extremely difficult AT BEST here. Guess what? I sunk it. Hitting it with the strength of a 23 foot putt AND aiming it 8 feet to the left worked out! I guessed right! Importantly - the hole did NOT destroy my round - not on this day. I was perfectly happy to walk away from 15 with my entire round STILL at EVEN PAR.
*** Devil's Dare - Pick a spot - ANY spot - that is exactly 18 feet from the cup on 15 - and MAKE THE PUTT. I dare you. I am certain I would not be able to do it a second time at this stage in my own experience. ***
Holes 16, 17 and 18 - PARs all around.
So I finished the round at DEAD EVEN PAR 70. Considering where I had been AND WHAT I HAD LEARNED......I was happy to have it. Perfectly happy.
MORAL OF THE STORY: All Players - regardless of Level, experience, frustration etc - STICK WITH YOUR ROUNDS. Work through the trouble. Learn from it! It makes you better at your game in the longer term by learning how to recover from these sorts of messes. And above all - ENJOY YOURSELF.
I am sticking about 3 sentences about "Technology" right here at the end. Yes - technological difficulties CAN impact all of us when we play. For the record, I had TWO instances during this round - when I had to Save My Game, Close and Restart My Browser. Sometimes it happens, sometimes not - but I have learned to manage this instead of getting angry about it. Highly recommended. (But technology is covered elsewhere in the Forums - just wanted to note it here in case anyone wanted to say "But MY GAME" won't stay connected etc etc. It happened to me also - and it was not all that important in the big picture).
Best Regards, AtlantaCoaster