Phoenix City Amateur - Round 3

Sorry for the delay in posting, this weekend was a whirlwind and immediately after Sunday's round I was down with a shin injury and a bout with the worst head / chest cold I've ever had the misfortune of dealing with. I'll post Saturday's round now then Sunday's round tomorrow. Here we go!

Drove about an hour to get to Cave Creek GC from my house, wind was up and I was hitting it pretty solid on the range. 3 wood off #1, left me about 90 yards in, just nuked my SW, about 25 feet above the hole but cozied it down there for an opening par. I hit a lame thin driver off of the par 5 second, so a 5 iron layup out of the rough, again about 90 yards. This time it came out real soft out of the wet fairway, barely cleared the bunker. Chip to about 5 feet but buried it for par. # is a 200 yard par 3, hit a good 4 iron to about 12 feet below the hole, just missed it for birdie. 3 Wood on 4, blocked it a bit but in a good spot. I fatted the 8 iron out of the cabbage short of the green, but nestled the chip shot to about an inch for another par. Fifth is a weird dogleg right, and all 3 of us blew our tee shots way right into the rough, no trouble except for a big palm tree, but easy enough to cut around it. Instead I hit a dead pull into the bunker. No spin out of there, to about 15 feet and somehow, some way the putt stayed out, I thought for sure that was in.

Hit another kind of lame driver off of the par 5 sixth, hit a monster 3 wood however to about 30 yards short, pitched it to about 3 feet and made it for birdie to get back to even. 7 is playing about 185 yards and I kind of smothered a 5 iron to the back left corner, about 30 feet away from the front right pin. First putt was low all the way, leaving me about 4 feet for par, but no worries here and we hearted it for another par. 8 is another weird hole, straight ahead, but the fairway runs out at about 270 down into a severe valley. Hit kind of a line drive driver up the left side, left me about 170 yards in. I hit what I thought was a short 6 iron but got up there to see it was just past pin high, about 10 feet. This pin was in a nasty spot, literally on the other side of a ridge and I'm not kidding when I say the putt nearly stopped 5 feet short, but kept rolling and rolling and rolling, finally settling on the absolute lip of the cup. Oh how in the world did that not go in? Great tee shot on 9, about 425 yards, a bit downwind now. Left myself right at 100 yards, right next to a goose. Luckily it didn't bite me and I hit SW pin high about 8 feet left. How this putt also didn't go in was a mystery, but another tap in par for even on the front.

10 is almost identical to #1, 3 wood off the tee, about a 70 yard pitch to 6 feet. Misread it and thought it broke left, dead straight, another tap in par. 11 is a par 5 with water about 260 yards out on the right. I aimed at the 2 geese in the fairway and promptly hit the worst 3 wood on the planet. I bet I hit this nearly 180 yards, oh well, it's safe. Hit a perfect 5 iron to layup, leaves me 100 yards on the number. Hit SW maybe 3 feet left of the hole, but I didn't realize how severe the slope was there and it spun back to the front of the green. About 25 feet up the hill and rolled it over the right edge of the hole, another tap in par. For those counting, my par putts on 8, 9, 10 and 11 added up didn't equal 6 inches. Dogleg right 12th, hit a perfect 3 wood to the corner, perfect that is until I see the tree over hanging the corner, hiding the stick. No matter, a nice high cut 9 iron is the perfect shot. Nope. How about a dead straight pansied 9 iron to 45 feet? Ok, we'll take that instead. Cozied the first putt up to about 8 feet (I only wish I was kidding) but drained it for par. 13 is 163 yard par 3, hit a solid 7 iron and was yelling at it in mid air to go in. Literally hits dead pin high 4 inches left of the cup. Big hop and I'm about 11 feet down the hill for birdie. Somehow I managed to leave it 3 inches short, dead in the heart.

14 is another hole with water about 260 out, this time both right and left. I hit a solid 3 wood into the right center of the fairway, 155 yards, pulled 8 iron a bit but it cleared the bunker, about 12 feet up the hill. Missed it low, kind of a weak effort really. 15 is about the same length but the wind has kicked up now. Another 3 wood to the middle of the fairway, 150 yards, back left hole. I decide on a held into the wind 7 iron, hit it very solid, but it upshot into the wind, left me about 25 feet, up and over a hill, right to left about 2 1/2 feet. I missed it by one inch on the high side.

16 is going the other way now, dead downwind, short par 5. Hit a pretty good tee shot but blocked it right through the fairway. No matter, only 200 yards in, sitting up in some rough. I have to go over a hill and some trees and a pond about 30 yards short of the green. Blind shot, but a perfect 5 iron, and I've been hitting my 5 iron great. I'm thinking about how short my eagle putt is going to be when I thin it into the trees and catch the pond. If memory serves, a phrase that starts with the letter "F" and ends with "uck me you stupid mother fucker" came out of my mouth after that one. I took every bit of punishment I could on that, after my drop, pitch short, chip on, 2 putts later we turned a sure 4 into 7. 17 is a 210 yard par 3, uphill, pin all the way left, hit 4 iron to the heart of the green. First putt caught the wind on top of the hill, nearly went in but skated 6 feet by, but we made it for par. 18 is dead downwind, I hit a rope hook 3 wood that rode the wind to about 70 yards (that was a big 3 wood). Pitch to about 20 feet and nearly made that one as well, but another tap in par.

So Saturday was a day of near misses. We turned a pretty straightforward 68 into a 74 with that double. It's almost like I talked myself into putting it into the lake on 16, just pathetic. On to Sunday.