Balboa Golf Course, 9/15/04
70 par
75!!!! score
08 fairways hit (out of 15)
09 greens hit (out of 18)
30!!! putts (with only one 3-putt)
I am truly stoked. For no particular reason, I had my game on yesterday. As much as I wanted to stop thinking about it for fear of screwing it up, I kept thinking about how great I was playing.
I got off to a slow start with two unimpressive bogeys. Found my swing on the third hole for par. Then on #4, a 200 yard par 3 into the wind, I hit a 3-iron that didn't draw like I expected and landed on the back fringe for a 30 foot putt. But it was one of the best swings I've made in a long time, and I found the sweet spot on the club face. I play forged blade irons which have ridiculously small sweet spots, so finding it is a big deal. I bogeyed the next hole due to a bad drive. Then on #6, I hit another pure 5-iron from 190 yards right over the flagstick, and made a downhill birdie putt from 25 feet. Went bogey-par-bogey to finish the front side in 4 over par.
I felt good about my swing and my putting stroke, and knew that I could have a really good back nine. Sure enough, back to back birdies on #10 and #11. Then a string of bogeys: a bad chip on #12, and a mishit 8-iron on #13. On #14, I pushed my drive into another fairway, pitched over trees, hit my approach fat, chipped to 4 feet, and made a clutch putt to save bogey. That putt was a confidence booster because I was able to avoid a big number on my worst played hole. So on #15, I hit wedge from 125 yards right over the flagstick and sunk a 10 footer for birdie. The next hole, I made a kind of ridiculous birdie putt -- 30 feet, downhill and sidehill, which broke about 18 inches to the left. Bogeyed #17. At the tee on #18, I went ahead and made the announcement to the group (dad, plus 2 guys we were paired with): "All right guys. I have never broken 80. Right now, I'm at 4 over par. If I don't 'Van de Welde' this hole, I'm buying beers for everyone." For those unfamiliar, a few years back a golfer by the name of Jean Van de Welde had a 3 shot lead going into the last hole of the British Open, one of the most prestigious professional golf tournaments in the world. Millions watched as he self-destructed in a painfully spectacular fashion on #18, making a triple-bogey which allowed two other golfers into a playoff with him for the championship. Not surprisingly, he lost.
I hit my tee shot on #18 and because the hole was playing into the sun, I didn't see it. Well, it wound up directly behind a tree. A guy we were playing with was funny: "Since I have a vested interest in this... did anyone bring a chainsaw?" My pitch-out was too hard and went through the fairway, into the rough. Luckily it worked to my advantage because my angle to the green was such that I didn't have to look directly into the sun. With 65 yards to the center of the green, a back pin placement, a front bunker, and a squishy lie in the rough with which to contend, I decided to hit lob wedge with a little extra juice. It landed about 20 feet past the hole, and I two-putted for bogey. 5 over par and a round of 75.
I made five birdies and only one 3-putt on my way to 30 total putts, which is utterly ridiculous --- that's five fewer than I've ever had in a round. But I think the biggest reason I putted so well was the several very make-able birdie chances I gave myself with my iron approach shots. Although my iron play was solid, I still hit a handful of bad ones -- missing that sweet spot -- which directly resulted in bogeys. In fact, only two of my 10 bogeys were directly due to bad tee shots, and the rest were due to bad irons (followed by mediocre to bad chips, another area in need of improvement). So you see where I'm headed: With more forgiving irons, I think I have a shot at consistently shooting in the 70s, and very close to even par.
I'm thoroughly enjoying this achievement, but I must admit it's really bizarre. It's been almost three months since my last 18-hole round, which I wrote about here (and coincidentally, you can read about my total Van de Weldeian experience on the last hole of that round). With just a few 9-hole rounds and one practice session since then, I had nothing remotely resembling the practice regimen I thought I needed in order to break 80. I might also add Balboa, a municipal golf course measuring 6125 yards from the white tees (74.7 rating, 122 slope), isn't the most challenging layout. But whatever -- it's no less of an accomplishment. I'll feel the pressure on the first hole of my next round. Until then, WOOHOO!!