First hole is a dog leg left. About a 180 yard drive gets you to the corner, 200 yards puts you behind a tree so you really need to be accurate. John hit a gorgeous drive, Bill faded right, Dave chunked badly, and I whipped out my 7 wood. And topped it, maybe 140 yards. Terrible...but Bill was behind a tree so we played mine. We went back and forth...took us 4 shots to get on the green and then we 2 putted. Played 3 of Bill's shots and 3 of mine. Dave and John took a 5 so we were down one.
Hole 2 is another "target golf" thing...maybe 160 yards to get past a tree, 190 yards means you might be out of bounds. Short right is trees and canyon. Both Dave and John hit gorgeous, near perfect drives. Bill had a playable drive but to the green blind. I mis-hit my 5 iron, it never got higher than knee level and sliced...fortunately, that meant it was a perfect shot. Unfortunately, I then topped my 9 iron and it went maybe 5 yards? Brutal. Fortunately, Bill put us close to the green. We then both chipped over the green. Our chip back on was okay, we 2 putted. Again, 3 of my shots, 3 of Bill's, Dave and John again had a 5 so we were down 2 after 2. About right.
Hole 3 is a 95 yard par 3. Bill chunked it way short and right. I took a half swing with my 8 iron. However, I crushed it. We thought it was OB so we played Bill's. I then blasted my ball to who knows where. When we went to play his second we found my first. So we played that. I managed to get mine on the green. We played one of my putts and one of his. Dave & John also had a 4.
Next hole is a long par 4 that is tree lined on both sides. Bill hammered out a nice drive as did John. I tried my driver but was still using the new uni-height tees. Sky-ball slice. Brutal. 7 wood went nowhere, Bill had a nice hit if a bit right. We played my chip to the green and his putts. Another bogey, as did Dave & John.
At this point I was extremely frustrated. I was trying to play relaxed, smart golf. I was underswinging, going with soft swings, and so forth. And I was chunk-chunk-chunking my shots. I took a ball I had found and baseballed it into the woods with my putter, went over and sat at the next tee bench.
The next hole is the first par 5, about 475 yards. Bill hit a short shot, John hit a long one, Dave hit short, and as I got ready to swing, Bill said, "Drew is ready to unleash a legendary drive...of F-bombs." I tried my driver with a normal tee. And CRUSHED it. It was about a 270 yard drive and right center of the fairway. I then blasted my 7 wood pin high. They reached the front fring in 3 and we were still farther then them after 2. Then John chipped to about 6" from the cup. I chipped to about 8', we 2 putted. We played 5 of my shots and got the par. Unfortunately, John's chip meant we were still down 2.
The next hole is a 360 yard par 4 with trees tight to the fairway on both sides. John hammered a nice drive, Bill and Dave both sliced short and bad, and then I stepped up. I had to avoid the tree that inhibits a skied driver on the right so I aimed left. Again I absolutely crushed it. It blasted loose a small branch and still landed dead center in the fairway 90 yards from the green. Bill chipped short and left, I chipped pin high and right. We took mine, I rolled onto the green and close, we 1 putted for a par. Unfortunately, John rolled in about a 20' putt. Again the stroke we thought we were going to get back was ripped from us.
Next hole was a 135 yard par 3. John landed on the green. Bill went OB past the green. Dave landed on the green. I always struggle on this hole, but this time I hit the deep left corner of the green. Both Bill and I got close with our putts but mine was slightly closer and I holed it for the par. So did Dave & John. 3 straight pars for both partnerships.
Hole 8 is a short par 5, about 475 yards. It makes up for the length by having trees even tighter to both sides of the fairway. Bill hit very short, Dave was off in the woods to the right and John hammered a nice drive into the center of the fairway. So again I demolished my drive, long and straight. We were laying about 160 yards off the green. Over a 300 yard drive and center of the fairway! Unfortunately, both Bill and I went right but I was about pin high so we took mine. I chipped onto the green and their third shot was long. They chipped on and were laying 4. They 2 putted. I had about a 7' putt with a left bend for the birdie that would tie us. John actually laid his putter in front of the hole. When the antics were over I put the putt on the lip; 1 more rotation and it would have fallen. So I tapped it for my 4th consecutive par, all of which were exclusively my shots. I was playing awesome.
We were now only down 1 with 1 hole to go, a very tough dogleg left par 4. Bill went first. He sliced badly and hit a tree about 40 yards down and right. John stepped up and hit a great drive that looked like it made the corner and was a great, great shot. I pulled out a 3 iron, trying to get past the corner without driving the road as I usually do here. Instead I shanked it shorter than Bill's and further right. Horrible. John and Dave were counting up how many strokes they would pick up. So then Bill overdrove the fairway and went OB against the road. I decided to try my 7W over the trees, over the water, over hole 5 to the green. Instead I caught mud and a branch, hit a low overhanging branch with the ball, and ended up about 40 yards from the green...short of the pond...behind trees. Sadly...that was better than Bill's shot. I ripped out my sand wedge, took a stout swing, the ball flew over the trees and pond and landed on the green about 6' from the cup. It was an outstanding shot. Dave hit a tree and ended up further from the green. John sliced behind a tree. For whatever reason they took Johns even with no view of the flag. Neither of them reached the green. Then they both chipped to the far back side of the green. They were laying 3, so were we. Their next putt barely got closer than ours. If we made our putt we would win outright. We both missed by inches so we took a 5. John yipped so it came down to Dave...who hit the lip and it rolled in for the tie.
Still, Bill and I should have gotten KILLED. We played only 12 of Bills shots. We shot a 43, 7 over. So I actually played really well once we got past the 4th hole. I played the next 4 holes alone and then we matched well on 9.
I ended up having a good time despite the rough first 4 holes. A good finish to the year.
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