It was 38 degrees outside today with two inches of snow expected to fall overnight before changing to rain and getting pretty messy. Therefore, I could think of no better way to spend the day than going out for the first round of the season.
My brother recently got me the New England Golf Guide and while flipping through it I found out that Wareham's golf course, Little Harbor, is open year-round. My family has a summer place down in Wareham and I had intended to give the place a try later in the season. But, since I was working through a case of spring fever and was going to be down that area checking on the cottage anyhow, now seemed as good a time as any.
Little Harbor is a short course, featuring mostly pars 3s and two par 4s. Considering the time of year, it's in very good shape. The fairways are very well maintained, though the fringes were soggy due to all the melting snow we've had the last couple of days. Since I do most of my work on the fringes, I was glad I opted for the pull cart versus laying my bag on the ground between shots.
I under-armoured myself up, arrived and paid the special winter prices: $9 for 9 holes. The guy behind the counter informed me that there were only two other groups out on the course right now; two groups of three had just started. "So," he said, "I would start on 10. You can't play 11 because of too much ice. You can play 12 and then if you're ahead of the other groups you can play 4 and go from there. Front nine has a couple par 4s, the back is all 3s. Or, you can do whatever. Just play 9 holes and come back." Clearly the course etiquette is a little looser for winter golf. I'm already a fan of this place.
I decided to start on the back nine so that I could have some privacy, and I got it. I had the place virtually to myself for my round. Playing golf alone allows you to concentrate more on each shot - fewer distractions. Not to mention, you can see what it would feel like if you were rich enough to have your own course. Besides, I prefer to keep my audience to a minimum when I'm playing golf. You can keep your bad shots to yourself (until you write about them in a blog). The flipside is that no one is there to see your good shots. That wouldn't be much of a problem today.
#10 I attempted to get my tee in the ground, only to find it frozen after the first half-inch. This turns out to be a blessing in disguise because it allowed me to set the ball nice and high and get even more air into my drive. I connected for about 150 yards before it hooked and landed 50 feet from the pin, just off the green. As it would turn out, this would be the best shot I would hit all day. I should have quit while I was ahead. I topped my chip attempt (twice) and then three-putted for a 6.
#12 After skipping #11 due to the excessive ice on the fairway (editor's note: when the guy told me this in the clubhouse it didn't even phase me - I guess that makes me a "real" golfer now), I arrived on #12 to find it has a small stream running alongside on the right. Thinking too much about avoiding the water, I end up weakly dribbling my drive down the left. I debated teeing off again, since there was no one behind me, but instead I walked the 20 yards to where my ball landed and swung away.... only to watch my ball head across the fairway towards the hazard. It landed in the stream with a mighty splash, but on closer inspection it was only in about an inch of water. I fished it out and rebounded nicely, despite the penalty.
#13 There is an old adage that the first round of a golfer's season can be the best, because you've built up a reserve of good shots over the winter. That adage is bullshit. I topped my drive, my second shot, my chip attempt and then two-putted.
#14 At Little Harbor, the tee boxes for #5 and #14 happen to be next to one another. I arrived at #14 at the same time that one of the threesomes made up of the six other people crazy enough to golf in Massachusetts in February arrived at #5. Now, it's a little know fact that golfers passing on the course have to talk to each other, but are only allowed to speak in golf cliches. So we had the following conversation:
Me: Afternoon, gentlemen.
Guy #1: How's you're round going?
Guy #2: Leaving us any birdies for the back 9?
Me: Oh, more than I would like too, unfortunately.
Guy #3: That's alright. Early in the season.
Guy #1: Besides it's just nice being out.
Guy #3: A bad day golfing is better than a good day at work, right?
Me: True enough. Enjoy your round.
#15 This is a short (100 yard) downhill par three. I decided to play the pitching wedge, since I can usually get solid contact with it. For some reason I seem to hit every club the same distance; as a result, club selection is one of the weaker aspects of my game (falling just behind "actually playing." The solid parts of my game? Buying the first round and cart driving). This time, of course, I got too much loft with the club and came up short of the green, which was protected by three small bunkers. I figured it was just a matter of deciding which bunker I would be playing out of next. Miraculously I got over them and had a 20 footer for par. I had a hard time getting a read on the greens because some were colder and thus, faster, but this wasn't one of them - came up 2 feet short for a 4. As I was replacing the flag a large hawk, with the tail of something small and fuzzy hanging out of its mouth, buzzed my head. At least I'm having a better day than whatever this hawk was eating for lunch.
#16 After topping my drive for the.... every... consecutive hole, my luck from #15 ran out and on my second shot I landed in the bunker with a thud. The sand was a firm mud texture and so the ball didn't sink in. I wanted to hit the sand behind the ball and get some solid loft, but instead got direct contact for one of the few times in the day and watched my ball zoom out of the bunker, over the green and onto a service road. Definitely out of bounds, but I could see it and figured that I could still play it. After raking out the bunker, I approached to see a lady standing over my ball like a chicken over an egg. "Is this your ball?" she asked. "I just don't want my kids riding over it with their bikes." I'm not sure if her concern is for my ball placement or her kids' safety (how much damage could a golf ball do?) but I quickly fired my next shot back across the service road. Upon getting up on the green, I was confronted with a dilemma. My ball had landed 4 feet from an old pin that had not been filled in and 35 feet from the cup that had the flag in it. I could tap in for a short putt on what has already been a pretty bad hole, or go for the pin with the flag, which would be at least a two putt. Well, blame my parents for making me be a cub scout, but I went for the pin that had the flag... and three putted.
#17 This hole started off confusing, because the flag read #11. I guess this was what was supposed to be used instead of the iced-over fairway of the actual #11. Not that this was much better, as the tee box was a sheet of ice. I managed to find an area that I could get solid footing in, swung away... and have no idea what happened to my tee. I reached down to get it and it was gone - no trace. I mention this only because I was trying to get through the round with the same tee and ball. No such luck. This hole also featured two pins and again I went for the farther cup that featured the flag. At least on this hole I was rewarded by rolling a 30 foot putt to within a foot of the cup.
#18 Very good-looking hole with the clubhouse directly ahead of you. But, it also has a large wooded section on the right that my ball went screaming towards off the tee. I really think that my ball was trying to escape me at this point. As it hooked behind a clump of bushes, I was convinced I had see it for the last time. Miraculously, I found the ball (and about 4 others in the surrounding brush) and had a pretty descent lie to the green. All I had to do was not hit some branches about ten feet away and 15 feet up. Now, I couldn't hit these branches if I was aiming for them... so, of course, I connected perfectly with the thinnest one and my ball dropped like a stone.
#1 I had one hole to make up for skipping #11 and decided to go with the closest one, which also happened to be the shortest. My first shot was short, but I benefited from a nice roll on the fairway. As a result I had a short chip onto the green and was left with a 15 footer for par. Again, reading the speed of the greens was an issue and I came up three feet short. But, I sank that one for only my second 4 of the day.
Final Score: 54.
Self Analysis: I'm still topping all of my shots. If I could get solid contact I would probably have chopped 2 strokes off per hole. My putting is good, not great and my wood play needs some work. In other words - I'm in mid-season form.
