As you guys know, I played my first round in 30 years today. We played at Fox Hollow, in Lakewood, Colorado. We got there around 30 minutes before our tee time, but I ended up not getting any practice time in. My hands were a little sore from hitting balls the day before, and my right wrist was hurting a little (fat shot + mat = bad move). So I figured I wouldn't push it by hitting any balls before going out. I will not make that mistake again.
BTW, the weather was great. High 60's, but with a lot of wind. And I do mean A LOT of wind. We were supposed to be paired up with a twosome, but they didn't show up in time so the marshall told us to just go and try to catch up to the twosome ahead of us. I am looking at the scorecard when I decide to put my glasses back on, and proceed to poke myself in the eye. That was 6 hours ago, and it still bothers me a little. Talk about a good way to start the round!
The first hole was a par 4 (383 yards) from the blue tees. And yes, I played the blue tees all day. With no practice at all (okay, i took 3 practice putts), I let it rip. As I am standing there, I notice a big out of bounds area on the left, and it had "eat ball" written all over it. So I swapped out my Titleist for a cheap Wilson, pulled out the 3W, and proceeded to shank my first shot out of bounds into that area. LOL. My wife is like "where did it go?" and I was like..."let's put it this way honey. I need another ball." The second shot was a low liner, but I was on the fairway! Woohoo! From there I pretty much shanked my way to a 10 on the first hole. I did 2 putt though, so I felt like something went right on the first hole.
The 2nd hole was a carbon copy of the first. It was a par 3 (180 yards), and i shanked the first shot (8i) into the water. Two holes, two balls gone. This sport is going to be expensive. My next shot was at least in the air, and I 3 putted my way to a 7.
The 3rd hole was no different, with the exception that we had caught up with the twosome ahead of us. So with added pressure, I shanked my tee shot (3W) about 50 yards to the left. It was a 380 yard par 4. My second shot was another shank, but my third from about 200 yards was money, and I was close to the green. At this point I am thinking, no lost balls, no penalty shots, and i hit a decent iron shot. This feels like progress. And then I proceeded to chip over the green not once, but twice, and 3 putt for a 9.
This would be a good time to mention that at no point today was I frustrated. I knew this was going to happen going in, and the great part is the wife had a blast with me. She had no idea that golf was like this, and she is pumped to do it again next week. She drove the cart the whole time, which she really enjoyed. She also wrote down my scores, and checked distance on the GolfShot app. She is onboard with this, and we had a wonderful time out together. The course was not busy, so it was good that I had some time to explain how things worked. Major success and quality time.
Okay, back to the debacle.
The 4th hole was a par 5 (515 yards), and I decided to pull out the driver. At this point, why not? I had a couple of mishits, but I also hit a screamer towards the pin. I was about 10 yards off the green, had a decent chip, and 2 putted to a 9. To me, this hole really started to feel like I was putting a few things together. I had another good iron shot, and my chipping and putting were pretty good. So going to the 5th hole, I started thinking that maybe I could do this.
The 5th hole was a par 4 (421 yards), and I hit a decent shot off the tee with my driver. I was not out of bounds, or looking for a new ball in the bag, so I felt really good about it. My second shot is maybe 20 yards short of the green (another good iron shot), but I am in the bunker. I proceed to hit it in the middle and basically bounce across the green and down a hill on the other side. Then I hit a decent chip shot, and 2 put for a 6. My first double bogey!
The 6th hole was the longest of the day, a 563 yard par 5. I hit some decent shots, but shanked an uphill lie, and shot the green again with a 100 yard shot. But I 2 putt again to another double bogey. The wife tells me "bring on Tiger" after that hole, and my confidence was definitely starting to improve.
The 7th hole was a par 4 (419 yards), and I hit a good first and second shot, and was right off the edge of the green. I make an okay chip shot, and 2 putt for bogey. Seeing my game come around like this was pretty awesome, and the guys we were playing with were pretty surprised that I had gone from shanker to bogey in a few holes.
The 8th hole was a 158 yard par 3, and I hit it straight towards the pin. It was a big drop, and you really couldn't see where the ball hit, but one of the guys yelled "did it go in the hole?" because it was straight at it, with the right distance. When we get to the green my ball is about 15 yards to the right of the pin, and the guys tell me the ball had to have hit the pin, because there was no way it could have ended up in front of the flag, and far to the right of it. Unfortunately this left me with a chip shot, but I hit it decent enough to 2 putt for bogey.
The 9th hole was a 392 yard par 4, and you didn't want to hit it too far or you were in trouble off the tee. This was one of my best drives of the day, and my ball was right there next to the other balls (one guy is a scratch golfer, the other was a 8 hdc). My second shot lands in the bunker, which I proceed to hit out and fly the green. This is a hard game. I then chip a shot that almost goes in the hole from 40 to 50 feet out. And then I lip out the putt for bogey, and end the front nine with a double bogey.
The final tally for the front nine is a 63 (for 3411 yards from the blues). It took me 4 holes to settle down, but then I had three doubles and two bogeys.
We head over to the Meadows (3228 yards) and chit chat with the starter for a few minutes. One thing I will say about Fox Hollow. The staff are super friendly (smiling marshalls said hello at least 5 times), and the course was really nice. I liked it a lot and have found a home course. If you are ever in the Denver area, go play here. Highly recommended.
So at this point it is around 4pm, and we are the last people teeing off (although I did see a Marshall teeing it up). It was pretty windy, and the skies looked a bit threatening. Let's do this honey!
I grab the driver and head for the blue tees. It's a par 5 (485 yards), and I drill one, slicing it out of bounds. My next shot was a beauty, and the starter even yells "nice shot!" which was cool to start the back nine. I then hit another good shot (technically #4), but it lands in a bunker. This bunker was a long one, and I could easily see myself needing several shots to get out. And then I hit a shot (maybe 40 yards out) to within 10 feet of the hole. And then 2 putt for a double. Ugh.
The back nine consisted of double, triple, bogey, bogey, massive blowup (9 on a par 4), triple, bogey, double, and bogey. On the last hole I missed a 6 footer (lipped out), which would have been my only par for the day. One thing about that 9. Shanked my first shot (maybe 20 yards), then went out of bounds on the next, before somewhat recovering. It doesn't take much for the wheels to come off in this sport.
So the back nine ended with a 55, for a total round of 118. The total yards were 6639, with a rating of 70.7 and a slope of 132. I had four 3 putts (and one 1 putt), for a total of 39 putts.
All in all we had a great time. The wife likes golf, and she really enjoyed spending the day with me in this setting. She has lessons coming up the 19th, so maybe in a month or two she will be swinging beside me out there. I also liked showing her the game this way, so she can get more out of her lessons. And as I mentioned above, the course and staff were awesome. The Links 9 has a very different feel from the Meadow, and it felt like two totally different courses. I also have the Canyon nine to play, so I doubt I will get bored with Fox Hollow any time soon. Add a nice practice facility, I am digging this place.
As far as my game went, after the first 4 holes I started to get things together a little. I really didn't have a disaster hole the rest of the day, with one notable exception on the back nine. My iron play wasn't that bad, and I even used my 3i on a couple of occasions with some success. My fairway wood needs work (I hit it once - grounder), and my driver was erratic, with a few nice drives mixed in with several shanks. I am going to work on the woods at the range big time.
Fox Hollow is a very windy and hilly course (more so with the Links). I was dealing with a lot of uneven lies, which I really hadn't been exposed to by practicing. I don't think I saw one flat hole all day. So I am just going to have to work on that on the course, and try to stay in the fairway more. I also had a ton more mishits than I had at the range, so there is a learning curve to deal with on that front.
Course management (or lack thereof) led to a few penalty strokes. I pulled the driver out in a few high risk situations (narrow and unforgiving holes with obvious hazards) and paid for it, but in some cases my next shot with the driver was really good. Again, just erratic. Putting was the strong point, although I never really felt in the zone with putting. I was tentative all day. The Birdie Ball is paying off, but I have a lot of work to do here too. Chipping was either hero or zero, although after the first few holes I didn't really do anything too bad in this area. In only one case did it actually give me an opportunity to score, so except for a few occasions I didn't really get the ball that close on a chip. I think my putting looks better based on the fact that I missed almost all my greens in regulation. I had that extra chip shot to get the ball a little closer.
If I had to say what the highlights of the round were, there were three. Hitting the pin was pretty cool on the par 3 on the front nine. The starter yelling "nice shot" was also right up there, as it was my best drive of the day. And finally, the bunker shot. So there are a lot of positives to take away from my first round since Reagan was in office.
Maybe the best thing of all was not getting frustrated, even with all the shanks. I found myself chuckling often, but I really didn't want to ruin the day for both of us. I appreciate you guys stressing that over and over. I kept that in mind from the very first shot today, which was incidentally my first opportunity to get frustrated! It was a blast of a day.
The only other thing I can say is, why did I stay away from this game for so long? I definitely won't make that mistake again.
BTW, I will post some photos tomorrow. I am too tired now!
BTW, the weather was great. High 60's, but with a lot of wind. And I do mean A LOT of wind. We were supposed to be paired up with a twosome, but they didn't show up in time so the marshall told us to just go and try to catch up to the twosome ahead of us. I am looking at the scorecard when I decide to put my glasses back on, and proceed to poke myself in the eye. That was 6 hours ago, and it still bothers me a little. Talk about a good way to start the round!
The first hole was a par 4 (383 yards) from the blue tees. And yes, I played the blue tees all day. With no practice at all (okay, i took 3 practice putts), I let it rip. As I am standing there, I notice a big out of bounds area on the left, and it had "eat ball" written all over it. So I swapped out my Titleist for a cheap Wilson, pulled out the 3W, and proceeded to shank my first shot out of bounds into that area. LOL. My wife is like "where did it go?" and I was like..."let's put it this way honey. I need another ball." The second shot was a low liner, but I was on the fairway! Woohoo! From there I pretty much shanked my way to a 10 on the first hole. I did 2 putt though, so I felt like something went right on the first hole.
The 2nd hole was a carbon copy of the first. It was a par 3 (180 yards), and i shanked the first shot (8i) into the water. Two holes, two balls gone. This sport is going to be expensive. My next shot was at least in the air, and I 3 putted my way to a 7.
The 3rd hole was no different, with the exception that we had caught up with the twosome ahead of us. So with added pressure, I shanked my tee shot (3W) about 50 yards to the left. It was a 380 yard par 4. My second shot was another shank, but my third from about 200 yards was money, and I was close to the green. At this point I am thinking, no lost balls, no penalty shots, and i hit a decent iron shot. This feels like progress. And then I proceeded to chip over the green not once, but twice, and 3 putt for a 9.
This would be a good time to mention that at no point today was I frustrated. I knew this was going to happen going in, and the great part is the wife had a blast with me. She had no idea that golf was like this, and she is pumped to do it again next week. She drove the cart the whole time, which she really enjoyed. She also wrote down my scores, and checked distance on the GolfShot app. She is onboard with this, and we had a wonderful time out together. The course was not busy, so it was good that I had some time to explain how things worked. Major success and quality time.
Okay, back to the debacle.
The 4th hole was a par 5 (515 yards), and I decided to pull out the driver. At this point, why not? I had a couple of mishits, but I also hit a screamer towards the pin. I was about 10 yards off the green, had a decent chip, and 2 putted to a 9. To me, this hole really started to feel like I was putting a few things together. I had another good iron shot, and my chipping and putting were pretty good. So going to the 5th hole, I started thinking that maybe I could do this.
The 5th hole was a par 4 (421 yards), and I hit a decent shot off the tee with my driver. I was not out of bounds, or looking for a new ball in the bag, so I felt really good about it. My second shot is maybe 20 yards short of the green (another good iron shot), but I am in the bunker. I proceed to hit it in the middle and basically bounce across the green and down a hill on the other side. Then I hit a decent chip shot, and 2 put for a 6. My first double bogey!
The 6th hole was the longest of the day, a 563 yard par 5. I hit some decent shots, but shanked an uphill lie, and shot the green again with a 100 yard shot. But I 2 putt again to another double bogey. The wife tells me "bring on Tiger" after that hole, and my confidence was definitely starting to improve.
The 7th hole was a par 4 (419 yards), and I hit a good first and second shot, and was right off the edge of the green. I make an okay chip shot, and 2 putt for bogey. Seeing my game come around like this was pretty awesome, and the guys we were playing with were pretty surprised that I had gone from shanker to bogey in a few holes.
The 8th hole was a 158 yard par 3, and I hit it straight towards the pin. It was a big drop, and you really couldn't see where the ball hit, but one of the guys yelled "did it go in the hole?" because it was straight at it, with the right distance. When we get to the green my ball is about 15 yards to the right of the pin, and the guys tell me the ball had to have hit the pin, because there was no way it could have ended up in front of the flag, and far to the right of it. Unfortunately this left me with a chip shot, but I hit it decent enough to 2 putt for bogey.
The 9th hole was a 392 yard par 4, and you didn't want to hit it too far or you were in trouble off the tee. This was one of my best drives of the day, and my ball was right there next to the other balls (one guy is a scratch golfer, the other was a 8 hdc). My second shot lands in the bunker, which I proceed to hit out and fly the green. This is a hard game. I then chip a shot that almost goes in the hole from 40 to 50 feet out. And then I lip out the putt for bogey, and end the front nine with a double bogey.
The final tally for the front nine is a 63 (for 3411 yards from the blues). It took me 4 holes to settle down, but then I had three doubles and two bogeys.
We head over to the Meadows (3228 yards) and chit chat with the starter for a few minutes. One thing I will say about Fox Hollow. The staff are super friendly (smiling marshalls said hello at least 5 times), and the course was really nice. I liked it a lot and have found a home course. If you are ever in the Denver area, go play here. Highly recommended.
So at this point it is around 4pm, and we are the last people teeing off (although I did see a Marshall teeing it up). It was pretty windy, and the skies looked a bit threatening. Let's do this honey!
I grab the driver and head for the blue tees. It's a par 5 (485 yards), and I drill one, slicing it out of bounds. My next shot was a beauty, and the starter even yells "nice shot!" which was cool to start the back nine. I then hit another good shot (technically #4), but it lands in a bunker. This bunker was a long one, and I could easily see myself needing several shots to get out. And then I hit a shot (maybe 40 yards out) to within 10 feet of the hole. And then 2 putt for a double. Ugh.
The back nine consisted of double, triple, bogey, bogey, massive blowup (9 on a par 4), triple, bogey, double, and bogey. On the last hole I missed a 6 footer (lipped out), which would have been my only par for the day. One thing about that 9. Shanked my first shot (maybe 20 yards), then went out of bounds on the next, before somewhat recovering. It doesn't take much for the wheels to come off in this sport.
So the back nine ended with a 55, for a total round of 118. The total yards were 6639, with a rating of 70.7 and a slope of 132. I had four 3 putts (and one 1 putt), for a total of 39 putts.
All in all we had a great time. The wife likes golf, and she really enjoyed spending the day with me in this setting. She has lessons coming up the 19th, so maybe in a month or two she will be swinging beside me out there. I also liked showing her the game this way, so she can get more out of her lessons. And as I mentioned above, the course and staff were awesome. The Links 9 has a very different feel from the Meadow, and it felt like two totally different courses. I also have the Canyon nine to play, so I doubt I will get bored with Fox Hollow any time soon. Add a nice practice facility, I am digging this place.
As far as my game went, after the first 4 holes I started to get things together a little. I really didn't have a disaster hole the rest of the day, with one notable exception on the back nine. My iron play wasn't that bad, and I even used my 3i on a couple of occasions with some success. My fairway wood needs work (I hit it once - grounder), and my driver was erratic, with a few nice drives mixed in with several shanks. I am going to work on the woods at the range big time.
Fox Hollow is a very windy and hilly course (more so with the Links). I was dealing with a lot of uneven lies, which I really hadn't been exposed to by practicing. I don't think I saw one flat hole all day. So I am just going to have to work on that on the course, and try to stay in the fairway more. I also had a ton more mishits than I had at the range, so there is a learning curve to deal with on that front.
Course management (or lack thereof) led to a few penalty strokes. I pulled the driver out in a few high risk situations (narrow and unforgiving holes with obvious hazards) and paid for it, but in some cases my next shot with the driver was really good. Again, just erratic. Putting was the strong point, although I never really felt in the zone with putting. I was tentative all day. The Birdie Ball is paying off, but I have a lot of work to do here too. Chipping was either hero or zero, although after the first few holes I didn't really do anything too bad in this area. In only one case did it actually give me an opportunity to score, so except for a few occasions I didn't really get the ball that close on a chip. I think my putting looks better based on the fact that I missed almost all my greens in regulation. I had that extra chip shot to get the ball a little closer.
If I had to say what the highlights of the round were, there were three. Hitting the pin was pretty cool on the par 3 on the front nine. The starter yelling "nice shot" was also right up there, as it was my best drive of the day. And finally, the bunker shot. So there are a lot of positives to take away from my first round since Reagan was in office.
Maybe the best thing of all was not getting frustrated, even with all the shanks. I found myself chuckling often, but I really didn't want to ruin the day for both of us. I appreciate you guys stressing that over and over. I kept that in mind from the very first shot today, which was incidentally my first opportunity to get frustrated! It was a blast of a day.
The only other thing I can say is, why did I stay away from this game for so long? I definitely won't make that mistake again.
BTW, I will post some photos tomorrow. I am too tired now!
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