Grande Pines - Round Two

Overall, today was much better. I hit the ball better, hitting 14 greens total. I also gave myself lots of good looks at birdie...unfortunately, I only made ONE out of nine legitimate chances. The upside is that I hit it to at least 15' nine out of the fourteen times I hit the green! That's improvement! The weather did hit us briefly today, pulling us off the course for about 30 minutes. After the break, we finished the front nine & I made the turn at one over. I hit a great approach into #10 green & made the putt for birdie. I stayed at even par for the next five holes & had three other really good looks at birdie. Number 16 is a par four with a sharp dogleg right. The wind was coming pretty hard from behind so I took a little more than usual off the corner. It looked like a perfect drive from the tee. When I got to my ball, however, it had gone through the fairway, into the rough & behind a tree. I couldn't go for the pin, but had a pretty straight forward punch from under the tree to at worst the front of the green. My punch shot was a little harder than I planned, but I NEVER imagined it would hit in front of the green, roll over the green, through the greenside bunker & into the woods...but that's exactly what happened. It went so far into the woods that I was forced to take an unplayable & return to my original spot in the rough! I tried the same punch shot, but landed it about 30 yards shorter. Again, it kept rolling. It rolled through the fairway, over the green & came to rest in the greenside bunker. Now I was hitting shot #5 from the bunker! I hit a fantastic shot to within a few feet & made the putt to save DOUBLE. I was in shock. I regained my composure to par #17, & hit what I thought was a good drive on #18. Turns out, the fairway was a little wet & I didn't get much roll at all. I had 185 to a very intimidating pin. I hit a good shot, but it caught the false front & rolled down into the rough. I hit the worst chip of the day, that also caught the false front & rolled back down to me. I hit the next chip to inside 10', missed the putt & tapped in for DOUBLE. Again, I was shocked. I picked up all of my four strokes over par (76) on two of the last three holes. Ugh! I was really disappointed with today's finish, but I can't be totally frustrated because I played the other 16 holes even par & continually gave myself chances for birdie. I did hit 14 greens today, made some great chips & putts to save strokes, & despite my 32 putt total, I didn't have a three putt! The thing that's frustrating is that two bad holes can really put a damper on your score, especially if they're at the end of the round. Tomorrow's another day! I tee off at 10:15 EST. Thanks again for your encouragement & a special THANK YOU to the Browns & the Andrews for coming out to the course today! It was so nice to see y'all & I appreciate you taking time out of your vacation to visit me! It was a great way to start the day! Have a great night! Soli Deo Gloria