My first home game of this season’s singles
fixture was against my pairs partner from last year, Max Harvey. The threat of
rain and a decent breeze didn’t stop us from heading to the first tee after a
customary pint as our warm up (we did actually go to the range first though!)
and we both hit nice drives and found the fairway! I got them on video as proof
too.
Our second shots were just short of the
green and Max got up and down for par and I took three to get in for a bogey.
We both found sand on the second hole which
led to neither of us scoring points on that hole after I hit shots 2, 3 and 4
from the bunker and Max hit 2 and 4 with his third being a penalty for Out of
Bounds. Back to reality with a thud after a decent start!
I finally managed to hit a draw on the
third hole, unfortunately I was aiming up the left expecting either a straight
shot or a fade but my ball was safe on the 4th ‘fairway’ and Max
piped his drive down the middle which just ran into the rough on the right. We
both misjudged the effect of the wind on our approaches and went long and left
getting bogeys each and 2 more points.
The par3 4th hole was a daunting
prospect with a stiff breeze into and off the left into the very well protected
hole. Max went long and I found a gorse bush requiring a drop for unplayable.
Max’s short game is getting really good but his attempt to get onto the green
from over the back wasn’t his best effort and led to not scoring after losing
his ball in the gorse. I hit a safe chip onto the green and holed a 25 – 30
foot putt for a solitary point for yet another bogey. One is better than none
though!
I found sand on the fairway again with a
wind affected fade and Max pushed straight through the wind and onto the fringe
of the second green (a touch left!). I wasn’t getting greedy from the sand this
time and punched out to the edge of the fairway and Max found the wispy rough
on the right with his second to this par5. My third shot wasn’t very convincing
and left me 100 yards from the pin and Max was next to the green in 3. I hit a
pretty nice shot with my 52 degree wedge to about 20 feet and dropped the putt
for a very scratchy par and 3 more points. Max took 3 more to card a bogey for
his 2 points. Here’s video of my gap wedge shot.
Guess what …… I found sand again off the
tee! This time on the par3 6th hole and Max was in a similar
position but in the rough. My bunker shot was a little shorter than I wanted
but left me with a pretty straight, uphill putt and Max’s pitch left him a
tricky downhill one. We both took two putts to get down for a bogey each. Here’s
a video of the bunker shot and you can see where Max’s ball finished.
I was aiming for sand on my next shot, the
greenside bunker around the dogleg with my driver. I failed dismally and had to
go three from the tee. Max chose the safe route and found the rough around the
150 marker which grabbed the hosel and turned the clubface sending his next two
shots into neverland on the left (where my drive finished up). My provisional
ball found the rough on the right and my next shot found the bunker I was
aiming for with my first tee shot. We both ended up not scoring on that hole.
Two quite nice drives on the par4 8th hole
with Max just outdriving me but finding the rough. His approach to the green
was awesome and led to an easy par after just missing his birdie putt. My
approach was short and nearly went in yet another bunker leaving me a pretty
long chip leading to two more putts and a bogey.
Two more decent drives on the 9th
hole led to a par for me and no score for Max after the very attractive gorse
on the left lured his second shot requiring his 4th shot to be played
from the same spot and a little bit scrappy for his next few shots. I missed
the green short with my third but was stoked to get up and down for par.
After 9 holes the scores were 11 to Max and
13 for me. Blistering!
Standing on the 10th tee I was
actually feeling pretty good about my driving and it showed with my drive down
the middle followed by Max doing the same. Max pulled his approach to the
little swale short and left of the green and I hit a 4 iron up into the wind and
off it went to the looong, deep grass on the right of the green. Provisional
ball with the same club and a more penetrating flight sent it through the green
and into the different deep do-do. A thorough search for my first ball revealed
nothing and my provisional was unplayable requiring a drop and a pitch-in for a
point. I gave it a go and missed by about 6 feet. Oh well, rack up another blob
then. While Max was playing his next three shots for his bogey and two points to
sneak in front by one, I had another look for my first ball and found it within
20 seconds….. typical!
Straight into the fresh wind the par5 11th
is a bit of a monster! Max didn’t get his customary fade and found himself playing
his 3rd from the tee as we didn’t find his first in the long stuff on the left
and I found the fairway! (That was 4 fairways in a row!!) Max was just short of
the 60yard bunkers with his second and I laid up into the rough on the right
about 120 yards out to find the bunker in front of the green with my third. Yes
…… more sand. I had a great sand save though for three points and Max managed
to get a point with 7 after his penalty shot.
The par3 12th hole. Always a
toughy at 200 yards into the wind and I slapped my 3 iron into the ‘valley’ on
the right and Max tapped his 3wood to the right side of the green, just on top
of the hill in the fringe. A tricky two putt from Max would have been a great par
and 2 points but he ended up with a bogey and just 1. My pitch was pretty short
leaving a difficult right to left putt which also missed. Then I missed the
return putt for a single point with a lip-out (I had quite a few of them).
This little clip of video shows the view of
the 13th from the tee and Max’s tee shot which found the fairway in the
ideal position on the corner of the dogleg. Sorry about the wind noise, turn
the volume down!
My Drive was a little bit straight and went
through the fairway into the rough requiring a hack-out to about 50 yards from
the pin which I unconvincingly played into the hill short of the green leading
to needing a 40 foot putt to drop for a point, which I missed. Max found the
same hill with his second shot and played a much better pitch but still took
two further putts for a 5 and 2 more points to take the lead by 1 point. (Blob
count: 5).
Course strategy for the 14th
hole is definitely needed as the only real option is a lay-up to the corner of
the dogleg (easier said than done!) Max hit a beauty and just ran through the
corner and I duffed a 3iron into the ferns and gorse then smashed a 3iron to the
corner as my third from the tee. I then hoiked my iron approach shot about 10 yards left of where I was aiming to find yet more ferns and lose my second ball
for this treacherous hole and record yet another blob (6 so far!). Max hit a
great pitching wedge to the back of the green leaving himself a proper slider
of a putt which trundled passed the pin by about 6 feet and his par putt peeked
in as it went over the lip for a 2 point bogey.
The 15th plays a lot easier with
the wind behind than it does into the breeze but at 200 yards, it still isn't an easy hole. Max hit a great shot that somehow managed to perch on the highest
point of the green leaving an almost impossible putt for a birdie. I took some
anger out on a 5iron and flew pin high just off the left of the green leaving
myself a pretty simple uphill chip and putt for par which I royally messed up
leaving the green with yet another blob! (number 7). Max three putted for a
bogey and pulled 1 point further away to be 4 points ahead with 3 holes to
play. The way I had scored on the back 9, I deserved to be further behind, but
I still had a chance to win. I needed to pull my finger out!
The whole back 9 at Pyle and Kenfig is very
tough, but the last three holes specifically have the measure of most golfers
with the shortest of the par4’s measuring at 426 from the whites and the 458
yard 16th being the longest par4 on the course. Downwind and
downhill for the 16th though and I was left with 150 to the middle
after a decent drive. Max skied his drive leaving a lay up to the fairway and a
pitch to the green, nullifying his shot on the hole and giving me a chance to
claw some points back. My approach shot with my 8iron found the back tier of
the green as did Max’s pitch. I gave my difficult birdie putt a good chance to
go in and tapped in the 4 foot return putt for my par and 2 points while Max
took three putts for his 6 and 1 point. Gap to only 3! Coming to get you Max!
Both of us hit the fairway with our drives,
it was just unfortunate that it was Max’s provisional and not his first which
went left and further left into the ferns, brambles and gorse that even dogs
are reluctant to enter.
Max’s head had dropped a little now and he
struggled up to the edge of the green to blob the 17th for his 5th
of the round and left the door wide open for me. My approach shot just cleared
the massive bunker on the left of the green leaving me with a pretty realistic
opportunity to get up and down for par (my first one on 17 since joining in
April!). I hit the chip pretty well and allowed too much break leaving an 8
foot putt for par. My putting had been half decent today and I hit a pretty
unconvincing putt that just managed to fall in the front of the hole! Back to even
points with the 18th to play! Who’dathunkit?
I had saved some battery power in the video
camera for the last hole and a bit of a wrap-up, but forgot to use it, so you’ll
just have to imagine it. In Saturday’s comp I hit a belter of a drive which must
have kicked left into the rough (never to be seen again) because I hit the
exact same drive which was on the fairway with 140 to go. We didn’t see it land
though and after Max found the rough on the right in a natural ‘Mortar Hole’ I
sliced a provisional ball into the tree on the right of the fairway.
I thought
I had thrown it away and was pretty relieved to have found my ball waiting for
me in the fairway!
Max wasn’t overly impressed with his lie in
the rough and was almost begging for it to have been caused by a burrowing
animal but it wasn’t, and he hit to the rough on the right of the green. I
pulled yet another short iron to the left and needed my short game to stand up
if I was going to have my best finish around P&K ever. A chip and a putt
just scraped the edge of the hole and I tapped in for a bogey, 2 points and the
WIN after the pressure got to Max and a couple of poor chips resulted in his 6th
and final blob. The final score was 23 points for me and 21 for Max who
probably feels a bit ‘meh’ at having let that one go.
Par, Par, Bogey for 7
points over the last three holes was a great feeling and my best finish at Pyle
and Kenfig ever and makes up for the fact that I scored (or didn’t score) 7
blobs from 18 holes. 23 points after 11 holes would look pretty good normally!
The golf wasn’t inspiring with the back 9
halved in 10 points each, but I don’t think either of us played particularly
poorly. When you get punished at P&K, you get properly smashed.
I really enjoyed playing with Max again and
we are going to team up for the doubles in the League to Dubai next year as we
did last year so look out!
Hope you enjoyed having the little video
clips thrown in, I’d love to have a better camera, but that one will have to
do! (A new video isn't going to help me improve my golf!) Let me know in the
comments if you enjoyed the read and if you liked the clips.
Cheers.
