SLO County Golf, Wine & Real EstateGolf, Wine & Real Estate News and Events Blog
Course to myself at Cypress RidgeMonday, June 27, 2005Today, I made a spontaneous decision to take a trip out to Cypress Ridge and hit some range balls and practice chipping and putting since I hadn't played for over a week. I haven't had a chance to play since my sub-80 round at Chalk Mountain and am also trying to let my right hand heal after spranging it during that round at Chalk. After feeling pretty good after practice - even though my hand still hurt - I decided to play a round. It turned out that I had the course all to myself. I played through a threesome of juniors on the 2nd, then never ran into another golfer. My good play from last week continued, at least for the first 10 holes. I started both nines with a par and completed the front nine only 1-over with 3 bogies, but 2 birdies! I was striking the ball well and chipping and putting at my best. I hit all 7 fairways on the front nine and 5 greens. I only missed 2 fairways on the back for a total of 12 and hit 4 more greens for a total of 9.  I started struggling on 11 where I chipped poorly, then 3 putted for my first double bogie. I followed that with 2 pars, and then amazingly only bogied 14 after taking 2 shots to get out of a fairway bunker. However I double bogied 15 after getting out of the sand well, but 3-putting again. I then earned a par on the 2-handicap 16th with a great drive and good putting. I bogied 17 putting me 6-over on the back. But I then ruined the round on 18 where I went in the water twice thanks to the difficult pin placement in the back left of the green - and my right hand was throbbing. My triple bogie on 18 earned me a 45 on the back nine and a 10-over 82 overall - my second best round this year! And what could have been!  Other than playing my usual golf on the back nine and dealing with my painful right hand, today was one of my favorite rounds. I enjoyed my rare round by myself on an empty course. The weather started off overcast and cool, but quickly started clearing. The marine layer burned off and a mild wind picked up, but nothing substantial. I also enjoyed seeing some baby mallards, coots and even a young creeper. The Pacific Ocean and Oceano Dunes were visible in the distance from several vantage points.  I'm probably going to have to take some time off golf to let this hand heal, but will certainly try to get out regularly to practice chipping and putting in order to keep the "touch" part of my game. By the way, I posted over a dozen photos from the round at flickr.com. |
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