Poinciana Golf Club 4/20: Monday Reflection #1
Intro: Going into this weekend round, I was in a place mentally that can only be described as optimistic uncertainty. Before getting into the round itself, I want to briefly explain the origin of this mentality. I won’t talk about score too much as my group plays 2v2 scramble usually, but I teamed up with my brother Dan against my Dad (Gary) and our good friend Brett and we shot at 68 which is +4 on this golf course. For our standards, we were thrilled to shoot in the 60’s.
The Prior Weekend: I had one of my best ball striking rounds and felt like missing the ball was next to impossible. Of course I still had my misses, but something was clicking in my golf game and I was swinging with confidence on every shot and didn’t take the misses to heart as much as I normally do. I road the high for a few days before finding myself at the range on Wednesday. When I say I hit 3 balls flush out of 100…well maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but it sure felt like that. That feel from the weekend escaped me . I didn’t let it get in my head, but I did make the decision to stop trying to force it that day and and made my way home. I also decided to not touch a golf club until Saturday Morning…
Saturday Morning: Woke up at 6AM and was out of the house by 6:30AM. Every Saturday morning, I make a quick stop at Dunkin’ and order a large coffee with two cream and two sugar, a bacon egg & cheese wakeup wrap, and an order of hash browns. I enjoyed my breakfast while thinking about what the day would bring, again…in that state of optimistic uncertainty. We always show up at least 30 minutes before tee time so I had time to stretch and get some chips in around the green on hole 18. Overall, feeling great.
Front Nine Highlights: My first tee shot was less than ideal, chunk/heeled my 9 iron and maybe made it half way to the hole almost into a water hazard up the right side. I briefly had one of those dastardly inner monologues we are all familiar with, “Oh! that’s which golfer showed up today…”, but I remained positive and kept it moving. My first solid shot came on the approach to the green on hole two. I still wasn’t feeling my swing quite yet so I took a smooth 9 iron from around 130 yards out and hit a beautiful high flighted shot that landed on the back of the green. I hit 4 greens in regulation and a few more that were close enough to the green to putt. Nothing spectacular, but consistent…until hole 9 which is the #1 handicap hole on the course. I took my hybrid off the tee on this par 4 because there is water about 260 yards off the tee with hurting wind. I sliced it to the fairway of hole 2 which isn’t a bad miss unless you’re blocked out by the trees that split the two fairways. I took my 5 iron from 185 yards out and hit a high cut into the wind, over the trees and landed 20 yards short of the green. From there I hit one of my best chips of the day and landed 2 feet from the pin for a stress free par save.
Back Nine Highlights: The back nine start was electric. Hole 10, par 5, dog leg right. If you hit it too far right you’re blocked out by trees and have to lay up towards the left side of the fairway. I connected flush with my driver, but I pushed it slightly towards the right. While there were two large trees inbetween me and the green, to my amazement, I saw an opening. I was about 145 yards out and just far enough back to be able to get my 8 iron up and over if I hit it in the perfect spot between the two trees, right where their limbs meet. It is not often that what I draw up in my head and reality coincide. I struck the ball flush directly through the opening and hit a slight cut at the green and it landed pin high right, 6 feet from the hole. Spoiler alert, of course I missed a putt that would have been only my second eagle. While I did get the tap in birdie, barely missing that eagle putt absolutely stung. But more so, I was thrilled that I actually pieced a few shots together on the same hole and stayed positive. The final hole I want to share fully is hole 12. For some reason this hole always gets me in trouble even though its not a hard hole on paper. 325 yards Par 4 with three front bunkers defending the green like the president. I hit my best drive all day and ended up in the front bunker. Our group had a laugh with the twosome in front as we apologized for hitting into them since they were still on the green when my ball visited the beach. Making my way over to the bunker, I was already thinking, “here we go again…hit a great drive on this hole just to duff my second shot per ususal…”. All the way in the back of the sand trap, 20 yards from the pin, 54 degree in hand. I hit one of my best sand shots and landed it soft 10 feet from the pin. Almost made the birdie putt, but would have had a tap in par which I would have been more than happy with if my brother didn’t sink the birdie putt for us. The rest of the round I played solid and consistent which are words I thought I would never use to describe my golf game.
Closing Thoughts: Thoroughly surprised that my golf game held itself together even after a disastrous range session leading up to the weekend round. Not going to make the mistake of having high hopes for the next weekend, but I will go out there swinging with confidence until the wheels fall off!
Hole 10: Almost Eagle. Shots 1 & 2.
