It was back to Druid’s Glen again this morning.  This time I began the round on the back nine and once again got off to a feeble start going double bogey, bogey, double bogey.  Despite getting par on both par 5s I added two more double bogeys to hit the turn at 47.  But I hung in there finally scoring four consecutive pars on holes 5 through 8 to finish the front nine in 42.  So in spite of mediocre ball-striking and so-so putting I still managed 89–a big moral victory.

And I got to see lots of ducklings, especially at the par 3 3rd hole.

Druid’s Glen 3rd hole

I joined one of my regular golf buddies, Ron Hillis, for a quick trip over the mountains to the Suncadia Resort to play the Rope Rider course.  It was named the Best New Course in the U.S. for 2011 and I played it once last fall.  I played a really steady round, recording 44+43 for an 87, including five pars over the final seven holes.

With the forecast calling for mid-day highs in the 50’s I decided to make the 90-minute trek to Trophy Lake, one of my favorite area courses.  It turned out to be a delightful day, weather- and golf-wise.  I put in a solid couple of hours at the practice range yesterday so I was excited to get to the first tee.  After a pedestrian bogey on the first hole I reeled off six consecutive pars and ended the front nine at just two over par and 13 putts.  My success continued with pars at holes 10, 11 and 13 so I went to the 14th tee at just four over.  As often happens I hit a stretch where I was bedeviled by that ugly left hook off the tee and went nine over for the final six holes.

Still, it was my best round at Trophy Lake and an 85 at a course with a 128 slope rating is a great result for me.

Trophy Lake, March 8, 2012

This also marked my 12th consecutive  round under 90, tying my best at that stat.  My scoring average over 13 rounds this year is 86.8, really good I think considering the generally crummy weather I’ve played in until today.

Putting Notes.  Although I’ll continue to work most on the longer clubs during the spring trying to improve fairways hit and greens in regulation, I’m still aware of how important putting is.  Over the past three rounds, I’ve holed 24 of 27 putts from ten feet and closer.  That kind of putting inevitably saves two to three strokes per round.

It’s very early to be noting low scores, I know.  But this morning I carded my personal best on the Twin Rivers course in Fall City.  It’s a smallish accomplishment.  Twin Rivers is a par 70 layout with a slope rating of just 109 from the blue tees.  Still, in cool, damp weather with very mediocre greens I shot an 80, two lower than my previous best there.  Since June of last year, my scoring average in 86.5 with fifty-seven of seventy-two rounds below 90 and twenty-five (35%) below 85. I’m going to challenge myself this year by playing a couple of harder courses each month to see if I can maintain that level of play.

I’ll never understand golf.  I put in 90 minutes of practice yesterday and felt pretty good heading out for an early round this morning.  With the strangely mild weather things were pretty busy so I started on the back nine at Mt. Si.  What a debacle.  Fat shots, topped shots, push to the right, missed three-foot putt!  I was 10 over par through seven holes.  Then on the challenging par-three 17th I knocked a 7 wood to within 9 feet and holed the putt for a birdie. I made a ten foot putt to par number 18, then lasered a 9 iron to three feet on number 1 for a tap in birdie. I ended up playing the last eleven holes in even par with just 14 putts, one of the best stretches of golf ever for me.