We have 27 holes here at The Lakes Country Club. On Saturday, I booked a tee time and decided to walk. I haven’t written a “how many steps” blog post in almost a year. I figured it was time!
I woke up on Sunday and almost stayed in bed. But I got up, recorded an episode of my podcast, took a shower, and drove to work. I had a few hours to kill, so I did some work on my laptop before hitting balls. I haven’t walked The Lakes yet, but the course is relatively flat. Or so I thought! I teed off at 4:36 on the North Nine.
Anyone that follows me on social media knows I’ve been having issues off the tee. Well, this round was no different. Instead of yelling, “FORE right!” I hooked one left into 6 fairway. FORE left!!! From there I hit 6 iron leaving me a 9 iron in. After almost missing the ball, I had a short putt for birdie. Missed it!
On 2, I hit 5 wood hoping for a draw. Nope. Ball stayed straight as an arrow ending in the right rough. It was windy, so I grabbed a 6 iron. After I made contact, I never saw it again… Did it go left into the water? Right into someone’s back yard? Maybe it’s on the green or in the hole. Nope! It was right and I was left with a lousy lie. I hit a bad chip and missed the putt.
On 3, I hit the same 5 wood. This time I aimed left. With water left, I am glad this one didn’t draw. From there I hit PW. I couldn’t see the hole, but after I made contact I said, “Be the right club today!” Remember when Hal Sutton said that?! It was the right club. But I was left with a short knee-knocker from 5 foot. Missed it! (I am going to get sick of typing that today.)
On 4, I hit a 9 iron to a front pin. I came over the top (water short and left) and yelled for the ball to go. It did… Ended up pin high. Missed it!
I hope you are sitting down… On 5 I hit driver… IN THE FAIRWAY! That left me with a 56-degree wedge. I hit it pin high a little right. Hah… Missed it!
On 6, I hit driver again, but this time a little right. There is a bunker on the right, but I cleared that. I had a good lie to a back pin. This green is tricky, though. It has a lot of undulation right to left and the back pin sits on a ledge. I hit my 52-degree wedge from 107. “Go. Go a foot!” It did. But instead of jumping forward, it spun back and down the hill. I had, oh, 25 feet for birdie. Missed it!
On 7, I CRUSHED driver down the middle. This is a hard par 5 demanding distance off the tee and an accurate second shot. But I had 207 left to a front pin. I grabbed my 4 iron hoping to be either just short or on the front of the green. I made contact, looked up, and couldn’t see a thing. Where did it go? Right, of course. Right under a tree! I had a short punch shot in from there. I hit it up nice and close… I lined up the putt, made a solid stroke and MADE BIRDIE!!!
On 8, the hardest hole on the course (not just the North Nine, but the entire course), I hit a cut to the right rough. That left me a 5 iron to an elevated green. I made contact and just hoped it got halfway there… Felt terrible. The ball ended in a greenside bunker. I hit a good bunker shot, but it ran out of gas leaving me 6 feet for par. Missed it.
On 9, my favorite hole on the golf course, I had 151 to a back right pin. It was downwind, so I hit 8 iron. The pin was so far right I question if it was a fair pin placement. My ball went so far left I laughed out loud after making contact. The ball ended up on the green, but I had 2 putts for par.
After all that I will take a 37 and run… But the point of this blog post (and thank you for letting me reminisce about the round) was to track steps/miles. Speaking of steps, I hit my steps goal (10,500) on 4 green. The North Nine ended up being 7,992 steps/3.57 miles.
This summer I hope to play a lot of 9-hole rounds after work. If I leave at 5:00-5:30, I can still get 9 holes in. Since the East Nine is on the same scorecard, I think I’ll walk East next. Coming soon! And I promise, I won’t wait a year before playing/tracking again!
