Bowie Golf Club is still playing as a par 68 and the new green for hole #9 probably isn’t going to be ready for another two months. After shooting a 78 there two weeks ago, I thought that my luck would swing back the other direction, and it did, resulting in a score of 87. Though I didn’t lose a ball or have any penalty shots, I managed to four-putt three times and took triple bogeys on two of the par 3s.
Here’s the hole-by-hole details, if you’re interested in hearing about the carnage…
- Hole #1, Par 4: Tee boxes are still up but further left due to the construction. Tried to hit a 5-iron across the corner of the dogleg left and caught the tree. Punched out. Pitched onto the green and two-putted for bogey.
- Hole #2, Par 3: Tried to hit a 6-iron to a back pin placed behind the sand trap. Landed in the trap. Hit it cleanly out of the sand and over the green. Stubbed the chip and didn’t make it to the green. Chipped past the hole and two-putted for a triple bogey.
- Hole #3, Par 4: Topped my driver off the tee, hitting it 156 yards. Hit a pitching wedge to the front of the green and it bounced on. One putted for my one and only birdie – and just about the only high point of the round.
- Hole #4, Par 4: Hit my driver 237 yards into the trees on the left. Hit a 3/4 pitching wedge thin and bounced it over the green. Chipped back down past the hole. Three-putted for double bogey.
- Hole #5, Par 3: Hit my 7-iron 132 yards onto the front of the green and three-putted for bogey.
- Hole #6, Par 4: Hit my 3-wood 223 yards then hit a 3/4 sand wedge 62 yards onto the green. Three-putted for a bogey.
- Hole #7, Par 5: Hit the driver 225 yards down the right side then tried to hit a 6-iron onto the green but landed in the sand trap in front of the green. Hit the sand wedge out of the sand but didn’t make it onto the green. Chipped on. Missed the par putt and tapped in for the bogey.
- Hole #8, Par 3: Hit a 9-iron onto the front of the green and it rolled off back down to the front apron. Chipped up close with a pitching wedge and one-putted for a par.
- Hole #9, Par 3/4: The old par 5 that’s playing like a par 3.5 as it’s around 165 yards with a small round green cut into the fairway. Pushed a 7-iron to short, right of the green. Chipped on and two putted for a bogey/par? Total of 42 on the front, par 33/34.
- Hole #10, Par 4: Hit a 4-wood into the fairway then hit a pitching wedge thin just off the back of the green. Chipped on with a pitching wedge and two-putted for a bogey.
- Hole #11, Par 5: Hit the driver 213 yards in the fairway. Hit a 5-iron fat for another 101 yards onto a swail in the right round. Hit a pitching wedge 92 yards, short of the green. Chipped on with a pitching wedge then two-putted for bogey.
- Hole #12, Par 4: Hit the driver 226 yards into the left rough. Hit a half pitching wedge 62 yards onto the green and three-putted for bogey.
- Hole #13, Par 3: Hit an 8-iron 133 yards onto the round between the green and the sand trap on the left and it bounced right onto the green. Two putted for par.
- Hole #14, Par 4: Pulled the driver to the left, it hit a tree trunk and bounced back to 199 yards. Chipped back to the fairway then pitched onto the green. Two-putted for bogey.
- Hole #15, Par 4: Pulled the 3-wood into the trees on the left and it settled at 194 yards with a clear shot to the green. Chipped on but it rolled just off the green. Used the putter to get it close then one-putted for a rare par.
- Hole #16, Par 4: Topped my 3-wood tee shot to just 89 yards. Tried to hit a 4-wood around the trees but caught a branch and the ball landed in the sand trap in front of the green. Hit the sand wedge onto a very wet green following a brief rain storm. Two putted for bogey.
- Hole #17, Par 3: Hit a 6-iron into the trees on the right side of the green. Chipped with a sand wedge to get it over the trap and onto the green but the ball landed in the trap, embedding into the far bank. Used the sand wedge to power the ball out and barely onto the green. Left the first putt way short. Two more putts and it’s another triple bogey on a par 3.
- Hole #18, Par 4: Tried out Barry’s new Quantum driver and even though it was slightly off the toe, it curved around the dogleg and to the middle of the fairway, about 212 yards with under 100 yards left. Tried to hit a 3/4 pitching wedge and hit it thin and left into a bunker on the 12th hole. I did almost exactly the same thing a couple of weeks ago. Just barely got the ball out the the trap with a sand wedge. Chipped onto the green and two-putted for for double bogey. A score of 45 on the par 35 back nine for a total of 87 on a par 68/69 course. (The USGA handicap system considers the course with the current temporary tees as a par 68.)