Category: Bonus Round

  • The Heat in Bowie Lifted – Though Only Temporarily

    Played the Bowie Golf Club today with Phil, Willis and John. For those of you hoping the new course layout is in play, you’ll be mostly disappointed as #1 and #9 continue to play short, though #18 is now playing as a short par 5 (but still dangerous as Barry – in the other foursome – put two tee shots into the driving range). The good news for those of us playing was the weather with temps in the upper 70s and cloudy – substantially cooler than it’s been in a couple of weeks.

    My game struggled right out of the gate. That seems to happen more often when we tee off on the 10th hole first and today was no exception. Teed off with a 4-wood and hit it into a sand trap – and Bowie’s sand traps are no picnic. With just 85 yards left, I hit it thin over the green, chipped back and three-putted for a double bogey. It was a roller-coaster for the next five holes, making par, double, par, triple, and double bogey. Finished up with par, par and par to card a 45. A little on the high side for someone alleged to be about a 17.3 handicap.

    Fortunately, the second (front) nine was much more kind to me, hitting 7 of 9 greens in regulation and only three-putting once. Par, birdie, bogey, par, bogey, par, bogey, par and par resulted in a two over 36 for a total score of 81.

    My highlight was a 234 yard tee shot on #11 that got me a shot at the green on the par 5 that has long vexxed me. The lowlight was a four-putt and triple bogey on #14.

    Here’s my scorecard. After round notations are in red. Clayt

    Clayt's scorecard from the Bowie Golf Club, Bowie, Maryland, on July 8, 2026, reflecting a total score of 81.
    Clayt’s scorecard, Bowie Golf Club, 08 July 2026

  • The Heat Dome Has Settled Above the Bowie Golf Course

    Well, it is officially July in Maryland and the weather reports have hinted at a heat dome coming to the state – well it has arrived at the Bowie Golf Course. Phil, Barry, John and I had a 9am tee time and it was reasonably pleasant but by the end of the round you could tell that it was hot. My car’s thermometer indicated it was 98 degrees and the “heat index” was reported to be 112. Not that pleasant for a bunch of old guys.

    I think Barry took the low score of the day with an 80. My putter settled down a little bit today so I only took 35 putts – one chipped in with the putter from the fringe, two one-putts, 12 two-putts and only three three-putts. Started off hitting well with the driver but struggled as the round went on. Lost one ball when I pulled the driver hard left, hit a tree that shouldn’t normally be in play, and had it bounce back into the pond in front of the tee box. Took a six on that par 4. Finished with nine pars, five bogeys and four double bogeys. Four fairways and eight greens hit in regulation.

    Was completely soaked by the end of the round. Hopefully the rest of July will be a little kinder to the old guys.

    Here’s my scorecard. As usual, the red notations were made after the round. Clayt

    Clayt's scorecard from the Bowie Golf Course, Bowie, Maryland, on 1 July 2026, reflecting a total score of 83.
    Clayt’s scorecard, Bowie GC, 01 July 2026

    No video from the one as you’ve all seen previous shots from there. When the first and ninth holes return to their intended layouts, I’ll reshoot it and post. They should be close to getting them open. The new scorecards have the new configurations included.

  • Bowie Golf Club on June 10, 2026

    Made it back out to the Bowie Golf Club on June 10th with Phil, Bill, Coop, Barry and John. It rained the entire way to the course but stopped shortly before our tee time. As is customary every other week during the summer at Bowie, we teed off at the 10th hole. The 10th and 11th holes at Bowie generally give me the hardest time. Ten is a short par 4 with water in front of the tee box, water down the left side and out of bounds down the right. The 11th is a fairly long and tight par 5 with with woods running down the right side and scattered trees down the left.

    Clayt's scorecard from his 10 June 2026 round at the Bowie Golf Course, Bowie, Maryland, with a score of 84.
    Clayt’s scorecard, Bowie Golf Course, 10 June 2026

    Today, I hit a 5-iron on the 10th followed by a pitching wedge onto the green. Two putts for a par and I was off to a good start. The 11th had other ideas for me. I pulled my driver into the trees on the left. After two poor punch out shots, I was able to hit an 8-iron over another tree then an 8-iron onto the green and two-putt for a double bogey. It went downhill from there with a three-putt on the next green for a double, and splashed a ball on the next tee shot for another double.

    The rollercoaster back continued with a two-putt par on the 14th, driving the green and three-putting for a par on the 15th, a two-putt bogey on the 16th, a three-putt double bogey on the par 3 17th and a two-putt double bogey on the 18th. Finished the back nine with an 11-over par 46. It didn’t look like this one was going to be used in my handicap calculations.

    On to the front nine where I finally settled down and salvaged a somewhat respectable score, considering the carnage on the back nine. Two-putt par, two-putt bogey, three-putt bogey, one-putt par, one-putt par, two-putt bogey, two-putt par and two-putt par. The wheels came off just a little at the temporary green par 3/4 9th hole playing somewhere around 180 yards. Hit a 5-iron fat and into the right rough. Bad chip, bad chip and bad chip and I was on the green and one-putted for a bogey. Front nine totaled 38 on the temporary par 33. Total for 18 was 16 over par 84.

    It was still a good day out on the golf course and a struggling round builds character. By now, I should have a lot of character.

    By the numbers: Eights pars, four bogeys, and six double bogeys. Three one-putts, 11 two-putts and four three-putts. Six fairways and seven greens in regulation. No birdies but no four-putts or triple bogeys.

    See you out on the course. Clayt

  • Langston Golf Course – A Bonus Round

    As you’re aware, Langston Golf Course in located on Benning Road in Washington, DC, near the Anacostia River, and is not located in the state of Maryland. I’ve driven past Langston numerous times throughout my career with the US Government but had never played there. Barry proposed we go there and since my purpose in playing golf is to get outdoors and enjoy golf again ( and not just getting to the “Maryland Seniors Golf 100” finish line), I thought “what the heck.” “Let’s make this a bonus round.”

    It started out as a very pleasant day, with sun and temperatures in the low 70s. By the afternoon, it hit 95 degrees. There was a pleasant breeze, we rode in a cart and stayed in the shade whenever possible so it wasn’t bad at all. And while I wasn’t completely soaked in the vido, I was a little damp. Playing from the white tees, the course stretched to 6,161 yards, but only a couple of the par 4s were really long. Barry had to scramble more than I’m used to seeing while I seemed to scramble less than average. Barry’s total was 97 while I had an 89. You’ll notice the scorecard indicates it’s an 89 but the front nine was added wrong so I thought I had an 88. After going through the video, I found that I had indicated a bogey when I actually had a double bogey. So the 89 was correct after all.

    On the plus side, I was striking the ball really well, hitting the driver longer and straighter than usual and getting my approach shots onto the green. I hit 9 fairways and 12 greens in regulation. No birdies, 6 pars, 9 bogeys, one double and two triples.

    On the negative side, there were a lot of first putts that could have been birdies that were nowhere close to going in. Then there are the two triples. One was from a lost ball off the tee on a par 5 and chunking one on an awkward sidehill lie. The other was on a par 4 where it landed in a greenside bunker on my second shot, then hit it thin across the green to a awkward lie… You get it. And then there were the 6 three-putts. Not a record for me but not good.

    The video of the round is here as an “18 Holes in Under 15 Minutes” and a “Bonus Round.” Sorry that I didn’t get more shots of Barry in. He’s not seeking fame and fortune since he already has it, unlike me…

    And the scorecard.

    Clayt and Barry's scorecard from a round of golf at the Langston Golf Course, Washington, DC, on 18 May 2026, Barry shot a 97. Clayt's score indicates an 89 but the addition was in error and it was really an 88.
    Clayt and Barry’s scorecard at Langston Golf Course on 18 May 2025.