Tag: July 2026

  • Struggling a Little Less – Bowie Golf Club

    After struggling a lot at Compass Pointe on Monday, I went back to Bowie today to try to find my game and had a little bit of success though still have a lot of work to do. Granted, Bowie is a lot easier than Compass Pointe but getting a little confidence back goes a long way. Phil, Bill, Mac and Willis were in the group in front and Sam and Dave were stuck with me. It was about 79 degrees when we teed off but had hit 97 by the time we finished. Before the day was out it had reached 100 with a heat index of 114. No video since we’ve already showcased Bowie and the holes under construction haven’t reopened yet. I’ll post another Bowie video when they do.

    My final score was an 86 with seven pars, eight bogeys, one double and two triple bogeys. Had one one-putt, 15 two-putts, just one three-putt, and very sadly one four-putt on a par 3 that I hit with my tee shot. Some might ask how the round went, well here you are. Others might want to just skip to the scorecard at the end.

    Teed off on the construction shortened first hole with a 6-iron for 172 yards in the fairway. Hit a soft pitching wedge 52 yards to about 20 feet past the pin in the front. Two putted for par.

    Second, pulled a 5-iron left 160 yards into an overgrown shrub. Hit a pitching wedge out of the shrub for about ten yards. A chip with the sand wedge didn’t make the green. Chipped with the pitching wedge and two-putted for the first of two triple bogeys.

    Third. Hit driver 212 yards to a large pine tree on the left side of the dogleg right. Always have trouble driving this hole as the gold tee box is on the right side near trees and I have trouble hitting a fade on demand. Hit a half 7-iron through the green and just off the back. Chipped with a pitching wedge back to the hole and two-putted for the first bogey of the day.

    Fourth. Good tee shot with the driver about 240 yards just into the left rough where the fairway narrows down. Hit a 3/4 sand wedge for 82 yards onto the green and two-putted for my second par.

    Fifth. Hit a 7-iron 141 yards just off the left side of the green. Pitching wedge chip past the pin and two-putted for my second bogey.

    Sixth. Teed off with my 3-wood for 214 yards into the center of the fairway. Hit a 3/4 pitching wedge for 79 yards onto the green and two-putted for my third par.

    Seventh. Hit my driving off the tee down the right side for about 240 yards, leaving a mid-iron shot into the green on this par 5. I topped my 5-iron for just 103 yards into the left rough. Hit a 3/4 sand wedge onto the green just past the hole and two-putted for my fourth par. Not bad so far, other than that triple bogey.

    Eighth. 9-iron off the tee for just 107 yards but made it onto the front of the green. Horrible first putt followed by a marginal second putt, then two more putts for a four-putt and my first and only double bogey of the day.

    Ninth. Temporary green still in effect. Pulled a 5-iron left of the green for 170 yards, chipped with a pitching wedge and two-putted for a par.

    Tenth. This short hole continues to haunt me. Hit a 3-iron off the tee to play it safe. Hit it out of bounds on the right. Hit a second tee shot fat for just 150 yards but leaving just about 115 yards. Hit a 9-iron thin and rolled it down the fairway about 85 yards. Chipped on with a pitching wedge and two-putted for my second and last triple bogey.

    Eleventh. Hit the driver off the tee into a tree on the right side. It fell into the rough on the good side of the tree for about 182 yards. Hit a 5-iron for 152 yards in the middle of the fairway, followed by a 3/4 pitching wedge for 89 yards onto the green. Two-putt for sixth par of the day.

    Twelfth. Hit a 3-iron off the tee for 173 yards into the fairway. Pulled a pitching wedge to the left of the green for 103 yards. Chipped on with a pitching wedge and two-putted for my third bogey.

    Thirteenth. Hit a 9-iron 115 yards to the fringe in front of the green. Chipped on with a putter then one-putted for my seventh par.

    Fourteenth. Hit a driver into a tree on the right and it bounced back into the fairway for just 58 yards. Hit a 4-wood 166 yards to the front of the green. Chipped on with a pitching wedge and two-putted for my fourth bogey.

    Fifteen. Pushed a 3-wood into the woods on the right. Took a drop then hit a 9-iron 109 yards onto the green. Two-putted for my fifth bogey.

    Sixteenth. Hit my 3-wood 223 yards into the right rough. Hit a half sand wedge about 50 yards onto the green. My one and only three-putt resulted in my sixth bogey.

    Seventeenth. Hit my 6-iron to the left rough. Chipped on with an 8-iron then two-putted for my seventh bogey.

    Eighteenth. Hit my driving into the driving range. Re-teed and hit it 210 yards into the right rough near the sand trap. Pulled my 9-iron to the left of the green for 127 yards. Chipped to a foot of the hole with a sand wedge and one-putted for my eighth and final bogey.

    The struggle is real. Hope to see you out there. Clayt

    Clayt's scorecard from the Bowie Golf Club, Bowie, Maryland, on 15 July 2026, reflecting a score of 86.
    Clayt’s scorecard, Bowie GC, 15 July 2026

  • Crashed and Burned – Compass Pointe Golf Course – South/West, #16

    For every great round of golf I suspect there is an equal number of bad rounds and some of them are going to be traumatic. Today was that day. Barry, Rick and Sam joined me at the South/West course of Compass Pointe on what most people would consider a great day in Maryland in July. Those of us having one of the worst rounds they can remember probably really didn’t notice the weather – but it was hard not to notice that the course is beautiful and in great shape. The tee boxes, fairways, greens and even the sand traps were in the best condition of any I’ve played this year. I just wish I could have enjoyed it a little more.

    The course was definitely one of the more difficult that I’ve played recently but that wasn’t the cause of my issues. My ball striking, usually my strength, was consistently pulling the ball left, often with a strong draw sending it into the woods. I’m sure that I lost at least six balls during the round. It very well could have been more. After I go back through the video I’ll have a better idea, but at some point I quit counting and threw the USGA rules out the window. My score of 105 generally speaks for itself but along with the ball count it’s a little fuzzy and could well be higher. I’ll know the real extent of the damage after getting into the video. Producing this one may take a little longer.

    After playing the front nine from the white tees we decided to play the golf tees on the back. On the front, three of us were into the 50s and the other just shy of it. The golds helped out with only me hitting 50.

    I started off with triple bogeys on the first two holes and two balls lost in the woods. Six triples, six doubles, three bogeys and three pars for the round. The three pars were on the last three holes. On those, I hit the fairways, hit the greens and two putted to keep me coming back for more.

    Here’s the scorecard.

    Barry, Clayt, Rick and Sam's scorecard from the Compass Pointe South/West golf course on July 13, 2026, reflectings scores of 96, 105, 102 and 89, respectively.
    Barry, Clayt, Rick and Sam, Compass Pointe South/West, 13 July 2026

    And here’s the placeholder for the video. Clayt

  • 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.