Tag: June 2026

  • 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

  • Queenstown Harbor – River Course, Maryland Course #12, June 4, 2026

    The River Course at Queenstown Harbor has the reputation of being one of the best courses in Maryland and it certainly didn’t disappoint. Bill, Wendell, Gus and I played from the gold tees which measured a paltry 5,861 yards, far short of the 6,568 for the blue tees and 7,096 for the green. Being an old guy, an 18+ handicap and not being familiar of the course (particularly where definitely not to hit)the course tired me out, finishing with a 96. Having no birdies, just four pars and three lost balls will get you to 96 pretty quickly.

    The course is definitely beautiful and in good shape. The tee boxes, fairways, bunkers and greens were all pretty meticulous. Why does the course also have the reputation of being tough? Well, there’s water, marsh, knee-high grass and large deep bunkers throughout the course and fairly often you can find all of them on one hole. If you’re hitting the ball straight and can put on large, fast greens then this will give you an edge on that $1 nassau. Not to say this isn’t a fun course. It certainly is and we had a great time – primarily because the score didn’t mean anything to any of us. I’d certainly have liked to score better and next time I believe I will, but the beauty of the course, the good company and an occasional good or great shot was all that I needed.

    For those interested in seeing the round at our 12th course, from my point of view, here it is. And the scorecard follows, with my edits in red after I’d had a chance to review the tape. I would never make it on the PGA tour as I’d be disqualified more often than not – I make a mistake on the scorecard fairly often. Sometimes in my favor and sometimes against. On this one I thought I had a triple bogey when I really had a double and I forgot to count the lost ball on the 18th hole. Gained one, lost two. Thought I had a 95, then a 97, then a 96.

    Clayt’s 96, River Course, Queenstown Harbor, June 4, 2026

  • Bowie Golf Club on June 3, 2026

    Sam, Barry and I played from the gold tees at the Bowie Golf Course today. The weather was beautiful, sunny with a slight breeze and temps in the low 80s. Got around the course fast, finishing a leisurely pace at 3.5 hours. The greens are in great shape and were rolling faster than we’ve seen in some time. Hole #5 was particularly tricky with the hole cut near the bottom of the slope down to the front tier. Fairways and rough are coming in nicely. Most of the tee boxes still need more time. And the course is still playing as a temporary par 68 so the scores aren’t as good as they seem.

    Sam scored two birdies and finished with a 78. Just one double bogey on the par 5 11th hole, pushing the tee shot into the woods, chipping out, then pulling his second shot left.

    Barry took a triple bogey on the par 3 5th hole, primarily due to the hole location mentioned previously. He also had a double on the par 4 first hole. We found out how fast the greens were when he chipped onto the green and it rolled off the back.

    I took an unusual route to an 81. I had double bogeys on the two front par 3s and a triple bogey on the par 4 17th. I got a birdie on the par 4 15th hole after a 203 yard tee shot with my 3-wood and a PW chip to a back pin for about a 4-foot putt. Beside the one birdie, I had 8 pars, 5 bogeys, 3 double bogeys and one triple. Only hit two fairways but was on the green in regulation 11 times. The driver was not as well behaved as last week. Hit a couple of trees and sliced one pretty good. I had two one-putts and only one three-putt, but sadly had a four-putt on the par 4 3rd hole. My estimated handicap hangs at about 18.1.

    No video from this one. We’ve seen the video(s) from Bowie and I probably won’t do another one until the first, ninth and 18th holes open up in their new configurations. Not sure when that will be. Until then, here’s the scorecard from the round.

    Golf scorecard for Sam, Barry and Clayt's round at the Bowie Golf Course on 3 June 2026. Sam shot 78, Barry 86 and Clayt 81.
    Bowie Golf Course, June 3, 2026 (Gold tees)

    Planning to play the River course at Queenstown Harbor tomorrow for my 12th course since starting on this journey. And thinking about Clifton Park on Monday for the 13th and Carroll Park on Friday for the 14th course, both of which are in Baltimore.

    See you out there on the course. Clayt