Tag: Par 70

  • 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

  • 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.

  • When do you need to buy a new putter?

    Well, if you’ve seen the YouTube video on my putting woes, you’ve probably concluded that my problem is in my head and not in my putter and I’d probably have to agree with you. I bought that putter in 2007 and my putting has gone downhill every since. But, in my defense, I think the putter is good if I hit it exactly on the sweet spot every time. Quitting golf for almost ten years then playing once a week, now about twice a week, and I’m not going to be hitting the sweet spot every time.

    By now you probably know where I’m going with this. After reading an article by MyGolfSpy (a website you should at least visit) about their testing and rating of 75 different putters, they concluded that zero torque putters were for real and that the Odyssey AI-Dual Square 2 Square #7 putter was rated by the testers as the best at virtually every distance. So my thought was that if I get this new fancy putter that is just about as perfect as a putter can be then whatever problems I still have must be all mine.

    So I went down to Dick’s Sporting Goods and found the putter on sale for $50 off. Of course I bought it and hit practice putts in my basement in preparation for the putter’s introduction to real putting greens on a real golf course.

    And today was the day. Overall, the weather was beautiful and relatively cool, and Phil and John witnessed her maiden round. (She doesn’t have a name yet but that’s coming.) I shot a 79 which was pretty darn good for me. The putting was somewhat of a mixed bag, primarily because I didn’t know how hard to hit the putts. I had five three-putts, which isn’t a record for me. Again, primarily because I would hit the putt too soft or too hard – not because of the direction. Three-putts on the first two holes had me a little nervous about my new love.

    By the end of 18 holes, I was back feeling confident that it was going to be a long-term relationship, finishing with seven one-putts and two birdies, and 34 total putts when I average 37 a round. I only hit two fairways and seven greens but did well otherwise.

    Videos, you might ask? I started to video the round but after three-putting the first hole I thought better of the idea and turned it off. I didn’t need anything other than my putting to think about. But the video showing off the putter will come soon enough.

    What else am I doing about my horrible putting? Well, I’ve downloaded a copy of Dave Pelz’s Putting Bible and started to read it. I’ve made it to the fourth chapter so far and the short version of what I’ve read so far is that a pure pendulum straight-back straight-through putting motion is best and there are a lot of bad ways to putt and they still might go in and alot of ways a really good putt might not go in. I’m working on the pendulum motion. Will keep you informed of my progress.

    In the meantime, here’s my scorecard from today. Clayt

    Clayt's scorecard from a round of golf at the Bowie Golf Course on 24 June 2026, reflecting a score of 79.
    Clayt’s Scorecard, Bowie Golf Club, 24 June 2026

    The red notations were added after the round.

    One more thing. Bowie has printed their new scorecards pending the reopening of the shortened golf holes. Hole #18, around the new driving range, is now playing as a relatively short par 5. Holes #1 and #9 are still shortened. The “soon to be” yardages have been added and the course rating and slope numbers have been revised.

  • Only Maryland Golf: White Plains Golf Course (#10)

    For my tenth stop on the golf tour of Maryland, I played at the White Plains Golf Course in White Plains, Maryland, just outside Waldorf. The clubhouse was small and the staff extremely friendly and helpful, walking me out to the carts and telling me about the course, particularly that there was little water or sand on the course but that I needed to hit the ball straight as woods were nearby on almost every hole. While I was a little early, they sent me right out by myself though I eventually caught up to other players that asked me to join them. Thanks go out to Tom, Leanne and Quincy. Even though I tried to follow the staff’s advise to hit them straight, I didn’t do very well, shooting a 93.

    The greens were in great shape with few ball marks and rolling fast compared to what I’ve been used to so far. There were also much smaller than those at Oak Creek and the Preserve at Eisenhower. The fairways were dry from the lack of rain and no apparent irrigation for them. I frequently hit through fairways, both due to a lack of familiarization with distances on a new course and the dryness causing the low shots to travel further than expected. I punched out a 3-iron from the trees on the 4th hole that traveled 187 yards – something I’d normally expect from one that is well hit from a perfect lie.

    And I’m trying out something new. Previous videos have featured me or someone in my group playing on the course and focused primarily on the golf shots. This time I’ve made a companion video focusing primarily on the golf course. For those that have seen my mediocre golf shots and my horrendous putting, this gives you an opportunity to see the beauty and layout of the golf course without the psychological scarring. (I am an old guy with a 20 handicap after all…)

    Clayt's completed scorecard for his round at the White Plains Golf Course on May 4, 2026, shooting a 93.
    White Plains Golf Course, White Plains, Maryland

    And here’s the evidence…

  • Bay Hills Golf Club – Maryland Seniors Golf 100 (#8 of 100)

    I visited the Bay Hills Golf Club in Arnold, Maryland, just five miles north of Annapolis on a Monday in early April. It’s my 8th course on my way to playing every golf course in Maryland that will let me on. It should be over 100.

    The cost of the round was very reasonable and included a cart, which unwisely I decided to try walking – mostly to try out a new camera mount on my push cart. Turns out the “hills” part of Bay Hills isn’t just a marketing gimmick. And the camera mount as I was trying to use it was a bust – it hindered my ability to verify that the camera was on or off, resulting in a lot of missed shots and video footage of nothing in particular. A lesson learned.

    I played from the white tees, measuring 5,705 yards for a par 70 course. My scorecard indicates I shot a 92 but while I was editing the video I noticed that I incorrectly entered a bogey for the 9th hole even though I one-putted for a par – so I shot a 91. Usually, finding a scoring error results in me having a higher score…

    Completed golf scorecard for Clayt at the Bay Hills Golf Club in Arnold, Maryland, with a total score of 92.
    Clayt’s Scorecard, Bay Hills Golf Club, April 2026

    Overall, this is a very enjoyable course. The fairways were pretty wide, the holes moderately short, and the greens on the large side, with only one significant forced carry – over the pond on the beautiful 18th hole par 3. I also note the small, old family cemetary just off the 11th fairway – my first, though not the first time I’ve come acrossed expired individuals just off the fairway. That’s a story for another day.

    Go play Bay Hills for an enjoyable round. I plan to go there again and next time the video will be much better.

    Clayt