The Chip-Ins

I’ll start by telling you that I chipped in twice. That’s usually good when you’re trying to shoot even par.

As I suspected, Putterham is not in good shape. Many of the fairways are beat up, with lots of bare spots and cracked areas of dry mud. The greens looked like they’d been aerated recently, and they were extremely hard, making it both difficult to stop the ball on your approach, and also increasing the bumpiness of every putt – a 3-footer could be a real tester. Suffice to say, the conditions were not ideal.

And neither was my start. One of the problems with Putterham is that there’s no range to get warmed up – that’s not so unusual, but the first tee shot is a bit of a challenge, and requires an accurate drive that does not sit well with your first swing of the day. I duck-hooked one into the woods, which set me up for an ugly double-bogey 7 on a hole that anything worse that par should be a bad score. Yuck.

Already +2, I made a routine par on the uphill par-4 second, nearly chipping in for birdie. On the par-3 3rd I hit a solid 7-iron that tracked right toward the pin, leaving only 12 feet; I left it short, though, and tapped in for another par. I had another run at birdie on 4, but yet again came up short and had to settle for par. That brought me to +2 after 4 holes – and as I said in the last post, anything worse than +1 at that point is not good, since the next 5 holes are considerably tougher.

The wind was pretty strong in our face, and the tees were well back on the already long par-3 5th, making the hole play to at least 220 yards. I hit an okay hybrid-2 that found the bunker on the front right side of the green. The lie was terrible – right up on the lip, so I had to stand with my right leg down in the trap and my left leg up out of the trap just to have any balance. I actually made a decent shot but flew it too far and ended up off the green on the back side. After a poor chip and 2 putts, I had another double bogey to get to +4.

On the par-5 6th I absolutely smoked a drive 325 yards down the left side, leaving about 200 yards to the green and easily getting my past the corner to have a clean shot at the pin. This was the opportunity to get a shot back. The wind was with my and there's much more trouble long, so I hit a 5-iron... and blocked it out way right, flying over the 8th green and settling next to a tree with essentially no shot even back to the same hole, let alone the green. I tried to punch a 7-iron and caught an overhanging branch, then tried to hit a 60-degree wedge up over the next tree... but didn't make it, and trickled through the branches to end up on the hillside by the green. I had almost no green to work with -- 8 feet, max -- so I tried another 60-degree flop. 2 bounces... and in for a miracle par. (That's one chip in, if you're counting.)

The 7th and 8th were both mundane bogeys, moving my score to +6 -- probably unrecoverable at that point. I had to try to make something happen, so I tried to hit a big draw/hook driver on the severe dog-leg left 9th. I started it too far left, though, and trickled through the trees into some thick rough about 150 yards out -- I was lucky to even be in play, and ended up only a few yards short of the water hazard that runs down the left side. I had to carry over a short tree in front of me, and ended up hitting a big 7-iron that found the center of the green. 2 putts led to par, and I finished the front with a 42 (+6).

Looking back, I hit only 3 greens and zero fairways on the front, and honestly made 2 pretty incredible pars on 6 and 9 -- I really could have scored worse.

The back 9 started with a "routine" par on 10, and I was set up for another on 11 but 3-putt (badly) for bogey. I made par on the par-3 12th, and followed that with a solid 255 yard drive to the center of the fairway on the 400 yard par-4 13th. The green there is two-tiered, and the pin was on the top shelf -- I flew a 7-iron just over the crest and watched it spin to about 10 feet. Sadly, though, I let another birdie opportunity fall by the boards and settled for a tap-in par.

The 14 is a brutal hole if you don't hit a good drive -- I hit my best of the day, a full 320 yarder to the left side of the fairway, leaving the best approach possible to the green. It's an enormous green, and the pin was way down front; I had about 90 yards left. I caught a SW too flush, though, and flew it to the back of the green, leaving probably 70 feet downhill. After leaving that one short, I yanked my 6 foot par putt and made another 3-putt bogey. I HATE 3-PUTTS!

The 15th is the longest hole on the course, and with the wind back in our faces it was impossible to get home in two. I hit a good drive down the right side, but found a thick patch of rough and had to hit a punch 5-iron that hooked a bit on me and found the rought now on the left side, about 110 yards out. My wedge found the center of the green, and I 2-putt for a solid par.

On 16 I left my approach short, and found myself in a similar position to where I was on 6 -- with an uphill chip and not much room to work with. I went with a 60-degree wedge again, and hit what I though was a good shot -- then watched as it stopped dead with no bounce or roll at all, leaving 8 feet for par. I finally made a putt of more than 5 or 6 feet, and took my par to the 17th tee. A six-iron and 2 putts later, and I had another par.

As we stood on the 18th tee, my buddy Kevin said, "It's so wide open, you can't really miss here." I said, "Yeah, just rip away." And I did -- and my ball came crashing through the trees that line the very-avoidable left side. It was like a sledgehammer; you could hear the thuds as it pounded through each tree, and more than one good-sized branch came crashing down. I found the ball in the pine straw with a playable lie, but not much of an angle toward the green -- maybe a 3 foot window between two trees. The smart play would have been to punch back out to the fairway, but where's the fun in that? I hit a hybrid right through that window, and ended up about 40-50 yards short of the green in the left rough. Unfortunately, I flubbed a pitch and ended up about 10 yards short of the green, again without much green to work with. If you've been paying attention, you know what happened next -- 2 bounces and in (with a PW this time), to finish the back side with a 37 (+2; with 2 3-putts).

The final tally: 79 (+8).

Going back through this round, there were definitely a number of shots I left out on the course (the 3-putts, and 3 or 4 makable birdie putts), but I also had 3 rather "unconventional" pars that could have been far worse. I guess it wasn't meant to be today.

You can see the full scorecard here.

Labor Day

My next tee time will be on Labor Day, 9/1/08, and I'll be playing Putterham Meadows (aka Brookline Golf Club at Putterham). You might also know Putterham as the parking lot for the Ryder Cup when it was held at The Country Club in Brookline in 1999. The PGA (or maybe the USGA) paid for a major renovation after the event, and Putterham had a bit of a resurgence in the early 2000s; however, in the past few years I'd have to say it has gone downhill a bit, and when I played there this spring I was most definitely underwhelmed.

That being said, the abundance of rain has made most courses in New England more lush and green than they usually are at this time of year, so maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised when I go back on Monday.

Why am I writing about this in advance, you ask? Well, Putterham is one course where I have a real chance of reaching even par. One of my career closest rounds came there on July 29, 2005. It started out somewhat pedestrian with a par-par-bogey-par; I say pedestrian because anything worse than 1-over after 4 at Putterham would be pretty lousy. The last 5 on the front are a bit more of a challenge, and I started well (bogey on the long par 3 5th, followed by birdie on the tough dogleg par 5 6th, and then par on the 7th, which I find to be the toughest green to hit of just about any that I've every played). The 8th and 9th, though, were disastrous for my round -- double-bogey 6's on both, including a 3 putt on 9. After the front, I was +5.

And that's when it started to come together. The first 3 holes on the back are all short, but challenging off the tee, and I made 3 straight pars. The 13th is a 400 yard par 4 with an uphill approach, and so my bogey there was acceptable. I then made a strong birdie on the par-4 14th, easily the toughest hole on the course -- I drained about a 25 footer, and that started a string of long putts that really turned my score around. I made a long one for par on 15, and then about a 40 footer for birdie on 16. That was followed by two "standard" pars on 17 & 18 for a one-under 34 on the back. Final score: 75 (+4). Looking back, those two doubles on 8 & 9 really were the undoing for the round... though having only 12 putts on the back certainly helped.

Stay tuned....

The Black (The Back)

After getting torched for a 49 (+13) on the front, I had to turn things around on the back -- though a 22 to get to even par was not in the cards....

10 A relatively flat hole in comparison to most of what we'd just seen, and the start of a string of ridiculously long par 4's (it's measures 502 yards from the tips). Fortunately, the tees were up a bit -- it was probably "only" playing 450 yards for us. I hit my best drive in a while, a low trajectory 300 yarder down the left side, into the 1st cut of rough. From there I hit an 8-iron to the green, leaving my first real birdie oportunity of the day, about a 15 footer -- uphill with a little right to left break. I reached the hole (!), but just underestimated the break, and tapped in for par. Score: 4 (+13).

11 Another relatively flat but long par 4, this one comes in at 435 yards. There are maybe 4-5 large sand traps lining either side of the fairway, so it's pretty initmidating off the tee. I pulled my drive left and somehow found a spot in between 2 bunkers, with a pretty clean lie, though the ball was a bit above my feet. I tried to hit a choke-down hybrid but didn't compensate for the lie enough and got a lot of draw spin. The ball came down somewhat about 25-30 yards left of the green, close to the 10th tee, deep into the fescue -- I never found it. After a drop I was able to flop a 60 degree wedge onto the green and 2 putt (again) for double bogey. Score: 6 (+15).

12 A monster dogleg left 501 yard par 4. Read that again. Honestly, this is where the memory of the round gets a little murky. I know I popped up my drive short of the trap that guards the corner of the dogleg; if memory serves, I slashed the ball around 3 times before hitting a lofted wedge onto the green and making 2 putts for another double. Ouch. Score: 6 (+17).

13 The first hole on the back side that wasn't a monster par 4... instead it's a 600+ yard par 5. Despite the length, this is a very playable hole, relatively straight and flat without much trouble. I again pulled my drive into the left rough -- and that was trouble enough. I was able to get a 5 iron through the thick stuff but carried it too far and found the thick rough again on the right side of the fairway. Now I had both rough and a tree to contend with -- I went for a cut 8 iron that came up just short and spun into a deep bunker on the right front of the green. I had a good lie and was able to get onto the green with only about 10 feet for par... but missed and made another bogey. Score: 6 (+18).

14 By far the easiest hole on the course, a straightforward 161 yard par 3. We were dead into the wind, and after watching my brother come up short with 7 iron, I went with a 6. I pushed it a bit right, but found the edge of the green just over the bunker. I left my 1st putt about 6 feet short, but made the 2nd for a rare par. Score: 3 (+18).

15 Now we come to what some have called the toughest 4 finishing holes in golf. I have to agree. The 15th is the number 1 handicap hole, and it deserves it. It's a "paltry" 478 yards, but plays more like 500+ with a severely uphill aproach shot that is all carry over some menacing looking bunkers -- and, as it turns out, the green slopes pretty severely off the back. I hit a terrible drive, pulled dead into the thickest of the thick rough and only a bit more than 200 yards off the tee. The ball was beyond buried, and I hit the hardest 53 degree wedge of my life just to get back to the middle of the fairway -- honestly, it was probably my best shot of the day. I had about 185 left, and had to hit a real good 4 iron to carry the bunkers, and I actually found the right side of the green. I had a real putt for par, but left it way short, then missed the follow-up to end up with a 3-putt double. (I hate 3-putts.) Score: 6 (+20).

16 The 16th comes right back at you with 490 yards of dogleg left par 4 action. This time, though, the tee-box is elevated up above the fairway, and the green for once is on relatively level ground; if there's any chance to score on the last 4 holes, this is it. Having hit my last several drives poorly and to the left, I tried to play more of a fade of the tee and ended up crushing it well right -- making this a very long hole. I tried to advance the ball and get back to the fairway with an 8 iron out of the fescue, but the face closed up in the tall grass and the ball shot almost 90 degrees to my left, all the way across the fairway, and back into the very thick rough. From there a 6 iron stayed a bit too far right and found yet another bunker; a sand wedge and 2 putts later left me with (yet another) double bogey. Score: 6 (+22).

17 One of the prettiest holes on the course, and the touchest par 3 I've ever played. 207 yards, all uphill, with tall fescue all the way to the green -- except for the mown walkway down the center. The green is very shallow, though relatively wide for The Black, and of course is protected by 5 bunkers. I hit a 3 iron and left it just right of the green, somehow finding just about the only spot of grass available between the traps. I had a decent lie and hit a soft SW pitch that settled just a foot left of the hole; a tap-in par I have to say I'm pretty proud of. Score: 3 (+22).

18 If I remembered any one hole from the Open in 2002, this was it. Just 411 yards, but steeply uphill for the last 150-200, this is the hole that has a whopping 11 different sand traps, and (of course) they're all in play. I hit a decent drive, about 280 yards down the right side; unfortunately, the fairway narrows down to maybe 15 yards at that point and I found the inside edge of one of the bunkers; I had almost no shot to clear the lip, but it was the 18th so I had to go for it anyway. I blasted an 8 iron... and predictably clipped the top of the lip, ending up in (where else) the thick rough about 105 yards out. The lie wasn't bad, though, and I was able to hit PW to about pin-high. That left about 20 feet for par on the 18th at Bethpage -- something I'm sure many pros will be envious of in 2009. At least I reached the hole; bogey would have to do. Score: 5 (+23).

Suffice to say, The Black got the best of me. But all-in-all, I actually think that I could have been about 5 shots better with better putting (which should have been easy -- the greens are all actually very flat) and a little luck -- mostly notably on the 5th hole where twice being one foot to the left would have changed things dramatically. It was, to say the least, quite an experience.

Final Score: 94. (See the scorecard here.)

The Black (The Front)

I lived in New York for 4 years, including 2002, when Bethpage Black hosted the US Open. I made it out to Bethpage probably a dozen times, but never was able to get on the Black.

Well, it finally happened this week...

Everybody knows it's a challenge, but the sign on the 1st tee really does drive the message home.

If that doesn't do it for you, though, maybe the course stats will: 7468 yards from the Blue tees, with a rating of 76.6 and a slope of 144 (for a par of 71).

The Black was just recently rated as the #7 course "you can play" by Golf Magazine, which makes this theoretically the best course I've ever played. And last year, Golf Digest ranked it as the 6th toughest course in America -- again, theoretically that makes it #1 on my list. So in the spirit of this blog, it wasn't all that likely that I would shoot even par. Here's how it went, hole-by hole...

1 The 1st tee is beautifully elevated and looks out onto a sturdy-looking dogleg right, measuring at 430 yards. It's probably the best example of the signature greenskeeping style at Bethpage -- fairways mowed such that the left half looks dark green and the right half looks light green. I was surprised that I didn't feel any jitters on the tee, and was even more surprised when I smoked one down the middle with just a little draw. Unfortunately, it went through the fairway and left me with about 155 yards out of the 2nd cut of rough.

A quick aside about the rough -- if you haven't played there, then you can't even imagine what it's like. There is about 3 feet of shorter, first cut rough on either side of the fairway, and it's very playable from there. But beyond that your ball disappears into the thickest, darkest, 4 inches of grass you've even seen. As you'll see, most of the time you can't do anything better than punch out back to the fairway. And if you get past about 15 yards of that -- well then you're in the fescue, and you have no chance.

Anyway, I actually had a decent lie, maybe even a flier, so I decided to go for the green. I hit a high, arcing 7-iron which was tracking right at the pin... and landed over the green almost up to the fence guarding the road. There my ball did disappear into the rough, but I was able to flop a 60 degree wedge onto the green, and I 2-putt from about 15 feet. Score: 5 (+1).

2 A more gentle dogleg left, measuring a benign 389 yards. I hit another good drive, right to the center of the fairway, leaving about 110 yards to an elevated green. I bladed a PW a bit and pushed it right -- ended up on the back right fringe (with the pin front and left). I was able to putt from there, but didn't get it very close, then left an 8-footer just short on the lip of the cup. Score: 5 (+2).

3 The 3rd is a visually intimidating par 3, which is essentially all carry to a well-bunkered green that falls off the back side to the woods. The tees were up, and so it wasn't playing at it's full 230 yards (thank God), and instead came in at about 180. I hit 5-iron, but much like the wedge on the previous hole, I bladed it and actually carried over the bunker on the right side of the green. It ended up on the edge of the woods, and I hit a blind SW that (I'm told) landed near the pin but then rolled off and into the rough on the front side of the green. From there I chipped to about 4 feet and... missed the putt. Yuk. Score: 5 (+4).

4 517 yards of all uphill par 5, wonderfully framed by bunkers down the left side, then across the fairway about 1/2 the way home, and again surrounding the green (a common theme). Really a beautiful hole from the tee. I hit my drive into the right rough, but again was surprised to find a decent lie. I managed to carry the cross-fairway traps with a muscle 5 iron that left me with about 70 yards to the green. A nice soft SW and 2 putts led to my first par of the day. Score: 5 (+4).

5 The first of the real monster par 4's, measuring 478 yards from the tips, and starting with about 250 yards of carry over an enormous series of bunkers. I hit what I though was a good drive, but just barely made it over, and I would have been better off to have stayed in -- my ball was nearly buried in a tangled mess of long grass. I still had about 200 yards and tried to hit my hybrid (2-H) but only managed to run it forward about 90 yards -- in truth, probably about the best outcome I really could have gotten.

And that's when it really started to fall apart.

I pulled a PW a bit, and figured based on the way it was hit that it had flew the green. But when I got to the top of the hill, it was no where to be found. There were a couple of guys from the greens crew off to the left, and they told me it was in the bunker on the long side of the green -- but it wasn't in there either. After a few minutes I did find it -- and just like my shot off the tee, it was right on the edge, but not quite in the bunker, and completely buried in what must have been 10 inch, incredibly thick rough. To make matters worse, I had to stand in the bunker, and the ball was at about waist height. I took one hack with my 60 degree wedge... and the ball only went in deeper. I took another hack... and could no longer see the ball at all. Took a drop, chipped on, and made the putt for a snowman. Score: 8 (+8).

6 After a hot dog from the particularly grumpy snack bar attendant, I hit a cautious drive on this downhill 408 yard par 4. With about 165 from the right side of the fairway, I felt pretty good about an easy 7 iron to the green -- but had a bit too much draw spin and didn't catch it completely clean. I somehow managed to avoid the array of bunkers and was able to pitch onto the green, but again had to settle for a 2 putt bogey. Score: 5 (+9).

7 The 7th is a par 5 for us amateurs (read: hackers), but we were told it plays as a par 4 for the pros (read: still hackers on this course, if memory serves). I can't really imagine they play from the real tips, though, because it's listed at 553 yards; but was playing at closer to 490 where the tees were for our round. Much like the 5th, there's a forced carry over a bunker off the tee, but you could play it safe(r) to the left side of the fairway. I popped my drive up a bit and ended up in the bunker and somewhat blocked out -- the hole doglegs to the right, and there are tall pines that stand in the way if you're still in the bunker. I managed to pick a 7 iron clean and cleared the trees, giving myself a shot at the green; but again I mishit my wedge, had to pitch out of the thick rough around the green, and 2-putt for bogey. Score: 6 (+10).

8 The only water hazard on the course is a small pond in front of the green on this 210 yard par 3... and I found it. I actually hit a decent 4 iron, but clipped a tree branch that overhangs the green on the right side, and my ball shot straight back and into the water. After dropping in the drop zone on the short side, I flopped a SW to about 15 feet and 2 putt for a double, again leaving the putt just short (another theme for the day). Score: 5 (+12).

9 The finishing hole on the front is unique for the course -- most of the fairways are pretty flat, but this one is severely sloped from right-to-left. The hole itself is a monster dogleg 460 yard par 4 -- you could cut the corner, but there's naturally a hefty-sized bunker right in the driving zone. I ended up a little short and right of the bunker, with the ball a little above my feet -- a position I actually liked because it allowed me to hit my favorite shot, a sharp low draw. My 4 iron found the back-right part of the green, and I thought I was about to make a really good par. But 3 putts later I was staring at another bogey, and an abysmal 49 on the front side. Score: 5 (+13).

13 over obviously wasn't going to cut it -- I didn't have much chance at even par at the Black, but I had hoped to play better than that. I had a bit of bad luck (see the 5th hole), but I also left a number of shots out there -- most notably some wedges out of the fairway, and 2-3 putts I should have made.

I'll go through the back nine with the next post.

The Mission

My goal is a relatively simple one:

18 holes, even par. Just once.

(Of course, once it happens, the goal will be to do it again.)

I've had the goal all year, and I've come close a few times. But it hasn't come together yet. The purpose of this blog is going to be two-fold: one, to track my progress in the public sphere; and two, to keep a log of the best and most interesting rounds so that I can reflect on them someday. A public golf journal of sorts...mostly for me. But if you come across it and happen to enjoy it, then all the better.

First, a few stats about me and my golf game:

• I'm 30 years old
• I live in Boston, which means my golf season is only about 4-5 months long
• I started the year with a USGA index of 8.6; I'm currently at 6.0, and my peak was 5.3 (on 8/6/08)
• My best round of the year so far was a 74 (+2) at Pinehills Golf Club (Nicklaus Course) in Plymouth, MA (see scorecard here)
• For a quick snapshot of my game, see my profile on oobgolf.com

Here's some footage of my swing, just in case you care:

The inspiration for this blog was my most recent round -- which, by the way, was not even close to even par. So let's start there....