For most of the front nine and the drive down the 10th that was certainly the case. I wasn't enjoying it, didn't really want to be there and couldn't get anything to click. However I managed to hit a beautiful 4 iron into the 11th green and made par and I did begin to strike the ball better for the remaining holes. However I have to say it was still a real struggle to focus on my swing although I did enjoy the last where I hit three perfectly executed shots to set up a closing par.
In the end it wouldn't have mattered if I had been the most focused and committed player on the course. Anthony "Kerching" Ayres cleaned up with a huge 43 points. To be fair he did set a personal best and so clearly played well and took the form into the monthly medal today where he came second in his division and set himself up for a long overdue handicap cut. However to have matched that I'd have needed to score something like a 77 (+7) and that wasn't never on the cards.
Ironically I woke up in a much calmer place today for the monthly medal. I struck the ball well in my warm up and wanted to go out in a very positive frame of mind and see if that blinkered "today is my day" approach would drive me on. It was a sound theory that lasted two holes. I missed a tiddler of a putt through carelessness on the first and took a snowman (8) to record a lovely triple bogey on the second. My drive had just stayed in bounds down the right and I thought an 8 iron would clear the out of bounds fence in front of me and get the ball over the corner of the dogleg and into play. Sadly it ricocheted off a fence post back over my head and well out of bounds and never seen again. Mr Angry was back.
In my defence I then wheeled off three straight pars to rectify a lot of the damage. However there was a long wait on the par three 6th which is a nemesis hole at the best of times. All this loitering gave me way too much time to think and I hooked my tee shot. On the plus side it hit a tree which stopped it flying out of bounds. On the down side it bounced back into the stream that wanders across the hole some 100 yards off the tee. I had to take a penalty drop. I hit my next onto the green and naturally three putted to rack up another triple bogey.
I spoke at length last week about a miracle par at the 7th hole from way left off the tee down the 3rd fairway. I got another par there today of equal magnitude. I hit my hybrid off the tee (which was the club that had got me into trouble off the 6th) and managed to get it straight with a hint of draw. Of course this brought the large oak that guards the left side of the fairway into play and prevented me going directly to the green. Being a fearless chap, that is to say, totally cheesed off with his round and couldn't care less what happened, I decided to hit the hybrid again and aim to hit a large running hook around the tree.
A hook goes right to left. This didn't and went left to right and sailed over the back of the adjacent tee box on the 8th. Faced with a difficult shot over a bunker to a tight pin which looked really smell I opted to aim left and the front edge of the green. In the end the ball finished about five yards off the putting surface and about fifteen feet from the flag. I hit it the putt great and it never looked anywhere other than in the hole. I parred the 8th and 9th too and so went out in 43 shots which was only a couple over my handicap with two triple and one double bogeys in there.
Another par followed thanks to a great 9 iron to eight feet and although I three putted the next I really thought I could still get close to a nett level par round. How wrong can you be. A pushed approach and duffed chip at the 12th cost me yet another double bogey. A wild slice off the 14th tee and three more putts clocked up another but my misery was compounded on the next. I hit a reasonable drive slightly left. My second was a push right into the rough but everyone in the group had a good line of sight of where it had gone. When we got to the vicinity the ball refused to be found. Faced with the prospect of walking some 150 yards back to where I'd played from and the course stacking up behind anyway, I decided that I wasn't in the hunt to protect my handicap and reluctantly opted to card a No Return (not post a score). I don't like doing it as it isn't the done thing but with the pace of play so slow and Mr Angry threatening to self combust it seemed the sensible conclusion. Inevitably I immediately lost all interest in the game after that and limped home with a final double bogey on the last to complete a sorry tale.
Although this would seem a tale of woe and self pity, but there were actually some really positive points to take away from the weekend. I managed to string a good run of pars together on both days and my driving yesterday in particular was very solid. At times the iron play was also very good which hasn't always been the case lately. I do know that Mr Angry and golf don't mix. As the weather is set fair for a few days I might try and get a few holes in after work and see if a bit of evening golf lowers the blood pressure and does wonders for my swing. Meanwhile, I'm off to meditate and listen to whale song....... deep breath and relax!
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