I believe that the saying “Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades” should include golf. Being closer to the hole is better than being farther away. Every strokes gained analysis in the world has proven that if you hit the ball farther you will have a bigger advantage over someone who putts the ball better. Distance is king. It’s why every 5 years we have a big discussion over whether the clubs and balls have given us (but particularly tour pros) too much distance. I take this philosophy all over the course. Many people will try to layup to a number for a full shot of their favorite club. I always prefer to hit it as far as I can with a club that I can keep on the course and figure it out once I get up there because I am a pretty good knockdown and pitch player with my wedges. Sometimes that strategy backfires. Sometimes it pays off.

On the front, it definitely backfired. I missed in the wrong spots consistently. I was blocking and pushing my driver and irons on the front badly. It was colder than I was expecting and I never really got loose. I could feel myself not finishing swings. I short-sided myself on nearly every hole because I only hit three greens. I’m convinced the pin placements were at their most devious today, but maybe it was entirely where I was missing. Because of the difficulty of the chips after six missed greens, I could have used some good putting, but my only notable make was to save bogey on the 2nd after royally messing up that hole. I missed two relatively easy chances to birdie the two par 5’s, one of which lipped out.

On the back, I flipped the switch after building some momentum with a complete hole on 9 (barring an easy birdie miss). I hit five greens on the back and birdied three holes and had a couple good runs at a couple more. I stepped to the 18th 1-under on the back. Unfortunately, I hit the worst drive of the day on which I nearly missed the ball, but it rolled down the cart path and got me to 220 yards from the peninsula green. I was in complete “who cares” mode because I was still 5-over for the round because of my atrocious front-9. I decided to try and make birdie. So, I chose to hit a 3-wood over the water to the green. I could have easily laid up to the edge of the fairway and had less than 100 yards in and tried to save par. I probably should have taken the latter option because I played for a slight fade because of the downslope and ball below my feet, but somehow counteracted it for a slight draw that plopped into the water pin high. I ended up making double.

I know if I laid up barring some catastrophe I wouldn’t have made worse than bogey. If I was playing for money or to break par for the round I almost certainly would have gotten more conservative. And yet, I still might have just shanked a tee shot with a shorter club or chunked my approach into that same pond. My pitch after my drop wasn’t exactly stunning which is why I two-putted and made double.

I would like to be such a consistent ball striker that playing it safe makes sense, but losing my advantage of above-average although not mind-blowing distance for a sometimes safer shot is crushing when I can just mess it up on the backend.

The perfect example of my reticence is 16 and 17. Both par 4’s are barely over 300 yards and have plenty of trouble if you hit it poorly. I could easily hit an iron or fairway wood and still reach the green with a short iron. However, I hit two brilliant drives (16 was arguably the best drive of my life because I hit a rare perfect draw around the corner) and had easy pitches in that I stuck close. One I just missed the birdie low the other was a pretty easy 5-footer pin high.

To get to scratch, I will need to change my thinking and get way more consistent driving the ball and with the ball striking throughout the bag. However, the back-9 today rejuvenated me. To break par just once and get this challenge done. I just need to keep the driver on the course and hit my greens with the shorter irons and wedges I will get to play. I still might need to consider my risk/reward calculation. If I was threatening par for the round and not just the back, I am fairly certain I would have not hit the 3-wood.

I also might need to hit some putts to give myself a cushion. Although my putting was a little better today than at Eagle Springs, I still cannot wait for my new putter to get here tomorrow. I also got some new golf shoes, and I’m going back to plastic spikes from the spikeless as an experiment.

I can’t wait to try them out Wednesday and Thursday that are both supposed to be beautiful. I am going to give myself a shot at breaking par as well because I think I am playing the incredibly beatable Links at Dardenne and Golf Club of Wentzville.