Yikes. Well, that was no fun. I didn’t feel particularly good before the round. I warmed up with the Speed trainers and putted but just didn’t feel 100% on the first tee. I actually was decent on that hole. But from the first iron of the day on the next tee, the round was a ball-striking nightmare.

I found the center of the clubface with an iron a grand total of two times and both of them were the wrong iron, so one came up just short and one just long. I was consistently off the bottom groove or blade and never really found a fix. I laid up well on 18 with a 5-iron that I guess could be classified as my one good full iron, but I swung easy to make sure I didn’t get a flier and roll down the hill into the water. The highlight of my iron play before that was an upside-down, left-handed shot out of the trees with a 4-iron to save myself a penalty drop.

The worst part was my driver was all over the place as well. I was coming steep over the top on some swings and pulling it and blocking others to the right. I even spiked a couple off the bottom of the club right in front of the tee (not the tee box, the physical wooden tee the ball was formerly resting on two inches behind the divot-like ball mark). I “bottom-grooved” a couple more as well. I think I hit two truly good drives all day.

If my wedges and putting hadn’t been as good as they were I easily could have shot a 90. I had 6 up-and-downs for par and one more for a bogey. I didn’t hit a green in regulation until the 13th hole but then hit 4 of the last 6 greens to make my numbers somewhat respectable and not make me want to throw my clubs out of the car onto I-70 on the way home.

My putting has continued to be much improved with the new Huntington Beach blade putter. I have averaged just under 1.6 putts per hole the last three rounds after a so-so debut of 1.9. I averaged a little over 1.8 putts per hole the last five rounds using the Two-Ball. Things could have been even better today. I got yippy on a 5-footer up the hill for a birdie and left it about halfway to the hole. I had another birdie lip-out and a couple others just slide by high of the cup.

All-in-all, this is a round you try to forget about as soon as you leave the course. I’m going to drive it out of my mind with a good round tomorrow at Links at Dardenne. My plan is to swing easier and try to see contact. I know it’s a cliche and a thing annoying people in your group say when you’re struggling, but keeping my head down to try to make sure my shoulders and hips aren’t flying open early and pulling me off the ball seems like the fix to my tops, thins, and blades problem.