Tale of two nines. After the front nine, I pretty much thought this round was a wash, and I was looking at another round in the 80’s at Golf Club of Wentzville. Really up until the 13th hole, things looked bleak. I was 7-over through 12 after missing the green yet again on the par 3 cliff hole 12th. However, things from that point on just clicked in.

I easily birdied the short par 5 13th thanks to a good low cut off the tee that chased up the fairway and a decent 6-iron that rolled just off the back of the green pin high to the back pin. I made a good delicate chip and tapped in for my first birdie of the day. On 14, I played through a group and hit a draw that kind of dove out of the sky because of a lack of spin but still ran out to 280 yards. I was slightly disappointed in my knockdown pitching wedge because it rolled out towards the back of the green and left myself a 40-foot downhill putt to the front pin placement. But, I finally made a putt and dropped a bomb for my second straight birdie.

After the classic bogey when you are playing through a group on 15, I was pin high and got up and down for par on the par 3 16th. I threw a dart from 90 yards after another good drive and tapped in for my third birdie of the back on 17.

On 18, things almost went totally awry. I blocked my tee shot right yet again. I got extremely unlucky, and it was grabbed by a low pine tree and settled underneath its low branches more than 250 yards from the green. I had to take an unplayable and drop and hit my third shot from there. I laid up with a poor 4-iron, but thankfully it rolled down the hill to my perfect pitching wedge distance to the front pin location. I hit another amazing approach with a slightly cut pitching wedge that I got to sit right on the front of the green precariously close to the false front. Another good 8-foot putt up the hill gave me a par to finish the back even and with a 5-over 76 for the day.

That round was once again under my course handicap which makes 7 of the last 8 either at or under my course handicap on the day.

The difference between the back and front was my approach shots into greens partly dictated by my tee shots and my chipping and putting combo ability to get up and down. On the front, I didn’t really have any clue where the driver was going. I was blocking most of them to the right and on a hole where I didn’t block it right like the 5th, a good draw sent me into the trees just the same but on the left side this time. I hit decent 4-iron and 7-iron punch shots on the front to get back in play but couldn’t get close enough with my third to get up and down. When I actually did hit good chips and pitches, my putter let me down. I would either slightly misread putts or just not start them online.

For how down I was on the front and early on the back, I was soaring after I was able to save par on 18 after making three birdies on the back to get back to even and score below my course handicap of 6. It showed me I have two paths to get this challenge done. I can be unconscious with my wedges and driver and make a ton of pars with up-and-downs like at Incline Village. Or, I can be a little more erratic, make some mistakes with bogeys, and correct them with birdies later like today. Ultimately, I still think I need to hit more greens to get this thing done. 50 percent hitting the green, which I don’t do often, while not getting a penalty and driving the ball decently feels like the right recipe now. Throw in the Huntington Beach Blade getting hot and you have the recipe for a magical round.

Let’s see if I can continue to build on this with a round at a course I generally score well on, Links at Dardenne, tomorrow.