So close to a great round. Don’t get me wrong, it was definitely a good round. I actually putted pretty well and I hit 10 greens once again. However, the driver let me down a little today, and especially when it mattered most.

After I made the proclamation I had eliminated my right miss yesterday, I was blocking shots right and there wasn’t much draw on my ball flight. I had a couple terrible hooks, but they both winded up on the fairway because I was playing for the big high draw I had been hitting before today. The problem was then even my slight blocks got into trouble sometimes on the right, especially on a course that has trees so tight to the fairway on many of the holes. It also didn’t help that the best drive of the day on 17 (290 yards uphill to just 30 yards from the pin) didn’t result in a birdie. I didn’t stop my 60-degree pitch on the green and it forced me to get up and down from just off the back of the green.

I believe I was still kind of thinking about that on the next tee because on one of the few holes that demand a great drive, I turned in a miss you can’t have. I was just 3-over on the 18th tee and slightly blocked my tee shot down into the trees on the right and had to take an unplayable. A long and left pitching wedge and less than ideal chip led to a double bogey.

My other penalty stroke came on the short downhill par 4 13th. I stupidly tried to hit a soft driver on a hole lined by water on both sides rather than just hit 3-iron and dumped it into the water. I probably should have waited for the people to get off the green and just make a good normal swing and try to carry it to the front edge rather than guide the ball to a a dangerous landing area if I was going to be dumb and hit driver. I then failed to get up and down from 125 yards thanks to a putt that just barely rolled by the right edge. The mental mistakes are so much more infuriating than the physical mistakes.

5-over, 76 is still good. I should have had a couple more birdies. I also left a par putt in the heart but short on the par 3 11th. Overall, it was a good but not great round. Incline Village has been closed for about a month for the Coronavirus, so the course was packed but in good shape and always a good time. It’s short, so with my distance off the tee, I have a lot of full, 3/4, or knockdown 54-degree wedges into greens. It’s cool to work on that, and I did it pretty well.

Some rain early next week leaves it somewhat up in the air when I’m playing again. I might try to go buy a couple clubs if Golf Discount is reopened on Monday.

Have to build on this round.