Today was the day. I needed a birdie on the 18th to shoot par, an eagle to break it. However, I walked away with par and came up just short of the goal yet again. It was definitely a round of “what could have been,” and maybe one I will be looking back on for a long time if I don’t accomplish this goal soon.

There are so many spots that I could find that one or two strokes. There were so many putts and shots today that burnt up edges or lipped out. I almost had a hole-in-one on the 6th.

The 8-iron pitched just on the front edge of the green and rolled just past the cup.

On the 7th, I had to settle for bogey after my chip rolled over the edge of the cup and my comebacker lipped out. On 16, I hit a 9-iron to the back of the green. My 40-footer coming back to the hole hit the pin straight on and bounced out of the cup. There is no telling if it might have stayed in without the foam, but it definitely was coming in a little hot.

The breaks went my way on 17. I drove the ball into the center of the fairway with just a pitching wedge left in. Unfortunately, I hit a wind wall and it ballooned and dropped short of the green. However, I finally came up clutch with my wedge play and drained the chip for my fourth birdie of the day to make the 18th dramatic.

On 18, I ripped a drive 300 yards to the top of the hill to give myself a chance at the green. My two previous 5-woods of the day I tried to feather into the green and came up just short. With water short, I didn’t have that luxury and gave it a bit of ride. However, with the crosswind going the same way as my draw it carried the ball over the green into the thick rough on a sidehill lie to the back left of the green. I left my first chip in the rough, and couldn’t chip in the next one which left me at a 1-over 72.

The lip outs are painful, but the thing that really kept me from breaking par were a few bad wedge shots and not taking advantage of the par 5’s. I had just a 6-iron into the 13th for my second and hooked it into the only place you really don’t want to be on that hole– on the left short-sided in deep, thick rough. On 7, I topped a 3-wood and then pulled a 50-degree before the lip outs. I should have never been in position to need that chip or putt to go in.

The positives are I drove the ball great, I putted well, and my iron striking was good enough to hit 10 greens. There are a lot of positives to take away from today. I limited mistakes aside from a three-hole stretch to end the front in which I made back-to-back-to-back bogeys. That stretch took me from 1-under to two-over. The 8th and 9th are hard holes for me and somewhat acceptable bogeys. The 7th is rated No. 1, but is a par 5 that I can reach in 2 or is a little pitch on if I hit a good second. That bogey is the only one all day that is truly unacceptable.

Hopefully, I can build on this next week and finally get it done.