Sometimes it is good to see how you are playing when your swing isn’t clicking. My swing was a train wreck basically all day. I had close to no face control. It felt like I was pulling the handle through to the ball and not moving the clubhead out from behind me. I couldn’t get the ball to move left with my irons or driver. I was just leaving the face open nearly every time and blocking shots to the right. I only hit one good drive all day that wasn’t an intentional baby cut. Every time I went to that swing I hit it well, but I didn’t go to it enough and was stubbornly trying to make the draw (in-to-out) swing work. I made up for the problems with the full swing thanks to some of my best wedge play, especially on the front.

I only hit 8 greens ( 4 on each side). The difference was my ability to get up-and-down on each side that caused the 37 (+1) and 40 (+4). I got up and down 4 times on the front including for a birdie on the par 5 4th after a great recovery 3-wood short and left of the green. I flipped a 60-degree to 2 feet for my only birdie of the day.

On the back, I had some miscues that are easily removed and my score looks a whole lot different. The only perfect drive I hit all day with my “normal” swing came on the 10th. I smoked it 310 yards over the ditch in the middle of the fairway. Unfortunately, I slightly pulled my 54-degree and left my putt outside the hole because it didn’t break — should have been an easy birdie from that position. On 11, I hit a decent drive and 5-wood layup. I just didn’t swing hard enough at a 54-degree and left it on the very front of the green. I left my lag putt well short of the back pin and three-putted. On the next hole, I just didn’t pick the right club and left an 8-iron short. I had an easy uphill chip to the front pin that I should get up-and-down every time. I was too aggressive and left myself a slippery putt above the hole and made bogey. A 6-iron didn’t draw on the hardest hole (14) and left myself with an awkward pitch from the next tee box on and two-putted for bogey. The final bogey came on 18. I smoked a drive 295 yards that was slightly blocked and ended up in the cluster of trees just right of the fairway. It’s one of those you wish you had hit worse because if it was shorter or more right I would have had a better shot. My 7-iron punch and run caught the very last low branch I was cutting under and slowed it down enough to keep it from running out. I hit a subpar pitch short and missed the putt.

For how bad my ball striking and face control was today, I am happy with how I scored. Part of that was Belk Park doesn’t punish the right miss off the tee. If I only hit 5 fairways at some other places with those same misses, I would be re-teeing or taking some drops. I wish I had gone to the baby cut swing more. I didn’t realize how every one of them was a great ball flight and ended up over 290 yards until after the round. My 3-wood was pretty good today which helped and was still drawing which is weird when nearly nothing else would. The one 5-wood I hit also drew like always. I’m not mad about the swing causing loads of blocks today. That will happen. I just can’t compound that problem with mental errors. I just didn’t take enough club on two different par 3’s and came up woefully short. I didn’t hit a couple wedges nearly hard enough and was on the completely wrong side of the green.

They have Belk Park in great shape. The fairways were fast without being rock hard. They have the rough still thick, but have cut it down from the U.S. Open length it got to during the quarantine. The greens rolled true. The only problem was they drenched them right before my round. It definitely helped hold shots. I had a lot of ball marks that made it look like I played after a deluge they were so deep. When they have them firm out there, it’s nearly links style where you have to land it short and roll it up onto the green. However, some had way more water than they needed (No. 2 had a puddle between my ball just off the green and the hole) and made approach shots, pitches and chips react differently between holes.

While I enjoyed the challenge of battling my own swing as well as the course today, here’s hoping Monday at Stonewolf I’m just attacking that gorgeous Nicklaus Signature Design.