And Icarus came crashing back to earth. OK, that might be a bit dramatic. I still scored pretty well today, but it was a fight. I was 4-over after the 5th and not striking the ball well at all and with next to no feel around and on the greens. Thankfully, I locked in and was even-par over the last 13 holes.

I blocked my first shot off the tee with 3-wood which had me shook because it has been such a safety valve for me off the tee. It ended up being fine and I made par and hit a better one on 2. However, then I skulled my 54-degree over the green and made bogey.

After a routine par, disaster came on the 4th. I blocked another 3-wood but into the woods this time and had to take a drop. I then proceeded to launch a 50-degree over the green. I thought I made good contact, but I must have closed the face because it came out low going into an uphill blind green and had no chance of stopping. Then my 60-degree off a dirt lie hit all blade sending it back across the green. I ended up making double on the No. 2 handicap that is designed to make me make those mistakes. I fell right into the architect’s trap.

Now on tilt, I bogeyed the par 3 5th thanks to a heely 9-iron that missed pin high right on the short side. I actually hit a pretty good delicate chip, but infuriatingly missed the putt short.

I hit driver only 5 times today. Three of those were in the last four holes of the front. I parred all of them. I missed both birdie putts on the par 5’s, one short and one a misread.

I birdied the 10th by rolling in a 6-foot slider, and I thought we were going to have a replay of yesterday. I did roll in another tricky one on the next hole to save par. However I gave back the stroke on the par 5 14th thanks to a bad 4-iron out of a tough lie in the deepest rough of the day, a toey pitching wedge, and an airmailed 60-degree pitch.

I got it back on the next hole with a dart of a pitching wedge and all of a sudden I was thinking birdie out and finish even.

That did not happen. I hit a good 5-wood up the hill and a good 60-degree to about 8 feet. However, I rolled the putt over the right edge because I didn’t want to leave it short and as a result it didn’t break enough.

Then trying to make eagle, I launched one on 17, but my setup was not good. I had it teed up high and a little too forward and tried to demolish it which caused a pull. Thankfully, it stayed in play but I was under a tree and had to just hack it out bent completely over and ended up making bogey.

To add insult to injury, I played 18 almost perfectly to plan. My 25-foot uphill breaker dove at the last second to thwart my walk-off birdie.

It was still a good day for learning things. I showed up right before my tee time and really only had time to get loose and tee off. I just wasn’t locked in early. I need to do a better job with the mental side of the game. I also solidified a go-to club off the tee. I can pretty much whale on my 5-wood, and it’ll be fine. There isn’t a big right miss with it. (Knock on wood) As long as it’s not wet I can get it out well over 250 with roll which is plenty of distance on most courses, especially Incline Village. It is a good option when I would formerly be guiding a driver or 3-wood. I’m better, like most, when I’m committed and not worried about it rolling through a dogleg. Honestly, if I hit it on the 4th, which the 3-wood has a shot of going long if I miss more left or crush it, I think the round looks much different.

Next week looks a bit stormy, so I might try to get in a round tomorrow. The conditions are just so good it’s hard not to golf everyday.

Side Note: I got my first Playing Conditions Calculation (PCC) adjustment last night. Golf Club of Wentzville got a -1 which is the lowest they can adjust the course rating down if a course plays easier than normal (+3 is the hardest). Conditions were perfect. It had firm fairways with tons of rollout, but the greens still held shots and rolled true. There was basically no wind to speak of, and it was warm enough that the ball was probably flying a little farther. However, I think it’s mainly because they moved up two tees on two of the harder holes to fix the tee boxes. They moved up the par 4 5th that normally plays 426 to less than 400 yards. That takes the fairway bunker nearly entirely out of play for even the shorter guys. I bombed one over 300 yards right down the middle, so I only had a 60-degree left. Unfortunately, it leaked a bit and left me short of the back tier. It was an easy two-putt but would have been an unreal birdie putt up the ridge. They moved up the long par 3 8th which plays 225 yards on the card (I don’t think this is right. It’s 215 at most on my GPS and normally plays at just over 200.) to just 163 yards. The second one didn’t really help me as I still made bogey thanks to a thin 8-iron that squirted right and a bad putt. I’m still confused about how many GHIN scores need to be posted on the day or if a course has to take the initiative themselves. It’s wild that it took this long for any kind of adjustment when I have posted 46 scores at courses all over the St. Louis Metro. If you’re going to adjust when the course is “easier,” I would like credit when I’m playing in 20 mph winds or when the course is so waterlogged that all you get is carry and the ball plugs in the fairway or when a course has been closed for a month so the rough is U.S. Open height and the greens are impossible to putt on.