Stonewall: A Good Walk Spoiled - In the Rain

For my first post of the new year (2014) let me catch everyone up (from 1/1/2014).

1) I've played 18 times so far this year (7 rounds in San Antonio, 2 in Williamsburg, 1 in Daleville, and the rest in sub-par conditions somewhere between Frederick and Fredericksburg).

2) I joined the GolfWeek Amateur Tour

3) In my first Tour event (3/22/2014) at Bulle Rock, I scored a 7th place finish (9 strokes off the leader).  Not bad.

Now that we're all caught up, lets stay true to the theme of the blog:

Ironically my last post over three years ago (2/27/2011) had my next destination as Stonewall.  As if by pure chance or kismet, I ended up at Stonewall, in my second GolfWeek AM tour event.

Date: Saturday 3/29/2014
Location: Stonewall Golf Club, Gainesville, VA
Score: 93
Excuses: Not adapting my game to the conditions, bad decisions, oh and the RAIN..
Course Conditions: Terrible but not unplayable, steady and unfailing RAIN
        The Good: Greens were in great shape and rolled well despite the RAIN
        The Bad: Playing from the blue tees (6582 yards) with no roll thanks to the RAIN
        The Ugly: Other than the scorecard, the RAIN...

I won't make many excuses, simply because everyone played in the same conditions that I did.  The winning score was a well-deserved 85.  I finished 8 shots back which is closer than my finish at Bulle Rock (not bad).  However, looking hole-by-hole I wondered if I could have had a chance for victory if I could have prevented all of the preventable mistakes.  Instead of "Strokes Gained," I will call the measurement Strokes Could Have Recovered (SCHR).  Thank you Stonewall for naming your holes.

Hole 1 "Stone House":  Par.  Beautiful drive into the fairway, pulled my 9-Iron to the left of the green (right pin placement), got up and down.  SCHR: 0

Hole 2: "Buck Hill":  Double Bogey.  Another beautiful drive into the fairway.  Chunked my 7-Iron.  Left the pitch short, left the chip short, putted from the fringe, 1 putt.  Now, if I would have taken my lazy butt to the cart and got my laser range finder, I might have known how far my pitch actually was and would have made a better, more confident swing.  SCHR: 1

Hole 3: "Cemetery Ridge": Bogey.  Beautiful Drive, great layup to 100 yards, pitch onto the green.  3-Jack. I raced my 20 foot birdie putt 10 feet by the hole and didn't make the comeback.  SCHR: 0

Hole 4: "Cub Run":  Double Bogey.  Intimidating 210 yard Par 3.  Hit a beautiful 3 hybrid 2 yards short of the green (back pin placement).  Proceeded to play a bump and run shot and screamed it past the hole into the rough behind the green.  Chipped back on the green with my putter, missed the 3 footer for bogey.  More practice with the bump saves me at least 1 stroke...  SCHR: 1

Hole 5: "Sharpshooter":  Bogey.  First tee shot to miss the fairway, pushed it to the right rough.  Hit a monstrous 5-Hybrid to the back of the green from 175 yards.  Unfortunately it was a front pin placement.  3-Jack ensued...  A better drive could have meant an iron in my hand instead of a hybrid, but the two front bunkers would probably still have me play to the middle of the green.  SCHR: 0

Hole 6: "Rogues Road": Bogey.  Par 5 playing 517 yards.  In my practice round on Friday, I hit a 3-Wood but only got around 190 yards, which set up a tough hybrid shot to get to 160 yards which had a knee knocking 7-iron approach over water which I hit thin but lucked out by having it roll over land.  This time I felt driver was the more prudent play to get a better setup.  Should have made another attempt at the 3-Wood.  Hit the driver into the fairway bunker.  Made it about 150 yards out of the bunker but still had a 220 yard approach to the pin which meant a 210 yard carry over water.  I lay up with a 9-Iron, then pitch it to 10 feet.  Miss the putt on the high side.  Not convinced the 3-Wood would have resulted in a better play due to the error in the hybrid I would have had to hit to get inside of 140 yards to have a realistic chance at birdie.  SCHR: 0

Hole 7: "Little Sorrel": Double Bogey.  Shortest Par 3 on the course but water in front and along the entire right side.  Greenside bunkers on the left.  I take a 6-Iron that I had been practicing for a solid few days and proceed to execute a weak push to the right.  Into the water.  I chicken out on the pitch from the drop area and leave myself a 30 foot putt.  Two putts later I'm in.  Better and more confident stroke or a less aggressive aiming point gets me on or near the green, no guarantee for a two putt or an up and down though.  SCHR: 1

Hole 8: "Carolina Road": Triple Bogey.  Worst hole of the day.  Drove the ball out of bounds by utilizing a wicked slice.  My second drive was no beauty either.  I follow it up crushing a pretty good 3-Hybrid into the greenside bunker.  I get out of the bunker and land about 10 feet below the hole but on the fringe.  I leave the fringe putt 2 inches short.  LESSON TEE ONE:  Could have saved at least two strokes by not going out of bounds.  My previous two drives were tailing right so I could have aimed a little more left.  LESSON TEE TWO:  The hole was 200+ yards away in the front of the green protected by a large bunker on the right and a hill and the cart path on the left, which left only a very narrow opening.  And it was uphill and raining.  I should have recognized I probably had a less than 1% chance of getting on the green.  Therefore if I would have just taken any club that would not have had a chance to reach the trap, then pitch or chip onto the green to get a realistic putt, I would have been in a better position to save Double.  SCHR: 1

Hole 9: "Bald Hill":  Bogey.  The driving woes continued.  More Left to Right action resulted in a lie in the right rough and a 180 yard approach.  I hit a thin, screaming hybrid to the front of the green.  Hit a decent chip and missed the putt.    SCHR: 0

Hole 10:  "Hornet's Nest:" Double Bogey.  In my opinion, the hardest hole on the course (regardless of what the scorecard says).  The hardest part of the hole is to get a playable drive.  Traps and water on the right, out of bounds on the left.  I promised my driver a raise and a better position in the bag.  It worked because I found the fairway.  I sat at about 210 yards out with a large gaping bunker on the left and woods to the right, and a narrow opening to the green.  Sadly I take out my 3-Hybrid and hit it to the rough to the right.  Now I'm almost even with the green but still a whopping 55 yards away from the hole (back pin placement).  I remembered my laser rangefinder this time...  But I am on a hill and not the best lie.  So I chicken out and take my lob wedge and hit down on the ball pretty hard on a half swing.  I make solid contact but the ball only goes around 35 yards, leaving me with a 60 foot putt.  3-Jack City.  LESSON TEE:  I know I didn't have a shot of making the green from 210 yards.  What I should have done other than checking the pride at the door, was to lay up to 50 yards, pitch to the middle of the green and do no worse than bogey.  SCHR: 1

Hole 11: "Chapin's Farm:" Par.  Short Par 4.  Solid 3-Wood off the tee, hit a knockdown 9-Iron thin but managed to stay on the collar of the back of the green.  Hit the pin on the putt from the fringe.  SCHR: 0

Hole 12: "High Bridge:" Bogey.  Medium length par 3.  Playing at about 170 yards.  My last failure with a 6-Iron had me using a 5-Hybrid.  The hole is uphill and the wind was blowing at us, so I thought it a shrewd gesture.  I aimed left of the hole towards the trees and the embankment and expected the shot to bend right.  Unfortunately, no bend.  But my ball came to rest in the hazard halfway down the embankment and was still playable.  Pitched the shot to about 10 feet from the pin.  Left the putt short.  SCHR: 0

Hole 13: "Traveller:" Bogey. After a beautiful drive onto the fairway, and a layup to around 140 yards, I proceed to crush an 8-Iron over the green.  My chip back to the green was a thing of beauty until it hit the wrong part of the hillside and took a terrible bounce to about 18 feet below the cup.  Two putts later, Bogey.  LESSON TEE:  I have a rangefinder.  I really should have used it.  The course was cart path only.  I parked the cart (equipped with GPS) even with the hole about 20 yards above my ball on the cart path.  I did not take into account the lie (downhill approach) or the wind (tail wind) or the true distance (130 yards).  One less club has me putting for birdie.  Preventable mistake.  SCHR: 1

Hole 14: "Manassas Gap:" Bogey.  Good drive, pushed it right but kept it in bounds.  150 yards from the pin, in the rough and have a non-optimal lie.  Pin is in the front and there are two bunkers in the front protecting it.  LESSON TEE:  Take more club and swing easy...  Instead I take an 8-Iron and try to muscle it out of the rough.  I end up pulling it slightly and end up short of the trap.  However it is on the fairway and a tight lie to try to chip / pitch it to a front pin with the bunker slightly blocking a straight bump and run play.  Suffice to say I did execute a decent chip but end up 20 feet from the pin.  Two putts later... Bogey.  SCHR: 0

Hole 15: "Broad Run:"  Double Bogey.  Terrible drive.  Easily the second worst drive of the day (see "Carolina Road" for first).  But somehow I end up on the fairway, but around 225 yards from the pin.  In fact, I can't see the pin from where I am on the fairway.  Slightly miffed (or chafed as TJ would say) I grab my 3-Hybrid, determined to get near the green.  Instead I hit it fat and it sails over the trap and down the hill in the left rough 120 yards from the hole.  I grab a 9-Iron to try to execute a knockdown but hit it thin and sailed it over the green.  I then execute this great chip to within 2 feet of the cup.  Then in a severe moment of indecision on whether to ram it in the back of the cup or finesse the putt, I miss the 2 footer and make the 3 foot comeback.  LESSON TEE.  Again I had no hope of getting to the green.  I should have just hit a 6 or 7 iron to around 50 yards, pitched it onto the green from the relative security of the fairway and probably done no worse than bogey.  SCHR: 1

Hole 16: "Devil's Den:" Bogey.  Not a very long hole but the ground is so saturated at this point, I'm not sure I would get any roll with a 3-Wood.  I take my driver and aim left as my shots have been going right all day.  In true Murphy's Law fashion, my drive goes straight.  Unfortunately, my aiming point was the fairway bunker...  It might have been okay but my ball ends up in some arrogant jackass's footprint near the lip of the bunker.  Someone who couldn't be bothered to rake the bunker after he was done retrieving his or her ball.  Suffice to say I make an incredible effort to advance the ball 10 yards, just on the lip of the next bunker...  I then choke down on a hybrid (as I'm standing in the bunker trying to hit the ball) and make a decent effort to get the ball to the front of the green.  I then attempt to execute another bump-and-run shot, only to misread the green entirely and leave myself a 30 foot putt.  This time however, I make the putt.  Rub of the green. SCHR: 0  

Hole 17: "Seven Pines:"  Par.  Exorcised the demon haunting my 6-Iron and hit a beauty that ended up 20 feet to the left of the cup.  Miss the birdie putt by 4 inches.  SCHR: 0

Hole 18: "Fire Eater:" Par.  Not a long par 5, but at this point I didn't care.  Used my driver and found the fairway.  180 yards to the hazard so I use my new found friend, my 6-Iron to lay up.  Hit it thin and ended up 170 yards from the pin, over water and the greenside bunker.  Hit a beautiful 5 hybrid to 15 feet from the cup.  Left the birdie putt 4 inches short. SCHR: 0

Final tally: 7 strokes I could have recovered by virtuoso of preventing the preventable mistakes.  Those mistakes being hubris, folly, pride, and of course, forgetting your range finder.  It puts me at a close second place in the tournament and more importantly in the money.  Now the ultimate question is would I have been able to execute all of those alternative shots?  If I could have executed 50% of the shots (which were far easier than the ones I attempted), then I would have recovered 3.5 strokes.  The second place finisher scored an 89, and the third place finishers tied at 91.  If I recover 4 strokes, then I tie for 2nd.  If I recover 3 strokes, then I'm all alone at 3rd.  Any more than 4, I'm alone in 2nd.  Now who's to say that my other competition could have done the same thing?  Hopefully I learn faster for the next Tour Stop.

Final word:  Play smart, don't play when it rains.

Next Stop: Lake Presidential