Falls Road: Expectation Management and Course Management Required
Round two of the Memorial Day weekend. Another round with Joe Flatstick at his "home course." If you've never played Falls Road, I would say you're not missing "much." A double entendre mostly due to the fact the course is very short, measuring at a whopping 6,162 yards from the tips. The course is actually very playable and fun if you like short courses. The greens roll very well for a municipal course, it's pretty well kept, and the practice areas are very good.
The biggest issue about Falls Road is the pace of play. It can get pretty slow. Partially because shorter courses tend to attract beginner golfers. But mainly becaue that area of Rockville / Potomac, MD only has one municipal course. It is quite literally surrounded by some of the finest private courses in all of Maryland, if not the United States. If you are coming from Virginia, you pass by the front gate of Congressional Country Club (that's right, the same one that hosted the US Open three times and Tiger Woods' tournament every year), and you pass by the side roads for Burning Tree and TPC Potomac at Avenel Farms (which hosted plenty of Web.com tour events up until last year, and the old Kemper Open / Booz Allen Classic for years). If you're coming from Rockville, you pass by Woodmont Country Club, the final leg of qualifying for the US Open for the Mid Atlantic Region. And lets not forget Bethesda Country Club and Lakewood Country Club. Both nice, and both very private.
So if you live or work in the Potomac / Rockville area, where do you go to play? Unless you know a member, FALLS ROAD.
Date: Saturday 5/24/2014
Location: Falls Road Golf Course, Potomac, MD
Score: 81
Excuses: Straight from the car to the first tee
Course Conditions: Amazingly enough, very good. Greens were in excellent shape and rolled very well and a lot faster than I remember. Fairways were in good shape. Some spots in the rough that were inconsistent but as Gene Huie would say, "Don't hit it there!"
The Good: Driving, got the ball in play on 16 of 18 holes. Two birdies and hit all par 3's in regulation.
The Bad: 37 putts, including four 3-Jacks
The Ugly: Bad course management and even worse expectation management
The reason behind the title is that I shot my lowest round ever here (73) last year. That's right, 3 over par (par is 70 here). And I managed to do that without a birdie as well. But I did have an eagle on the par 5 16th and finished the back nine at one under par. Best Round Ever! Therefore, I had pretty lofty expectations coming into this round, thus breaking the first rule, only expect to have fun...
I started off on the first hole with a double bogey and all I could think about was, I was 3 over in my best round here, now I need birdies or to par out to beat it... That pretty much framed my salty mood throughout the rest of the front nine. In all reality, an 81 is not that bad of a score. In fact, when you factor in the slope, rating, and my current handicap, I shot my handicap. But all I could think about is shooting another 73 or better. I set my expectations way too high to enjoy the round to its fullest. But I look back and I had back-to-back birdies on #9 and #10, I managed to hit all par 3's in regulation, I hit 67% of greens in regulation, and I only lost one ball. My biggest issue was the putting, 37 of them, including four 3-Jacks. I just didn't have a good feel for the greens.
But in the end, it was good to play with the Flatstick again, and by the end of the round, I figured out how to enjoy playing again. Lesson Tee: Practice Expectation Management before the round, and course management during the round. Until the next time: BACK TO THE RANGE, PRACTICE GREEN, & GYM!
Next Stop: Hobbits Glen Golf Course
The biggest issue about Falls Road is the pace of play. It can get pretty slow. Partially because shorter courses tend to attract beginner golfers. But mainly becaue that area of Rockville / Potomac, MD only has one municipal course. It is quite literally surrounded by some of the finest private courses in all of Maryland, if not the United States. If you are coming from Virginia, you pass by the front gate of Congressional Country Club (that's right, the same one that hosted the US Open three times and Tiger Woods' tournament every year), and you pass by the side roads for Burning Tree and TPC Potomac at Avenel Farms (which hosted plenty of Web.com tour events up until last year, and the old Kemper Open / Booz Allen Classic for years). If you're coming from Rockville, you pass by Woodmont Country Club, the final leg of qualifying for the US Open for the Mid Atlantic Region. And lets not forget Bethesda Country Club and Lakewood Country Club. Both nice, and both very private.
So if you live or work in the Potomac / Rockville area, where do you go to play? Unless you know a member, FALLS ROAD.
Date: Saturday 5/24/2014
Location: Falls Road Golf Course, Potomac, MD
Score: 81
Excuses: Straight from the car to the first tee
Course Conditions: Amazingly enough, very good. Greens were in excellent shape and rolled very well and a lot faster than I remember. Fairways were in good shape. Some spots in the rough that were inconsistent but as Gene Huie would say, "Don't hit it there!"
The Good: Driving, got the ball in play on 16 of 18 holes. Two birdies and hit all par 3's in regulation.
The Bad: 37 putts, including four 3-Jacks
The Ugly: Bad course management and even worse expectation management
The reason behind the title is that I shot my lowest round ever here (73) last year. That's right, 3 over par (par is 70 here). And I managed to do that without a birdie as well. But I did have an eagle on the par 5 16th and finished the back nine at one under par. Best Round Ever! Therefore, I had pretty lofty expectations coming into this round, thus breaking the first rule, only expect to have fun...
I started off on the first hole with a double bogey and all I could think about was, I was 3 over in my best round here, now I need birdies or to par out to beat it... That pretty much framed my salty mood throughout the rest of the front nine. In all reality, an 81 is not that bad of a score. In fact, when you factor in the slope, rating, and my current handicap, I shot my handicap. But all I could think about is shooting another 73 or better. I set my expectations way too high to enjoy the round to its fullest. But I look back and I had back-to-back birdies on #9 and #10, I managed to hit all par 3's in regulation, I hit 67% of greens in regulation, and I only lost one ball. My biggest issue was the putting, 37 of them, including four 3-Jacks. I just didn't have a good feel for the greens.
But in the end, it was good to play with the Flatstick again, and by the end of the round, I figured out how to enjoy playing again. Lesson Tee: Practice Expectation Management before the round, and course management during the round. Until the next time: BACK TO THE RANGE, PRACTICE GREEN, & GYM!
Next Stop: Hobbits Glen Golf Course
Comments
Post a Comment