Round: D.W. Fields

3 Player (Me, Tony, James)

Pre-round practice: Quick chips, putts and swings

18 Holes

Today was a day when my swing felt solid and effortless. I played the entire round without thinking of one swing mechanic. As a result, I was rewarded with my third career score in the 80s. It's funny how my reaction to shooting in the 80s a few months ago compares to my reaction this time around. Completely different. The first and second time I was ecstatic and felt like they both belonged on the top of my lifetime achievements list. This time, I was just content that I proved to myself that I could do it once again after struggling the last 5-8 rounds to break 100. I've recently started playing the back tees at most courses, so I expect the scoring to not be as low, but I played today as if they were the middle tees. I started the round 1-under through the first four holes. It was a cool feeling being able to say that to myself. I made a great birdie on the second hole, par 5, with an incredible putt off the first cut of the green. It was a brutal 7 ft., downhill, right-to-left putt that bled back into the fairway if I happened to over-shoot it in the slightest. The next highlight of the round was a 230 yd. 5-wood that I flushed onto the green. I hit a baby draw that hit the left ridge and kicked-right onto the green (see first photo below). The sound it made coming off the face was exquisite. After that hole, the bogeys and doubles began to show. The back nine was a struggle to keep the scores down. The ugly 6s and 7s and occasional OB penalties appeared on the card. But, It was a really good round overall; I hit about 60% of the fairways, made GIR a good amount of times, most notably on the long 180 yd. and 211 yd.. par 3s. My putting was the determining factor that saved me from reaching into the 90s. Looking back, I made a couple clutch 3-4 footers to save pars and bogeys. The wedges were back in form and that's a fantastic feeling.

Score: 88

Scorecard