2020. A new year, a new decade, a new time to start my goal of consistently scoring in the low 80s. The excitement had been building for a while. I've been planning this goal since the end of the 2019 fall season. I was prepared to start this decade out the right way. My juices were flowing. I was mentally prepared to show up and show out. I know how to swing, my clubs have been fitted for my swing, and I was prepared to come out swinging.
I was playing with my 2 other die-hard golf buddies, Pimp D. & Nasty Nate-O (from our crew The 4 Coursemen). We were playing at River Falls Plantation Golf Course in Duncan, SC. The only crew member missing was B-Mack. I was so stoked. I love playing with these guys. B-Mack & Pimp D are as good as I am (which isn't saying too much), but I usually get D by a few strokes, while B-Mack and myself switch off on better days. Nasty Nate-O, though, is a true beast. Guy is less than scratch. A previous pro at multiple clubs, he can bomb the ball like a missile, but can smooth touch it like wiping a baby's bottom. I often wonder why he continues to play with us, because we aren't even close to his league. I guess he likes the fact that we talk smack to each other, while encouraging one another at the same time. We never beat ourselves up too bad. We like to have fun, be competitive, but understand the reason we are out there in the first place....to play a "game".
Now, enough background on my crew, back to the round that was going to set up the year for my low score goal. Yikes.... To help us not get slowed down by players that had teed off before us, the Ranger let us go off the back 9. I blame this, and everything else, for throwing my round for a loop. I set up to tee off on #10 which is a par 4. I live and die by my driver. If it's on, I'm usually on. If it's off, oh boy I'm in trouble. Thinking I'm about to take this course to school, I tee off and pull it left right past the pond. Always take 2 off the first tee, I tee it up and rip it a little farther, but still left into some trees. Ok, I can shake it off I thought to myself. Well, I had to keep it low out of the woods so I used a 7 iron to push it out into the fairway but get it close to the green. I rip it too hard to where it flies over the fairway, but luckily catches a tree solidly in the middle and kicks it on the side of the fairway. From there I used a 56 degree wedge to pitch it onto the green, which I duffed it enough to drop short of the green. Having lost confidence in my 56 degree, I pulled out the 8 iron and swing-putted it within 6 feet of the cup. I missed the pretty simple putt and double bogeyed the hole. This is what most of my day would look like on the course.
For the most of the day I was putting in for double bogey. We play double par max (if it's a par 4 the highest you can make is an 8 AKA the snowman) and I'm sad to say I made a dreadfull 10 on a par 5, as I shanked 2 shots into the drink on that hole. I had a few pars, a very few, but mostly double bogeyed each hole. So much for starting the new decade on a high note, unless you're talking about my final score.
I ended up shooting a 105, which I haven't done since I started playing seriously. It was a brutal day. As my buddy Nasty Nate-O said, "You can't go anywhere but up from here." Here's to hoping he's right.
As for the course itself, River Falls was awesome. It's the dormant time for the grass, but the course was in great shape. It's a gorgeous golf course with many holes tugging the South Tyger River. Many of the holes have some beautiful elevations that make for some awesome shots, if you can hit them, unlike me that day. The diamond zoysia greens were in fantastic shape. They were freshly green with some good, faster speeds to them. I like a fast green and although I didn't sink many putts, I never left them too short. It wasn't the dreaded 3 putts that got me, just everything else about my game.
We had a fantastic time, I had a lot of trash spit my way, but deservedly so. We never take it too seriously, but we do try to play well and get better each time. It just wasn't my day. Pimp D shot a 91 and was really swinging the sticks well, just had a few miss-hits that cost him. Nasty Nate-O shot 3 under for a 69. Like I said, I don't know why he keeps playing with us.
This isn't the first time we've played this course and after the round I shot, I'm itching to exert my revenge. Perhaps I was too amped up. Perhaps I was too confident. Perhaps it was just golf. Either way, the course is a great one to play if you get a chance, and you better believe there will be another chance in my near future. Stay tuned. Until then, keep it in the fairway.
- (Double) Bogey Fett
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