We finally got Rehoboth Beach Country Club with almost no wind and your Hack was ready to go. Warmer weather had arrived and the course was in good shape, almost fully recovered from the Spring aeration. Our Assistant Pro - Ryan - brought Pip, Andrew (from the pro shop staff) and me to play 1 ball of 4 at 75% of handicaps. Pip is a steady 3 to 4 handicap with a solid short game and a good putting stroke. Andrew is a young bomber who sometimes wonders in which direction the ball will choose to go. His ball flight is extremely high and when he hits a high draw with his driver it’s a thing of beauty. And then there was me, your Hack.
There were 43 teams playing which made for a long day but the tournament and club staff handled everything smoothly. Several friends were playing - Ocean City was represented by Bret Marshall, paired with a couple of guys from the old “Tour on the Shore”, Eric Brubaker and Matthew Perry. Solid play from the Ocean City team resulted in an 11 under final score, only 4 shots behind the winners. Cripple Creek also had a second team playing with Andrew Hewitt that posted a 9 under score.
We teed off at 10:10. High spirits and warming temperatures filled us with hope. Your Hack enjoys playing Rehoboth, but had some underlying fear after a dismal performance in the first round of the DSGA Spring Classic several weeks ago. I’d shot an 89 which is my highest round of the year so far.
Missed fairways and poor chipping led to four straight bogeys before I finally made an up and down from a drop area on the par 3, 5th hole. Pip and Ryan kept us in the match with birdies on the 3rd and 4th holes respectively. We were 2 under after 5, sluggish but not killing ourselves.
Pip and Ryan both made birdie on the 6th and Pip made a solid par of the 7th after the three of us each made bogey. Andrew and I finally joined the party on the 8th with net birdies which was followed by a good birdie from Ryan on the 9th to get us to 5 under after 9 holes. Andrew posted a solid 39, Pip was only one over after 2 birdies and a single bogey. Ryan was even with 3 birdies offset by a bad double on #4 and a solitary bogey. Your Hack only made 3 pars on front and turned at 42 only hitting 2 greens in regulation and 3 fairways.
The back nine started slowly with routine pars from each player on the 10th. You’re Hack came through with a par, net birdie on #11 hitting a 5 iron to about 15 feet but missing the par putt. Andrew finished off a 2 under, 5 hole burst with a birdie on the par 5, 12th hole. After bombing a drive, he hit a towering 8 iron to about 18 feet for eagle. The putt for the 3 was “not great” by his own admission, but the birdie 4 was needed as I made a double, shanking a bunker shot into the water and Ryan went full “Tin Cup”. After blowing his drive into the water right, he plunked 2 more balls into the water short of the green before tapping in for an 11. Pip added a nice birdie on the par 3, 13th to get the team to 8 under. Unfortunately, that was our peak.
The team lost a shot on the par 3, 15th hole where no one could make a par on the 150 yard hole. Sad. Visibly spent, we limped in with only one more birdie, a nice 2-putt 4 on the par 5, 17th hole.
We ended the day at 8 under par, 7 shots behind the winning team from Bayside that was lead by Brian Rashley. The pro division was won by Bryce Young from Bayside who fired a 5 under 67 that featured 4 birdies and an eagle on the par 5, 17th.
Pip was our bright spot for the day shooting 74 with 3 birdies. Strong chipping and putting were the strength of his round. Andrew was solid shooting 81 while Ryan and I posted 81 and 84 respectively. Your Hack only hit 28% of the fairways and 52% of the greens.
Update versus Goals
Your Hack has posted 14 rounds since the beginning of the official golf season (April 1st). My handicap has crept up to a 6.5 index with an average score of 80.4.
One of my goals for the year is to average no more than 0.5, 3-putts per round and I’m currently averaging 0.9. On the double bogey or worse side, my goal was 0.5 per round, but I’m currently at 1.9 - too many blow up holes for sure. I’m also only averaging 1.1 birdies a round due to poor proximity to the hole and putting.
I’m only hitting 50% of fairways and greens so far and averaging 32.6 putts per round.
Obviously, I need to get back to the grind and put in some more practice. Stay tuned.
Thanks for following along and keep it in the short grass.