The Grind

The Fairways Golf Club
Warrington, Pa.
Yards: 2255/2248 - 4503
Par: 32/33 - 65
Rating: 62.1, Slope: 104
Score: 51/53 = 104
Date: July 11, 2015

Just when I think my game reached rock bottom last week at John F. Byrne Golf Club, I played an even worse one at The Fairways Golf Club on Saturday. I was hoping that returning to The Fairways, I course that I know so well, would give my game a boost and help to instill me with some confidence. It did, perhaps, just the opposite.

The Fairways Scorecard

It started on the first tee, where my driver struck the turf well behind the teed golf ball, and I managed to hit it about 125 yards. Hitting the turf well behind the ball, or "fat", was to become a recurring theme of the round. I had to lay up short of the pond that fronts the first green, only to dunk my third shot into the water--a quadruple bogey. Triple bogeys at the Third and Fourth holes. A double bogey at the Fifth after hitting my tee shot out-of-bounds. A double bogey at the Seventh was followed by another quadruple bogey at the Eighth after I putted my fifth shot off the front of the green. Somehow, miraculously, I managed to par the 133-yard Ninth Hole. An gut-wrenching slog to a 51 on the Front Nine.

The Seventeenth Hole, which I parred

I took renewed hope to the Tenth Hole after the par at the Ninth, but any hope for a back nine comeback was dashed with a 9, followed by an 8 and the Eleventh Hole. Somehow, someway, I continued to grind it out on the course, actually making five 4s on the last seven holes, including three pars and two bogeys. These were offset by another quadruple bogey at the Par 3 Fourteenth and a another 9 at the closing Eighteenth. It was the second round in a row at The Fairways that I shot 53 on the back nine.

The TaylorMade Aero Burner remains in the bag...for now

The main thing I need to do is keep grinding away on the course and the practice range, trying to find my game, somewhere, somehow. It might get worse before it gets better, but that's what I have to do. I am also contemplating--no, change that to making an overhaul of my golfing arsenal. All that will remain from the current setup is my TaylorMade Aero Burner Driver, Solus wedges and Odyssey XG 9 putter. I will update you on the changes--and the new bag setup--later this week.