Stanko's Stance

A random, late notice Friday off on a gorgeous day? That means we go golfing. I was meant to go golfing with my girlfriend’s uncle, but he got too busy, so it was another solo round for myself. Who would I be paired up with at Oak Hills in Norwalk?

I golfed with three older gentleman who were having themselves a day before the long weekend of Memorial Day. One was super talkative and a Celtics fan, so that was nice. He did like to slow his cart and drive right next to me while I was walking, and sometimes I would have enjoyed my privacy and wallowing in self pity. One (who said he was the best handicap) had a tough day and was frustrated with himself by the end. The last fellow was the youngest of the three, and he was clearly the best of the bunch.

I should also mention that these three gentleman played from the tips. I did not. I did not enjoy always being the last to tee off. With that being said. I took no mulligans off the tee; lost ball…I lost it. I lost two golf balls off the tee on the day, but I did find more than two so I was happy with that aspect of my round.

This round of golf was frustrating for me. I was super duper inconsistent on the opening nine. I would go par, to triple bogey, back to par, then a four putt and it really was just a bunch of pop up speed bumps that killed my momentum. Come the back nine I played better. I wouldn’t say well, but I would say better. I was consistent never getting higher than a six on a hole and I recorded five straight fives. I did fuck up some chips and had some smaller frustrating moments, but it was much easier damage control.

Now let’s see how I did in my sixth round of the year.

Hole 1
Par 4 | 374 Yards

Well, starting the round on too high of a note for my own good. The first hole is a par four and I hit a drive that was just on the fairway on the left side. I took an eight iron and I pushed it left, but it was still within range for an “easy” chip. I took out my pitching wedge and was able to get it to within three feet! El Diablo came out to play!! A one-putt into the cup for a par.

SCORE: 4 (1 Putts)
Handicap: 3
Score Overall: 4 (E)

Hole 2
Par 4 | 295 Yards

The second hole is a very short par four and I out drove the fairway with a three iron. That was unexpected. It also did not help that I hit the car path. I was in a sticky mid distance and I absolutely nuked a pitching wedge and it went long. Then there was also a duff chip. Then three was a really long first put to try and get a bogey. I blow it past the hole, and i am like OH NO. But, I somehow hit a 10 footer coming back for a great two-putt and a double-bogey save. Yea, I am calling it that.

SCORE: 6 (2 Putts)
Handicap: 9
Score Overall: 10 (+2)

Hole 3
Par 3 | 109 Yards

Short par four. Downhill. And I nuke my pitching wedge again. I hit the tree behind the green and end up in the really really tall grass. I am most flustered with myself. I should be able to hit this green in regulation, but I just did not.

I was able to chip it out to the fringe, and luckily the flag was in the back half of the green. I putting from the fringe and get it close, and was able to two-putt for a bogey.

A four on the scorecard is not terrible, but I am not happy with my play. This is going to be a theme for the entire round.

SCORE: 4 (2 Putts)
Handicap: 17
Score Overall: 14 (+3)

Hole 4
Par 4 | 307 Yards

So now we have a long par four that I have no had good scores on historically. I drive it well and it is leaking a little left…but I am thinking that I am safe.

WRONG. I AM WRONG.

It bounces off a cart path (the second in four holes) and goes bounding out of bounds. I dropped it, got it up onto the green nicely eventually, but a three-putt really ruined this one for me. My first seven on the scorecard. The holes with the elevated greens are not the easiest things in the world. Have to get better at those.

SCORE: 7 (3 Putts)
Handicap: 5
Score Overall: 21 (+6)

Hole 5
Par 3 | 174 Yards

Ahhh, the classic duffing a tee shot with everyone watching. That is what happened to me on the fifth hole. I barely get it off the ground and so I had to go to the drop zone. We are just limping everywhere.

I take out my sand wedge because I am a 70 yard shot away, but I do not get underneath it at all so my third shot becomes a SCORCHED line drive that somehow bounces off of a branch instead of a house and I end up on the green putting for bogey. How the fuck is this possible? I do not know. But while my luck with the cart paths was not fantastic, my luck with the trees appears to be favorable.

I take a two-putt from my place on the green and I write done a very slimy five.

SCORE: 5 (2 Putts)
Handicap: 15
Score Overall: 26 (+8)

Hole 6
Par 4 | 304 Yards

Alright. Time to reset. Time to regroup. Just get one in the fairway.

I take out my three-iron…and I do find the fairway….but in an unorthodox way. My drive off the tee box goes way left, and it bounces off the rocks that I lost the tee-shot on the fifth hole. This time however, the ball careens into the light green and I have a shot at the green with my second shot. I take out a six iron…and the absolutely duff it. Just terrible.

So now I have my third shot and I take out my pitching wedge from about 90 out and uphill. I hit a good shot and I end up just off the back green, but it is a risky chip because it is all downhill. I don’t heed my own warning and my fourth shot goes all the way off the green on the front side. BUT, from here I have a good two putt and I am writing down a six.

This round is so slimy and gross. I am not playing well, but I have only had one bad blow up hole. I have needed to deserve more.

SCORE: 6 (2 Putts)
Handicap: 13
Score Overall: 32 (+10)

Hole 7
Par 4 | 336 Yards

Yuck, yuck, yuck. I am just playing some super slimy golf. A hole that is wide open on the right and I am hugging the tree line on the left. I have to chip out onto the fairway, and I do so effectively. With my third shot I take out a low iron and try and to get it onto the lowered green…but alas I do not. My ball goes back left of the green, so now my fourth shot is trying to chip it near the hole. Do i do so? No. No I don’t. I chip it over the green and I am on the extended fringe. Then I chip onto the green and two-putt from there.

I have played this hole three times, and this is the first time I played it worse than a bogey.

SCORE: 7 (2 Putts)
Handicap: 7
Score Overall: 39 (+13)

Hole 8
Par 5 | 484 Yards

What we have here is the most disappointing hole of the day.

I had a good drive that was not in the fairway but it was just to the left of it. So I take a three iron out and just attempt to get it in the fairway a bit closer to the hole so I can try and get a fairway in regulation. Here is some advice; do not it it 90 degrees to the right and directly into a bunker. I was fuming.

I take out an eight iron now and just elevate it out of the bunker and get myself 99 yards away from the hole. My fourth shot gets me onto the back part of the green. So, despite being in the bunker on my third shot, I had a chance to get a bogey if I one putt it.

I fucking four putt. What an utter disaster. My first putt is well short, then my second one goes flying past the hole, so now I need to try and secure a three-putt but I do not. Tapping in for an eight with a four-putt is absolutely brutal. Such a deflating feeling.

Need a mental reset.

SCORE: 8 (4 Putts)
Handicap: 11
Score Overall: 47 (+16)

Hole 9
Par 4 | 440 Yards

Well, not getting my mental reset on this hole.

I pulled my drive way left and ended up being in the eighth hole’s fairway. This longer par four on the course meant that I needed three shots to get to the green. I actually connect on a good three-iron (a rarity this round) and I have a pitching wedge into the green. A 95 yard shot and I hit it a tad deep so I am on the fringe of the back of the green with about 15 feet down hill to the cup.

Then the three-putt.

My first putt I give too much credence to the slope and I left it short. My second shot I blow it past the hole to over compensate, and then I make a three-foot putt uphill for my six.

This is not the front nine that I dreamed of.

SCORE: 6 (3 Putts)
Handicap: 1
Score Overall: 53 (+18)

Hole 10
Par 5 | 528 Yards

So I guess I start out nine hole stretches on fantastic notes? I should not that this tee shot being open on the left is great.

After I get a couple gatorades from the snack shop, I actually make good contact with a driver and it goes a very solid distance…but it is almost in the hole nine fairway. Thankfully I still have a shot. I take out my three-iron and I hit a REALLY nice shot that leaves me a six iron out from the green with a chance to hit it in regulation. AND I DO. BY GOLLY! I am about six or eight feet away from the pin for birdie. I miss the birdie putt with a right side lip-out (naturally), but it is an easy tap in par. This is a good way to start the back nine.

SCORE: 5 (2 Putts)
Handicap: 4
Score Overall: 58 (+18)

Hole 11
Par 4 | 365 Yards

Here it is. The hole that is made for my janky swing.

I pour a drive right into the middle of the fairway and have a pitching wedge in with about 110 yards to the pin. I push my swing towards the left and my ball hit a tree and plopped straight down into the rough pin high. With a fellow player eyeing my chip because he has nearly the exact same, I put it about 10 feet away from the hole. Take out the putter and then my par putt lips out. Second straight hole. That is not very fair! Me no likey!

Alas it is a second straight five and there are two holes of golf where I played better than I did on the front nine with actual positive affirmations taken away.

SCORE: 5 (2 Putts)
Handicap: 10
Score Overall: 63 (+19)

Hole 12
Par 5 | 501 Yards

Probably my best hole of the day.

I hit a good drive and found the fairway for the second straight hole. I take out my one-wood because why the hell not and BAM I drill it down the fairway. A pitching wedge away, I put it to within 15 feet and I have my second green in regulation in three holes. I have a legit very nice putt on a downhill slider that ends up just two inches away from the hole and it is a tap-in five. This was just professional.

I have written down in my notes that this is the best hole I have every played. I don’t know if I would go that far…but maybe of this summer?

SCORE: 5 (2 Putts)
Handicap: 8
Score Overall: 68 (+19)

Hole 13
Par 3 | 154 Yards

A yes, the par three that has haunted my dreams. Before this round, I had scored a six and a seven on it.

This time around, it is not as bad. I hit an eight iron that is precisely the right club. With this skinny green, I end up in the edge on the left side, but I am only about 15 feet from the hole. I try to be perfect with my chip, and that leads to disaster. I end up hitting it incredibly thin and I go into the rough on the other side of the green.

How many times and am I going to do this today.

I putt it out of the rough out of fear for my chipping. It works like a chip, so now I two putt from there for a five. This one really should have been a four if I didn’t completely screw up my first chip.

SCORE: 5 (3 Putts)
Handicap: 18
Score Overall: 73 (+21)

Hole 14
Par 4 | 406 Yards

Before getting to the tee box on this hole, I told one of the players I was playing with that I hated this hole. And I do. There is no room on the right at all, so I can not play my banana hook well. I take the safe approach and hit my three-iron out there, and I find myself the fairway! How about them apples. I take out my three-iron again and come up a bit shot of the green. 70 yards shot. Did not make good contact.

I did however make great contact with my sand wedge on a 70 yard shot and I was able to put it within six feet of the cup! We have a legit chance for par! Wowza, is this going to turn my round around?

The golf gods would not have me have it. My par putt lips out, and so I end up with a bogey.

SCORE: 5 (2 Putts)
Handicap: 2
Score Overall: 78 (+22)

Hole 15
Par 3 | 205 Yards

A par three that is over 200 yards. It is a sticky predicament for me. What I did was take out my driver…and I demolish it. UGHHH, I hit it over the back of the green which was over 220 yards and so now I am chipping from the deep rough.

NOTE TO SELF STANKO. STICK TO YOUR GUT. I could not decide if I wanted to try a flip chip or it I wanted to wedge it out. I flipped from flop to punch, and NOPE. WRONG CHOICE. Duff chip and now I still have to get it one the green. Now that I am in my own head, I BARELY get it onto the green so I have 20 feet away from me and a bogey.

Throw in three putts later, and I am writing down a six on the scorecard.

On my notes I had: “I was going to flop. But then I punched. And then duffed. And then 3 putt. And then I wanna die.”

SCORE: 6 (3 Putts)
Handicap: 12
Score Overall: 84 (+25)

Hole 16
Par 4 | 342 Yards

No joke, this may have been the farthest I have ever driven the ball. I had 70 yards into the hole. I absolutely crushed it. There are rocks that line the left side of the fairway. I hit one of those…and it bounced to the fairway. So…did i get a little lucky? Yes, BUT HEY, I NEED IT!

I take out my sand wedge thinking if I hit it full then I will be fine. I hit the ground and had it dribble two yards in front of my into the rough. Then I think I want to chip with my sand wedge and I skull fuck it over the green and it bounces off a rock wall (that was 10 yards past the green) so I have a slight path to try and get it onto the green. Now I take my pitching wedge, and a gentle stroke has me putting for bogey. Two putts later and it is a six.

This is the second straight hole I had an awesome drive and did nothing with it.

SCORE: 6 (2 Putts)
Handicap: 6
Score Overall: 90 (+27)

Hole 17
Par 4 | 336 Yards

To the individual who told us to hurry up after teeing off on this hole, please go politely fist yourself. You have played behind us all day, and you are only two players and I have seen you hitting GIRs all day. We get it, you are good at golf. I am walking so I am going as fast as I can, and I am playing with three elderly gents. Should they have been playing for the tips? One could argue no. But are you really going to complain with two holes left?

I hit my drive on the right side and landed just off the fairway. I don’t have a great look at the green with a tree in front of me, so I decided to take the proactive approach of keeping it low on the right side to avoid possibly hitting it into the bunker that lines the front of the green. I chip it onto the green and two-putt and it is another bogey. It is my sixth five-spot on the back nine.

SCORE: 5 (2 Putts)
Handicap: 14
Score Overall: 95 (+28)

Hole 18
Par 4 | 341 Yards

Ugh. Ending the round with a lost ball off the tee box is never a good feeling. The tee box was set up deep and far to the left compared to the other two times I played Oak Hills this summer. That means I should have been able to keep it in. Such was not the case.

I go and drop it where I think I hit it out and I take out my pitching wedge and try and punch it low and have it roll up. I don’t keep it low enough and it hit the leaves and dropped down just in front of the bunker. My fourth shot was a punch that landed on the fringe and rolled to about 10 feet past the hole. A bit to the right too.

It was a little weird putting it because the men I was playing with really stopped putting this hole? The kind of just picked up their balls and were shaking hands while I was trying to close out with a five. I didn’t. Another two putt. Ending with a six and my final score reads a 101 (+30).

SCORE: 6 (2 Putts)
Handicap: 16
Score Overall: 101 (+30)

FINAL THOUGHTS

• I had no idea when I wrapped up my round that I tied my second round at Oak Hills back in May. I am getting one round per month at Oak Hills. I have the holes that I like, and the holes that I do not like.
  • I like the first hole. I have gotten par on it twice, and the only time I got worse was my first round out this year when I four putted the green.
  • The first par three I am enjoying the bogey life. Have only hit the green in regulation one times out of the three, but that is okay.
  • I hate the fourth hole. Averaging a seven on a par four. Disastrous.
  • I have already mentioned multiple times that the 11th hole, dog leg left works for me. I average a bogey on that hole, but over two putts on the green which I should clean up.
  • Looking at my scorecards, on none of the last eight holes do I have over six stroke average. Alrighty then.
• I parred two par fives. That does not happen very often, ever. I parred the 10th and the 12th. This is really the most indicative that I played better on the back nine.
• I had 41 putts on the day. It is rather strange that my worst round at Oak Hills this year is also the round I had the fewest putts with 38.
• This was really a wacky round of golf. I god lucky in some instances, but unlucky in many more. A 101 does not look terrible on the scorecard, but in my mind it was much worse than that.
• I need to figure out why I am now pushing all of my pitching wedge shots a bit to the left.
• Do I need to trust myself hitting my woods more? The one I hit on this round was pretty good. I may also mean I can not hit driver on the 15th hole, par three.
• I am still on a good stretch of playing random rounds with good people. No assholes thus far.

COMPARING OAK HILL ROUNDS

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