Stanko's Stance

Hello again old friend. Hello again Oak Hills Golf Course.

Early last week I made a reservation to golf this past Sunday morning. The forecast at that time said that it was going to rain primarily on Saturday and taper off by Sunday. The thing about weather is that it changes, and in this circumstance it did not change for the better. The forecast called for heavy rain on Sunday morning with the worst of it coming down between nine and 10.

You know what time my tee-time was on Sunday? 9:50 AM. Love it.

I called Oak Hills around 8:30 to ask if they were still open. They assured me that it was, so off I went to get dressed. Leggings, double layers, sweat shirt and rain jacket. It was going to be a cold one.

I get to the golf course after eating a bowl of oatmeal to warm myself up and I thought in my mind that I should have had two. Conditions were not good. I go and check-in at the pro shop and say I have a tee-time, and the starter (who is camped out inside because of the weather outside) literally laughed at me. He could not believe it.

But this is what I do. If I have a free day, I am going to go golfing even if I have to get a little wet. Or a lot wet. I was able to get out early onto the course, and I had it all to myself. While I was out there I literally saw three others people, and they were constantly three holes ahead of me. I got to walk the course alone, listening to Taylor swift. It was fucking incredible.

I may go golfing in rain storms for the remainder.

Hole 1
Par 4 | 374 Yards

Alone, in the rain, I stand on the first tee box. The short par for has an inviting fairway, but nothing is more inviting than a golf course alone to yourself. That is what I have the opportunity to embrace at this moment. Take it in.

Because I don’t want to waste time in the rain, I step up to the ball and I just wail away on my first drive. And it goes straight? And…far? What? Is this real life? This can not be real.

So a 220 drive to start, and now I have a pitching wedge approach to an inviting green. Just take your time Stanko, take your time.

What is this? A lofted, high arching, straight full swing pitching wedge that plops on the green 10 feet away from the hole?

Have any of you ever had to fix a ball mark on your first hole? It is an outstanding feeling.

With no practice putting what so ever, my first putt for birdie is a little crazy. I thought the greens would be slow with the water, but damn the greens at Oak Hills must have been lightening before the rain. I tap the ball and it rolls five feet back. Wow. Thankfully I am able to two-putt for par, but I wish my birdie putt was at least able to contend.

SCORE: 4 (2 Putts)
Handicap: 3
Score Overall: 4 (E)

Hole 2
Par 4 | 295 Yards

Short par four that is dog leg right. Going driver is dangerous, so I take out a five iron. I wanted like a 150 yard layup. The way the hole is shaped, that is the club I know that would help me best.

I hit a stupendous five iron. Outrageous. I cut the corner over the trees and I stayed in the fairway. It was at this moment when I began to think to myself; am I about to have the round of my life?

My third second stroke was a crash back down to earth. I was 118 away so I took out a nine iron seeing how it is a bit past my pitching wedge and it is uphill. I would rather be short than long because there is shit in the back of the green.

Fun fact, you can’t rely on distances when you blade an iron. Never good. My ball was a low screaming line drive. Like the one from Backyard Baseball if you know. A blur in the rain, my ball is rocketing towards OB and after a few minutes of looking, I do need to drop a ball and take a penalty stroke in the back left area.

Man, I have to learn to chip with my sand wedge effectively. I hit my pitching wedge too far and I am doing the classic walk of shame from one bit of rough, to the other. Two chips, then two putts, and it is a seven on the score card.

I will say that this is the only ball that I would lose on the day. That is pretty darn good.

SCORE: 7 (2 Putts)
Handicap: 9
Score Overall: 11 (+3)

Hole 3
Par 3 | 109 Yards

I have played this hole five times since I have been writing my golf round recaps and I have scored a bogey on it every single time. It is just a matter of how I do it.

This time around I really screwed the pooch with my drive. Elevated tee shot from just over 100 yards away. I want to hit a soft pitching wedge because the flag is in front, however I skulled it and I hit a screaming line drive into the back hill that leads to the tee shot of hole four. The ball luckily rolls down from the nasty tall grass and I can see it and actually set my feet. I have a delicate chip downhill, and my goal is just to get the ball on the lower tier of the green so I don’t have to deal with a downhill putt.

I don’t do this. I chip it out and I miss going downhill by three feet. Well, fuck me sideways with a lunch box.

So I have this putt, and at this point of the round I am still trying to figure out the greens. I hit what I thought was a delicate putt. It was not. It goes a good five feet past the hole and now I have that (uphill thankfully) for bogey. I do knock it home, but I have to figure out better lag putting techniques or skills.

SCORE: 4 (2 Putts)
Handicap: 17
Score Overall: 15 (+4)

Hole 4
Par 4 | 307 Yards

A short par four, but a hole that has taken my lunch money many times before.

The tee box is elevated, and the way it is normally facing places the golfer with his feed pointed directly at the woods on the left side of the fairway. With the way I hit my driver on my first hole, I decided to make it a point to go on the left side of the tee box and aim toward the right side trees. I aimed to the right side of a bunker that is about 180 yards away.

This is when I knew my driver was working well today. My ball didn’t banana hook. Again. It was just a soft fade. I had to worry about the bunker and bunch of trees on the right. This has never happened to be before. I hit a provisional drive because I don’t know what is over there, but that provisional (despite being in the fairway) was not needed. I have an approach of 93 yards. That is a pitching wedge. And I am past the bunker and clear of the trees? Oh the crying golf gods or smiling on me.

Pitching wedge, here we go. It is a GIR. It is a pitch that lands about 15 feet past the hole.

Guys, I one-putt it. I hit a birdie one putt. I literally laughed on the green. I cackled. My first birdie of the season, and no one was there to see it. But now I have one. I have broken the seal. It is happening. More birdies are to come.

SCORE: 3 (1 Putt)
Handicap: 5
Score Overall: 18 (+3)

Hole 5
Par 3 | 155 Yards

A couple big bullet points about this hole. First, they moved the tee box up. No longer was the white tee boxes on the tallest tier, it was on the second. This shortens the hole around 20 yards which makes the shot a tad bit easier. Second major talking point is that now it was raining buckets. I swear I climbed up the mountain to this hole and BAM zeus opened up the clouds.

I took out a five iron for this hole. I know that it is far too much club, but having played this hole multiple times I know it always needs a bit more distance than you’d think. It starts out towards the hole, but my hall hooks towards the left side of the green. It lands on the green but rolls off the front. So close to a GIR.

I get down to my ball and the ground is WET. It is really, really wet. It is in a valley between a lake and the green, so it’s swampy. I said to myself that I needed to hit my chip harder than I normally would. I do that, and I still don’t muscle it enough. Brutal. It reaches the top of the crest but needed another six inches to ensure I was putting with my third shot.

My second chip I get it onto the green, but the green is so swampy that Shrek would be right at home. My feet are splooshing around sounding like Daffy Duck. I three putt from about 15 feet away. Could I blame the conditions? Sure. But still a three putt is brutal. I was fuming. I was very wet, and very angry. First three putt of the day.

SCORE: 6 (3 Putts)
Handicap: 15
Score Overall: 24 (+6)

Hole 6
Par 4 | 284 Yards

Brutal hole here, and I am not talking about the weather.

This hole is short, but it’s another one where driver is not the best option off the tee box. If you want to set yourself up best, you need to lay up to a distance you like and attack the elevated green from there.

I took five iron out because I want to leave myself with below 150 yards to go, but less than 100. Figured it was a good middle point. If I wanted to be aggressive, I’d go with my three iron. But I didn’t want to be.

My five iron is not a good five iron. It’s a really bad one. It’s the type of shot that stays in the air for 75 yards but then nose dives. Luckily for me, this shot hits the sidewalk and it pushes the ball forward another 50 yards. It is only a 125 hard shot, but I’m not totally fucked.

This is where I fuck myself. I take out seven iron from just over 150 out and I shank it to the left at a 30 degree angle. It ricochet off a tree and now I’m behind and junction of brush that prevents any shot up to the green.

My third shot is a punch out to the fairway where I allow myself a pitching wedge opportunity with my fourth. I do elevate the ball this time (a step in the right direction) and it lands on the green.

I am sad to report that I have my second straight three putt. On the last hole the water didn’t slow my ball down as much as I thought it would. This hole, it slowed it down big time. Set myself back.

SCORE: 7 (3 Putts)
Handicap: 13
Score Overall: 31 (+9)

Hole 7
Par 4 | 336 Yards

Blind tee shot. Guys on the tee box on hole 13. And I fucking PIPE it. Murdered it. Guys. Nailed it. Outstanding. Brilliant. Amazing.

This is my third string fairway on regulation. And I have just 107 yards left. Pitching wedge downhill it is. Let’s do this. The ball comes off a bit left on my club and I miss a GIR by 3 inches on the back left side. I leave myself probably 35 feet, but I make it look like 100 feet. My first putt is not good. This time the speed was good, but the read itself was terrible.

Long story short, I three putt. Third straight three putt. Bad. Very bad. PICK IT UP STANKO.

SCORE: 5 (3 Putts)
Handicap: 7
Score Overall: 36 (+10)

Hole 8
Par 5 | 484 Yards

This has to be one of the ugliest pars ever recorded by mankind. Somehow I manage to do somewhat well on this hole despite it being a par five, but it’s feast or famine.

When I play this hole poorly, I am hanging out to the left wide of it by the woods and creek. This time around, I didn’t do that. So all good things right?

My drive does go straight, but it does not go very far. I think I hit the ground first before the ball. I have about 290 yards left, so I take out my one wood in an attempt to get it close. Do I eventually get it close? Sure. But that is after a duffed first attempt.

Why do I rush my swing with the woods? I always seem too. I need to remember to stand up straighter than one would think.

My second one wood is actually quite nice. After a 50 yard worm burner, I hit my second attempt to within 60 yards of the lin. I am thinking pitch and two putt for a bogey. But I do one better. I pitch and one-putt. For par. BOOM. A 12 footer-sh from the back left of the green.

SCORE: 5 (1 Putt)
Handicap: 11
Score Overall: 41 (+10)

Hole 9
Par 4 | 440 Yards

A long par four. It says 440 but it feels longer. You need a good drive to have a chance to score well. I hit my drive well, but it begins pushing a little left and I find myself over the bunker and in the rough. My second shot is infringed upon by trees so I need to punch it out. So from about 240 yards away, I hit a three iron low to about 150 yards.

My fourth shot gives me a solid shot at the green, and I do manage to put my ball on the putting surface. Pretty damn good.

My fifth shot is from behind the flag (which was in the front of the green) and I almost tossed my putter into the bunker. From about 20 feet away I miss the bogey putt by half an inch. Brutal. Absolutely brutal. It would have been a really miraculous bogey save if you will. Five looks so much better than six.

SCORE: 6 (2 Putts)
Handicap: 1
Score Overall: 47 (+12)

Hole 10
Par 5 | 528 Yards

Fucking trees. Why are trees on a golf course?

For the first time today, I get the nasty banana hook. I get the shot shape that has limited my distance for years. This time around I am burying myself in my own grave.

My tee shot is nearly in the hole nine fairway, but that means I get a clean shot to pull out my one wood. This is where I say that playing alone on the golf course has more benefits than just peace and pace. I start out left on this par four, and I decide that I am just gonna stay left. Fuck it.

I hit a good shot and I am excited to see where my ball ended up. Am I in the rough? Sure. But who cares. I’m cutting the hole short just staying left and going over the nine tee box.

My ball is behind a tree. Not good. I can either pitch it low and not get to the green from 145 away, or I can try and go over and get onto the green. Folks, we are trying it.

Folks, shouldn’t handle tried it. I hit a really good eight iron but it just want high enough. It hits a branch and drops straight down next to the trunk. On the left side. So that means that I have no stance for my fourth shot. I just try and lunch it out, but my ball hits the mud and the ball ridicules me rolling forward like 10 feet.

Ughhhh. Fifth shot, for par, is from about 130 yards away. I take out a nine iron, and I have another poor swing. It is a low skull-fucked shot that screams towards the bunker on the right side of the green. I am begging, begging for it not to go in. Thankfully it listened.

So sixth shot is a chip. Then two putt.

An octopus. Gross. An eight.

SCORE: 8 (2 Putts)
Handicap: 4
Score Overall: 55 (+15)

Hole 11
Par 4 | 365 Yards

The hole that I wish every other was like. That sounds maybe a little dirty?

A short par four that is a dog leg left, it is a respite between the par fives surrounding it. I typically score well on this hole because it fits well towards the shape of my shot.

The interesting thing is that me driving the ball better made this hole harder than it typically is for me. I know, I should really complain about hitting the ball straight. I outdrovve the fairway at its turn and so I ended up extending the length. I had about 155 left to the cup and typically I am a pitching wedge in.

I hit an iron shot. I don’t remember what club, but I do remember that again it came out thin and to the left. This happened on the second, fourth, and more holes to follow. It is something I have to work on.

I do not end up in terrible shape. I am on the fringe about pin high but on the far left side when the flag is on the upper right. I chip it up near the hole but it comes short. I then scared the shit out of myself when I blast the par putt past (at least I gave it a shot), but I hit the second putt for a bogey.

SCORE: 5 (2 Putts)
Handicap: 10
Score Overall: 60 (+16)

Hole 12
Par 5 | 501 Yards

Blind tee shot. For those who will play Oak Jill’s, if you are on this tee box then aim a bit more right than you think. The contour of the fairway rolls right to left and there is woods and OB on the left side.

I hit a good drive. Again. The driver is working.

From this point on it is very similar to hole eight (another par five) until I get to the green. I take out the one-wood and I hit a gorundhog hunter about 75 yards in front of me. Frustrated I just walk up to the ball again and smash it. This time I do wanted to the first time so I have a PW approach. I get it onto the putting surface and I have about a 30 footer for par.

I freaking three-putt it. On hole eight I one-putted and came away with a lucky, slimy par. This time around I must have gotten a bit too confident because I was just wailing in my effort. A disappointing seven.

SCORE: 7 (3 Putts)
Handicap: 8
Score Overall: 67 (+18)

Hole 13
Par 3 | 154 Yards

They say this is the easiest hole on the golf course, and I just have to disagree. I have never shot it well on this hole. Don’t really know why. I get scared by the tee box for seven on the right side, and then there are the trees on the left. Also the parking lot is directly behind the hole about 20 yards back so don’t choose the wrong club.

If I could chose to throw a ball on any hole, it would be this one.

I step up to the tee box and I decide that I want to hit eight iron. I would rathe rather be short than long. I ended up being okay distance wise, but my shot was a screaming line drive to the shortstop. My ball is screeching towards the brush on the left, but a fortunate bounce off the hill send my ball corrining down toward the green. Oh, I am not totally and utterly fucked?

I do have a weird chip with the ball above my feet, but I choke up enough and I am able to put the ball on the same tier as the hole. Good job me, I didn’t leave myself a super difficult putt. I have about a 10 footer, fairly straight, and I just fucking miss it. One ball out to the left.

But I am running away from this hole with a bogey and being satisfied with it. A good bounce back hole.

SCORE: 4 (2 Putts)
Handicap: 18
Score Overall: 71 (+19)

Hole 14
Par 4 | 386 Yards

This is ranked the hardest hole on the back nine and I whole-heartedly agree. A tricky tee shot where you have no room on the right and on the left it gets prickly if you hit it too far. Should also mention that if you skirt the trees on the right side and just survive, there is water jutting into the fairway around the 175 distance mark.

Because I am hitting my drive well, I decide to say fuck it and I am going to go for this fairway with the big boy. I am aiming for the fairway. This is a huge deal. I never do this.

I hit my drive well, but it does have a bit more of a tail than I would have liked. But for the record, it is not a banana hook. I am on the left side in the rough, almost near the part where I would lose my ball if I hit it too far. I do have trees in my way so I have to kinda punch out from underneath the shit. I thought I could punch it out far with a low iron but I kinda chunk it and it doesn’t get to the clean stuff so I still have some nastiness on my approach.

From 80 yards out, I fucking drill my pitching wedge onto the green. Good lord. What a shot. I am so stoked because I was able to gauge the right amount of power. That never happens. I am not good at that. But this time, I did it right.

Now I did leave myself a very slippery putt for par. I aimed two feet left of the hole, but I must have hit it too hard and it went past the cup two feet so I had another slimer back for bogey. I did bury that, so this hardest hole on the back nine according to the scorecard can politely eat my bogey.

SCORE: 5 (2 Putts)
Handicap: 2
Score Overall: 76 (+20)

Hole 15
Par 3 | 205 Yards

Here it is, the long par three. It is a straight forward par three with water for the first 100 yards. There are bunkers on the left side in front of the green.

Here is my take on this hole. I hit driver on it. Sue me. It is the only way I know I can get it there far. And they way I have been hitting my driver today, I knew I could. I actually took three paces back from the tees and hit this from about 210 yards away. AND is still hit it over the green. I am just too strong.

From about three yards behind the green I chip onto the green, but I chip it like a scaredy cat and I am a cool 90 feet away from the hole that is conveniently placed in the front of the green. I now, real smooth right. However, my putter and I had a talk and we decided to stay on the two-putt train and we rode that all the way into the station for a bogey four.

For the record I did also hit a drive with my one wood on this hole just to try and see what the difference would be distance wise. I was a tad bit more hole high, but I was also more left which made for a more challenging shot. So I made the right choice with driver.

SCORE: 4 (2 Putts)
Handicap: 12
Score Overall: 80 (+21)

Hole 16
Par 4 | 342 Yards

There is so much room on this drive. The entire right side is the 17th fairway, so all you need to do is get it out there and then work on your second shot.

If you can read the tone of that first sentence, you can tell that that I did not take advantage of all that green. I have the worst banana hook of the day on this hole. My ball does its parabola path and I end up in the trees on the left side, nearly on the road that leads to the club house.

I take out my three wood to punch out from the mess I found myself in. Learning from previous bad chip outs of rough scenarios, I want to make sure that I give myself a proper shot to the hole. I do get my ball out of the muck, but it doesn’t reach the fairway. I am still in the rough 118 yards away.

Then came maybe my favorite shot of the day. Frustrated by a tough drive and a punch out that didn’t go my way, I had to hit a good shot here to salvage an okay score. Hole 16 has a very elevated green and if you go past it or leave it short, it can lead to lots of strokes.

I take out an eight iron to hit from 119 away, taking into account that it is uphill and the wet rough beneath me. It is the perfect shot. A ball mark. This ball landed on the green 10 feet from the hole, pin high, just to the right. It bounced once. I could tell because I had to fix the ball mark. Outstanding. Sure I would go one to two-putt it for bogey, but this third shot meant something. It proved to me that you can play it smart and have faith in yourself that it will be the right play in the long run. I trusted myself and my swing and I was rewarded with a great five after one of my worst drives of the day.

SCORE: 5 (2 Putts)
Handicap: 6
Score Overall: 85 (+22)

Hole 17
Par 4 | 336 Yards

Sticking with my driver on this straight forward par four proved to be the right decision. Damn the banana hook on hole 16. We are still hitting it well off the tee box today.

The drive goes about 190 yards and is in the left half of the fairway. Looking at my GPS watch and I have about 125sh towards the hole. Just past the pitching wedge distance, I take out my nine iron to ensure that I carry the bunker that protects the front of the green. Am I worried about the bunker in the back of the green? Not yet. I should be.

My nine iron is a shank to the left. Very, very frustrating. I think it is because I was standing too close to the ball, but what do I know. My nine iron is a fuck hook low left liner and I am worried about having lost my ball. Playing alone and having no worry about pace of play allows me to find my ball behind the green among the thorns. A root stopped my ball from going too deep. I could have dropped it out and taken a stroke, but I wanted a chance for glory. A short chunky swing through the wet leaves and thorns in an OB area results in my ball in the back bunker.

My first sand shot of the day is on the 17th hole. I get out of the trap in one shot, but controlling the ball coming out is a very difficult thing to do and I am bad at it. My chip out lands five feet past the hole and trickles down the downhill grain. I have about a 25 foot uphill for bogey and I give it a damn great run. It just misses the left side of the cup, so it is a tap-in double bogey.

The approach shot needs to get better when my driver is working as well as it is in a round like this.

SCORE: 6 (2 Putts)
Handicap: 14
Score Overall: 91 (+24)

Hole 18
Par 4 | 300 Yards

Short par four to end it. The dog leg right has a fairway that narrows as it gets to the bend. If you go too far on the drive then you run the risk of losing your ball in the woods atop a slight hill.

I take out my driver, which is objectively probably the wrong choice? The way I had been hitting my driver all day makes this a dangerous shot, but I am not going to not hit driver on my last hole.

In a bit of luck, I don’t hit my driver that well and that is for the best. I hit the ground a bit before the ball, but I mishit it straight. Without the hook, my ball still rolls out to roughly 200 yards and it is hugging the left side of the fairway. We end the day with another fairway in regulation found.

I have 96 yards to the green, and I grab the pitching bag out of my bag as fast as possible. I should have taken my time. I stand (too) close to the ball, and my nice, easy, no stress approach shot shanks out to the left. I let out an audible curse as I watch my ball bound up the hill on the left, behind the two sand traps.

The flag is nearside so my traditional bump and run wouldn’t work. I take out my sand wedge for a lofted chip, and it is not whole heartedly terrible. It lands at the bottom of the hill and rolls out to a few feet away from the fringe. It was the type of shot I wanted but not well executed. What was horrendous was my next chip. It lands past the hole and rolls about 20 feet past the hole. Very, very frustrating.

Two putts later and it is a double-bogey to end the day.

SCORE: 6 (2 Putts)
Handicap: 16
Score Overall: 97 (+26)

FINAL THOUGHTS

• Maybe the most important thing. I was plus-two on the ball found/lost ratio today. Lost a ball on the second hole, but found three over the course of the day, including two on hole 17. A massive victory.
• I hit seven fairways in regulation, which is two more than I have ever had on this course. Like I have harped on before, the driver was working today.
• For hitting seven fairways, I did only hit two greens in regulation. That is nuts. That is bad. We can be honest here. I need to work on the irons.
• I have been tracking what I do on this course for five rounds since last year, and this is the third time I have had 38 putts.
• I really do dislike hole 10. I am averaging a double bogey on the hole.
  • I am also a bit shocked that I am averaging a double-bogey on hole two. I need to work on improving that. Maybe missing right, not left.
• Hole six is my worst hole on the course. I am averaging 6.4 strokes on a par four.

COMPARING OAK HILL ROUNDS

*Averaged out scores on holes prior based off par to generate full score for 18.
^Does not include scores on 9/2/22 that are averages
**FIR & GIR doesn’t include holes 14-18 & putts are averaged.

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