This round of golf now holds a little heavy in my heart. It is possibly the last round of golf I will play this summer. The Wednesday following this round of golf I broke my elbow and I am currently sling bound for the next six week. After that is is up to my body if I need physical therapy. But if this was my last round, I was happy to have a hell of a day on the golf course.

On this glorious Sunday late morning, I went golfing with my best friend Steve, Stephan, and Uncle Hugh. A rag tag crew that has never played together is stepping up to the first tee on a course no one has ever been to. Fairchild Wheeler, the Black Course.

I have only played the Red Course before, and I remember it being somewhat forgiving. I would like to go on the record and say that the Black Course is much harder. It ate me up on some holes, but I also walked over it some holes. It was a feast or famine round with a really low, low moment, but also one very, very exciting moment. We will get to the highlight eventually, but have. to go through the low points first.

But before we even start, the lowest point of this whole entire day was that the cart Steve and I were given had a flat tire. It drove my BANANAS on the front nine. Made me miserable. Far too miserable if I am being honest.

Hole 1
Par 4 | 386 Yards

Started off far too hot. Way, way too hot.

So we have reached the first tee and we are beginning our adventure. The first hole is a fairly straight away par four that is plenty open on the left side with some woods and thicket on the right . I step up to the tee and I hit a very nice drive that is starting out a bit right but fading more twrd the fairway. I just miss the fairway but I still have a great shot into the green. Ball is barely in the first cut if you want to call it that.

I take out a middle iron, I don’t remember what exactly, and I am hoping my first swing with an iron is not a total diasaster.

Lo and behold, I stick this iron shot on the green, on the putting service, about 15 feet away from the hole for birdie. I am looking around and telling everyone that I am playing with that I am not nearly this good and this is a bad omen for things to come.

I manage a two-putt, tap in par to begin my round.

There is a strange sense of superiority when your ball is on the green and you are waiting for all your playing partners to get there. I think it stems from the fact that I am usually the one who is bumbling his way to his putting stick. I play with all levels of golfers , but one can not deny that it is a fun feeling knowing “Ah, I nailed this.”

SCORE: 4 (2 Putts)
Handicap: 5
Score Overall: 4 (E)

Hole 2
Par 4 | 372 Yds

A downhill hole. Won’t lie, took us all a little while to figure out which way we were supposed to hit it. But eventually we all get lined up and we all throw one out there.

I do not get all of this drive. It only went about 185 yards, even with the downhill. BUT, I missed it straight. And that was huge. Doesn’t matter if you chunk a driver a little bit if you hit it straight. We still found ourselves with our first fairway in regulation!

So again, a short drive leaves me with a long approach. 190 yards into the green, but it is all downhill. How much do I take off? What do I need to hit in order to get it over the little creek that was maybe 160 yards away?

I take out my four iron because that is about what I hit for the long 170 yard par three at Oak Hills in Norwalk. I take a swing, and I am immediately nervous that my ball is going to go boulder dashing left. I did not hit it great, so. Indeed a bit of a prayer. Luckily the golf gods answered. My ball hits a hill leaning from right to left and my ball bounces mercifully towards the green. I am not on the green, but I am not fucked either.

You know the drill. Chip, two putt and a bogey five. This is what I do.

SCORE: 5 (2 Putts)
Handicap: 7
Score Overall: 9 (+1)

Hole 3
Par 3 | 125 Yards

The first fuming hole that I had. Frustrating, frustrating, frustrating.

125 yards uphill, I took out a nine iron thinking that if I skulled it I would be save. Turns out I hit the shot how I was meant to hit it. A nice 115 yard high arcing shot with a bit of a right to left tail.

Stanko, hvae some confidence in ourself man. Just take it for what it is and accept that sometimes you hit good shots.

So short of the green, I knew I wanted to hit a long chip that would get me near the cup. I was maybe 90 feet away. Very far.

I am a stupid dumbass because I hit the chip barely onto the green. Barely anywhere. The flag in the back right and I am in the front left. Brutal.

So a three putt is on the scorecard on this hole, but from where I was, that was about where I could have expected. Three putts on a par three is always gross, but this is what I do. We have to learn from lumps somewhere.

SCORE: 5 (3 Putts)
Handicap: 17
Score Overall: 14 (+3)

Hole 4
Par 4 | 378 Yards

The fourth hole can be defined as the last hole of traditional, “meant to be played like” golf.

I hit a drive 200 yards that fed to the middle of the fairway. But my drive was not the cool one of the group. My uncle and soon to be brother-in-law both hit drives that literally landed right next to each other. Right, smack-dab, next to each other. Impossible not to laugh at it.

I am 162 yards away from the pin (I don’t remember what I hit), and I land my next shot on the green. BAM! Two fairway in regulations and two greens in regulations in the first four holes. Is this going to be the greatest day of my life?

I cap of this boring hole off with two putts and a par. I promise you, it gets more adventurous than this.

SCORE: 4 (2 Putts)
Handicap: 3
Score Overall: 18 (+3)

Hole 5
Par 4 | 330 Yards

Ah yes, here it is. The first bad hole of the day. Let’s dissect it.

We begin on the tee. If I were to hit my normal trajectory tee shot, then i should have had an easy fairway in regulation. However, I decided it was time to hit the ball with the inside of my driver and I pulled a screaming line drive down the first base line.

My ball goes flying towards the open area…but then flies over it and ends up bouncing into the woods. First lost ball, and first penalty stroke of the day.

I had an angle to get on the green from where I was, but I decided it was time to basically bunt the ball 90 degrees left. I kid you not, I hit this ball 01 yards perpendicular to where I dropped my ball. I don’t know how I did it.

So my fourth shot from about 150 yards away does end up on the green. Just a couple taps right? swallow a double bogey.

What I really need to work on is slowing down when I hit a terrible shot. I need to move on, be mentally strong. I three putted this hole and I have to think that it is because my body was still shaking angrily at the bunt that was my third shot.

SCORE: 7 (3 Putts)
Handicap: 15
Score Overall: 25 (+6)

Hole 6
Par 4 | 445 Yards

Weeeeee, we are going on a downhill journey!

A long par four, but the last 200 yards of it are all downhill. Before we even get to my shots, Gotta touch on the green here. It is not exactly welcoming because if you hit it long then you are totally fucked. You will end up clubbing those on the seventh hole tee box or searching the brush with the animals.

My drive goes left and I end up in what can only be called a cul-de-sac. I swear I I found the only 10 yard out clove on the left side of this hole. I was happy to not have a lost ball, but I was not super excited to have to punch out into the fairway.

I take out my eight iron and I punch myself to about 150 yards away from the hole. I kept my eight iron in my hand thinking that the downhill was not as severe as it was. Remember when I said you could lose your ball really easily? I thought I had. It was a tug right, and it was long. I thought it was lost.

For the second time on this hole I got lucky, but again I left myself with an awkward shot. This is one of those chips where you need to hit the ground behind the ball and let it roll and see where it goes. I did that, and my ball went dead straight. Like a rocket, into the hill in front of me. So we have a second chip for my fifth shot. I saved this hole with my first one-putt of the day. It is a double-bogey, following a seven, but this hole really felt like a blessing because I should have lost two balls.

SCORE: 6 (1 Putt)
Handicap: 1
Score Overall: 31 (+8)

Hole 7
Par 3 | 221 Yards

A very long, but downhill par three. After the adventure that was the sixth hole, you get the sense that you are entering the thunder dome with this hole and the next two. We have this long par three, followed by back-to-back par fives.

On this hole you don’t have much wiggle room on either side. Trees mark up the left side, and the right side. I remember this hole because I lined Steve up way to the left, at the trees, hoping that his slice would produce a shot where he could get it tumbling down the hill. Naturally, because this is golf, Steve hits his first drive straight as an arrow into the trees. Sorry Steve.

I took out my three iron hybrid. The hole says its about 221 but it is definitely playing less because of the downhill. Turns out I had the right club, but again the whole idea of hitting it straight is a very hard thing to comprehend. My ball starts off toward the green (as they all do) but like a tooth being yanked by a string, it starts going left towards the eighth hole tee box.

I get down there and I do have the right distance. If I was able to tell my shot where to land I would have been on the front left side of the green. Instead I am about 40 yards to the left.

But, because I somehow can acquire some magic, I have a good chip shot that gets me onto the green with a chance for par. I guess I used all my short game mojo on the chip because I then proceed to three putt from about 20 feet away, condemning myself to frustration which would expand to new heights on the next hole.

SCORE: 5 (3 Putts)
Handicap: 13
Score Overall: 36 (+10)

Hole 8
Par 5 | 451 Yards

How in the fuck is this hole not the hardest hole on the course? How is it ranked the 11 handicap?

This hole is an uphill par five that veers left after about 200 yards. If you do not hit a good tee shot, you are either extending the hole another 100 yards, or you are finding yourself OB.

Fair warning this hole turns into a disaster.

My drive goes left, into the woods only about 150 yards from the tee box. A bad drive at a bad time. I am in the shit hitting my third shot, and rather than trying to get my ball into the middle of the fairway, I decide to skull my ball and continue living on the left side of this whole in the brush.

So my third shot gets me more into the weeds (literally), and then I have to punch out.

Fourth shot and I am more than 200 yards away from the hole still. I take out my wood because now I am purely like Fuck It Mode. Too my credit, I hit it pretty well and it actually takes the trajectory I wanted…into a dreaded fucking bunker.

It is my first adventure to the grainy hellscape today, and it would not be the last. It takes me two times to get out of the bunker. If you are counting, I think we are up to shots five and six. Now I have to chip onto the green because my eventual sand wedge out only got me onto the rough.

Can I one putt for an eight? Nope. No I can not. I am two-putting to write down a nine on my scorecard.

Now struggle, struggle indeed. Totally derailed the pretty quality start I had for the round.

SCORE: 9 (2 Putts)
Handicap: 11
Score Overall: 45 (+14)

Hole 9
Par 5 | 469 Yards

Confession, I don’t remember a lot about this hole. This is really the only hole I don’t have a strong recollection of.

Here is what I have from my notes.

I drove the ball about 200 yards but it was only the left side, not in the fairway. I laid up to the green on this par five and left myself about an 80 yard approach shot.

Based off the fact that I do not have a GIR marked in my book, I must have hit it near the green but more so on the fringe. Then. I have the dreaded number “3” in the row that says “putts”. FUCKKKK I could have had a par??

SCORE: 6 (3 Putts)
Handicap: 9
Score Overall: 51 (+15)

Hole 10
Par 4 | 411 Yards

We approach the turn and I simply can not handle the flat tire that Steve and I were operating with anymore. I had to stop and change. A pit stop. We changed the car, changed the vibes, and headed toward the back nine.

The 10th hole is a straight forward hole that is downhill off the tee. There is an opening to the left that is the 11th hole, and you do not want to go left because that it where the shit is.

I step up to the tee and i hit a damn fine drive that goes about 220 yards and stays just inside the fairway on the left side. i was Nervous that I would hit the bunker that resides on that side of the rough, but I luckily did not have it bounce into the beach. I would only save my towel and umbrella for one more swing because my second shot from 190 yards away ends up in the green side bunker on the left hand side. I hit my three iron hybrid and thought I started it out right enough, but it faded across the entire green before landing just short of the green and bouncing into the bunker.

It is my second bunker in three holes, but this time around I get out in one shot. I am not on the green, but I am chipping. I chip it onto the green, then I two putt, and I am writing down a relatively disappointing double-bogey after a great drive. Little did I know that this would be my last fairway in regulation of the day.

SCORE: 6 (2 Putts)
Handicap: 8
Score Overall: 57 (+17)

Hole 11
Par 3 | 152 Yards

I had the right club. A seven iron. But I pushed this tee shot left. I was off the green and I had a chip downhill so I wanted to hit a soft one that would trickle down to the hole that was in the bottom left of the green. Unfortunately, I take out my sand wedge and I did not get it onto the green. I hit it short. Stupid idiot.

Two chips, two putts, and another double bogey on the scorecard. It is a second straight hole where my drive left me in a good position but I just didn’t capitalize. My confidence is waning a bit as we approach a tricky par four.

SCORE: 5 (2 Putts)
Handicap: 14
Score Overall: 62 (+19)

Hole 12
Par 4 | 400 Yards

Wide open. It is wide open. All you need to do is not hit it left because then you are going to get amongst the few trees and get yourself into trouble.

FUCK STANKO. FUCK.

I hit a rather horrendous drive and I end up left in the shit. I am over 200 yards away in the rough. What the hell am I going to do?

I will tell what happened and what should I should have done. What I did was take out a wood and wail on the ball. When you do that, you are not going to hit it straight. I aim out to the right to compensate for what I think is about to take place, but I could not have compensated enough. It was just disastrous.

WEEEEEEEEEE my ball goes on a boomerang journey and I end up somehow even more left than I already was. Not good. I was in the way of the 13th hole tee box.

So from where, I just have to take my medicine. I do not have the flop shot in my bag, but oh boy did I try. I get it up in the air, however I never had a chance with the distance. So I do take two, and I get on the green. Then I two putt. Double bogey. Nothing pretty. Rather ugly hole and I was lucky to have a six.

SCORE: 6 (2 Putts)
Handicap: 10
Score Overall: 68 (+21)

Hole 13
Par 4 | 423 Yards

This hole is divided into two. There is a bit of a gully that is about 220 yards down the hill from the elevated tee. You do not want to get it in that gully because if you go looking for it then you will lose a shoe. And nobody wants that.

My drive is on the left side and it sends up rolling off the fairway and into the rough. I hit it a good second shot from about 200 yards away, but the uphill nature of the hole made sure that I did not have a good enough mustard to get it to the green. So I am short of the hole, chipping for my third shot. I hit the ground, not the ball, but it ended up a little okay. Not pretty.

I was lucky to two putt this one. Very lucky to record a five.

SCORE: 5 (2 Putts)
Handicap: 2
Score Overall: 73 (+22)

Hole 14
Par 4 | 312 Yards

Ah, a short par four. Just what the doctor ordered.

Oh, wait, you have a bunker that is about 200 yards away just on the left hand side? Great. Even better! (This is sarcasm, a lot. of sarcasm).

So my drive lands straight in the bunker. Ker-plunk. Baboom. Splash. There is not movement in the bunker either. It is just pancaked.

So I am about 110 yards way with a ball that is embedded into the bunker. I take out an eight iron hoping that if I catch it clean than I can get it to the green, but if I catch it short it would just catch onto the fairway.

The ladder happened. My ball didn’t end up going far because I took my head off of it (at least I think I did). It was a bit of a line drive ground ball that left my short of the green. I was about 93 yards away from the green where another bunker is on the front right side. I over compensate and hit my approach a little left, then chip, then two-putt.

It was a supremely infuriating hole because it was a major scoring chance. I could not capitalize because of my drive in the bunker. Derailed it.

SCORE: 5 (1 Putt)
Handicap: 16
Score Overall: 78 (+23)

Hole 15
Par 4 | 409 Yards

Blind tee shot on this one. Following the short par four that was hole 14, we have this little devil that is deceptively uphill and curving from right to left.

I put my drive out there nicely, 210 yards. My ball ended up going past the fairway, burning through the right side and entering the rough. As I began approaching my ball in my card, I got real worried that my ball was going to be stuck behind a bush. A fucking bush. One, lonely bush.

Luckily the lie was not as bad as I thought it would be, and even better that I was a left-handed golfer who enjoys slicing the ball.

If you can picture it, my ball is behind the bush and if I wanted to aim right for the green then this bush would have been right in my way. It also would have hampered my swing and it would have had to have been a chop. But for an adapted like myself, I peeked up and saw that there was an open area on the right with little danger. I turn my feet, take out my three iron hybrid, and aim about 30 to 40 yards right of the green. This way I could swing fully, and. I can play to my slice.

I gave a virtual high five to the caddie in my head. Holy shit it worked. I hit a great shot and from 210 yards away I see my ball bounce in front of the green and start rolling toward. it. My ball ends up just in the rough, barely by half and inch, in front. of the green. I putt it because of the margin of error is fare less, and then I miss an absolutely brutal par putt. Was maybe four or five feet? Just devastating.

But still, a five is a five. If it is a five all day long I would have been very happy.

SCORE: 5 (3 Putts)
Handicap: 6
Score Overall: 83 (+24)

Hole 16
Par 5 | 502 Yards

So after a longer par four, we now have a long par five. This one is a bit like the par four 12th hole with an elevated tee box and and then a upward trajectory to the hole. It verges a bit to the right, which mirrors what the 18th hole is going to look like.

I put the drive out there about 210 yards but I extend the hole a long way because my ball tails to the left. In the rough, I am over 300 yards away so I am not going to even go for the green. Credit to me for being smart. I take out a seven iron and I just get the ball out there into the fairway for about a 150 yard layup to the hole. The really interesting part of my 157 yard approach is that it is a very uphill approach. How many more yards do you add to your shot?

I added about 20 yards to the shot which puts it about at 175 yards. I take out my four iron and I let one loose. I let it fly, but I should have reeled it in a little. Maybe I was too amped up hit the iron because I put my approach over the green. I am just too good. Too strong.

So my fourth shot is a chip from the back of the green, and form there it is a two-putt. A bogey six. I played it smart and my third shot was just too good. I have no one to blame but myself.

SCORE: 6 (2 Putts)
Handicap: 12
Score Overall: 89 (+25)

Hole 17
Par 3 | 129 Yards

I really resisted the urge to write about this hole first. Hole 17 may be the closest I get to feeling like a professional golfer.

A short par three, playing even shorter than the scorecard. It is a flat hole but there is a bog marsh land that is totally blocking the view of the hole. It is very similar to the short par three at Van Cortlandt Park. You know the general area but once you hit it you need to wait and see where it goes.

I use my pitching wedge. And I fucking stick it. This is what ball flight must look like. Straight up in the air. Straight. I had a nice beaver tale divot too. Holy shit, what a feeling.

So I knew that it was a good shot. I knew that I had hit it clean. I had implemented the lessons learned from the one golf lesson I have taken. Feet tucked in a smidge. Don’t swing with legs and arms, and swing as if I trying to push a line drive between the third base and shortstop hole.

I hop into the cart with Steve, we drive around the bog, and holy shit what a shot. I am four feet from the hole. I walk up to my ball and I see a ball mark right next to it. That means this ball flopped down from the air and stayed exactly where it landed. Outstanding.

Now I have to make the putt. Not an easy thing.

But guess what, this time I fucking did. I step up, knock it home, and I felt like the king of the world. A birdie on a par three and not a fluke thing. It was a great shot, and a nailed the putt. Outstanding. Bravo.

SCORE: 2 (1 Putt)
Handicap: 18
Score Overall: 91 (+24)

Hole 18
Par 4 | 394 Yards

Last hole of the day. It is a long par four that winds up to the right. Once you get up to the green there is a banquet area behind the green, so you do not want to be long unless you want to get glares from absolutely everyone. And yes, there was an event happening when we played this hole.

Riding high off my par three birdie, I am feeling damn good about finishing the day below 100. My optimism wanes a bit after my tee shot.

The tee box really fucked with a lefty on this hole because it was all the way positioned to the right, meaning that ability to cut the hole short or go over trees was little to none. I lined up as far to the left as I possibly could, hoping to just get near the trees but not actually go into it I want my banana hook to save me from going out of bounds.

I come so close. So close. I hit the shot I want, but the hook begins occurring too late, and now I am desperately trying to hear if my ball struck would or not. For what it is worth, none of us heard brush being rattled, but when i went over to look for my ball in the area I thought it would be, it was not there. A lost ball on the final hole. That stings a little.

So I back up a bit to where my ball must have entered the woods and I take out my four iron and smack it out from the rough. Ends up being a damn good shot. I am playing hopscotch on the different sides of the fairway, but still I have 67 yards in to the pin. My third shot is a bump and run that has a bit too much run so it goes off the back right side of the green, but not too far off. I was a foot away from putting it on the fringe.

From there it is the Stanko chip to like 25 feet, lag putt to within five feet, and sink the two putt. The lost ball costs my a stroke so it is a double bogey on eighteen.

SCORE: 6 (2 Putts)
Handicap: 4
Score Overall: 97 (+26)

FINAL THOUGHTS

  • Had 21 putts on the front nine, but improved to only 17 putts on the back nine. Those four strokes helped me stay below 100.
  • Had three total greens in regulation, two on the front but only one on the back … but that was a birdie so I will take it.
  • Only three fairways in regulation.
  • Had no pars on the back nine but I will take the birdie.
    • Is my second birdie of the season The other was on the par four, fourth hole, at Oak Hills.
  • Miss the fairway to the left the majority of the time. The times I missed it to the right, twice, were both out of bounds.
  • I could have played even better on the back nine but I had four holes that I needed to chip more than once on.

COMPARING FAIRCHILD WHEELER BLACK COURSE ROUNDS

5/25/23 ScoreAVERAGE AT FAIRFCHILD WHEELER: BLACK COURSE
#1 | Par 44 (2 Putts)4 (2 Putts)
#2 | Par 45 (2 Putts)5 (2 Putts)
#3 | Par 35 (3 Putts)5 (3 Putts)
#4 | Par 44 (2 Putts)4 (2 Putts)
#5 | Par 47 (3 Putts)7 (3 Putts)
#6 | Par 46 (1 Putt)6 (1 Putt)
#7 | Par 35 (3 Putts)5 (3 Putts)
#8 | Par 59 (2 Putts)9 (2 Putts)
#9 | Par 56 (3 Putts)6 (3 Putts)
#10 | Par 46 (2 Putts)6 (2 Putts)
#11 | Par 35 (2 Putts)5 (2 Putts)
#12 | Par 46 (2 Putts)6 (2 Putts)
#13 | Par 45 (2 Putts)5 (2 Putts)
#14 | Par 45 (1 Putt)5 (1 Putt)
#15 | Par 45 (3 Putts)5 (3 Putts)
#16 | Par 56 (2 Putts)6 (2 Putts)
#17 | Par 32 (1 Putt)2 (1 Putt)
#18 | Par 46 (2 Putts)6 (2 Putts)
Total97 (+26) | 38 Putts, 3 FIR, 3 GIR

Stanko Excel Lists | Movies, Books, Podcasts. TV Shows
Stanko Letterdbox Account

Posted on 0 By jstanko99 General Topics Posted in General Topics, Golf, Sports Tagged #, , , , , ,

jstanko99

Leave a comment