Yesterday (6/4/18) I went and played 18 by myself for the first time ever. As it's sort of my first real round of the summer I thought it'd be good to track it:
Course is ~6100 yards from the blues, almost every hole has an elevation change of at least 25 yards, many over 50. Big greens, but usually kind of oblong shaped with multiple tiers.
1. Short par 4 downhill to the left: Breakfast ball, solid five, good wedge to 11 yards just off the front of the (long, but narrow) gren, chip to 6f, underread, bogey/triple (but what kind of heathen doesn't allow a mulligan on the first hole)
2. Par 5 down into a valley: Solid drive but was aimed right, found it on the hill, but chunked my recovery shot with the ball way above my feet to the right, generous drop, perfect 7 to back bunker (at this point I'm realizing I really need a rangefinder), 3 shots to get out (it rained the night before and it was wet like an inch below the surface), 2 putts from 24 feet (3f) for a 9
3. 170 yard par 3: (I think there was a bad hole location on gps) I hit it over the top of the stick to the middle of the green, 45f short to 9f, 9f over adjustment on downhill putt, roll it by to 6f, save bogey
4. Maybe 375y downhill par 4, water as you get to around 200: Slightly hooked 7i to left rough, fat 8i bounced off the left side bounced on, 35 feet misread how uphill it was, 7f two inches short
5. Dogleg left par 4: 4i “straight” but needed a draw to sand trap, solid 7i left of green, good pitch from 22y to 24f without much green to work with, underread uphill to 6f, hit solid at right edge, didn’t break, 12i past
6. 180 yard par 3 over water: Thin 7i bounced off the bank, rolled to 70f, median putt to 10f, good miss left for bogey
7. Very uphill dogleg left 350 yard par 4: Solid 4, ball a few feet above my feet, fat Approach wedge didn't get far, stuck a 60d from 50y to 4f, rolled in par
8. Long par 5 down hill then uphill with creek at ~300 yards: Solid 4 (Lucky bounce over trap, rolled into fairway), solid 7 to left rough, wedge that barely got in to the back tier where the flag was, 30 foot putt to 12f (more uphill), good attempt but 3i short
9. 335 yard uphill par 4, HCP 2: Good drive but stayed on the left side under branch, dropped unplayable edge of fairway, slightly fat Approach wedge off false front? (Idk, I thought when I hit it it was on the green), 30y pitch to 15f safe side, good effort on putt
10. Long dogleg right par 5 over water: Perfect drive but still 240ish and uphill left, good 7i to the red stick, but it rolled on the sloped fairway to collection area, good approach wedge to 30f, good uphill effort, missed 4f on the way back after considering changing my read when I was over the ball (I recognized this was an issue: I am reading the putts and then when I get over it I'm trying not to change it, trying to trust what I looked at from behind the ball more than when I'm over it, but I think I should just start trying to putt it to make it, if that makes sense)
11. Short downhill par 4: Fat 7i left side bounced to fairway, good 8i that hit off left slope and went across green to fringe 24f, putted to 6i
12. Similar short par 4: Great 5i, solid approach wedge to left side of green, 20f to 4f, good effort
13. Downhill par 4, "picture hole": Decent 4i but a little cut, 9i out of the rough, maybe could have taken an extra club but thin green, hit it into the maze of bunkers, miraculous bunker shot to 30f, good effort to 18i, missed 18i (so yea, some strokes left out there)
14. Long par 5, HCP1: Great drive, even a little cut on it to go with the fairway, still have 240 uphill, good 80% 7 to 80 yards, 80% sw to elevated green just short, I struggle a bit on elevation changes and also hitting non-full wedges, chip on an upslope hit it a bit into the side of the hill but got it on the green, putt to elevated tier was short, disappointing double (keeping worse track of stuff now because it started raining)
15. 135ish yard par 3 over water, massive green, front left hole location: Safe PW to 60ft, above average lag, 5 ft made par
16. Uphill par 4 that I never do well on: Blocked 4i to the right, PW from rough to middle of elevated green, tough 45f two tier putt to 10ft, good effort but not quite, tap in
17. 165 yard par 3 with front hole location: Thin 9i to edge of rough/fringe, 12y chip to 6f, good effort but misread. Another instance where when I’m standing over it and it looks different than my previous read I don't change.
18. 420 yard par 4 that probably goes downhill almost 100 yards. I hit a draw/hook with a 4i that had some equity to be perfect with the fairway and roll to inside 100 yards, but it must have not cleared the edge and I didn't find it (related: I'm the worst at looking for balls), dropped in the rough and hit an 8i into the water (this was poor aim, the flag was in the middle on the back tier of the green, but I really should have been two flagsticked right, might have still gotten wet), dropped 50y away in the rough, tough lie but there was nowhere reasonable to drop, and hit it to the middle of the green (not great, considering flag was on the top tier), 55f uphill to top tier, made it to top tier, finally made a 10footer! (...to save triple)
8 GIRs, 44 putts
Overall I'd say I ran bad on putting (I haven't played for a long time, minor work on lag putting on flatter surfaces is muuuch different), ran kind of good on some random bounces, hit 4 or 5 pretty awesome drives even if I did have to take a drop on one and was in a terrible lie on another, and played okay. First round over by myself in sub 3 hours was glorious, playing fast is the best, gonna have to start calling places in the afternoon and just asking if there's literally no one on the course