Golf in the Pines - Part 2

We arrived at the Golf Club at Chaparral Pines about an hour before our tee time, which gave me plenty of time to hit balls until my arms felt like lead. I felt really good on the driving range, but that does not always translate to the course. We decided to play the silver tees. Chaparral Pines is a 6,513 yard, par 72 championship golf course with a 133 slope from the silver tees, but the front 9 is a par 35 and the back 9 is a par 37.

On the first hole, I drove it right down the middle, hit the green in regulation and 3-putted for a bogey! The third hole is a short 315 yard par 4 with a rock formation in the middle of the fairway about 200 yards from the tees. I flew my drive well over the rock formation and was about 60 yards from the green. I hit my 60 degree wedge to less than 10' and made the birdie putt for the highlight of my round. The front 9 has three par 3s. I hit 5 out of 6 fairways and 5 out of 9 greens in regulation. But it took me 3 shots to get out of one greenside bunker and I three-putted 3 holes. I shot a 41 on the front that could easily have been a 38. I had the low gross score in the group.

However, as Chad Feldheimer aptly pointed out, golf is 18 holes and the planets aligned on the back nine. Somehow, between the ninth green and the tenth tee, I lost my swing. I wanted to go back and find it, but it was too late! Over the next six holes I had 6 penalty strokes for hooking or slicing my drives out of bounds (without knowing the local rules, I played my out-of-bounds tee shots as lateral hazards). I did get a par on the par 5 14th hole with a penalty stroke. I kind of pulled it together on the last 3 holes with my only fairway and green in regulation and only one more penalty stroke for a 50 on the back 9, and a 91 total.

After shooting a 43 on the front 9, Chad played brilliantly on the back, shooting a 3 under par 34 and an overall 77. Every drive was long and straight, he hit his approach shots with pinpoint accuracy and he made some nice putts, but no ridiculous 50 footers. It was beautiful to watch!