It's all coming together

I got my letter confirming my Ranking School assignment from the Hooter's Tour last week. I will be playing Jan. 7-11 at the Magnolia Plantation Golf Course outside of Orlando. Things are coming together well with my game. I played last Friday and shot 75, 35 going out and 40 coming in. The back side was a little rough. On 11 I was only trying to hit a 3 iron up the right side and ended up chunking it down the left into a really bad sidehill lie in some nasty rough. Gouged it out down the left side still in the rough, almost in the lateral hazard, then got a 9 iron to pin high left of the green down in a swale. Hit a decent flop that took a hard bounce to the right and two putted for a double. Then on 12 I hit what I thought was a great 7 iron that got caught up in the wind and ended up 10 yards short. Caught the chip a little fat and two putted for bogey. Then on 13 I absolutely striped a driver 310 down the left side and caught my wedge heavy. Then hit a decent chip to about 12 feet then lipped out the putt for par - bogey. These three holes killed the round but I was proud of how I finished. 14 - par, 15 - par, 16 - par, 17 - bogey and 18- birdie.

I think that I want to to a hole by hole description of my local course for you so you can have some idea of where I play every week. I am fortunate enough to be able to play for free there as I work part-time on weekends and holidays cutting greens. I play at the Mooresville Municipal Golf Course in Mooresville, NC. The course is owned and operated by the city. The front nine was designed by Donald Ross and built in the 1940's, so it has been around for a while. I am not sure who designed the back and I believe it was built in the late 1970's.

I am going to start my description on the last hole, one of my favorites. As Dr. Bob Rotella says, "you don't beat people on the easy holes, you beat them on the difficult driving holes". 18 is a tough little hole at the local Muni. It is a 564 yard par 5 with a tight fairway sloping left to right with a dogleg to the right that starts at about 200 yards from the tee. Very tall pines and oaks line the right side so it makes it difficult for a draw player like myself. I have figured out that I am best to play the ball slightly more forward and lean a little further back on setup to get the ball up and over the trees to let my draw bring the ball back to the fairway. The second shot is downhill and if played from the fairway, is not too difficult. It can be precarious if you lose it right as there is an irrigation pond beside the green to the right. There is a bunker on the right side of the fairway about 80 yards from the green that comes into play for golfers with average length. Between that bunker and the green the ground slopes to the right towards the hazard. I usually try to play my second shot about 50 yards from the green on the left hand side of the fairway. This leaves the best angle to the green that is skinny (only about 30 feet wide, if that) and angles from the players left to right. The green is maybe 70 - 80 feet deep with a bunker along the front right side and slopes from back to front and left to right. If the pin is back right, it can make for an interesting pitch shot. Last week I was fortunate and the pin was center front, about 4 paces on. I hit a great pitch that stopped 4 feet below the hole to the right and I drianed the putt right in the middle of the cup.

I hope you enjoyed this description of 18. I will work on the rest of the holes one or two at a time for you.

Until next time. Hit 'em straight!