At 182 yards this hole shouts for a long iron throttled back. It’s well within range of a strong 5, but a 3 iron, hold the mustard, was my pick here on the 17th tee, and it proved to be a good choice.
Like catching a tiger by the tail, the trouble with getting onto a challenging green is deciding what to do next. I had a lie at the leading edge of the putting surface, and the pin was placed in the crook of the green to the nearer right side giving me a challenging putt in the realm of 30ft, give or take. “Take” proved to be the order of the day, as my stroke slowed up a bit sooner than I wanted, and curled gently to the left to leave me with a tap-in to make par.
So evaporated my penultimate chance to advance on the board. I move on, now, to the closer, the mighty par 5 18th, holding at 6 under.
Wordle 909 3/6
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The 18th.
The “Finisher.”
By the scorecard, 541 yards, par 5 and a good shot at a closeout Birdie; maybe even an Eagle if you can muster the puissance.
No pressure.
Driving off the tee I went for broke and bombed it over the foaming Pacific brine holding my breath until the shot touched down on something green, and bounced to a stop at the left edge of the fairway about even with the tree midway along. Getting on from here? Quite literally a long shot, but I made an honest attempt. Pitting my longest hybrid club against both sea and sand I sought to defy the odds and find the green. Shooting right along the sea shore, taunting the embrace of that massive flanking bunker, my ball came to rest in the grass of the fairway, abreast of the tree that stands to the right as you approach the green. No the lie I had hoped for, I was close, nonetheless. Chipping on now, still with a legitimate shot at an Eagle to finish, I lofted the ball into the air straight at the flag, and watched as it bounced onto the green, rolled toward the pin, followed the undulating turf, and traced a slow, heartbreaking arc off course, coming to a stop mere inches to the right of the cup.
Taking my tap-in Birdie as my consolation prize, I closed the round here with a 7 under par 65, a few new tales to tell, and a song in my head.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHrxkGB1Lf8
Wordle 910 4/6
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These are very challenging greens!