Earlier today my friends Alonso, Nick and I played 18 at Cypress Links once again. For the first time since we've started playing again just a few weeks ago we were all able to go together, so today was interesting. We planned to arrive at the course an hour and a half before our 9:30 tee time and hit the range. Alonso wants to warm up because he's new to the game and wants to work out all his bad shots on the range before getting anywhere near weeds, lakes, or trees. I personally want to work on my long irons, woods, and driver. I seem to have a problem pulling my long irons (4 and 5 iron) to the right, and I have no clue how far I can hit my woods and/or driver because I haven't played in so long, nor have used those particular clubs before.
Unfortunately, due to Florida's weather being a scutch, the driving range was too wet for the ball retriever to retrieve the balls without tearing up the grass and therefore was closed. After twenty minutes on the chipping and putting greens, however, we figured we'd head up to the road to Cypress and see about getting onto the course an hour before our tee time. Since it was not busy this morning there was no problem teeing off earlier than scheduled.
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| This is the first hole as viewed from the black tees. A bit muddy as you can see. |
The first hole made me feel good. I hit the ball straight, unlike last time when I pulled it right and ended up in the lake. However, I did plunk it in the greenside sand trap. Not to worry, because I managed to whack it out of the sand and one putt for par. I was happy. Nick, with his new born giraffe swing, managed a 7 as he whacked his way up the fairway. Alonso managed to find all kids of trouble, such as the weeds making for a lost ball penalty, and received an 8 for the first hole. I was feeling good, but I couldn't say the same for my fellow golfers.
The second hole promised improvement. I also pared this hole after whacking it past the green, back on, and one putting. Alonso improved his score by 3 resulting in a 5 for the second hole, and managed to gain a lead ahead of Nick who scored a 5 on the second. Nick did what I did the last time we played, and pulled his tee shot way right onto the fifth tee or the fourth fairway... I'm not sure. However, unlike me, he managed to find his ball. I miss that ball I lost last week so if anybody finds a Callaway Warbird stuck in the grass over there let me know! It is missed dearly! At this point, I was happy. I was at par, which had me feeling good, and I was also happy Alonso, who I've taken under my wing since we started playing, was doing relatively well.
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| This is the second hole at Cypress Links. Short hole, water left, bunker right, and hills past the green. |
The third hole at Cypress.. I'm not a fan of. It's a long-ish hole with a rectangular green with water on both sides. The green is also crowned rolling downhill on both the front and back of the green which is only about 5 or 10 yards deep. I managed to steer clear of the water, but my tee shot with my 5 iron left me slightly short and right of the green. Alonso, after unsuccessfully attempting to hit my 3 wood managed to drive the ball all the way six feet in front of him and down the hill to the water's edge right near the teeing area. He then hit a shot, again only several yards forward and ended up on the right side of the teeing ground. Nick, between Alonso's ill-fated shots, drove his ball all the way to the front tees and was even with Alonso's second shot. After a while and a humbling three putt by myself, we did not score as well. I scored a 5 resulting from my abysmal three putt. Alonso shot a 10, and Nick managed his third 7 in a row.
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| The fourth hole with water right, bunker right and back of the green, tress left, and Nick setting up for a practice swing. |
The fourth hole was a love-hate hole for me. I hit an excellent tee shot with my pitching wedge and drove the green. I was very happy. Alonso and Nick managed to cover both flanks by hitting it right and short and left and far of the green. I fixed my ball mark and prepared for a long birdie putt, or a decent two putt for par. After analyzing the putt while my friends whacked their way onto the green, I went for it, and missed. The second putt for par was an easy one... and I missed that one too. I was not happy with my bogey with a three putt at all. I was so proud of my tee shot that I guess I rushed my putting stroke. Alas, I scored a 4 on that hole, Nick scored 6 and Alonso scored 5.
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| This is my ball and the mark it made when I drove the fourth green. Right after taking this picture I fixed the mark, and then proceeded to three putt my way to bogie -.- |
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| Hole 5 at Cypress Links. Nice hole, straight. water to the back right of the green. No bunkers. It's harder than it looks with hills to the left and unfavorable lies to the right. |
The fifth hole was interesting. I managed a bogey while Alonso somehow managed to whack his ball 10 times (I think he five putted), and Nick surprised us all by managing par after a decent tee shot just short of the green, a close chip shot, and a one putt. The sixth hole I was okay with. I hit a tee shot straight down the middle and landed just feet short of the green. I was contemplating my club selection. Based on the yardage I was planning on hitting an 8 iron, but after I figured the headwind I decided to go with a seven. However that still was not enough to get me up onto the green. Alonso hit his initial shot to the right, ended up in the bunker on his second shot before punching out to the green and putting twice for a 5 on the sixth. Nick also managed a 5 whacking his ball little by little up the fairway. I managed bogey after a decent chip and a two putt. I was annoyed because I missed an easy putt. I probably should have spent more time on the putting green before we started.
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| This is the seventh hole at Cypress Links. You can see Alonso the orange shirt and apparent case of "swamp ass" diagnosed by his awkward stance. |
The seventh was not too fun for me. I was disappointed in my tee shot that went right and only about half way up the fairway. After getting it on the green and three putting I managed a 6. Alonso and Nick both managed 8s on the seventh after whacking their tee shots and subsequent shots not too far. The eight hole I was okay with. I bogied the eighth after hitting it right of the green. Alonso scored a 7 and Nick hit 5. I hate the ninth hole. It seems that the ninth hole on the courses I've played is just difficult for no apparent reason, or it could be just that I'm either beat or just letting my mind get ahead of me wanting to end on a good note. Whatever the reason, I pulled my 4 iron way right and ended up in the water. I managed to save 6 on the hole, but I was not happy. Nick managed an 8 after making several back and forth putts around the hole, and Alonso racked up the strokes to 11.
Now I'm not going to bore you with the back nine for a few reasons. One, it was pretty uneventful unless you count me cursing inanimate objects like my ball or the ground for my poor shots as I got fatigued in the sun (I wore a black shirt.... dumbass move). Also, I did worse on the back nine than on the front and I really don't want to write about it because it makes me sad. Also, I'm fried and I don't recall many of the holes. I do remember that because there was a junior program we started on the third hole and then played one and two on the way back. And since Alonso did 16 strokes better, I think he'd want me to mention something about him. Instead of hitting 10s and 11s he kept this average score down around a 6. His highest score was one score of 8, and he had a couple nice bogies. Kudos Alonso. Nick also improved by four shots on the back nine keeping his average score also around a 6 (Alonso and Nick tied on the back nine with 52).
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| Here is the eighth hole. Really short, bunkers short and long of the green. Both the front and back nine I ended up right of the green, but the back nine I ended up in the weeds beyond the back bunker. There's also water back there... |
To tally up everything, on the front nine Alonso scored 68, and on the back nine he scored a 52. Nick scored a 56 on the front nine and a 52 on the back, and yours truly scored a 39 on the front and a 47 on the back. It seemed I just got tired while my friends got practice.
In all it was a fun day out. We're thinking of playing at Mainlands Golf Course next time we play, which is a par 67 instead of a 54 and includes a couple par fives, and many par fours and par threes. However, before we play there I need to do some more work so I can afford $30 for a new case of Callaway Hot Hex golf balls, as well as another $24 four the round of golf. However since I'm a college student, I'm pretty sure I get a discount and can ride for the walking price of only $18 at Mainlands. Also before I go play at a bigger course, I want to go to the range and figure out my woods and driver so I'm not hitting them for the first time on the first tee.
Until next time, I'm Tom from Golf Nerd 17. Keep Swingin'!
--Tom K.
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