GolfNerd17 - Bogey Golf at Twin Brooks

Good Day Everyone!

So today (probably yesterday by the time I finish this) Alonso and I went to Twin Brooks to play 18. Twin Brooks is a fun 18 hole par 54 (18 par 3s) executive course with more trees and sticks than you can shake a stick at (sorry-not sorry). Regardless of the terrain we managed to have a pretty good game and a good time today. For the first time since the re-ignition of the spark of my interest (okay Tom, calm down, less poetry please) in golf, we've finally played a course that has 18 different holes! Also, after the round I took a step back and went to the range on site and worked out my driver play (finally).

So anyway at around 10:30 this morning we went ahead and teed off. The first hole is 84 yards from the back of the tee, probably 75 from where the tee markers were (and sequentially, where we teed off) and like an idiot I used a pitching wedge and overshot the green. After messing up a chip shot, I got on the green in three and two putted for five. Alonso made the fairway... but of the adjacent 10th hole, and managed a six on the first hole.

The second hole was better for both of us. We both were on the green after our tee shots, and I even made a ten foot putt for birdie! Woohoo! Alonso two putted for par, and we were very pleased going into the third hole.

Yes, I did goof and say "third hole" but it was the second, indeed.

The third hole I'd rather not talk about for two reasons. One: I don't really remember what happened. Two: The score card says I got a five and Alonso got an eight so we're gonna skip that one. The fourth hole I did worse on, and Alonso actually did better than me scoring a five to my six. This hole is interesting as you cross a river/creek thing on a rickety bridge to the tee. Then you hit over the river/creek thing to the green 80 yards away. I overshot the green and ended up having to take a drop because I ended up in a hibiscus bush or something. Alonso, however, hit a nice shot onto the right fringe and four putted banging it past the hole three times.

I got a bogey on he fifth hole and Alonso got a five. The sixth hole had a bit more of a skew between our scores as I managed par and Alonso managed... eight. I remember Alonso chipping completely over the green a few times, once hitting it 30 yards in the wrong direction!

Speaking of wrong directions, the band One Direction sucks. But you know what else sucks? When you combine two holes on a golf course. Yeah. The Seventh tee is placed in an area where when you finish the sixth hole, if you keep walking in that direction you're on the seventh tee and in the same direction is a green. However that green is to the eighth hole! Alonso and I didn't realize this until after we hit our tee shots, turned around and realized the arrow on the yardage board pointing in the opposite direction to another green. So we walked over, picked up our balls, went back to the teeing area and hit our balls in the correct direction. This pissed me off. Not because we goofed up, but because my tee shot to the incorrect green was better than my tee shot to the correct green! It was all I could do to save FIVE for that hole... oye.

Now onto the eighth hole. I managed to bogey that hole after overshooting the green. Alonso didn't have much luck as his tee shot went caty-whompus and shot way right, over the fence, bouncing on the Pinellas Bike Trail bridge, and over that railing into the river/creek thing. His second tee shot also went right, but this time stayed low, only went 30 or 40 yards, and stopped after hitting the chain link fence bordering the river/creek thing. His next shot, was... well, see for yourself:

But back to the ninth hole. By now we're pretty exhausted. It's been over an hour since we started, the wet dew and residual rain left over from whenever it rained last (it's Florida so probably like 10 minutes before we started) is now evaporating straight up into our faces and our water bottles are empty and we're about 3 strokes away from a stroke (heh heh). The ninth is pretty straight forward, and after teeing off with a nine iron on the 134 yard hole and plunking it just short and right of the green, Alonso teed off and went no where far or quickly. His second shot I believe sent him past the green and down a hill that turned out to be not as steep as we anticipated (which was good) and my second shot put me on the green setting me up for the bogey I would later receive. Let me stress, we're about to die:

After that hole we retreated to the club house and bought drinks and candy bars out of the fridge. I turn into Rodney Dangerfield from Caddy Shack when I'm hungry so I had a Snickers. We then tallied up the scores while watching the Junior PGA Tour on the tiny television in the corner of the clubhouse and realized I shot a 38 (which was no where near as terrible as I though) and Alonso shot a 53 which wasn't that bad all things considered. I was surprised at my score but then realized the reason why it wasn't in the forties was a birdie and a par and more bogies than anything else. Alas, I was pleased. But being my own worst critic was still mad at the six I received on the fourth hole and the fives I received on one, three, and seven.

The Back Nine

So we moved on to the tenth. I got a bogey and Alonso got a five. With that we moved on to the eleventh hole. The eleventh hole shares a huge teeing ground with the third hole. The third hole hitting west, and the eleventh heading east. There is a water hazard running for most of the right side of the fairway widening as it turns out to the right to head smack through the twelve fairway. To the left of the hazard is a nice fairway where you can plop your ball before chipping up onto the elevated green if you were too worried you would overshoot and end up rolling down into the road. Of course, I went for it and to my surprise, didn't suck!

Yeah yeah, I couldn't see the flag in the screen and looked like a doofus as I played Cinematographer LIVE trying to point at the damn thing (only to realize upon later review I had it right in the first place). As you can see Alonso ended up in the weeds after ending up in the weeds (yupp, losing two balls). He received a nine on that hole as I parred it. I was pleased.

We then crossed the road. Why? To get to the other side, much as I assume the Chicken did. And on the other side was the twelfth hole. This is a short hole, 89 yards, over a river/creek/drainage thing and onto a nicely sized green. I parred this hole as well. Unfortunately.. Alonso didn't. Let's just say some marsh, and bridge, and a hedge got in his way.

I don't know quite what happened on thirteen, but we must have been suffering heat stroke or something because I finished with a six, and Alonso finished ten more than that. Needless to say it was NOT our best hole. We then sought shelter in the shade and luckily a water cooler was there too for us to fill our bottles with. After chilling out and letting ourselves recoup themselves we set off on the fourteenth. I managed to par that hole as well. Alonso did much better than a sixteen and only received a five.

Alonso then got a bogey on the next THREE holes in a row. I received a bogey on the next two holes, and a five on the seventeenth. The eighteenth was a dog as my tee shot went slightly long and left, and then I botched my chip sending it two feet in front of me. After getting on in three I two putted for a five. Alonso found the rough and managed a six after three putting.

After tallying up the scores I learned, contrary to how I felt, I did better on the back nine than I did on the front thanks to my numerous pars and bogeys. I scored a 38 on the front nine and a 37 on the back resulting in a 75 total for the day on a par 54. This adds up to 21 over par, or just over bogey golf (which is my short term goal). Alonso, due to his three high scoring holes as a result of heat exhaustion, did ten strokes worse on the back nine than the front, receiving a 63 on the back. Totaled with his 53 on the front, he still managed to improve four strokes from when we played at Cypress Links a few weeks ago.

All in all, I was happy with the round, and I think Alonso was too. After the round I went and bought the biggest bucket of range balls they had and worked on my driver play on the range. The main thing I wanted to do was decide which driver I wanted to keep in my bag. Currently I'm playing with hammy down clubs from my dad, and I was trying to decide between his Mizuno driver (which he prefers) or the Carbon Fiber Composite head Callaway Big Bertha driver. After hitting some, I realized I preferred the Callaway. The Mizuno I couldn't seem to find a sweet spot with, but the Big Bertha I was able to send it straight as an arrow and over the back fence 200 yards away. I also managed to draw the ball on command, and fade it accidentally. Either way, I was quite happy. I also learned my 3 wood I can hit roughly 175 yards. So now I know, which is all I really wanted to figure out.

So whatever. I hope to get out again soon. Depending on how my money situation is, I still want to buy a new box of balls and go play Mainlands in Pinellas Park. We'll see! Check back soon!

--Tom K.