24 Hours Later…
September 3, 2008
A 9 on the last at Sand Martins results in a round of 99. That’s the 2nd time I’ve broken 100 in a week. This is a great result for me and I am really pleased. The 9 on the last could have been so much better, 122 yards to go after 2 shots but then a fat shot into a bunker, 2 to get out of the bunker, chipped out the back, duffed chip back…it felt like the wheels were well and truly coming off, but a 9 was good enough. Looking back on the round there were some great moments…a birdie on the 2nd, a big fading drive on the long par 5 resulting in a par, the chip out of long rough over a pond on 17 to set up a 4.
Sand Martins is a fabulous course. It’s like playing 2 different courses as the front and back nines are so different. The front 9 is like a parkland course. Smooth, wide fairways and you need to go a long way offline to find deep rough. The back 9 is like a links. Big mounds, deep bunkers, narrow fairways and rough that seems to swallow balls (my playing partner lost 2 ball that seemed to be no more than 2 yards into the rough). 2 par 5s separated by a par 3 over water make a tough closing set of holes as well especially when the wind is blowing.
