So excruciatingly slow …… We tee off 1/2 hour late due, apparently, to the second group out in the morning taking 31/2 hours to play 9 holes and finishing an hour behind the first group. They were, apparently, penalized but the effect ripples down the field less sparkly than the ripples on the glorious lake surrounding us. At least the view is pristine as we wait for not one, but two groups to tee off in front of us. Takes an hour to play 2 holes ……
Rob asks if it is going to be like this the full round and I take the optimistic route and assure him that it always opens up. It will remain to be seen. 1 hour. 2 holes. 2 over.
Max had written notes for us to follow. On Hole 3: Aim at left side of green. Left is OK. Right is not. Rob drives it further than either of his playing partners by a long way – straight right and right into a hazard.
On Hole 4 I’m talking. He hits and blames me for talking on his backswing.
Me: I was still talking and you decided to hit.
Him: How was I supposed to know?
Me: Because I was still talking !
If he would just get his Drive sorted out we would be looking very pretty right now. It is stressful to consistently be scrambling for bogey.
Max’s instructions for par 3 Hole 5 : Get a Hole in 1 ! This was 3 hours in. We did not.
On the following long, undulating Par 5 along the water we broke our string of consistent bogeys. His short game, consistently strong, fell apart. Double !
I’m going to par the next hole to get back to my bogey.
A drive into the one forlorn little fairway bunker does not help the cause. He then leaves it in the bunker before sending it on a magical arc towards the green …….. into the green-side bunker.
I tell him that the moment he started shouting Oh My God, Oh My God on the previous hole was when things started going downhill. I reiterate: This means nothing. We’ve just got to try and enjoy each shot. He agrees. A perfect sand shot over a monumental lip puts the ball 2 feet from the hole. Nice save for bogey.
On Hole 9 his drive came back ! Beautiful. Straight. Long. He says : If I birdie this I will technically have got nine straight bogeys.
We end on a bogey.
Steep, challenging and hot. 5km race run by both of us last night and my legs are feeling it. Rob still manages to run the last hill up to the clubhouse! Such is the energy of a 9 year old. He would have done better on the back 9. 18 holes suits his personality best but my legs are glad we only did 9 today !
