Opened with a 4 iron from the 1st tee and split the fairway to about 135m away. His opening tee shot found the right hand trees a little further away. His 2nd, in attempting to recover to the fairway, hit a tree, rebounding right, finishing in the dam behind the 10th green. My 9 iron 2nd found the putting surface, about 25 feet from the pin and on seeing this, my opponent conceded and the first hole was mine.

Pulled my 3 iron from the second tee left in to the trees, my opponent found the right side of the fairway. My attempt to recover to the fairway hit another tree, deflecting further left, again finishing behind yet another tree. My opponents 2nd shot was a little strong, pitching on the green but running about 10m through. Taking wedge from about 70m away, I tried to fashion a slice up, over & around the tree I was behind, but, again my ball would hit woodwork, again deflecting left, this time finishing pin high, still some 20m from the pin. My 4th pitched on the putting surface but rolled quickly across and off the other side, finishing some 5m away. My opponents chip was delicate, finishing about 6 feet away. Knowing I had to put my ball inside him and then hope he might 2 putt to halve the hole, I knocked it 10 feet past the flag and then conceded the hole.

The Par 5 3rd hole was halved in regulation par 5’s, with each of us conceding a par putt of under 2 feet.

After our tee shots on the par 3 4th hole, my opponent had found the putting surface, about 25 feet away and I was pin high about 10m away. My chip was never on line finishing about 8 feet from the hole. My opponent’s birdie attempt was too strong, running a foot or so by the hole and after conceding him that, I missed my par attempt, again running it just past the hole.

We halved the next 3 holes, the 5th in regulation par 4’s, the 6th in birdie 3’s and the 7th in par 5’s. All this meant we arrived at the par 3 8th hole with me 1 down thru 7.

My opponent was away and blocked his tee shot right, missing the green by 10m or so. My 6iron tee shot was on the flag all the way, finding the green, about 15 feet from the pin. I would later win the nearest the pin for this hole for the day. My opponents bump and run to the green was never on line finishing about 8 feet away. I then had my putt for birdie to win the hole. It rolled on line for much of the trip, only to take a little deviation and slide about a foot past the hole. My opponent conceded me this for my par 3 and I was surprised when he rolled his par attempt past the hole. Back to square thru 8.

We would both find the fairway from the par 4 9th tee, him about 5m inside me, me about 160m away. My 6iron 2nd was appalling, pulled badly left, finishing pin high, under a gum tree with a bunker between me and the putting surface. His 2nd found the putting surface, some 35-40 feet away from the pin. I was certain that I would struggle to get it up and down from where I was. My lie under the gum tree was not good. Taking my sand wedge, I committed to my shot and just tried to splash it with enough pace to carry the pot. Hit the shot well and was shocked to find my ball had not only stopped on the green, it was only 6 feet from the pin. My opponent then left his birdie attempt well short and when his par attempt rolled a foot past the hole, I conceded him that and rolled my 6 footer in for a par 4 and the hole to be 1 up at the turn.

We halved the par 3 10th in par 3’s, mine a 2 putt from about 25 feet, his, a 1 putt from about 8 feet after missing the green and chipping close.

I won the par 4 11th with a bogey 5 after he found trouble off the tee, slicing his tee shot right into the trees. Then I lost the par 4 12th to a par 4 after finding the trees off the tee myself. We then halved the next 2 holes, the par 5 13th in bogey 6’s and the par 4 14th in regulation par 4’s.

We then came to the par 4 15th, our courses hardest rated hole, with me 1 up with 4 to play. Still with the honour, my opponent’s tee shot finished left centre of the fairway about 170m away. My tee shot pulled left, but I got fortunate, finding the centre of the adjacent 16th fairway, about 160m away, but, I would have to try to shape my 2nd around the tall gum trees dividing the 15th and 16th fairways. My opponent’s 2nd to the 15th finished short right of the putting surface, about 15m from the pin. Settled over my 5 iron, and played a deliberate fade around the tall trees and was happy with the shot off the club. On arriving at the green, my ball had pitched on the green but popped forward and rolled off the back edge and was about 10m from the pin. My opponent’s chip shot finished about 15 feet away, mine about 10. He would roll his par attempt a foot past the hole and after conceding him his 5th, I would roll my par attempt a foot past as well. Given I had a shot on this hole, it was mine and now I was 2 up with 3 to play.

We then halved the par 4 16th hole in regulation par 4’s and I stood on the 17th tee dormy, 2 up with 2 to play.

My 6 iron tee shot started left of target, still finding the putting surface, nowhere close and with the pin cut on the lower tier, on the right hand side of the green, I hadn’t done myself any favours. My opponent’s tee shot pitched on the back edge of the green, running off over the back of the green. Given he had left himself a difficult up and down, I now knew I only needed to 2 putt the green to win the match. His chip shot was excellent, finishing only some 8 inches from the cup. I conceded his par putt and settled on trying not to 3 putt. My birdie attempt was disappointing, never hit with enough pace, as a result I left myself a downhill breaking 10 footer to halve the hole and win the match. My putt was well struck, but too strong and finished 6 inches past the hole. The match was still dormy my way, but now, I was only 1 up with 1 to play.

Our 18th hole is a shortish par 5 that I usually have little trouble reaching in 2, so, despite having just 3 putted the 17th, I was still quietly confident of taking the match on this hole.

My opponent again sliced his tee shot right, into the tree line. Somewhat buoyed by seeing this, my tee shot was rifle straight, finding the left hand side of the fairway. Having found himself almost completely blocked by a tree, my opponent’s attempt to recover to the fairway was a weak one, his third was to be played from about 10m behind my drive. Again he overdid the slice and his ball finished some 100m from the green, again in the tree line, though this time, his forward progress was not hampered. Stood over my 2nd, 3 iron in hand, again knowing a good strike, putting my ball anywhere within 20m or so of the putting surface would be good enough. Though well struck, my ball flew straight right, high into the tree line, about 50m short of the green. Bugger!. My opponents 4th finished pin high 10m left. Still my opening remained, now it would depend on what I found when I got to my ball. My hopes were dashed as I found my ball in a clearing but a bushy tree in my way. I would have to take my 60° lob wedge to clear it and hopefully get somewhere besides the green. Hitting the lob wedge firmly the ball flew high and straight, missing the tree and finished on the right side of the green, about 10m from the edge of the green, and maybe 15m or so from the pin. My attempt to bump and run the ball up to the pin with my 7 iron was not my best and I had left myself some 25 feet for par. His chip to the green was a beauty, finishing only 5 feet away. Again, my first putt, thinking of the win, was not a good one and I left it 4 feet short. He rolled his 5 footer in and again, I rolled my winning putt past the hole.

The match was back to all square. We would be going extra holes……

Back to the 1st tee and again, his tee shot sliced away right, this time through the trees and almost in to the dam. He was in the clear and would have a difficult shot at the green from there. Again I took 4 iron and again rifle straight, splitting the fairway, finishing about 145m away this time. Now I was away, settled over a choked down 7 iron and hit it sweetly, on line all the way, finishing 15 feet from the pin. His 2nd cleared the trees, but plugged in the greenside bunker about 15m from the flag. His bunker shot wasn’t a good one and his ball carried to the flag and rolled some 20 feet past. His par attempt was on line but died in the heart of the cup. Happily I conceded his 5th. This time my birdie attempt was a good one, rolled on line and finished only some 3 inches short. He would concede that and the match with it.

What a day…

I now go on to the quarter finals of this event. My next opponent is a fellow off 12. Looking forward to the match.

As always, thanks for reading.

Cheers