2017-06-25_Hunting Hawk

Back to a course Rick is very familiar with as it has become a regular pitch for practice rounds this past summer. A return to Hunting Hawk finds a friendly, casual mid-summer Sunday round. Joining Rick is tour main-stays, Steve, fresh off his U.S. Open victory, Mike, and Todd, each looking for their 2nd victory at the mid-way point of the season.

Rick start things off in typical fashion by double-bogeying the uphill, par-4 1st, while Steve took the lead with a par. Mike and Todd fell in between to start 1 behind. The short par-4 2nd may appear simple but with water guarding the left fairway and front of the green, the approach short approach shot can be hazardous. Staying to the right allowed Rick a clean approach and holed a putt for par. Steve followed his opening par with a bogey, and up the ladder we go with Todd getting a double and Mike a triple, showing the variety of possible outcomes on this seamingly simple par 4 2nd. The par 5 3rd showed why this course may not be suited for Todd. The tree lined fairway and guarding bunkers, combined with a patch of junk threatening the layup area, not to mention the long and deep greenside bunkers, gave Todd fitz on his way to double-par. A theme that continued on the par 5s throughout the round. Mike on the other hand took advantage of the converted par-4 to -5 7th knocking in a birdie to take a one shot lead over Rick. This is where the advantage remained at the turn as Steve was able to bounce back but not enough and found himself 3 back while Todd’s triple-bogey on 9 took him out of the running and was not a factor on the back.

Rick’s par on 10 brought him immediately even with Mike after the latter’s double bogey kicked off a 2nd half battle. Steve would par-par-bogey the par-3’s on the back but struggled elsewhere to ultimately make this a 2 man scrimmage. The scrumb was all knotted up until a fumble by Mike on the par-3 12 and a rare birdie on the long par-3 15th by Rick put him up 4 with 3 to go. Mike’s attempt at a comeback in the closing minutes fell short at the goal line, picking up one shot on each of the last 3 holes but finished 1 shot off Rick’s lead. Rick takes his 3rd title of the season with a consistent 44-44 round.