2026 Boulder Bash

Arriving at the Boulder Woods course, I was feeling very good about getting back “in the groove” of pushing my rating, and my confidence, back up to a comfortable level. The day was going to be perfect, little to no wind, moderate temperatures, and the right mindset.

Check-in, warm-up, and the obligatory player’s meeting came and went as expected. I would be starting the first round on hole 3, with Robin, Dave, and Nate as card mates. Hole 3 can be tricky, with multiple small fairways to choose from — but none of them easy or straightforward. I picked up an easy par and let out a deep breath. Getting past the first hole without an issue was big for me, and I was ready to go! I can drive hole 4, but I missed the edge-of-circle birdie putt and settled for a par. Hole 5 is not scoreable, but gave me a fairly easy par. Hole 6 IS scoreable, but again I missed a 30’ putt for birdie and had to settle for a par. I finally got my first birdie on hole 7, and had arrived at the stretch of holes that always seem to give me trouble; 8, 9, 10, and 11. My forehand drive on 8 drifted toward the left side trees, then kicked right to a slightly obstructed lie. My recovery shot hit a tree further down the fairway, and I was to approach and putt for my first bogie. My drive on 9 hit the only tree in the fairway and dropped straight down, but I was able to recover and pick up the par. I had a great drive on hole 10 to the left side of the fairway in circle 2, but missed the long putt and settled for another par. Another great (for me!) drive on hole 11 got me over the crest of the hill and I was able to get up-and-down for another par.

Finishing that stretch of 4 holes at +1 was the biggest confidence boost of the morning, as I regularly have 3 bogies through that four hole stretch.

Hole 12 was a bit of a disappointment, as my early-released forehand drive turned my normal birdie on this hole into a par. But then I “pured” the drive on hole 13 and picked up a bonus birdie with an edge-of-circle-1 putt. A good drive on hole 14, followed by a approach that rolled to 25’ and a missed putt resulted in a disappointing bogie. I put the drive on hole 15 within 15’ and picked up another birdie, but then “shanked” another forehand drive on hole 16, which required a recovery shot, an approach, and a putt for another bogie. Hole 17 is normally a 50/50 hole for me, given the number of guardian trees — and this time the hole won and I was unable to sink the birdie putt, gaining another par. Hole 18 has become a birdie hole for me in the last few rounds, and I was able to continue that trend with a drop-in birdie putt. Hole 1 is also usually a “birdie-able” hole for me, and once again I was able to keep the streak going with a 25’ birdie putt. The last hole, hole 2, isn’t scoreable for me, but I have been known to mess it up. This time, however, a simple approach and putt gave me my final par and let me finish with a -2 (52), rated at 941.

With my goal of throwing 930-rated rounds, this round rating made me very happy — although I knew that I could do better. Missing birdies on holes 4, 6, 12, and 17, and making the unfortunate driving mistake on hole 16, put it in my mind that I could have had a round score of -7 (47), which would have been rated at 999!!

A quick lunch and some focused forehand practice (to try to correct the early releases) took care of the lunch time break, and I was ready to start round 2, beginning on hole 4 this time with a card of myself, Robin, John and Rick. My very first drive was an early-released backhand which hit a tree and landed in the fairway well before the dogleg left. I was still able to see the basket, but my approach sailed well past the basket and into the rough beyond, giving me an obstructed putt — which I missed.

Ugh. A bogey to start the round.

Hole 5 saw me throw my drive low and overturned, hitting a stump well before my normal landing area. My approach nicked a tree and went way left, forcing another up-and-down bogey.

Plus 2 in 2 holes. Double-Ugh.

Early released my forehand drive on hole 6 - nearly taking out the players standing on the teepad of hole 12. I missed the long, circle-2 birdie putt, so I picked up my first par of the round. My drive on hole 7 was dangerously short, nearly missing the mando, but I was able to scramble for another par. I finally threw a good forehand drive on hole 8, but then two-putted after the approach for another bogey. Threw another good forehand drive on hole 9, then approached to within 15’ and proceeded to 2-putt from there! Finally shook off the “bogey bug” on hole 10 with a fairly easy par, then threw a poor excuse for a backhand turnover drive on hole 11, landing in the deep rough. My scramble out of the briars did not progress very far down the fairway, and my long, downhill approach went well past the basket. Another disappointing 2-putt from inside of circle 1 left me with a double-bogie and a head full of frustration. I threw a better drive on hole 12 then I did in the first round, but it still faded early right and left me with another obstructed approach, resulting in another par on a hole that I normally birdie.

I’m now sitting at +6 for the round, no where near where I should be. I calm my mind and take a few deep breaths. I can’t do anything about what has happened so far, so I need to just focus on the next hole, the next shot, the next decision.

Hole 13 gave me a bonus birdie in the first round, and I was hoping for a repeat performance, but my drive was a little outside of my comfortable putting range, so the up-and-down par was an acceptable outcome. I threw the exact same forehand line on hole 14 that I threw in the first round, but managed a better upshot and made the par putt. Threw the drive a bit long on hole 15, ending up just outside of circle 1, but made my first circle 2 putt of the day to grab a much-needed birdie. Kept my forehand drive on hole 16 out of the woods (for a change), which resulted in my normal par on this hole. The guardian trees on the green of hole 17 claimed another of my drives, which kept me from getting the birdie that I would normally expect. My drive on hole 18 wasn’t as good as it was in round 1, but I still managed to sink the birdie putt from the edge of circle 1 for another birdie. I yanked the simple backhand drive into an early tree on hole 1, but scrambled for the par. Hole 2 was the normal “decent drive, easy approach, short putt” sequence that I expect on this hole. The last hole of the day was hole 3, where I overturned my backhand drive into the fairway of hole 18, but again managed to make the easy approach and putt for a par to end the round and the day. The final damage for round two was a +4 (58), rated at a miserable 872! The final total was a +2 (110) for the day, dropping me from 3rd at the end of the first round to 5th at the end of the second. Better than “Battle At The Hills”, but not much.

I’m not sure what the mental gymnastics are here, when I have a good round, followed by a bad round on the same layout of the same course. This has happened multiple times over the last few seasons. I would make more sense if the good round followed the bad round, as it would result from knowing what your mistakes were the first time and correcting them. Having a second round that is 70 rating points lower than your first round on the same day makes no logical sense to me. I wasn’t tired or fatigued. I wasn’t injured. My energy level was good and I was drinking plenty.

I’m thinking that, of all of the places where I would like to improve my game, this “second round mental letdown syndrome” is the one that I would like to address first. I need to do some research — and some soul-searching introspection — before my next outing.