My First Golf Round in the 80s

And no, I'm not talking about the decade of the 1980s.
This post is about the first time I have ever played a round of golf and finished with a score in the 80s.

Yes, it's a big deal for me, since I'd never been lower than 92 before that.

Wearing my lucky golf hat and one of my favorite golf shirts

Here's the story.

My roommate Yale and I set a tee time at the East Potomac Park course, which is on Hains Point right by the Jefferson Memorial. The course is straight-forward, generally pretty forgiving of miss-hits, and quite flat. All good factors for being able to shoot low.

We were put in with two nice guys about our age, and that's always helpful when you can have relaxed, casual conversation throughout the round. I don't mind being put with older guys, as long as they're friendly and we can all shoot the breeze in between shots or while waiting on the tee box.

Anyway, the weather was great, and we got underway. I started doing a hole-by-hole recap, but that was getting quite boring, so I'll just do a quick recap of the whole round.

My big objectives were to play within my ability, improve my putting, and stay relaxed. Course management is and needs to remain key for me, since I'm not a long-ball hitter. No risk-reward golf, because the risk is far too great and my recovery shots are not consistent enough.

Here's how the round went:

My scorecard

For the most part, I stuck to my objectives and it paid off. Instead of using my driver every chance I could, I often pulled out the 3-wood or 4-hybrid. Taking yardage off the tee was a fine exchange for improved accuracy and hitting more fairways than usual. Plus, I wasn't tempted to swing for the fences, which just leads to all kinds of issues in my game.

My putting was fairly solid, except for a little shakiness as I started the back nine. I'm chalking that up to low blood sugar, as I hadn't eaten anything in a bit. My trail mix kicked in after a couple holes, and I was able to settle down and putt consistently again.

Yale and our playing companions remarked several times that my playing style was "boring but extremely effective", and I definitely took that as a compliment. If I'm boring to watch, but my scores stay low, then I'll take a round like that any day.

Can't wait to get back out and see if I can keep this low scoring going!