A huge milestone achieved - I broke the invisible forcefield in golf that is 80 (strokes).
Albeit only by one but a) this is still a big day in the journey and b) I took a double and triple bogey on the round thanks to some questionable bunker conditions. If I had 'just' bogeyed these holes I'd be writing about a 76....My-o-My, there's a thought.
So, the critique and today's life lesson. Yes the bunkers were below par (forgive the awful pun) - a smattering of granular sand hiding a rock hard base that had the wedge bouncing like a skipping stone. That said it occurred to me that even the best bunkers are going to cause me issues and here's why. I generally manage to avoid the sand traps which whilst great in the short term arguably leads to a similar effect as gimme-syndrome (BLOG#8) - the notion that by avoiding shots through either a gimme or by simply not regularly experiencing the challenge skill fade will occur ergo confidence drops and the spiral effect from success to nightmare comes crashing down. In this case a 7 on the 10th (Par 4) after being green-side (sand) in 2!
If you find an everyday challenge that could be skirted perhaps ask yourself; "when was the last time I did that?". If you can't remember maybe have a go as bragging about rarely having to had to face something (bunkers for me) sounds great in the bar but will cause you to trip when it matters.
The 76 is out there, sand or no sand. That's the next goal.
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