December 31, 2009 By Tinou Bao
Started off with a par but the rest of the day was blah. Definitely did not break 100. Part of the problem was I was playing with this couple who were absolute beginners. They didn’t know golf etiquette like who’s away or not stepping in your putting line. Took so many mulligans. Made concentrating/focusing that much more difficult. The bigger problem was I just wasn’t hitting the ball that well.
I couldn’t end 2009 with a bad round so I decided to play Indian Wells Celebrity Course today. Golfweek rates Indian Wells very highly on their “Best Courses You Can Play“. The Players Course is #10 and the Celebrity Course is #14 (California rankings). Picked Celebrity because the discount was bigger. As soon as I drove into the resort I knew I would have a good round despite my lower back cramping up. The clubhouse was great, the locker room was first class, staff was very friendly. After checking in I headed to the driving range. If there was one thing I didn’t like about Indian Wells it was the driving range. Has this weird mound running across. But the practice putting greens was awesome.
Things started off pretty bad, triple bogey. But I bounced back with a bogey on the 2nd then GIR and 2-putted the 3rd for par. Made mental mistakes on the 4th and 5th holes for doubles. But then I went bogey, par, bogey, par. 46 out. Not on pace to break 90, but felt like I was playing really well, felt like I could par every hole.
Back nine started out great. GIR, 2-putted for par. Not sure what happened on the 10th, carded a triple. But the one thing I’ve learned over the past few rounds is you can’t let a bad hole ruin the rest of your round. Then I went on a good stretch: bogey, par, bogey, bogey, par, double, bogey for a 45 in. Had my only 3-putt of the day for that double.
Course was in good condition and I really like the layout. No houses line the fairways so you can really go for it without worrying about breaking windows. Undulating greens were fast but not too fast so very playable. Really like the greens, thought they were more interesting than the Stadium Course. Frankly, even though TPC Stadium is more famous and has more name appeal I prefer the Celebrity Course. If I were to play again I’d play Celebrity over Stadium.
Great end to 2009. Top priority for 2010 is to get my chips about 3-4 feet closer. Right now it’s chip, 2-putt. I need to get it about 3-4 feet closer on the chips so that I can have a better chance at 1-putting. That brings the bogeys down to pars, doubles to bogey, etc.