I don’t know about you but for some time now the idea of shooting your age has become a goal for many people. You’re at the course and a friend points out another golfer and tells you that they shoot their age on a regular basis. At that point you begin to wonder if you will ever be able to shoot your age. The simple problem is you are not, nor have ever been a single digit handicap golfer. You’ve spent many years as a bogie golfer and at times have played well enough to perhaps be a 15 handicapper.

The challenge is as you age can you maintain enough of a game to eventually shoot your age. Not that one would expect to reach a point that it becomes a regular occurrence, but perhaps once. To quote Shakespeare’s Hamlet “Tis a consummation devoutly to be wished”. I am getting older and the state of my game is quite erratic but on June 15th in the year 2021, I shot my age.

It was a normal Tuesday for golf. I played with my regular group of friends, Brian and Herb and we were joined by our friend Randy. I usually get to the golf course 20 to 30 minutes before our tee time and I like to putt and get a feel for direction and speed of the greens. I rarely hit golf balls on the range and my first swing is usually on the first tee box.

The Round

The first hole at Discovery Bay Country Club is a par 5 with an island green. I hit a decent drive into the fairway. The second shot is usually just to get to about the 100 yard marker for a third shot approach to the two tiered green. My third shot landed on the green but on the wrong level and I three putted for a bogie. Not the way I wanted my round to start.

I then got a bogie on the par three second hole and the next three par fours until I finally got a par on hole number six. Of course on hole number seven, another par three, which is the number eighteen handicap hole, another bogie. However, I came to hole eight, a short par four and got a par. Hole number nine, which originally was the signature hole eighteen when the course first opened, can be more .difficult because your second shot is usually over water and mostly carry with a slope back into the water. After a good drive and good second shot I made another par, shooting a Forty-one on the front nine. I’m always happy with a forty-one on the front nine. Par is thirty-five.

The back nine is a par thirty-six with two par fives and two par threes. Hole ten is essentially a straight away par 5 with a sloped green from back to front. I started the back with a bogie. Moving to number eleven, a dog-leg left with water down the left hand side, I hit a good drive. My second shot landed on the green and I one putted for a birdie. Not a bad start. The equivalent of two pars. I then got bogies on the difficult par 4 twelfth and easy par 4 thirteenth.

On hole fourteen, a par three, of about a hundred-forty-five yards I put my drive on the green and two putted for par. Hole fifteen should be an easy, straight away par five but usually causes me trouble. However, on this day I managed another par. An omen of something to come? Perhaps, because I then got a par on hole sixteen, the number one handicap hole. In fact I also got pars on seventeen and eighteen. Five pars in a row. My score on the back nine was a two over par thirty-eight. A grand total of SEVENTY-NINE, my age.

There were a couple of great things about this round, I did it with my friends and they were as happy for me as I was.

Since that day I’ve come close with an eighty-one but who knows if I’ll ever shoot my age again. One can only hope.