Course: Bill and Payne Stewart Golf Course
Where: Springfield, MO
Date: May 19
Tees, Distance, and Rating/Slope: Blue, 3037, 33.9/108
What an adventurous day this was for me. Firstly, I was finally graduating with my associate’s degree from Ozarks Technical Community College. Next, I was going to be playing a Perry Maxwell golf course! Leading up to this day, the weather was looking perfect, 85* and 5-10 mph wind; well, as everybody knows, the weather is always unpredictable. As I was getting breakfast, the sky was dark and gloomy, and Springfield was in a severe thunderstorm warning. For the next couple of hours, it rained. I thought the potential for playing was gone, but luckily there was a two-hour window of sunshine, so I took advantage of it and got a quick 9 in.
Hole 1: Par 4, 322 yards
This is my kind of opening hole. Pretty open and a slight dogleg left. This was my first swing of the day, and it was actually a good one. I felt comfortable with the hole and just focused on making solid contact. I started it along the right center of the fairway and hit a perfect little cut. Until I arrived at the ball, I thought I drove the green. Although the image doesn’t show it, there is fairway leading up to the green. My second shot was a straightforward chip; I used my 54* and hit a really good shot to 4 feet. Although I had a short putt for birdie to start the day, it wasn’t the easiest. Like all Perry Maxwell greens, this green had a lot of subtle movement. I pulled the putt a bit and almost missed it, but thankfully I made it. Always great to start the day with a circle on the card!
Score: 3 (-1)
Hole 2: Par 5, 579 yards
After opening with a birdie, I was excited for this par 5. This is just a straightforward hole, and all I was thinking about on the tee was making birdie. I rushed the swing and hit a big flare out to the left. I wasn’t confident in myself yet, so I wanted to layup to a decent yardage. I chunked my 5-iron and left myself a lot more in than I had wanted. I hit a great 3/4 pitching wedge just right of the hole, but since it was slightly uphill, I wasn’t sure where it ended up. Once I got to the green, I was delighted with the result, pin-high 9 footer for birdie, let’s go. I hit the putt just how I wanted, but I didn’t realize that it was also downhill, and the putt had too much speed and lipped out. Easy tap in par.
Score: 5 (E)
Hole 3: Par 5, 484 yards
Okay, I didn’t make a birdie on the first par 5; here’s another opportunity on a reachable par 5. I made a great swing on the tee and hit a perfect cut to the middle of the fairway; it’s go time. I had 195 yards that played 199. During my entire preshot routine, all I thought about was making an eagle. The lack of focus on the shot in front of me showed, and I hit a horrible 5-iron. I lucked out and had an easy shot from 24 yards out of the rough. A good pitch shot left me with an 8-footer straight up the hill. I pushed the putt and never even gave it a chance. Another tap in par, but I feel like I let one go there.
Score: 5 (E)
Hole 4: Par 3, 160 yards
After hitting back-to-back chunky 5-irons, I was ecstatic to see that the tees were up on this hole. Unfortunately, it didn’t matter what club I had in my hand; I rushed this swing and chunked another one. I got lucky, and I had a pretty straightforward chip shot. I used my 54* again and hit a great chip to four feet. I had another straight putt up the hill, and I was focused on not pushing this putt. I hit a perfect putt and was thrilled to get up and down to save par.
Score: 3 (E)
Hole 5: Par 4, 415 yards
I felt more comfortable on the tee than I initially thought I might. Dogleg rights don’t fit my standard shot shape, but the trees were far enough away that I knew I could easily clear them and cut off part of the dogleg. I hit what I thought was a great drive, but I went through the fairway. I had 140 yards, which is typically a standard PW, but the ball was sitting up, and it being a back pin, I didn’t want this to jump and fly the green. I hit my 49*, and the ball just climbed the face. I had a relatively easy up and down, and I played a good shot with my 58*, but it didn’t react like I thought it would. I under-read my par putt and tapped in for bogey.
Score: 5 (+1)
Hole 6: Par 4, 342 yards
I continued to hit the driver well. Another perfect cut to the middle of the fairway. From 68 yards, I thought this would be a perfect 1/2 swing with the 54*. I hit the shot exactly how I wanted. It took one hop and stopped just like I wanted; the only downfall was it flew over the flag and ended up on the back of the green. I quickly read the putt and didn’t look too much into it. From 33 feet, my only goal was to hit it with good enough speed that I left myself with a tap in par. I saw the putt start on the line just where I wanted it and thought this might be pretty good. As it got within 5 feet, I began to think, “I made this,” and sure enough, it went right in the middle of the cup with perfect speed. This was a very unexpected birdie.
Score: 3 (-1)
Hole 7: Par 3, 120 yards
This is a par 3 that shows you don’t need length to make a good par 3. A ridge runs through the middle of this small green, so you need to be very accurate with your wedge/short iron here. I hit a solid 49*, but it landed in the middle of the ridge and spun back to the front of the green. I had 30 feet up the ridge, and I had the same mindset that I did on the last hole; get it close! I pulled the putt a bit, but I had good speed, and I was left with just 2 feet for par. I have a lot of confidence in my short putting, so I lined it up and knocked it in—another par.
Score: 3 (E)
Hole 8: Par 4, 370 yards
The driver let me down here (kinda). There was a lot of room left, so I aimed it down the right-center and expected another cut to the middle. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. I pulled this drive into the right trees, which is the one place you can’t miss on this hole, it turns out. I left myself with 70 yards under two thick low hanging trees. I tried to hit a punch 7 iron, but the shot was poorly executed, and I left myself with a 33-yard shot from the rough to a front pin. I took out my 58* and wanted to hit a high soft-landing pitch. I didn’t hit the best of shots and got lucky that it trickled onto the green. I had a 24-foot putt breaking from left to right, and I just lagged it to tap in range. Not the worst bogey I’ve ever made, but it’s still no fun.
Score: 5 (+1)
Hole 9: Par 3, 173 yards
Last hole, let’s finish strong. I was in between hitting a hard 8-iron or an easy 7-iron. I opted for the 7-iron. Looking back at it, I should have hit a more standard 7-iron towards the middle of the green. I hit a decent shot and came up short. A decent chip left me with 9 feet for par. My par putt was a downhill right to left (my least favorite breaking putt) putt. I picked out the spot and focused on hitting a solid putt. I hit it right where I wanted and watched it fall right into the heart of the cup. I gave a small fist pump because I was thrilled to finish with a par over a bogey.
Score: 3 (E)
Final Score: 35 (E)
Stats
(In the Decade app, I compare all of my strokes gained against D1 Men’s Top 25)
I was surprised to see that I lost .12 strokes off the tee. Losing 1.76 strokes on my approach was less surprising; I thought it would’ve been more. I’m delighted to see that I gained strokes around and on the green.
Handicap: After this 9 combined with another round of 35, my handicap jumped from a 1.3 to a 2.0. I’m hoping that I’ll be able to play more this summer, and I’ll see more consistency in my game resulting in a lower handicap.
Thoughts on the course
I thought the course was fantastic. The area has had a lot of moisture recently, but the course was still in fantastic shape. The tees and fairways are Bermuda, the rough and around the greens seemed to be bluegrass or ryegrass, and the greens, I believe, were bentgrass. The greens were terrific, you could see all of the signs of Perry Maxwell, and their speed was perfect. I wish I had enough time to play all 18, but I’m glad I got to play at least 9. I highly recommend checking this course out if you’re in the Springfield area.
Nice, man! Glad to see you crank this thing up! Looking forward to more of it.