At 9:20 Bryce hit his opening tee shot off the 10th tee at the Bayonet Golf Club in Monterey, California. A two putt birdie on the first hole was followed by text book pars on the following 5 holes. We missed our first green of the day on our 7th hole (hole 16) but that did not stop Bryce from making a birdie. His chip chased up the ridge and dropped straight to the bottom of the cup. Another birdie on our 9th hole of the day and we were headed for the front nine standing at 3 under par.
It looked as though as we might get to 4 under after we hit the par 5 1st hole in 2 shots, but a three putt par put a pause on our charge. Bryce had to rely again on his short game as we saved par on the following 2 holes after missing the greens with our approach shots. A couple more pars had us confident we could make a charge on the last 4 holes. A bogey on our 15th hole followed by a drive that hooked left put us in need of something special. And thats when it happened, Bryce again executed when he needed. A 5 iron from 210 yards that hooked 30 yards and chased around a green side bunker helped us to avoid two straight bogeys. Three well placed shots left Bryce a tap-in birdie on the next hole, a 618 yard par 5. A closing bogey kept us from sneaking into the 60's for the first time this week, but round 3 had moments of greatness and we looked to build on that with the 9 holes we had left to play.
Bryce and I snacked on PB&J sandwiches during our 20 minute break and then it was right back to the 10th tee for the start of round 4. Another 2 putt birdie on hole 10 made it three straight to end the week. Bryce tapped in a birdie from 5 feet just two holes later to get him 2 under through 3 holes. It looked as if Bryce would make it 2 straight birdies but his ball stopped half a roll short of the cup. Putts over 15 feet have fooled us all week, its been a struggle to match line and speed to find the bottom of the cup. Our cold streak ended on the very next hole as Bryce poured in a 30 foot birdie putt to move to 3 under through 5 holes in the 4th round. Bogeys on the next two holes slowed us down, but we came right back with a closing birdie as darkness set in.
Today was a marathon on the course and Bryce was so close to piecing together something very special. Tomorrow's 9 holes have the possibility of being that something special. Anything can happen when weather moves in, we saw a few putts drop this evening and we will carry that confidence with us on the final 9 holes. We rented a couple pool towels for the morning and I am about to go test the umbrella in the shower. Bring on the rain, birdies, and cold weather... here come the Minnesotans.
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