I Started Par, Birdie, Birdie, Birdie, Birdie... What Happened After Gave Me One Or Two Sleepless Nights

Jeremy Ellwood.

I’ve written before about three ‘golfing firsts’ I achieved last year including my dream start at Hindhead Golf Club in Surrey, where I found myself four-under standing on the 6^th tee.

By the end, sadly, I was four over par, and I think many golfers will understand why this inability to finish the job off caused me just a little soul-searching and late-night ruminating.

I write this a few days after Shane Lowry’s Cognizant Classic capitulation from a commanding position (his second such loss in 2026), which prompted the dreaded ‘c’ word (rhymes with Scott Hoch) to start doing the rounds on social media.

Shane Lowry imploded with one hand on the trophy in February's Cognizant Classic (Image credit: Getty Images)

To set the scene, my handicap index is 7. I've never been particularly great at the game but I've mostly been okay despite the kind of swing that many have been unable to resist passing comment on over the years.

In spite of the dodgy aesthetics and mechanics, I have been able to maintain a handicap somewhere between 4 and 7 for a quarter of a century or more.

THE ROUND IN QUESTION

I know the last thing any golfer wants is a blow-by-blow account of someone else’s round, but I don’t think there’s any other way to do this. I will, however, try to keep it as brief as possible for all our sakes...

That dream start... (Image credit: Jeremy Ellwood)

1^st – par 4, 413 yards
Going into that round, there was nothing in the form book to suggest a strong performance might be on the cards. But playing off the ‘navy’ tees (Slope 125; Course Rating 71.3) a nice drive and 8-iron into the 1^st was an encouraging start, and par was secured despite a woeful first putt that I left 7ft short.
Level

2^nd – par 5, 456 yards
Another good drive brought the green into range. Hooked a hybrid towards the trees and played a provisional, but found my first ball, hit an average pitch to the fringe, then holed a curling 20-footer for an unlikely birdie.
1-under

3^rd – par 3, 189 yards
Blocked a 4-iron 15 yards right up a steep bank but it somehow bounced down onto the green to about 6ft. Holed it for birdie.
2-under

A lucky bounce off the right-hand bank on the 3rd yielded a second birdie of the day (Image credit: Jeremy Ellwood)

4^th – par 5, 535 yards
Played in fairly textbook fashion. Long chip-and-run third to about 6ft again and holed it for birdie.
3-under

5^th – par 4, 383 yards
Hit 3-wood for safety but popped it up a bit, leaving a long approach. Hit 4-iron to about 6ft and holed it for birdie.
4-under

6^th – par 3, 156 yards
Slightly short-right off the tee. Chipped to about 12ft. Putt shaved the edge but didn’t drop.
3-under

7^th – par 4, 411 yards
Found green with a good approach but a touch long, leaving an awkward downhill putt. Trundled it down to about 5ft and holed it.
3-under

8^th – par 3, 196 yards
Front-left bunker off the tee. Reasonable longish bunker shot to about 15ft and holed it for par.
3-under

9^th – par 4, 415 yards
Underclubbed uphill into the green and found a tough lie in the front-right bunker. Got it out onto the fringe, then chipped to about 6ft and holed it for bogey.
2-under

I had to scramble hard for bogey from the front-right bunker on the 9th to turn at 2-under (Image credit: Hindhead Golf Club)

10^th – par 3, 173 yards
Found green but a long way short. Left first putt 12ft short but holed it for par.
2-under

11^th – par 4, 430 yards
8-iron approach flew miles and went just off the back edge. Putted it up to 6ft from about 80ft and missed it.
1-under

13^th – par 4, 420 yards
Decent-looking approach bounced the wrong way into the left-hand trap. Good bunker shot to about 6ft but missed it.
Level

14^th – par 4, 386 yards
Poor drive low and right, then clipped the top of a bank attempting a long pitch-and-run under the branches to leave a near-impossible shot. Played it well but couldn’t stop it from running over the back. Very difficult chip, which I got to about 12ft and holed for bogey.
1-over

15^th – par 3, 124 yards
Badly short-sided in right-hand trap. Played a career bunker shot with no green to work with and holed it from about 7ft for par.
1-over

16^th – par 5, 505 yards
Missed green left with a conservative wedge to take the hedge and road out of play on the right. Chipped to 5ft from a good lie pin-high and holed it for par.
1-over

17^th – par 4, 406 yards
Good drive, then deliberated between 8- and 9-iron for the approach. Went for the 9-iron as I’d gone long a few times and hit it fat. Long chip-and-run to about 20ft but couldn’t hole the putt.
2-over

18^th – par 4, 441 yards
Awkward drive for a fader and overdid it a bit down the left leaving me in the heather. Hybrid came out dead, then mishit a long chip-and-run leaving me about 35ft short. Poor first putt left me 5ft away. Missed it.
4-over

PUTTING IT IN PERSPECTIVE

On the face of it, I’d blown up with a really good score in sight and hadn’t been able to get the job done. But despite being a little disappointed, I was fairly quickly able to rationalise it quite philosophically for several reasons...

1) I’d have snapped your hand off for 4-over before we teed off.

2) It was still comfortably the best score differential on my handicap record at 2.4.

3) I had ridden my luck a little on the 2^nd and 3^rd holes and come away with birdies.

4) Apart from the final green, I had putted exceptionally well and undoubtedly saved myself many shots that would have been dropped on even just an average putting day.

5) I didn’t play particularly well on the back nine, which could easily have been a lot worse.

POST-ROUND REFLECTIONS

That said, it did of course sting a bit and I did mull things over in my mind for a couple of nights before choosing to focus firmly on the positives.

Ultimately, while ‘accident waiting to happen’ would be a slightly harsh self-analysis of my swing, I accept that when the mechanics are not great, it’s far more likely that things are going to unravel when you’re trying hard to get back to the clubhouse with a score intact.

Did I choke? Possibly, although to counter that, there were some distractions and delays on 17 while another group was searching for a ball, which may just have thrown any routine I’d got going. And a 441-yard slight dogleg-left, into whatever wind there was, was always going to make 18 a tough par for an ageing fader.

I thought about how Nick Faldo worked tirelessly to radically remodel his swing with David Leadbetter in the 1980s because, although already a strong performer on the European circuit by then, he knew that the swing he had was never going to stand up to the intense scrutiny of a pressure-packed back nine in a Major.

Nick Faldo worked tirelessly with David Leadbetter so his swing would stand up better to pressure (Image credit: Getty Images)

I, on the other hand, have never attempted to spend hours and hours and hours seeking ways to make my swing more reliable and repeatable under whatever pressure I may be feeling at my significantly lower skill level.

Until I do (probably unlikely now), I think I should just accept that the last few holes with a good score going are always going to prove tough... and hope that next time it happens, the closing hole is a wide-open 280-yard par 4 with absolutely zero trouble.

At least it shows that the game still means something to me...