I AM PLEASED to report that I have seen quite a dramatic improvement in my game – but disaster always lurks just around the corner.

I recently played the best round of my life so far, making the best score I have ever achieved, but I still walked away wondering what might have happened had I not endured another run of terrible holes.

A brilliant wedge to about three feet set up a par at the opening hole and things got even better as I holed out for birdie from 25 feet on the second green.

That was the first of many new achievements for me on the day. Never before had I been under par at any point in a round. Another par followed at the fourth, while I made it two birdies in a round for the first time on the seventh hole, a brilliant nine-iron setting up a three-foot putt.

I went on to make par at the ninth and when I totted up the score I was amazed to find that I had played the first half of the course in just 39 blows, four-over-par.

Bogeys at 10 and 11, followed by a par at 12, meant I was just six-over-par at that stage and had already tied up the match against my brother-in-law, Steve, winning by the incredible margin of 7&6.

However, disaster duly arrived on the unlucky 13th hole, a long par-four.

I hit a three-wood into the trees but was only about 60 yards from the green in three and fancied my chances of saving double bogey. I drastically over-hit my pitch, finding an awful lie that resulted in two duffed chips and a score of nine. I then struck the branch of a tree from the next tee, the ball rebounding into a ditch, and I did well to make double bogey.

The worst was still to come though as I hacked my way down the 15th with a succession of duffs and slices before three-putting to make 11.

After a bogey at 16, I worked out I needed to get a birdie and a par on the last two par-three holes in order to break 90. A great tee-shot on 17 resulted in a tap-in par, meaning I needed a birdie at the last.

My tee shot was straight down the flag but came up 10 feet short and I was distraught to see my putt lip out, meaning a par.

Fortunately, when Steve added up the scores he discovered a miscalculation and I had actually shot 89. Talk about a rollercoaster of emotions!

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