Three on the Back: 75 at Patterson in the Bluebird League
75. Three birdies on the back nine. 36 on the back. 32 putts. And finally — finally — birdied 18.
Bluebird League night at The Patterson Club. The Friday summer league where the best six rounds count toward the cup. This was the third counting round of the season, and the best one yet.
The back nine run
Three birdies in the closing stretch: 15, 16, and 18. Hole 15. Hole 16. Hole 18 — the one that had never fallen.
Hole 18 at Patterson is a par 5, the closing hole, the one everyone walks off toward the bar. It had been birdied on this card zero times before July 10. The tracker just says: "Finally birdied 18."
Sometimes that's the whole story. The hole you've been chasing all season, the one that always seemed to have your number, and then it doesn't. Not because you did anything dramatically different — but because the putts finally fell. All of them. 32 putts on the day.
The birdie tracker
The 2026 goal is 100 birdies. After this round, the count stands at 14 through 9 rounds — 1.6 per round, still behind the 2-3 target, but trending in the right direction. Three birdies in a single round is the best burst of the season.
What's notable is where they're coming. The first birdies of the year were on par 4s — the scoring holes where a big drive and a wedge give you a look. But the last two rounds have produced birdies on par 3s, which had been completely barren. The irons are dialed.
And now hole 18 — a par 5 — is on the board. The birdie holes are spreading across the course. Eight different holes at Patterson have been birdied now: 1, 5, 7, 12, 14, 15, 16, and 18. The game is getting wider.
The lesson underneath
The most recent lesson with Dave Theise at GolfTec Westport was June 29 — eleven days before this round. The focus: getting the club deeper at the top of the backswing. From that deeper position, the hand path can move slightly more out toward the ball for irons (the "Matt Fitzpatrick" shallowing feel) and more down for driver.
The progression across three lessons has been a single thread: June 1 was hand path lowering in the downswing. June 15 was maintaining depth in the backswing. June 29 was getting even deeper at the top. Each lesson built on the one before.
Eleven days after that latest session, three back-nine birdies. The work is translating.
The scorecard
75. Back nine 36. Three birdies (15, 16, 18). 32 putts. Bluebird League round three in the books.
The front nine could have been better. The back nine made up for it. When you birdie 15, 16, and 18 on a Friday night in the league, that's the kind of closing stretch that changes how the week feels.
3 birdies toward 100
The counter moves. Fourteen total. Three on the back nine of one round. Hole 18, finally. The par 5s are open for business now.