October 8 is circled on the calendar. It's been circled since January, but now it feels real. Eight weeks. Fifty-six days. Enough time to get the game in shape, and not so much that you can afford to waste any of it.
The trip is Streamsong Resort — three courses on a reclaimed phosphate mine in Bowling Green, Florida, halfway between Tampa and Orlando. If you've been reading this site for a while, you know I already wrote about the architecture in detail — why Coore & Crenshaw got the high ridges, why Doak got the open ground, why Hanse got the woods. That was the architecture nerd's post. This one is the golfer's post.
Because this trip isn't just about the courses. It's the 10th anniversary of HSC — Hook, Slice, Chunk Golf Club — the group of guys I've been playing golf with for a decade. Ten years of annual trips, trash talk, improbable bets, and the slow, shared improvement that happens when the same people golf together long enough. Year 10. Streamsong bound.
What HSC Means
Most golf groups don't last a decade. People move. Schedules change. The annual trip gets skipped once, then twice, then nobody mentions it anymore. HSC has held. Not because we're organized — we're spectacularly not — but because the trip became non-negotiable. Same week in October. Same commitment. You show up or you hear about it for the next twelve months.
The handicap range in this group spans from scratch to 20+. That's the beauty of it. Nobody cares about the differential. We care about the moments — the 30-foot par putt that breaks three ways, the drive that finds the one bunker you couldn't reach with a map, the eagle that gets bought a round at the bar. The annual trip is the annual trip. You show up, you play 54 holes in two days, you tell the same stories at dinner that you told last year, and you add new ones.
Year 10 is the anniversary. Streamsong felt right — we've been before, and it's the kind of place that warrants a return. Three world-class courses on one property. You can walk all of them. The caddie program is legit. And the setting — a phosphate mine turned into dunes — means the terrain is unlike anything else in Florida. It's a place that earns repeat visits because the courses reveal themselves slowly. The first time you play Streamsong Red, you're overwhelmed by the ridges. The second time, you start to see the angles. The third time, you understand what Coore was doing.
Streamsong Red (#21), Blue (#22), and Black (#24) — three courses in the top 25 on the Ball Wall, all on one property. The only other American resort with that kind of concentration is Bandon Dunes. When you play all three in two days, you're not just playing golf — you're attending a three-course seminar on design philosophy.
Where the Game Is Right Now
I'm at 4.8 handicap. That's the lowest I've been, and it's coming off the best round of my life — even par 71 at Patterson on August 7, with 15 of 18 greens in regulation and three consecutive birdies on 13, 14, and 15. The ball striking is real. The approach SG was +4.6. That's not a hot putter round. That's the irons finally doing what Broadie's data says they should do: approach shots are where tournaments are won.
But I'm not fooling myself. Patterson is not Streamsong. Patterson is Robert Trent Jones Sr. — generous fairways, readable green complexes, a course I've played enough to know where to miss. Streamsong is three different architects testing three different philosophies on terrain I haven't seen enough times to read. The Red's green complexes will punish the miss. The Blue's ground game will fool you. The Black's contours will move your ball in directions you didn't anticipate. Eight weeks of good form at home does not translate to 54 holes on an unfamiliar mine.
So what am I working on? Two things.
Putting Setup
The most recent lesson with Dave Theise (August 3) was about putting — specifically, that my inconsistent misses weren't a stroke problem. They were a setup problem. Eyes over the ball. Handle through impact. The hockey analogy: the putter shaft leans forward at impact the same way a hockey stick does when you're shooting. Get the setup right and the stroke takes care of itself. I've been doing putting mirror work every day since, and the misses are tightening. On Streamsong's greens — which are large, contoured, and fast — a consistent setup is the difference between a two-putt and a three-putt. On all three courses, three-putts will eat you alive.
Approach Shot Dispersion
The Patterson round proved the approach shots are there. But Broadie's Every Shot Counts makes the point that matters for Streamsong: it's not about hitting perfect shots. It's about dispersion management. At Streamsong, the fairways are wide enough that finding them isn't the problem. The question is what you do from the fairway — the 125-to-175-yard approach that Broadie identifies as the single biggest scoring separator. On courses with green complexes like these, aiming at the pin is the wrong play. You aim at the center of the green and let the dispersion pattern work for you. If your shot pattern is 20 yards wide, you aim at the safe side of the green and accept that half your shots will finish on the pin side and half will finish safe. That's the approach that turns a 5-handicap into a 3-handicap.
The goal is not to hit perfect shots. The goal is to make your worst shots good enough. Mark Broadie, Every Shot Counts
The 54-Hole Plan
The schedule is 54 holes over two days. Red, Blue, Black — all three, no repeats. Here's what I'm thinking about each one.
Streamsong Red — Coore & Crenshaw
The Red is the course I'm most excited about and most afraid of. Coore & Crenshaw's greens sit on ridgelines and fall away on the sides. Miss the green and you're chipping up a bank with the pin invisible. The bunkering is naturalistic — irregular, sprawling, grass-faced. The fairways are wide, but the angles matter. This is the course that asks the most strategic questions: not "can you hit the shot" but "do you know which shot to hit." For a 4.8 who's been working on approach dispersion, this is the exam.
Streamsong Blue — Tom Doak
The Blue is the most fun of the three — and the most walkable. Doak's contrarian streak shows in holes that look impossible and play easy, and holes that look easy and aren't. The 17th is the famous par-3 almost entirely surrounded by sand. But the real pleasure is the routing — the way Doak moves you through the landscape, always revealing a new vista. This is the course where I expect to post the lowest score. The fairways are generous, the ground game is alive, and if the approach shots are working, birdies are out there.
Streamsong Black — Gil Hanse
The Black is the course that most rewards local knowledge — which means it's the course that will frustrate us most on a first (or second) visit. Hanse's greens are the most boldly contoured. The putting surfaces are smaller. The course feels tighter, more enclosed. Water comes into play. The Black will expose whatever weakness the first 36 holes haven't already found. If the putting setup work with Dave holds up under pressure, this is where it gets tested.
What the Next Eight Weeks Look Like
Between now and October 8, the plan is simple:
- Putting mirror work — daily. Eyes over the ball, handle through impact. The setup, not the stroke. Twenty minutes a day minimum.
- Approach practice from 125-175 yards — twice a week. Not at the range. On the course, with real targets and real consequences. Track the dispersion pattern. Know where the misses go.
- A round at Patterson every weekend. Keep the ball striking sharp. The 15/18 GIR round wasn't a fluke — it was the product of months of work. Don't lose it.
- One lesson with Dave before the trip. Not a swing overhaul. A tune-up. Make sure the path isn't drifting over-the-top, make sure the towel drill is still doing its job.
- Walk every round. Streamsong is a walking resort. The legs need to be ready for 54 holes in two days on dramatic terrain. No carts at home for the next eight weeks.
Why This Trip Is Different
I've been on plenty of golf trips. This one is different because of the convergence: the best form of my life, the most important golf group I've been part of, and the most architecturally significant destination I can drive to in four hours. Ten years of HSC. Three architects on one property. 54 holes. A 4.8 handicap that's been dropping all summer.
The Birdie Tracker is at 20 of 100. I'd like to add a few at Streamsong. Coore's greens are large enough that if the approach shots are finding the right tier, birdie putts will be there. The key — as always, as Broadie says, as Dave keeps telling me — is not the putter. It's getting the approach close enough that the putter doesn't have to be perfect.
Eight weeks. The calendar says October 8. The range says today.