Par King (Lincolnshire, IL) - Black Course

May 30, 2010, early evening

The Black Course at Par King has been a real mixed bag for me, as the one I've played much more often (nine times compared to five on the Red) and had both my greatest successes and also my greatest failures.  I first broke par here, and had my first (and so far last) sub-40 round here, but I also had my worst ever round at Par King here, with a 51 in September of 2006.  This one, my first Par King trip in nearly two years after not going at all in 2009, was my second-worst in 14 total starts.  I noted that, since 2008, there had been some changes - the second hole, formerly "Hearts," was now "Tiki Love," complete with an elevator and funnel system.  More importantly, many of the holes had had their carpet altered or replaced.  Whether this contributed or not to my poor showing, I don't know, but let's just say it did, shall we?  I opened auspiciously enough with a birdie at the first hole, but missed a mid-range par putt at #2 to drop back to even.  (This would be a running theme.)  At #3, the Old Mill, I found the water, which I had only done twice before, and ended up with a triple-bogey 5 - Alma aced it to take a two-shot lead.  I parred the next two holes but got stuck on the lower level of #6's green and settled for bogey.  Though I made this up with an ace at the roller coaster hole (#7), I dropped another shot thanks to a missed mid-range putt at #8, making the turn at +3.  Four straight pars from #9-#12 (including my old nemesis the Jack-o-Lantern, the design of which appears to have been altered to minimize the issue I always had with it, which is that the ramp into the pumpkin's mouth was too steep and hard to hit into) made things look brighter, but that was where it all stopped.  I missed medium-length par putts at #13, #14, #15 and #17, and just missed a hole-in-one at #16 for good measure, settling for par.  The icing on the cake was a 5 at the roulette wheel, pushing me all the way to +6 on the back nine and a total of 50 for the round.  Though she started shakily on the back nine, Alma came in stronger, parring #14, #15 and #17 while I was bogeying them, and acing the roulette wheel to finish with 53.

June 21, 2008, evening

It had been a beautiful day, probably the nicest one of the year so far, so I felt compelled to make a mini golf run.  By the time we got on the course, though, it was already well after 8, and this ended up coming back to haunt me in the later holes.  I matched my best start with a 19 on the opening nine - after gagging a birdie putt on the opening hole and settling for par, I aced the second, then made par 2 at #3 and #4.  The fifth hole has a small hole in the middle of the course which leads to a tunnel that funnels the ball right to the cup; I laid up in hopes of getting an easy 2, but the ball rolled past the cup and I had to settle for par 3.  I bogeyed #6 but came right back with a birdie at #7, then moved to two-under par with an ace at #9.  I moved to three-under with a birdie at #12, but fell all the way back to par with a bogey at #13 when I pulled the par putt left (thanks in part to the encroaching darkness) and a double-bogey at #14 when I pulled the par putt left a second time and then overcompensated on the way back, missing just right of the hole with the bogey putt.   I scraped out pars on the next three holes, going into the roulette wheel with a chance to break par if I could get anything below a 3... as it turned out, I was stuck with a seven, the worst possible score.  Thanks to my yips at #13 and #14, I had pretty much already blown my chance at my best score ever, but I could have broken 40, and instead I ended up four over.  Alma went 26 out and 26 in for a "good" (according to the scorecard) 52.

June 14, 2008, afternoon

My first time back on the Black Course following my first sub-40 Par King round did not go nearly as well, and Alma had comparable struggles.  There were really only two bad holes for me on the whole course, but that was enough.  On the way out I shot a respectable 22, one-over, making all pars except a double-bogey at #3 and a birdie on #7, the rollercoaster hole.  Alma had problems from the word go, making some degree of bogey on eight of the first nine holes.  I was steady through most of the second nine, but my scores of 3 at #11 and #13 were both bogeys, and I had all kinds of trouble at #17, eventually carding a 5.  (I also caught a lucky break at #12, my old nemesis the Jack-o-Lantern, failing to get the ball into the pumpkin the first two times - but on the third try, it rolled in to save par 3.)  A par 3 on the roulette wheel couldn't save me from a +6 47, although it wasn't my worst Black Course score (that dishonor belonging to my 51 on 9/4/06).  Alma played better on the way in, putting up her only birdie of the day at #12 and making only one score over 3 aside from the roulette wheel.

May 19, 2007, afternoon

Heading back to Lake County, I convinced Alma to make the first Par King trip of the year.  It turned out to be a pretty good decision, as both of us played really well.  I felt like I could have done even better, as there were a handful of places where I left second putts just short and had to settle for threes, but I can't really complain since we both put up our best Par King scores ever - we tend to be put on the Black Course more often than not, so you could argue that we're getting pretty darn used to it.  I made par on the way out - after bogeying #4 when I left the second shot short, I came back with a perfect drive at the fifth to set up a birdie.  I went bogey-birdie again at #6 and #7; Alma aced #9 just after I hit the hole but had the ball bounce away, and made the turn in 24.  I aced "Satellite," the tenth, which has now been holed out by someone in five of six tries.  I gave the shot back with a tough bogey at #11, but birdied my old nemesis, the "Jack-o-Lantern" hole at #12.  Alma did me one better by acing it, then parred #13 while I took bogey as my tee shot ended farther from the hole than I would have liked (to say nothing of the pine needles littering the green).  After two more pars, Alma tied the record with her third ace of the day at #16, pulling within one of both me and par.  She found the water on #17, though, and had to settle for five thanks to Par King's draconian drop rules.  At the roulette wheel 18th, luck favored me, as I took 1 and Alma 4.  The eagle on #18 gave me a score of 18 for the back nine and 39 total, my first sub-40 round at Par King.  Alma's 46 was her best round ever as well.

September 4, 2006, afternoon

The Black course at Par King had been the site of some of my prouder accomplishments - I carded 17 on the back nine on my first attempt, dropped in three holes in one in my previous attempt, and finally broke par at Par King there in May.  This time out wasn't very good, though - although it wasn't so bad until the last hole.  I started off up-and-down, taking fours at #1, #5, and #6, but I put up twos on five of the other six holes.  Only one of those was a birdie, though, so I went out in 25, my worst since I took 26 in my first attempt.  My back nine was not going to be as good as the rebound 17 I had that time, though.  As in July, I birdied my former arch-nemesis, the Jack-o-Lantern at #12, but gave the shot back by bogeying Mt. Rushmore.  I proceeded to bogey three of the next four holes as well, including hitting into the water on #17.  Meanwhile, Alma, who was three shots back at the turn, had crept up on me - she matched me shot for shot for four holes, then traded shots at 14 and 15, and then picked up two shots as she parred 16 and 17.  Suddenly I stepped up to the 18th, the annoying roulette wheel, with just a one-shot lead - and proceeded to end up with a six.  Alma got a 3 and earned her first win - nice work, baby!  I was understandably irritated by my 51, though - in seven previous trips to Par King I had never shot worse than 45 (I would have done worse than that unless I'd ended up with a zero on the 18th, but even so).

July 22, 2006, late morning

Alma and I began our mini golf odyssey here, and we hoped to make up some time; as it turned out, it took both of us just half an hour to complete the Black course.  No doubt it helped that I made par and Alma had her lowest total score ever (50).  My putting let me down a little bit on the front nine, as I took 4s at the second and the seventh; my score of 22 was the worst on the Black course since the first time I played it and took 26.  However, I did manage to record three holes-in-one, at 3, 8, and 9.  I stepped up to ten, the "Satellite" hole, knowing that I had never failed to make a hole-in-one there in three previous attempts; I think I psyched myself out, though, and the ball ended up an inch away from the hole.  I was forced to tap in for two; Alma, hitting next, did knock in an ace.  So at least the trend continued of one person always getting an ace at that hole.  Alma also aced #3, the "Old Mill," which has a hole-in-one track that's pretty easy to hit as long as you can hit a ball straight, so we combined for five aces, which I believe ties the record set at Congo River in Kenosha last week.  One-over entering the back nine, I thankfully mastered the Jack-o-Lantern at #12, making birdie 2, but gave the shot back at the next hole, Mt. Rushmore.  Entering the roulette wheel at one-over, I dropped in for two and managed to make par for just the second time.  Alma took a six on the last hole, which means she really played significantly better than her final score indicates - which is true, and all the more impressive since it was her best score up to that point even with the six.  Combine that with her bad luck having balls just lip off the edge of the hole that would have saved pars at 14, 15, 16, and 17, and you have to say this was a great round for her, if perhaps a little disappointing in retrospect, score-wise.

May 6, 2006, evening

I had pictured my battle to get par at Par King as something of an epic struggle, but as it turned out, I was able to do it in just my sixth attempt, which doesn't seem that bad at all.  I didn't set the course alight like my first try, with the 17 on the back nine, but I was very, very steady, which ended up being the best thing that could have happened (as opposed to 26 out, 17 in, say).  I carded a 2-under 19 on the front nine with eight scores of 2, including birdies at 1, 5, and 7.  Things started well on the back nine as I aced "Satellite," the tenth hole - aside from the par-one funnel hole on the kiddie course at Cracker Jax in Scottsdale, I'm not sure I've ever played an easier hole to ace.  In fact, in three tries, I have three holes-in-one!  The jack-o-lantern at 12 got me again, though.  Just like last time, the first shot clanged, the second was too short, and the third clanged again.   Mercifully, the fourth went down the correct side, and my putting was excellent all day so I was able to save five.  Needing to do no worse than par over the final six holes to finish sub-41, I did just that, notching five straight 2s and managing a 3 at the roulette wheel to come in at 21 - one over for the back nine, but the 40 total was one under for the round.  And just like that, par at Par King was no longer just a dream.   It's still just "very good" on the scorecard, however.  The next goal - 36 or better, to be a "Par King Pro."  I think I could do it.

July 8, 2005, evening

More acclimated to the layout of the Black course this time out, I started out quite well, recording two birdies and a bogey on the front nine to go out in 20, six shots better than my first attempt.  Another hole-in-one at the tenth put me two-under, but the wheels came off at the par-three 12th hole, the same one that ate my ball the last time out.  For some reason, I was struggling with my "drives" all day - I couldn't seem to figure out what I was doing wrong, I just knew that for some reason the putter was coming up too much, resulting in shots that were too short and on occasion actually were lofted into the air.  I managed to avoid having this become a problem on the front nine (the hole-in-one track on #3 provided a major bailout when I hit the first shot embarrassingly short but was able to tap the second down the track for a par), but at #12 it caught up with me.  The first shot clanged off the roof of the entrance to the hole.  The second, which I attempted to hit without lofting it, didn't loft, but it wasn't hard enough and rolled back out.  The third repeated the first.  Finally, the fourth shot went in, but it funneled down the wrong way, rolling to a point from where I didn't even have a straight shot.  My attempt at a carom was woeful, and I failed even to earn a legitimate six.  From there it was par the rest of the way until bogeys at the last two holes finally ended my dream of breaking par for the first time at Par King - a 1 on the roulette hole, as I'd gotten twice before, would have let me finish even par, but I had to settle for a 4.  At least it wasn't 7.  Alma was just two shots behind me on the back nine and recorded two holes-in-one, giving her an amazing four in one day after recording two at Lighthouse earlier in the afternoon.

June 24, 2005, evening

The second trip to Par King was also the first at night and the first on which we played the Black Course, featuring the course's famous roller coaster hole (#7).  Alma and I struggled on the front nine, as we both went into the water (a two-stroke penalty) on #3 and kept overhitting on #9, which featured a green that sloped away from the hole on either side.  I was +5, 26, after nine holes.  The back nine was much better for me, though, as I recorded holes-in-one on #10, #16, and #18 (the roulette wheel, with which I have been lucky so far).  Although I bogeyed #14, the two birdies and eagle (as the par on the roulette wheel is 3) were good enough for a back 9 score of 17, three under par, which brought me to 43, just two over, for the round.  The course did seem to play a little tougher at night because of visibility issues, but that seemed to be more of a factor on the front nine (Alma also struggled on the way out, but came back in with a strong 23).  We also each had a ball get stuck inside obstacles - Alma on #6, the whirl-a-gig, and I on #12, the jack-o-lantern, but once the balls were replaced we both did fine on those holes.