"Standing in the middle of the 13th fairway with 150 yards into a green, flanked by bunkers and a wind blowing directly into the greenside body of water, I pulled 5-wood and tried to hit a modified stinger along the ground. I still rinsed it and made a 7."
Maybe this is why he's a country club 8. I never played TOC, but looking at the aerial, this shot seems like a poor strategic decision. He's probably standing there thinking like this. "I'm 150 out, which is a 6 iron, and there is at least a three club wind, which would be a 3 iron, but I can't really hit a three iron, so I'll hit "a modified stinger along the ground" five wood. And he does and hits a crappy high fade into the drink. So, he drops, and can't be more than 80 yards from the green hitting four. He hits a lousy chip and then three putts for seven. How is this the fault of the course??
From 150 out with a howling wind in one's face, the last thing I would want to do is get the ball up high, like the ball flight a 5 wood is likely to produce. A punch 2 iron, or even 3 wood is probably what I would have tried. And for god sake's you can't go right. Hit it in the bunker left if you have to. That way when you chunk it out of the bunker and three putt, you only made a six.
I'm sure our Scottish and Irish contributors face shots like this all day long. How many are grabbing the five wood for "a modified stinger along the ground?"