My Tournament

[JEFF4i]

Well, I'll just get right into it. Last year I played in the higher flight for 3 handicaps to 7 handicaps...went out and shot 69, 69, 74, to almost win it. It's a 3 day tournament.

Day One:

First day went well. My first tee shot (par 5) was a snap-hook right that gave me a line of about 5 feet between trees. I hit a beautiful 5 iron and put it about 30 out. Chip on, tough pin placement and bad judgement on my part leaving the ball higher than the hole, I two putt for par. Next two are par fours, I parred both with two fairway drives and two greens in regulation. Was mostly playing it safe due to tough pin placements and fast greens.

Then I get to number 4, a 210 par 3 with water on the right. I hit my shot and it just flares right, an off and on problem I have been having since..well..Wednesday. I land about ten feet past the water and it spins back. It is setting about a foot past the water. I have a shot, albeit a difficult one. Surrounding the ball is some of the tarp stuff they tend to stick in ponds and such. Knowing this, I figure the club should glide through fairly easily, as the tarp was tight. So I take my practice swings and all that, walk up to my ball, and take the shot. Well, there was a big clump of mud beneath my ball that I missed because some grass was growing out of it, and upon inspection, it just looked like tarp was under that. Nope. Completely chunked, good contact on the ball, but just lost some distance. It hits on the hill and rolls back into the lake reeds. So I go back and take a drop about 80 yards from the hole, as the hazard lining extended a suprising 20 feet past the lake edge (which it never gets that high). The ball just buries. I take a full swing with my lob wedge and blamo, into the water. Next shot I hit on and two putt, so an 8 on a par 3.

Now, I've grown a lot and I'm happy about that. Next par 5 I get on in 2 and birdie, which I was sooooooo grateful for because it helped me get my momentum back up. Especially since I was leading the group until that par 3. Next hole is driveable, but I end up in the bunker to it's right. Hit a shot out and leave it about 6 feet from the hole, and make it. Whew, from +5 to +3. Not too shabby. I par out the nine.

I get to the back nine and completely duff a drive, but manage a bogey with two good subsequent shots. The next par 5 plays about 600. I hit a great drive, and even better 3 wood from about 270, and go right on over the green. ...again. About 3 feet of green to work with and 15 yards to cover, and it is sloping away from me. A sad par. Par 3 next, about 210, I hit my four iron just perfectly. Lands about 4 inches shy of the hole and stays there.

The rest of the round was mostly uneventful, one bogey, one par chip-in and the rest were pars. So I finish the day at +3. Someone posted a 64 and was one off the course record. 11 Shots back.

Day Two:

Different course today, 3 par 5s for a par 71.

Bad luck today. Great playing but couldn't catch a break on lies. My very first drive was picture perfect, a thing of beauty. It hits a sprinkler head and flies into some trees (it was a dog-leg right with a tight left side). I went from being about 80 out and a good approach to having to punch out. Start off with a bogey. Next hole I hit in the fairway, on, two putt par. Same for the next hole.

Then another par 3, 250 yards, about 260 to the pin. I pull out my hybrid (replaced the 3 iron with it). Blamo, about 10 feet from the hole for birdie. Next hole is a 475 par 4. I end up right rough with no angle at the pin, club twists in the rough and I end up in the left bunker. Decent lie, not great and about 20 yards to the pin (was back right). Almost holed it, tap in par. Par out the nine. I get to the back nine, par the first few. I reach the par 5 and decide I need to be aggresive and just hit a great tee shot, get on in two and nearly eagle. Birdie I'm happy with.

From high to low. Next shot is a 170 par 3, I lose it to the right again with my 8. I end up under a tree. With a normal stance I can barely see the ball, the branches are in my face, and I can only take a half swing. Well, when demand calls, I answer. I commit, and I put it about 5 feet from the hole and save par. I par out, except for a birdie on another par 5, and get a 69.

I made the cut at +1, albeit barely, and was 10 shots back. Well, winning isn't likely here, and why? One hole. Sounds about right, eh?

Day Three:

I go out and play decent. I'm still having the problem of losing balls to the right, occasionally. I know why, and normally I fix it in my swing before it's a problem. However, not all the time. I get two bogeys (on the long fours, both from back-side of the bunker lies with no green to work with) and 3 birdies (on all the fives). Par the rest, decent game, not great, not bad.

I finish with a 70. 10 back still.

Winning was a chance last year, but there just were some really really low scores (last group, all 3 had posted 64s at one point, and 70s the other day). My last two days were both borderline being low, but just didn't come together totally. Suprisingly I finish in 5th. The pins were difficult for every, and my short game saved me.


To sum it all up:

Had some great shots, worked an eight iron under one tree and over another about 20 yards away to get myself on for par. That under the tree chip.

Some things did bug me like no other though. My first two days I played with this guy who cursed whenever the ball wasn't exactly how he wanted it, brushed sand with his hand, left a wedge on the green, and actually peed in the bushes when the bathroom was one hole away. Could not stand him, and he acted like he was hotter than shit. So yeah, the only words I exchanged with him were telling him that he broke the rules, quite suprising from someone who had a 0 handicap. *shrug* Other than that I said almost nothing to my groups, besides introductions and farewells.

My dad caddied for me the last two days, that was nice. Didn't even say much to him besides talking about shots. I'm quiet, especially in tournaments...

Synopsis: Through 54 Holes...

Bogeys: 4
Birdies: 8
Pars: 41
One +5
Fairways hit: 30 (71%)
Greens Hit: 38 (70%) Irons were killing me here, usually way higher.
Up and Downs: 12 (few for birdies)
Final Score: 214 strokes through 54 holes, 214 par overall. So Even.

Not my best showing, but competition was pretty stiff. Oh, and this is a tournament that brings in golfers from all of New Mexico. So I guess not terrible, considering...

[warbirdlover]

You play at a much higher level then I. Good job.

[JEFF4i]

Thanks Warbird,

I was happy with how I played in the last two rounds, especially given that little creep in my swing to not get the hands back around, thus pushing it.

At least spending about 4 hours on chipping and putting on Thursday was worth it,

[goatster]

nice solid tourny good shooting.

[ezra76]

Nice shooting man. You're playing with the best of them now. You know it takes some serious grinding as well as your AAA game to come out on top there. IMO you did great considering you didn't have the A game and still made the cut and finished even. I don't think I could have recovered from that par 3 mentally.

[Bravo]

Outta my league by far....

[JEFF4i]

Thanks guys.

That hole just sucked, but, facing a par 5 that was easily do-able, I knew I had to rebound. Though my initial reaction was that Sunday was out of question, I guess I just got lucky and brought it back together.

Next year, certainly.

[JEFF4i]

OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I wore my Shottalk hat all weekend,

[Jules150]

great scoring man. Hitting those crazy distances has got to help How many more years you have left in college?