First Impressions

Tell me this doesn't look like New Orleans....lol. Who knew San Antonio had this much elevation. I guess if you'd been here before you'd know, but this is my first time. I took the picture with my phone and it didn't really do it justice, but from numerous locations throughout the course it seemed like you could see for miles. There's two courses here at the TPC of San Antonio, one of which is called Canyons which is the one we're playing. As soon as you step on the first tee you can see how it got it's name. I wasn't sure what to think before playing, but after today's practice round I'm very impressed.


Off the tee, the course sets up very fair. Pretty wide fairways which is nice to see after struggling with the driver for so long. A few holes are shaped a little tighter, but nothing too severe. There's only water on one hole, but every hole is lined with shrubs, cactus and rocks just off the fairways. Areas where a ball if findable but certainly not where you want to be. If I was a snake I know where I'd be...any one of these holes out at the TPC would be just fine. Fortunately, after hours of practice and a few really productive lessons this past month I'm confident in saying that things seem to be heading back in the right direction. I know it was just a practice round, but today was probably the best round I've played in almost 3 months. Primarily, I hit a lot of great drives. I still had two that were a little sloppy, but the rest were really good. It's been a long time since I've played out of that many fairways in one round. On top of that, my irons were just as solid.

The key this week is going to be controlling the ball around the greens. They're big, undulating and fast so it's going to be important to position the ball on the correct side of the hole. The good news is they're in excellent condition so if I can read the putts right I should be able to make a few. Unfortunately, I've been battling a little head cold the last couple of days and wasn't feeling up to a second practice session this afternoon. It would of been nice to spend a little more time on the greens, but I'm hoping the extra bit of rest will help get rid of whatever I've got.

Tomorrow, I'm planning on playing another practice round in the morning and then work on the short game in the afternoon. I've got my dad here with me this week caddying so that's going to be a big help. We've made a good team in the past so I'm hoping that continues again this week. I'll have a follow-up tomorrow night after my second practice round.