Today's Score: 75
If you would of asked me what I thought I was going to shoot after the first few holes I would of said 68 at worst. The round began as good as I could of hoped for. I had a good look for birdie on #10 from about 8ft that came up just short. On #11, I made a solid putt from about 15ft for birdie and I felt like I was picking up where I had left off. From there, I played the next three holes well and remained -1 under thru 14. The 15th hole is a long par-3 over water and I hit my first poor shot of the day. I hit a good chip to about 5ft but was unable to get it up-and-down. On the very next hole I pushed my tee shot off to the right and finished about 6inches out-of-bounds. Fortunately, I was able to save bogey after making another good putt. Then on 18, I hit a drive perfect down the middle and left myself 118yrds to the pin. It was a downwind shot over water and I just gave it too much not wanting to come up short and ended up in the back bunker. Bogey 5 and I turned at +2 over. Pretty underachieving front nine because I hit a lot of quality shots and felt comfortable.
On the back, I continued to hit good shots. The wind started to pick up which made some of the holes play trickier than normal but nothing too serious. On #5, I made a careless bogey after not getting up-and-down from a very easy spot. It was the second putt I missed inside 5ft. I came back with a good birdie on the par-5 7th after hitting the green in two. But then on 9, I hit my third poor drive of the day and got blocked out from the green. I managed to get my second shot up around the green and then gave myself a putt to save par from 4ft but again was unable to convert. I hit a good putt but it broke out of the hole and I didn't expect it to move that much from that close.
So, all in all, it wasn't that bad of a round except for a few wayward drives and a few missed putts in close. I really do feel as good about my game as I have in a long time so I've just got to focus a little more tomorrow and clean up those few mistakes. The weather is supposed to turn bad so we'll see what the day offers. My tee time is 12:33 off #1.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Monday, November 29, 2010
Hooter's Tour - Metro West Preview
After todays practice round, here's my preview of the course. Even though I played here about 10 years ago, I had a hard time remembering any of the holes. The one thing I knew going into the round was that this was a pretty wide open course. Good news is the course is even more open than I thought which really fits my game. There are couple holes on the back nine where I hit 2-iron off the tee because it was playing dead downwind, but every other hole is a driver. The course is guarded by water on a lot of the holes, but there is still plenty of room. Surprisingly, there are some subtle hills and slight elevation changes which add character to the tee shots. But overall, putting the ball in play shouldn't be a problem.
The greens, however, are the exact opposite than the fairways. They are slightly deeper than they are wide, but neither would be considered big. Also, they are heavily guarded by bunkers. In terms of putting, it was hard to get a feel for the speed because they over-seeded their greens and it looked like they haven't cut them since. In other words, they were extremely slow. Plenty of grass and relatively smooth.......but slooooowwwww. In fact, the whole place was a little on the hairy side but that's normal for a course if they plan on mowing everything down real low before the start of a tournament. At least let's hope that's the plan.
I'm feeling good about this week. I played well again today from tee to green. This course suits my game and there are plenty of birdie opportunities out there. We'll see if the putter shows up tomorrow early as my tee time is 8:18 off #10.
The greens, however, are the exact opposite than the fairways. They are slightly deeper than they are wide, but neither would be considered big. Also, they are heavily guarded by bunkers. In terms of putting, it was hard to get a feel for the speed because they over-seeded their greens and it looked like they haven't cut them since. In other words, they were extremely slow. Plenty of grass and relatively smooth.......but slooooowwwww. In fact, the whole place was a little on the hairy side but that's normal for a course if they plan on mowing everything down real low before the start of a tournament. At least let's hope that's the plan.
I'm feeling good about this week. I played well again today from tee to green. This course suits my game and there are plenty of birdie opportunities out there. We'll see if the putter shows up tomorrow early as my tee time is 8:18 off #10.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Holiday Update
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Erika and I really enjoyed spending time with both our families this week as my parents made the trip up from Orlando to visit us for the holiday. Unfortunately, my sister who lives in Houston, was unable to join us as she had surgery to remove her kidney stones just three days ago. She's doing better but we continue to pray for her to get back to full strength real soon. I hope everyone was able to enjoy Thanksgiving with their loved ones as well.
Now, let's talk some golf. Things have been going well during this break I've had between tournaments. I certainly don't want to become comfortable with where I'm at with my game, but I am happy to see that my swing is holding up and I've continued to have great practice sessions and rounds. Specifically, the round I played on Wednesday with my dad and brother-in-law at the TPC of Louisiana where I made 6 birdies from the tips en route to a 69 was maybe my best round this month. Granted, there wasn't near the pressure of playing in a tournament, but the TPC is still a very long, challenging course especially in the wind so I'm pleased with how that round turned out.
Putting is still a work in progress as I expect it to be for some time. I've been tinkering with a bunch of new things just to see if anything feels good. So far, only a couple tips have stood out which is really all I was trying to accomplish by trying so many different things. My dad helped provide a couple ideas that I've added to my list so we'll see what works the best going forward. And for now, I plan on still using the same putter.
Sunday, Erika and I will be on the road heading to Orlando for three weeks. I've entered three Hooter's Tour Winter Series events in a row all around the Orlando area and with 15 minutes of my parents house. We'll be staying with them while we're there like we did last year. The plan is to get there sometime Sunday night, play a practice round Monday and then the first round begins Tuesday. I'll have a preview of the course Monday night.
Now, let's talk some golf. Things have been going well during this break I've had between tournaments. I certainly don't want to become comfortable with where I'm at with my game, but I am happy to see that my swing is holding up and I've continued to have great practice sessions and rounds. Specifically, the round I played on Wednesday with my dad and brother-in-law at the TPC of Louisiana where I made 6 birdies from the tips en route to a 69 was maybe my best round this month. Granted, there wasn't near the pressure of playing in a tournament, but the TPC is still a very long, challenging course especially in the wind so I'm pleased with how that round turned out.
Putting is still a work in progress as I expect it to be for some time. I've been tinkering with a bunch of new things just to see if anything feels good. So far, only a couple tips have stood out which is really all I was trying to accomplish by trying so many different things. My dad helped provide a couple ideas that I've added to my list so we'll see what works the best going forward. And for now, I plan on still using the same putter.
Sunday, Erika and I will be on the road heading to Orlando for three weeks. I've entered three Hooter's Tour Winter Series events in a row all around the Orlando area and with 15 minutes of my parents house. We'll be staying with them while we're there like we did last year. The plan is to get there sometime Sunday night, play a practice round Monday and then the first round begins Tuesday. I'll have a preview of the course Monday night.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Houston National Open - Second Round
Score: 80
As you can see, I haven't exactly been in a hurry to get this post up about my second round in this last tournament. There isn't really a whole lot I'm looking forward to writing about. The day began much like the start of my first round. Well executed shots that set up good looks for birdie. A 6 footer on #1 missed just left and a 3-putt par again on the par-5 2nd except this time I was only 20ft for eagle. I will admit that even though I had only played two holes, I had about used up all my patience for the day. I knew I needed to shoot a good score and missing those great opportunities early in the round had my blood boiling to say the least. My second 3-putt came just two holes later on the par-4 4th and that was pretty much the last straw. There's only so much a person can take and it was clear that this event, on this course on these greens was just not working for me. I continued to hit good shots (in fact, overall I played even better than the day before) but my focus was just not there. Any confidence that I had gained from the previous tournament quickly disappeared.
I'm not quite sure exactly what was so different between the way I putted from the 2nd tournament to the 3rd one. The greens were not as good, but still good enough to make putts. I really don't have the answers. I'm thinking that it may be time for a change in putters. Sometimes, just going to a different looking putter helps for one reason or another. I like the new things I've been working on with the way I'm reading greens and the speed at which I'm trying to roll my putts. It's certainly clear that I must get to where I'm averaging under 30 putts a round.
Here's the way it broke down from this series of 3 tournaments:
Hearthstone Classic - Avg. Putts per Round = 32.5 Avg. Score = 76
Cypress Lakes Open - Avg. Putts per Round = 29 Avg. Score = 70
Houston National Open - Avg. Putts per Round = 33 Avg. Score = 79
Just making those few extra putts per round does wonders for confidence and momentum that it's the one key factor to lower scores. So that's what I'll keep working on and keep working and keep working on until the day I can sit here and write about how they should make the hole smaller cause it's just not fair anymore.
As far as my next event goes, it looks like Erika and I will be heading to Orlando for 3 tournaments in December. I'm off through Thanksgiving and then we plan on leaving that weekend. I hope everyone is doing well. Hopefully by my next update I'll talking about how I found this new magical putter that can't miss.....wouldn't that be nice!
As you can see, I haven't exactly been in a hurry to get this post up about my second round in this last tournament. There isn't really a whole lot I'm looking forward to writing about. The day began much like the start of my first round. Well executed shots that set up good looks for birdie. A 6 footer on #1 missed just left and a 3-putt par again on the par-5 2nd except this time I was only 20ft for eagle. I will admit that even though I had only played two holes, I had about used up all my patience for the day. I knew I needed to shoot a good score and missing those great opportunities early in the round had my blood boiling to say the least. My second 3-putt came just two holes later on the par-4 4th and that was pretty much the last straw. There's only so much a person can take and it was clear that this event, on this course on these greens was just not working for me. I continued to hit good shots (in fact, overall I played even better than the day before) but my focus was just not there. Any confidence that I had gained from the previous tournament quickly disappeared.
I'm not quite sure exactly what was so different between the way I putted from the 2nd tournament to the 3rd one. The greens were not as good, but still good enough to make putts. I really don't have the answers. I'm thinking that it may be time for a change in putters. Sometimes, just going to a different looking putter helps for one reason or another. I like the new things I've been working on with the way I'm reading greens and the speed at which I'm trying to roll my putts. It's certainly clear that I must get to where I'm averaging under 30 putts a round.
Here's the way it broke down from this series of 3 tournaments:
Hearthstone Classic - Avg. Putts per Round = 32.5 Avg. Score = 76
Cypress Lakes Open - Avg. Putts per Round = 29 Avg. Score = 70
Houston National Open - Avg. Putts per Round = 33 Avg. Score = 79
Just making those few extra putts per round does wonders for confidence and momentum that it's the one key factor to lower scores. So that's what I'll keep working on and keep working and keep working on until the day I can sit here and write about how they should make the hole smaller cause it's just not fair anymore.
As far as my next event goes, it looks like Erika and I will be heading to Orlando for 3 tournaments in December. I'm off through Thanksgiving and then we plan on leaving that weekend. I hope everyone is doing well. Hopefully by my next update I'll talking about how I found this new magical putter that can't miss.....wouldn't that be nice!
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Houston National Open - First Round
Today's Score: 78
Sorry I wasn't able to post a preview of this course yesterday. I did decide to play a practice round and went from there straight to my sisters house. Last night, Erika and I got together with some of my family here in Houston and didn't get home until almost 10. So, I didn't have time to write anything when I got back, but it was great to see my family while we were in town.
Here's the report from today:
I started out the round really strong. I had (3) birdie putts inside of 10ft on the first three holes, but unfortunately wasn't able to convert any of them. One of them was actually a 3-putt par after hitting the 600yrd par-5 2nd in two. I was a little frustrated, but still playing well. On the 5th hole, I hit my tee shot out-of-bounds which was a combination of poor course management and a poor swing. All the room in the world to the left off the tee and I tried to cut to much off the corner and ended up pushing my drive into the backyard of someone's house. That lead to a double-bogey and I quickly moved to +2 over. The next hole was the second par-5 on the front side, and after two great shots I was pin high in two and able to get up-and-down for a birdie. Three par's to finish the side and I turned at +1 over (37). Not terrible...nothing great.
On the 11th hole, everything changed. It's a par-4, slight dog-leg right with out-of-bounds left and water right. The hole was playing about 420yrds into a left-to-right wind. I decided to hit my 3-wood just to get something in the fairway and hit arguably the worst shot of the day. After attempting to aim down the left side, I blocked my tee shot pretty far right and ended up going in the water. Now, without going to far in depth about the rules, in this situation I should of been able to drop my ball up near the piece of land where my ball last crossed the hazard. However, my playing partners disagreed with where I thought my ball last crossed and after a 10 minute discussion I was outnumbered and forced to basically re-tee. So, instead of being able to drop from about 190yrds out and looking to make bogey at worst, I made triple. Things were not the same after that hole. I was never really able to shake that off. I couldn't help but think of all the times in my life where I've been on the other end of that type of situation and always given the benefit of the doubt to the player because they are ultimately the one who with the best view and they have to live with the decision they choose. I've never been one to try and cheat, and in my heart I know where my ball crossed and should of been able to take the drop up further.
But, that's golf. It was my fault for even hitting it in the water in the first place. The other thing that factored in to the rest of the round was that my group was put on the clock for the remaining 7 holes and basically just added to the drama. To say the least, it wasn't pretty. I did hit 2-iron, 3-wood to 15ft for eagle on #18 but came away with birdie to finish at +6 over (78).
It wasn't exactly the easiest day for golf. The course isn't in that great of shape to start with. Almost every fairway is soaking wet even though it's only rained once here in the last 2 weeks. Half the bunkers around the course are under repair and the greens are average at best. I've posted a picture above to give you some idea as to how the course looks. It's a picture of the 8th green which pretty much sums up the type of golf course this is.
I guess that's enough complaining for one day. I hate to write posts like this, but what happened on #11 is still bothering me. What can you do. I need a low round tomorrow. The forecast is for rain and wind so maybe a 68 will get me back in the top 10. We'll see what happens.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Cypress Lakes Open - Round 2
Today's Score: 70
Another good day. I hit a lot of solid shots, continued to make a few putts and was able to shoot another good score. Unfortunately, I still managed to leave a few strokes out there but I'm definitely pleased with how this tournament turned out. I'm starting to realize more and more about what it takes to shoot certain scores. The difference between shooting 75 and shooting 70 is clearly putting. Keeping the ball in play certainly helps, but in general I've noticed that every time I shoot a 70 I'll usually have less than 30 putts in the round. Now the difference between shooting 70 and shooting 67 is walking off the 18th green and being able to say that you didn't leave a single shot out on the course. That means taking advantage of opportunities when you get the chance, not throwing away strokes from poor decisions, getting up-and-down when you're supposed to and of course making putts.
As I look back over the last two days, I feel like if I would of done all those things I just mentioned I could of been about 5 strokes lower. I know that this is getting a little picky and I should be happy that I finally made a check, but I also believe in continuing to push myself and setting higher goals. My game is finally coming around and I expect to shoot lower scores as I move forward.
Tomorrow is supposed to be my practice round day for the next event, but I'm still not sure what I'm going to do. I'm usually not very superstitious, but I did feel awfully good on this last golf course without playing a practice round. I'll probably head out there in the morning and go from there. The next event starts Thursday.
Finish: T6
Another good day. I hit a lot of solid shots, continued to make a few putts and was able to shoot another good score. Unfortunately, I still managed to leave a few strokes out there but I'm definitely pleased with how this tournament turned out. I'm starting to realize more and more about what it takes to shoot certain scores. The difference between shooting 75 and shooting 70 is clearly putting. Keeping the ball in play certainly helps, but in general I've noticed that every time I shoot a 70 I'll usually have less than 30 putts in the round. Now the difference between shooting 70 and shooting 67 is walking off the 18th green and being able to say that you didn't leave a single shot out on the course. That means taking advantage of opportunities when you get the chance, not throwing away strokes from poor decisions, getting up-and-down when you're supposed to and of course making putts.
As I look back over the last two days, I feel like if I would of done all those things I just mentioned I could of been about 5 strokes lower. I know that this is getting a little picky and I should be happy that I finally made a check, but I also believe in continuing to push myself and setting higher goals. My game is finally coming around and I expect to shoot lower scores as I move forward.
Tomorrow is supposed to be my practice round day for the next event, but I'm still not sure what I'm going to do. I'm usually not very superstitious, but I did feel awfully good on this last golf course without playing a practice round. I'll probably head out there in the morning and go from there. The next event starts Thursday.
Finish: T6
Monday, November 8, 2010
Cypress Lakes Open
Normally, I'd be posting a preview on the golf course after my practice round but instead I'm going to just go ahead and tell you how the first round went. Why? Well, that's because for the first time in my life I messed up the dates of a golf tournament. I thought the first round started Tuesday, but in actually began today. It all came to light yesterday afternoon as we were driving back to Houston from Baton Rouge. I called the pro shop to make a tee time for a practice round the next day and the guy tells me that the tournament started that day. I was quite confused at first, but the guy sure sounded confident and after Erika confirmed it on her phone I knew I was in a bit of a pickle. It was 3:00 on Sunday afternoon, about 2 hours away from Houston and there was no way I was going to get there in time to play a practice round. We pulled into the golf course at about 5:15 which was just enough to find the place and steal a scorecard off one of the empty golf carts. That was going to be my study guide for the night.
So, this morning I decided to get out to the course a little earlier than usual to have more time to get used to the greens. My warm-up session went great and as it approached my tee time, I felt confident that it was going to be a good day even without knowing the course.
The first few holes were a little rough. I hit driver off #1 cause everyone else did and it ended up costing me a bogey. It's a short hole and driver brings the only trouble on the hole into play. I know better for tomorrow. On #2,3 & 4 I made three great par saving putts that really set the pace for the rest of the round. From the 5th hole on, I was finally able to settle down and played the remaining 14 holes -3 under par. Final Score: 70 and currently in a tie for 7th place.
It was another solid ball striking day overall, but most importantly, I finally made some putts. This time I got the 28 total putts that I set as a goal last week and I was able to shoot under par.....amazing. Just more proof that putting is the most important part of the game. It also helps when you're putting on perfect greens like the ones we saw today. These greens might go down as one of my all-time favorites. The smoothness and speed just fit my eye and I felt like I could see the line all day.
I don't know if I've ever felt more comfortable on a course I've never seen before than this one. In my opinion, it's a really good layout. The condition of the course is perfect and the greens couldn't be any better. With all that said, I feel good going into tomorrow's round. Now that I know where to go on every hole, I should be able to clean up a few of the mistakes I made today and shoot an ever better score tomorrow. My tee time is 10:10 off #1.
So, this morning I decided to get out to the course a little earlier than usual to have more time to get used to the greens. My warm-up session went great and as it approached my tee time, I felt confident that it was going to be a good day even without knowing the course.
The first few holes were a little rough. I hit driver off #1 cause everyone else did and it ended up costing me a bogey. It's a short hole and driver brings the only trouble on the hole into play. I know better for tomorrow. On #2,3 & 4 I made three great par saving putts that really set the pace for the rest of the round. From the 5th hole on, I was finally able to settle down and played the remaining 14 holes -3 under par. Final Score: 70 and currently in a tie for 7th place.
It was another solid ball striking day overall, but most importantly, I finally made some putts. This time I got the 28 total putts that I set as a goal last week and I was able to shoot under par.....amazing. Just more proof that putting is the most important part of the game. It also helps when you're putting on perfect greens like the ones we saw today. These greens might go down as one of my all-time favorites. The smoothness and speed just fit my eye and I felt like I could see the line all day.
I don't know if I've ever felt more comfortable on a course I've never seen before than this one. In my opinion, it's a really good layout. The condition of the course is perfect and the greens couldn't be any better. With all that said, I feel good going into tomorrow's round. Now that I know where to go on every hole, I should be able to clean up a few of the mistakes I made today and shoot an ever better score tomorrow. My tee time is 10:10 off #1.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Hearthstone Classic - Round Two
Today's Score: 77
Same old same old. Nothing changed. You could basically lay yesterday's round on top of today's and they would look almost identical. My putting was still not there (31 total), I made a a couple bad mental errors and one poor swing that lead to a shot out-of-bounds. But the main thing that stands out from these last two rounds is how much my short game (chipping & pitching in particular) has fallen off. I've concentrated so much of my time lately on my swing and putting that I've neglected the one area that's been the most consistent all year. In two rounds, I got up-and-down a total of 4 out of 12 times from around the green. Today alone, I failed to even get the ball on the green three times. One of which was a complete blade across the green. As I go back over my round, aside from the one poor tee shot I hit out-of-bounds, all the strokes I gave away today were from not getting the ball up-and-down around the greens. And its not like they were that hard of shots to begin with. So that's definitely something I've got to clean up before next week.
Again though, I was pleased with the way I hit the ball today. I started out strong and was executing shots the way I wanted to. If I would of had a short game, I could of turned in even par at worst. On the back nine, there were a few shaky moments, but still solid for the most part. It got tough there towards the end trying to focus on every shot after I continuously missed putts and did everything possible to throw away strokes. By the 18th hole, the frustration level was pretty much max'd out.
I learned a lot from this first event. I'm definitely on the right track with my swing. I've developed a nice soft draw with every club in the bag and can go to that shot whenever I need it. From tee to green, I've got a new level of confidence which feels great. Clearly, there is still work to be done on my putting and I'll continue to work on it until I get it fixed. I'm not as concerned with my chipping as I am with my putting, but it's definitely something that I need to go back and look at before the next tournament. I'm sure it's nothing that a few hundred practice shots around the green can't fix.
Erika and I are back in Baton Rouge, LA for the weekend. We drove over as soon as we finished the round this afternoon. It was just impossible to be within 4 hrs of Tiger Stadium on a weekend where LSU plays Alabama at home to think that we wouldn't drive back over for the game. If anyone knows us at all, we'd of walked from Houston if we had to. It'll be a quick stay as we'll be back on the road Sunday to get back to Houston for the start of the second Winter Series event which begins Tuesday. That's it for now. GEAUX TIGERS!!!
Same old same old. Nothing changed. You could basically lay yesterday's round on top of today's and they would look almost identical. My putting was still not there (31 total), I made a a couple bad mental errors and one poor swing that lead to a shot out-of-bounds. But the main thing that stands out from these last two rounds is how much my short game (chipping & pitching in particular) has fallen off. I've concentrated so much of my time lately on my swing and putting that I've neglected the one area that's been the most consistent all year. In two rounds, I got up-and-down a total of 4 out of 12 times from around the green. Today alone, I failed to even get the ball on the green three times. One of which was a complete blade across the green. As I go back over my round, aside from the one poor tee shot I hit out-of-bounds, all the strokes I gave away today were from not getting the ball up-and-down around the greens. And its not like they were that hard of shots to begin with. So that's definitely something I've got to clean up before next week.
Again though, I was pleased with the way I hit the ball today. I started out strong and was executing shots the way I wanted to. If I would of had a short game, I could of turned in even par at worst. On the back nine, there were a few shaky moments, but still solid for the most part. It got tough there towards the end trying to focus on every shot after I continuously missed putts and did everything possible to throw away strokes. By the 18th hole, the frustration level was pretty much max'd out.
I learned a lot from this first event. I'm definitely on the right track with my swing. I've developed a nice soft draw with every club in the bag and can go to that shot whenever I need it. From tee to green, I've got a new level of confidence which feels great. Clearly, there is still work to be done on my putting and I'll continue to work on it until I get it fixed. I'm not as concerned with my chipping as I am with my putting, but it's definitely something that I need to go back and look at before the next tournament. I'm sure it's nothing that a few hundred practice shots around the green can't fix.
Erika and I are back in Baton Rouge, LA for the weekend. We drove over as soon as we finished the round this afternoon. It was just impossible to be within 4 hrs of Tiger Stadium on a weekend where LSU plays Alabama at home to think that we wouldn't drive back over for the game. If anyone knows us at all, we'd of walked from Houston if we had to. It'll be a quick stay as we'll be back on the road Sunday to get back to Houston for the start of the second Winter Series event which begins Tuesday. That's it for now. GEAUX TIGERS!!!
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Hearthstone Classic - Round 1
Today's Score: 75
Well, I don't think my putting can get any worse so I'll say that after today it stayed the same. 34 putts in all, 2 putts missed inside 3ft and one 3-putt. Other than that, it was a very good round of golf. The weather wasn't quite like yesterday; it didn't rain but instead the winds picked up to well over 20mph with constant gusts over 30. It was something else and a completely different course than the one I played yesterday. On the second hole of the day, I teed off with a 3-iron as opposed to the 2-iron I hit yesterday and my ball ended up 20 yards further and just a step away from going in the water. That was pretty much how the entire day went. Most of my notes were useless and I had to eyeball what looked like the right club at that time.
But overall, I couldn't be more pleased with how the swing changes that I've been working on for months now are finally starting to pay off. I don't think I missed a single tee shot all day which was even more impressive for me considering the windy conditions and tight layout of the golf course. I felt confident with the driver even though I only had to hit it like 4 times. There were a few instances where a good shot turned out worse than it should of just because of how strong the winds were blowing, but I guess that's to be expected on a day like today. If I could of just cleaned up the little mistakes I made on the greens I'd be looking at an even par round of golf which would be good enough for 2nd place right now. Instead, I'm +4 over and in a tie for 12th.
The forecast for tomorrow is expected to be even colder but with less wind. My plan is to continue to focus on the things I'm working on with my putting and hope that things improve. I've set a goal of 28 putts tomorrow and if I do that, I know a good score will come out of it and put me right where I need to be. My tee time tomorrow is 8:40 off #1.
Well, I don't think my putting can get any worse so I'll say that after today it stayed the same. 34 putts in all, 2 putts missed inside 3ft and one 3-putt. Other than that, it was a very good round of golf. The weather wasn't quite like yesterday; it didn't rain but instead the winds picked up to well over 20mph with constant gusts over 30. It was something else and a completely different course than the one I played yesterday. On the second hole of the day, I teed off with a 3-iron as opposed to the 2-iron I hit yesterday and my ball ended up 20 yards further and just a step away from going in the water. That was pretty much how the entire day went. Most of my notes were useless and I had to eyeball what looked like the right club at that time.
But overall, I couldn't be more pleased with how the swing changes that I've been working on for months now are finally starting to pay off. I don't think I missed a single tee shot all day which was even more impressive for me considering the windy conditions and tight layout of the golf course. I felt confident with the driver even though I only had to hit it like 4 times. There were a few instances where a good shot turned out worse than it should of just because of how strong the winds were blowing, but I guess that's to be expected on a day like today. If I could of just cleaned up the little mistakes I made on the greens I'd be looking at an even par round of golf which would be good enough for 2nd place right now. Instead, I'm +4 over and in a tie for 12th.
The forecast for tomorrow is expected to be even colder but with less wind. My plan is to continue to focus on the things I'm working on with my putting and hope that things improve. I've set a goal of 28 putts tomorrow and if I do that, I know a good score will come out of it and put me right where I need to be. My tee time tomorrow is 8:40 off #1.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Hearthstone Classic Preview
I want to say this is probably the third time in my life where I've pulled up to a golf course I thought I was seeing for the first time and realized that I'd played there before. As I drove into the parking lot today, the driving range looked all too familiar and then it hit me...the one Adam's Tour Winter Series (then the Tight Lies Tour) I played in in 2006 was at this golf course. I couldn't recall any of the holes right away, but every time I stood on the tee, it would slowly come back to me. By the time I finished, I felt like I'd played the course a hundred times before and felt comfortable with the game plan for this week.
The weather today was certainly not the greatest. The temperature never got out of the 50's, there was a constant mist in the air the entire round and the wind was blowing a steady 20mph. Exactly the type of conditions that can make a 6,700 yard course play more like 7,000+. I feel like I hit a 3-iron at some point on every hole. Whether it was teeing off on a short par-4, a second shot into a par-5 or a tee shot into one of the 5 par-3's over 200 yards, the long irons got a workout today. Now, I know a lot of that was due to the weather today, but the forecast for the next two days is basically the same so in my mind, controlling the long irons is the key to success this week. None of the holes would be considered long, but every hole has out-of-bounds, water or both and keeping the ball in play is priority #1. Priority #2 - Putting! The greens are in good shape, but most of them are big so lag putting and 5-footers will be important.
The final field size for this tournament is 29 guys so that's about what I expected for the first winter event of the year. My tee time tomorrow is 9:00 off #1. I'm excited to get back into competition again. Here's to the beginning of a great winter series.
The weather today was certainly not the greatest. The temperature never got out of the 50's, there was a constant mist in the air the entire round and the wind was blowing a steady 20mph. Exactly the type of conditions that can make a 6,700 yard course play more like 7,000+. I feel like I hit a 3-iron at some point on every hole. Whether it was teeing off on a short par-4, a second shot into a par-5 or a tee shot into one of the 5 par-3's over 200 yards, the long irons got a workout today. Now, I know a lot of that was due to the weather today, but the forecast for the next two days is basically the same so in my mind, controlling the long irons is the key to success this week. None of the holes would be considered long, but every hole has out-of-bounds, water or both and keeping the ball in play is priority #1. Priority #2 - Putting! The greens are in good shape, but most of them are big so lag putting and 5-footers will be important.
The final field size for this tournament is 29 guys so that's about what I expected for the first winter event of the year. My tee time tomorrow is 9:00 off #1. I'm excited to get back into competition again. Here's to the beginning of a great winter series.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
The Winter Series has begun!
November is here, and in the world of mini-tour golf, that marks the beginning of Winter Series tournaments. The Adam's Tour is running a series of (3) 2-day events over the course of 14 days in each month from November to February. There's no cut in these tournaments so everybody plays both days and the top 30% of the field gets paid. For me, this setup is a perfect platform to play in at this time. Because of the lack of tournaments available to play in the last couple of months, I've spent a lot of time working on my swing and more recently my putting. These quick 2-day deals will be a good place to measure my game.
So, with that being said, Erika and I drove over to Houston this morning for the first series of events which begins on Thursday. This week's tournament is at Hearthstone Country Club. Tomorrow, I'll be heading out there to play a practice round and then I'll have an update on the course to follow. That's it for now....more to come tomorrow.
So, with that being said, Erika and I drove over to Houston this morning for the first series of events which begins on Thursday. This week's tournament is at Hearthstone Country Club. Tomorrow, I'll be heading out there to play a practice round and then I'll have an update on the course to follow. That's it for now....more to come tomorrow.
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