Rio Pinar CC - Second Round

Today's Score: 76

Yet another timely choke down the stretch to finish off today's round. I really hope this doesn't become a trend. I bogeyed 4 out of my last 5 holes to miss the cut by a couple shots. All I can say is that I couldn't handle the nerves. As I got into my last nine holes, every swing and every putt was very timid. I missed just about every fairway on the back and a bunch of easy putts I should have made.

This is a really tough one to swallow. I thought for sure I was going to make the cut this week and finish this winter series on a high note. Instead, this has turned out to be the most disappointing outcome so far. I was swinging the club well, playing a course that I felt really comfortable on and I was making putts. But, for whatever reason it just wasn't meant to be. That's all I can come up with. I'm usually pretty good at handling pressure and fighting off the nerves but not this time. The only good thing I can come up with at this point is that at least I'm finding myself in situations where I'm actually competing for tournaments more often now. Hopefully, I'll begin to get more and more comfortable being in those situations and continue to move up the leaderboard instead of the opposite.

So this chapter of my professional career has come to an end. Definitely not the way I wanted to finish, but at least I had a chance these last three tournaments. There's one thing that can not be substituted in this business and that's experience. And because of that, I'm very thankful for having this opportunity to play in all these tournaments here in Central Florida. It's been a great experience and I know everything that I've been through so far can only help me in the future. It's all apart of the process I guess.

Coming Up: On Friday, Erika and I are flying to Arkansas for a wedding and then coming back to Orlando on Sunday. Monday, we'll be hitting the road back to New Orleans. I'm anxious to get home and catch up with everyone. Hope all is well!

Rio Pinar CC - First Round

Today's Score: 70

All indications so far is that the putting lesson and new putter are working. I made 5 birdies and 3 bogies today for a score of -2 under par (70). I didn't hit the ball quite as well as did the past two tournaments, but it was good enough to turn in a solid round. Even with some of the miss hits throughout the round, it was a couple unlucky breaks that lead to the bogies. The first bogey I made was on #5 where my right foot slipped on the downswing and I pulled hooked my drive badly into the left water. The second bogey came from a very poor lie in the left rough that forced me to pitch out......but, if I would of hit my drive in the fairway I wouldn't of had that problem. And the last bogey I hit was after hitting arguably my best drive of the day that went through the fairway and right behind a tree. Again I had to hit out sideways for my second shot.

But you gotta take the good with the bad sometimes. I'm just happy that I was finally able to make some putts, and for the first time in a while, play a whole round without a three-putt. My speed control was a lot better and I was able to make all the short putts that your supposed to make. If I can straighten out a few more drives tomorrow there's a chance to shoot some lower scores.

Today, I was in the last group of the morning wave of tee times, and when I finished at -2 under I was in 4th place. Now, I'm sure after the afternoon groups finish up I'll be further down the leaderboard somewhere.......but it's a start. Hopefully I can keep the putter working and we'll see what happens. My tee time tomorrow is 1:06 off #10.

Rio Pinar CC - Practice Round

Rio Pinar CC - Practice Round

I decided to play my practice round for this week's tournament yesterday (Sunday) because the forecast for today was for rain. My dad went with me and played as well so it was nice to have some familiar company. It was a course that neither of us had played, but had heard some good things about.

Rio Pinar Country Club has been around for quite some time in Central Florida. It used to be the site of the Florida Citrus Open, a former PGA Tour event. There is quite a bit of history behind the golf course and it offers an older style layout that I am beginning to realize suits my eye more so than others. Playing my practice round a day earlier proved to be a lot more relaxing than on the usual Monday's when everybody is trying to play. We got around in under four hours and were able to do our own thing while on the course. I always enjoy playing a course for the first time and having my dad there to talk things out with.

The course may be the most fair yet challenging layout we've played to date and should provide a good opportunity to score well if I can get some putts to fall. I've got some new ideas and a new putter that I'll be putting into play this week to change things up. My swing feels good and I'm hitting the ball well so there's no reason not to go out on a high note. I'm expecting good things for my last tournament. My tee time tomorrow is 9:06 off #1.

The Next Step

After all the rounds of poor putting and lack of improvement between tournaments it was time to take the next step. I decided to take a putting lesson from a guy named Fred Gibson here in Orlando. He was recommended to me by a former PGA Tour player and current member of the Champion's Tour named Fulton Allem whose opinion I really respect. Fred is a player in his own right....a past winner on the Champion's Tour.....and a notoriously good putter amongst his peers.

We met this afternoon at a golf course for about an hour. He watched me hit a few putts and immediately had some thoughts on what could be improved. Without getting into unnecessary details, I left with about three good things to work on. It was good to just hear a different opinion on things. If nothing else, I was able to pick up a few tips and if only one of them pans out then it was worth it. Because, whatever I've been doing isn't working.

Tomorrow I'm planning on going to the course and working on the things we talked about. I'm excited to see what happens and hopefully I'll leave the course tomorrow a better putter than when I got there. Hope all is well.

Diamondback G.C. - Round Two

Today's Score: 78

Simply put...I just choked today. I made the turn at even par (-1 under for the tournament) and completely fell apart on the back nine. Four of the first five holes on the front (my back nine since I tee'd off #10) are extremely tight and demand straight shots. For whatever reason, I wasn't able to execute the shots needed on those holes and a few bad swings lead to two bogies and a double.

I really wanted today's blog to be about how well everything went and describe how I shot a really good score. The fact of the matter is I did play well. I missed one shot on my first nine holes that cost me my only bogey on that side, but even then it wasn't missed by all that much. It just ended up in a really bad spot. But, once I hit that stretch of holes starting on the front nine I made three bad swings that turned costly based on where they finished. I played 14 holes very well and struggled with the other four.

The thing with golf is you're going to make mistakes....you're going to hit bad shots......and you're going to get bad breaks. But, the one single factor that holds everything together for the great golfers in this world is PUTTING. Those that are considered great putters find a way to get the ball in the hole and that alone makes up for so much that can go wrong in a round of golf. For me, however, I just haven't had that for any extended period of time now. I've had my rounds here and there where my putting has been good, but it's sparatic at best. I'd say, in this tournament alone, I missed 12 putts inside of 10 feet for two rounds. And I'm probably being kind by saying 10 feet. It's just simply unacceptable.

Therefore, I've decided to seek help. For the most part, I've always been able to figure things out when it comes to all the different aspects of golf. However, I just can't seem to get over that hump in putting that will take that part of my game to the next level. And, if I want to get the next level, I'm going to have to seriously improve my putting. Tomorrow, I'll be contacting some people here in town about getting a putting lesson and hopefully be able to meet with someone before my final tournament next week. I'll keep yall posted on what I'm able to come up with.

Diamondback G.C. - Round One

Today's Score: 71

Well half of my prayer was answered today. We did have a 1 hour and 15 minute delay due to fog this morning, but fortunately we were able to finish just as the sun went down. When we walked off 18 green, I don't think we could of played one more shot.

So round one is done and I'm at -1 under par. The most important thing is I didn't shoot myself out of the tournament on the first day. Now I get to play my second round trying to move up the leaderboard instead of having to fight my way back into competition. I would put today's round up there among the best I've played so far. I was able to stick to my game plan of hitting fairways and greens and found myself with a lot birdie putts. In fact, right out of the gate I was -3 under thru my first 7 holes after hitting three very close shots to the pin. I made the turn at -3 under and felt really comfortable with how the day was going.

After laying up on the par 5 10th hole, I hit my approach shot from 100 yards to about 25 feet. Not the best shot I've ever hit, but it was below the hole and I left myself a pretty easy putt. So easy that I 3-putted. (It would be nice to have one round without a 3-putt.....just saying) That lead to my first bogey of the day and a nice sour taste in my mouth. Two holes later, a 9-iron that came up short of the green lead to double-bogey (6). All I can say is it was one of the worst brain-farts you've ever seen and should of been a pretty standard up-and-down for par. After a great eagle on the par-5 16th, I was back to -2 under with two to play. On #17, I hit the best shot of the day with a 5-iron on the par-3 that was playing 197 yards. Unfortunately, it was so solid that it flew about 205 yards over the green and into a spot that was nearly impossible to get up-and-down from. I ended up lipping out from about 6 feet.

Overall, I'm very pleased with how today's round went. I still managed to make a few costly mistakes that turned a 67 into a 71, but I feel good about the direction my game is heading. If I can get it going again tomorrow, hopefully I'll be able to eliminate some of those mistakes and get into the hunt. My tee time tomorrow is 8:30 off #10.