Moving On...

Rats... I felt good about my game heading into this week's event on the Tarheel Tour and still feel good about it even though I am writing this from home in Tennessee rather than being in Pinehurst, North Carolina, playing in the third round today. After an opening 68 on the easy Southern Pines Golf Club, I went to the Little River Golf Resort for my second round. A great warm-up session had me feeling ready to go out and play a good round to get back in contention, but a bogey-bogey-bogey start quickly had me fighting for survival. I was determined to be a little more aggressive after the rough start, but more or less I just tried to stick to my game plan and play a solid round from the fourth tee forward. I battled hard all day, but could only fight it back to a one-over-par total of 73 and my two-under-par total of 141 came up two shots short of making the cut. It's disappointing to be done early this week, but I am not discouraged at all.

Even after the third hole yesterday, I really couldn't find my best game. I drove it really nicely for the most part, but my iron play and putting were just not there. I played the opening nine holes at three over par, and knew I had to play a great closing nine to get myself to the weekend. I almost did just that. I made great birdies on 11, 12, and 14 that were all set up by very good aggressive tee shots. A lousy seven iron into the par-3 16th led to a bogey which set me back before a great up and down for birdie on the 17th got me back to even par for the round. I knew that the cut would likely fall at four under par, so that meant I needed one more birdie on the par-four 18th. Unfortunately, I hit a really poor tee shot that got snagged by some trees just off the tee box, and I had to work hard from there just to make a bogey. It was a disappointing end to disappointing tournament, but I sure do feel good about the way I battled back on the closing nine holes.

My game is good. I'm excited to know that better results are coming in near future. I'm going to keep improving, and you can bet that I'll be back in contention soon! Check back here in a couple days for a practice report and an update on what's coming up next.