Awful Golf in Round 2

The only good thing I can say about my second round from El Jadida is that I never gave up. It was the strangest day. The weather kept us on our toes all day as the rain and wind would alternate every few minutes with steamy sunshine. One moment, a rain suit would feel like a steam sauna, but as soon as the rain suit came off, the weather would switch and short sleeves would feel like any icy cold shower in a wind tunnel. This back and forth happened five or six times during the round today, but in reality, it was little more than annoying and certainly was no excuse for my lousy performance. I really don't know what to say about my game today. I had a great warm up session this morning before my 12:20 tee time, and I felt great when I walked to the tenth tee to start my round. It all went wrong from my very first swing, however. I felt like I made a pretty good swing on my first tee shot but hit the ball right of the planet, and such was my day. I had a plan and went through my routine on every single shot today, but repeatedly watched shots fly off line and putts roll away from the hole. I hit very few shots today that I would call good, but I just kept plugging along, and in the end I somehow managed to post a score of two-over-par 74 for my second round.

My never-quit attitude was just enough to keep me around for the weekend in this event. On the 9th hole (my 18th) today, I figured I needed to make a par to stick around for the weekend. The 9th is unquestionably the most difficult hole on the course, but I knew I just needed to keep trying to execute a solid plan. Once again, my tee shot didn't quite go according to plan. My shot leaked a little right of target and managed to work it's way right against the lip of a fairway bunker. I had to hit a sand wedge to get out of the bunker, and was left with 107 yards to a very small landing area and had a very gusty wind coming at my face. I needed to hit a solid pitching wedge to get it through the wind, and I finally executed a great shot and hit the ball eight feet behind the flag. I then rolled the putt right in the middle of the hole for a great par and the chance to go play this course (which I love) two more times.

I played awful today. I played the par-fives one over par, hit my tee shot in the gunch 4 times and felt like an idiot on the greens. All that and I still held it together enough to make the cut. I think today was something of an anomaly; I really do not feel like I'm swinging badly, and I know that my putting is great. I have nothing to lose the next two days, but I do feel that I have a chance to gain a lot. Though I made the cut on the number, I am only 7 shots out of second place. The weather is supposed to be pretty bad again tomorrow, so I'm going to have an intelligently aggressive game plan and execute better, and I think I can really make a move on "moving day."

I'm excited to go play again tomorrow. I don't feel like my game is as bad as what was on display today, and I'm strangely confident that I'm going to play extremely solidly tomorrow, even if the weather turns out to be awful. Come back for a round-3 report tomorrow. It's going to be good news, I think!