First Round Struggle

I didn't have my "A" game today. I struggled off of the tee and into the greens, and my wedge play was abysmal. I rolled the ball great on the greens but didn't get many putts to go in the hole. I was very tough mentally, though, and followed my game plan all day. Despite hitting just a few quality golf shots all day, I did manage to hit all but one green in regulation and limited my damage to just one bogey. I could only scrape out two birdies, however, on the very score-able Sapona Country Club and posted a first-round score of 70 on the par 71 layout.

Golf was hard today. I felt uncomfortable over most shots, and when I would hit a good tee shot to set myself up for a wedge shot into a green, I really struggled to get the ball anywhere near the hole. I know that the work I have done on my wedge play is good, so I'm confident that today's struggles will be short-lived. In addition to struggling with my wedges, I failed to take advantage of easy birdie opportunities on Sapona's three par 5's. A misjudged chip led to a disappointing par after hitting two good shots into the par-5 first hole before errant tee shots on 14 and 18 led to two more pars on the back-nine par 5's. I just didn't hit enough good shots today to take advantage of the many birdie opportunities that Sapona offers.

With all that said, I love the feeling that comes from being mentally tough and getting through an ugly round with a decent score. I feel great about the fact that I limited my damage to only one bogey today and that I birdied two of the last five holes. After my round, I made the short drive over to the Country Club of Salisbury where I will play my second round tomorrow at 12:30 p.m., and I had a great practice session. I hit some balls and did a lot of wedge work, and I really liked how everything was feeling. Then, I spent some quality time on the practice green and knocked out two of my putting drills for the week. I left feeling very good.

My tournament round may not have been very pretty today, but I feel great about the status of my game and am in really good spirits heading into tomorrow. I really like the CC of Salisbury, and feel that if I stay committed to the same game plan and continue to enjoy myself, I can really have a great round. Come back for a round-2 report tomorrow evening.