Room to Improve But Feeling Good

I made a double bogey on the first hole of my second round. I took two swats at my ball in a fairway bunker on the way to my opening blunder, but I stayed very calm and played another solid round. I hit every green in regulation after the first hole and made five birdies and no bogies over the final 17 holes. My matching rounds of 69 to open the Carolinas Tour's Tour Championship do not have me where I want to be heading into the final round, but I am pleased with the way that I am hitting the ball and feel like my game is progressing.

Only twelve players made the cut here in this small field event, and I am in eighth place and eight shots behind the leader. That means that tomorrow's final round will be a great opportunity for me. I am still not happy with the status of my routine. Three weeks ago when the eGolf Tour opened its fall series of events in Ninety-six, South Carolina, I had my less-fidgety, one-look-at-the-target-and-go routine somewhat ingrained, but for some reason I have not been able to stay comfortable with that over the past few weeks. My non-fidgety routine feels good in practice, but I find myself struggling to stick with it in competition. Thursday's final round will offer me the opportunity to force myself to be uncomfortable and commit to executing my new routine. I need to trust my new routine under tournament conditions so that it can get truly ingrained and comfortable. The reason that this is so important to me is that my See it, Feel it, Trust it approach to hitting golf shots works most effectively if I execute my shot while the image and feeling of the shot that I'm trying to hit are fresh in my mind. I don't know why I'm so uncomfortable pulling the trigger after one look at the target, but I'm going to get there, and forcing myself to do it here in this week's final round will be a great step.

Though I'm definitely not happy that this issue with my routine is something that is causing me such trouble, my game is in very good shape. I'm struggling with a cold putter this week, and I've thrown away a couple of shots with two uncharacteristic mistakes, but I feel like I am still putting well and my ball-striking is starting to come back around. I know that great things are coming this fall!

I am more interested in working on my new routine and committing to it than anything else in Thursday's final round here at the Carolinas Tour's Tour Championship, but don't be surprised if I shoot a good score and climb up that leaderboard a little bit as well. Come back late in the evening for a report from the action. Thank you for keeping up with me!