Good Practice

This has been an encouraging week of work for me. I had a friendly match with one of my best buddies on Monday afternoon, and in addition to that, I struggled through some cold and difficult practice sessions on both Monday and Tuesday. I was feeling a little frustrated because I hadn't been able to complete as many of my drills as I would have liked through Tuesday, but when I had a competitive match at Holston Hills Country Club on Wednesday, I saw evidence that my tough days of practice are working. In cold and breezy conditions on a soft golf course, I hit every green in regulation and shot a great score of 67 (-5). In addition to that, I made a valuable birdie on the last hole to help me come out a little more on top in the match. I had another tough practice session on Thursday and then spent Friday inside as East Tennessee had to battle an ice storm. I had a lazy day during the ice storm, but responded with a great day of practice on Saturday. My putting and short game felt as good as they have all year on Saturday, and my ball-striking is feeling great as well. It is nice to see that the frustrating days of practice are leading to progress in my golf game. I love to practice, and it is very fulfilling to see good results from hard work. Though I haven't quite reached the start of my competitive calendar, I can already see good results from my golf game. I am feeling great!

Heading into Sunday, I need one more putting drill and just 15 minutes of short game work to complete all of my weekly work goals. I will get them done, and that is a great feeling given the fact that I had a slow start to the week and had a spend all of Friday inside. I am pumped about my weekly goals this year, and though I expect to complete them every single week, it is still a nice accomplishment. (By the way, I'll come back early next week and confirm that I did in fact finish my work on Sunday!)

I do have to confess, though, that I'm likely going to come up short in one area of my work goals. I have a section under my short game work called "Tri-weekly requirements." One of these requirements is that I make at least three bunker shots every three weeks. I have yet to make a single bunker shot, and Sunday is the final day of my first three-week block of the year. With that said, though, I am very excited about this section of my goals. I now have a different type of focus when I practice my short game. Though I haven't had any of my bunker shots actually go in, I have had them dancing all around the hole. I know that at some point this year I am going to hole a bunker shot in a clutch situation in a tournament. I may come up short on this goal during this three-week block, but I am going to remain adamant about completing it moving forward.

My practice is going very well! I have had some tough and frustrating days, but I am definitely seeing great progress. I am really feeling ready to go compete, but I'm glad I still have a couple more weeks to further sharpen all areas of my game. One area that I am going to sharpen is my equipment. I am very thankful to have the support of Titleist behind me, and on Monday I am going to Sea Island in Georgia to go through a Titleist club fitting. I'm not sure what, if any, changes I'll make, but it will be good to know that I have the best stuff for me in my bag. I'll give you an update on that early next week as well.

Thank you for keeping up with me. Great things are coming, and I'm excited to have all of you to share it with me! Keep it here for practice reports and other news.