The final round of the NGA Tour's Kandy Waters Memorial Classic at Mount Vintage Plantation in North Augusta, South Carolina, took place on one of the most perfect weather days of the year. Sunday was warm, sunny, and just moderately breezy. Mount Vintage Plantation was still brutal! The greens, which had been so firm and fast all week, actually seemed a bit more docile in the final round, but scores (mine included) were still very high. I hit a lot of very good golf shots, but just lacked consistency and also missed a few short putts in my closing nine holes. I finished the tournament with a round of 74 (+2), and wound up in a tie for 37th place. In addition to obviously being a poor finish, this result was a bit more frustrating than usual for me because I thrive in the type of conditions we faced this week, and I just wasn't able to execute well enough, consistently enough in all facets of the game to keep myself in contention. I certainly did a lot of things right and really feel like I'm swinging the club well overall, but I sprinkled in too many lousy shots and made a few mental errors as well. It is un-ignorably frustrating to have posted such a poor finish, but with a little mental effort, I will be able to remember this as a very positive week.
For the most part, I drove the ball beautifully from start to finish. I mishit a few drives here and there and of course missed my line a time or three throughout the tournament, but overall I hit the ball very well off the tee. On the whole, my iron play was definitely weak during this tournament. I mishit quite a few shots and was losing a lot of iron shots to the right. With that said, I hit some perfect iron shots over my last ten holes of the tournament, so I think I have something upon which to build. I will really try to focus on my iron play in the coming days of practice. My chipping was good for the most part, but I hit a couple of horrific bunker shots during the week. After the final round, I had a great short game session during which I solidified some good feelings about my chipping and re-discovered that loving feeling out of the sand. My putting was sloppy the last two rounds, but I feel great about the way I am rolling the rock. I definitely threw away some shots on the greens over the final two days, and that is never okay, but my putting has been feeling great in practice and I'm very confident with the putter in my hands. So, despite the bum results this week, I really do feel like I am close to putting it all together and playing some great golf.
I completed all of my work goals this week. That is important for me. My goals keep me focused during my practice time and keep me on task for keeping my body ready to compete. Weather delays and somewhat limited short game facilities got me behind with my practice drills this week, but I stayed committed to the goal of finishing them and made that happen. That feels good.
I'm heading down the road on Monday to Gainesville, Georgia, for the week's NGA Tour event at Chattahoochee Golf Club. I am excited to have another great week of work and to improve my mental and physical performance during the tournament. The tournament is Thursday-Sunday, and I'll be ready for it.
Thank you very much for keeping up with me. My results have been frustrating the last couple weeks because I feel like I'm ready to play well right now, but I know that I need to be patient and enjoy the process without obsessing about the results. I am playing way better than my last two tournament results would indicate, but when I stop worrying about the results and remember to simply enjoy working and competing, I have a feeling great things are going to happen. Keep it here for practice reports and action reports from this week's event.
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