Tournament-Week #2 Summary

After playing well in Friday's third round of the eGolf Tour's Oldfield Open, I was excited for the opportunity to have another great day in some nasty weather in the final round. My third round had moved me into a large tie for 4th place in the event, and I was anxious to improve my position with a solid day in what promised to be challenging conditions on Saturday. Unfortunately, the conditions won on Saturday, and the final round was completely washed out, which left the 54-hole results final for the tournament. I really did want to play the final day, but I guess a T4 finish is a good result in my second event of the year. More importantly, I felt comfortable on the course during this past week's tournament, and I can tell that consistently good results are in my future.

During the tournament at Oldfield Country Club and the Callawassie Island Club, I just felt more relaxed than I had the previous week in my first event of the year. It was a nice feeling. I was trusting myself more and executing more freely. That is a great sign moving forward.

I had a fairly good week of practice as well. My time on the practice green was frustrating because it took me ages to complete my drills. In fact, I had just two of my completion drills for putting done when we were washed out on Saturday. I did great work on the practice green all week, and my stroke was (and is) feeling good, but the putts simply were not dropping frequently enough for me to finish my drills in a timely fashion. I took care of business with a solid Sunday afternoon of practice, however, and am pleased to say that I finished all of my work goals for the week. Things looked bleak as I sat inside for the entirety of the day on Saturday, but a "two-a-day" workout on Sunday morning, during which I did a hard interval sprint workout and a full-body strength training session, combined with a solid afternoon effort on the practice green and short game area allowed me to check off all of my work goals. I am pumped about that!

This past week was a good one. I got my mind much closer to where it needs to be for tournament golf, and my execution improved as a result. I still have a lot of improving to do as my iron play was very questionable during the first two rounds and my putting left a bit to be desired at times, but I definitely feel like the last week was a huge step in the right direction.

I will be making my career debut on the NGA (formerly Hooters) Tour next week in Tifton, Georgia. I'm exciting for the challenge of learning a new golf course and a new tournament series. The only thing I know for sure about the NGA Tour is that the player who gets the ball in the hole in the least number of strokes wins. That'll be my goal! I'm heading to southern Georgia sometime during the day on Monday. The tournament begins on Thursday. Come back for a pre-tournament report between now and then. Thank you for cheering for me!

Best Round of the Year... So Far!

The sample size is small at this point, but my Friday round in this week's eGolf event at Oldfield Country Club is definitely my best round of the year so far. Playing in some tricky conditions that included a stiff cold breeze in the morning and rain showers over my closing holes, I made five birdies and just a lone bogey to post a third-round 68. It was a solid round because I finally combined a proper tournament mindset with good execution. I was fairly calm all day and hit a lot of quality shots in all facets of the game. I still feel like my iron play could be sharper and I can definitely get hotter with my putter, but all in all I am feeling great about the state of my game.

In the tough conditions that round moved me up the leaderboard considerably. I began the day in the middle of the field, but I currently sit in a four-way tie for 4th place. The leader is six shots ahead of me, but given a rough forecast for Saturday's final round, I know that anything can happen. I am going to stay patient and keep my attitude good. It will be an exciting final round, and I am confident that I will play well. Come back over the weekend for a final-round report and a complete summary of the tournament week. Thank you for keeping up with me!

Even in Round 2

I promise I'll give a full update on here soon, but here is just another quick one from round 2 for tonight. I was playing at Callawassie Island Club for my second round of this week's event, and the course has some tricky holes and absolutely the fastest greens I've ever seen. I was calm and confident starting the day, but a par, bogey, bogey start sent me into a tough spot early. After a bit of a second-round meltdown last week, I had to work hard to gather my thoughts and stay relaxed this time around. I did a pretty good job of controlling my emotions, even though my execution was a bit off most of the day. I struggled with my irons all day and didn't putt the ball very well, but I did a good job of staying calm, and that allowed me to keep it together nicely. A disappointing bogey at my final hole knocked me back to even par (72) for the day, but I'm pleased with the way I recovered from my rocky start. I now have two more days to climb the leaderboard, and I'm excited about that. Keep it here for a good report from round 3 Friday night. Thank you for taking the time to follow me. Exciting things are coming!

Comfortable on the Course in Round 1

I felt great all day during the first round of this week's eGolf tournament. Playing at Oldfield Country Club, I was comfortable and relaxed on the course all day. My game felt good, too. Unfortunately, I have only a one-under-par round of 71 to show for it, but I can tell that my mindset on the course has improved immensely in tournament week #2. Apparently I still need to sharpen some elements of my game because I need to be shooting something better than 71 when I feel great about how I've played, but I can tell that I am in good shape moving forward.

I move to the tournament's co-host course for my second round on Thursday. The Callawassie Island Club is a fantastic venue, and I am looking forward to having a great day on it. Come back for a report in the evening. Thank you for your support!

Ready to Go at Oldfield

The eGolf Tour is at two very good golf courses this week. I play at the tournament's host venue--Oldfield Country Club--in Wednesday's opening round before heading to the really cool co-host--Callawassie Island Club (par-4 18th pictured)--for round 2 on Thursday. I'm feeling good! Keep it here for nightly updates throughout the week. Thank you for following me.

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Summary of First Tournament Week

Missing a cut is one of my very least favorite things. I strongly dislike it. For that reason, I cannot look back on my first tournament week of the year with overwhelming positivity, but I can say that I am very pumped to be back in tournament action and am excited about the weekend of practice I have just completed. The long lay-off from competition definitely left me a little bit rusty in terms of dealing with the mental challenges that accompany tournament golf, but I am confident that I will bounce back quickly. I don't have to wait very long to get myself back into contention as the eGolf Tour plays again this week just inland from Hilton Head Island at a course called Oldfield Golf Club. Though a lot of things were very disappointing in week 1, I definitely feel like I progressed this week and am excited to go compete again.

I want to cathartically speak a bit more about the negatives from this past week. I had a hard time getting ahold of my thoughts during the second round. At the very first sign of adversity, I began to think about the cut. At the time of my first bogey in round 2, I was still one under par for the tournament and in good position to do much more than make the cut. As my mind went places it shouldn't have been going, I found myself struggling to find comfort over my golf shots. I am disappointed that I executed poorly at key times during my second round, but I know that my problems were psychological and not physical. That knowledge is simultaneously frustrating and encouraging. It frustrates me because my thoughts are under my control, and I should have been able to manage them better. At the same time, it is encouraging because I know that my mental game is one of my greatest strengths, and I am certain that thinking the right thoughts will become easier as I get back into the groove of tournament play.

There is plenty of good news to report from this week as well. Other than the obvious news that I now have my first tournament of the year under my belt, I also completed all of my work goals for the week. Doing so wasn't easy, and I had to deliver a very strong performance on the practice green in some chilly conditions on Sunday, but I did it, and it felt great. I didn't feel fantastic about my ball-striking sessions over the weekend, but I am hitting the ball well enough to compete, and my short game work and putting were both very solid and productive. In addition to that, I am quite pleased with my fitness work during this tournament week. I may have trimmed the intensity of my workouts slightly, but I still had great running and strength-training sessions all week.

I am feeling very good about things. My bum result in the first event of the year certainly could be a little unsettling, but I still had a positive week, and I'm ready to give it another go this week. There is no additional pressure to perform well this week to "make up" for last week's shortcomings. I just need to stay relaxed, enjoy myself, and play to the old cliché--one shot at a time. I love playing tournament golf, and I am ready for week number 2 of it in 2013!

Keep it for a pre-tournament update on Tuesday night before this week's event begins on Wednesday morning at Oldfield. Thank you for keeping up with me!

***Special Request: I will be journeying to some new venues this year as I split time between the NGA (formerly Hooter's) and eGolf Tours. My first NGA stop is next week (2/28-3/3) in Tifton, Georgia. Does anyone have any potential housing contacts for me in that area? Tifton is about 50 miles north of Valdosta right on I-75. Let me know if you happen to know anyone around there that might not mind a house guest for a week. Thank you very much! peterjmalnati@gmail.com/(865)3874185

Early Exit from Event #1

I won't say much for now, but I do want to give a quick report from round 2 of this week's eGolf tournament at Palmetto Hall in Hilton Head, South Carolina. I had a fantastic morning leading into my afternoon tee time for the second round, and I hit two nice shots into the opening hole to start my round with a birdie. I felt like it was really going to be a great day for me. I wasn't correct. I hit a poor long iron shot into the difficult par-4 third and was disappointed when my six-foot putt for par wiggled out of the hole. For some reason that bogey really rattled me. All of the positive feelings I had from my morning and my solid offseason of work left me for a little while, and I felt nervous and uncomfortable over most of my shots for the next few holes. The seventh hole on the Cupp Course at Palmetto Hall is probably the tightest driving hole I'll play all year, and my nervousness didn't combine well with the trouble-laden, narrow fairway. Though I had been swinging my driver beautifully up to that point in the tournament. I blew two balls out of play on the right side of the hole and suffered a quadruple-bogey 8. I battled hard after that, and actually had myself back in position to make the cut before a bogey, bogey finish dropped me to a 76 (+4) for my second round and 3 over par for the week. I will now have the weekend off, which is never a good thing in my business. I'm disappointed because I feel like my game was in good shape heading into this event, but clearly I wasn't mentally ready for the challenges that present themselves during tournament play just yet. My game is not far off, and I'll have a solid weekend of practice. Hopefully I'll feel more comfortable next week as the eGolf Tour stays here near Hilton Head for an event at Oldfield Golf Club. Come back for a practice report later this weekend and a more thorough summary from tournament week #1. Thank you very much for keeping up with me!