Great Finish to Round 2; Some Extra Driving

After an extremely frustrating Thursday ended with a first-round score of 80 (+8) on Friday morning, I was determined just to continue playing well and having a great attitude as I teed it up in round 2. I knew that making the cut was still very possible, but I simply wanted to have a good day and post a positive score. I began my second round in eerily similar fashion to the first round. I felt like I was executing well, but through seven holes, I had two bogeys and no birdies to show for my efforts. I stayed committed to each shot and began to get things going in the right direction. I played the final 11 holes of my second round in 4 under par with no bogeys to post a second-round score of 70 (-2). I was very pleased because I had played well and did have a good score to show for it, but I was certain that I would still miss the cut. I had failed to birdie either of the par-fives on my second nine, and I felt like my score would definitely not be enough to play the weekend. I decided to head home for some practice over the weekend, and I am currently writing this from my comfy bed in Dandridge, TN. I am thrilled to say, though, that I have an early wake-up call coming in the morning so that I can drive just more than three hours back to Chattahoochee Golf Course in Gainesville, GA, for the third round tomorrow. I'm going to make the cut, which is a great and pleasant surprise. I know the importance of staying positive and never giving up, but this experience further drove home that point.

I had better get to sleep for now so that I can go down to Georgia tomorrow and start climbing that leaderboard. Keep it here for updates over the weekend. Thank you for following me!

Frustration on Day 1

I am in a bit of a funk right now. I really do feel like I am playing well. I'm driving the ball well, hitting some quality iron and wedge shots, and stroking the putter okay, but I was just not precise enough on day one to handle the tough conditions on a tough golf course. After making three bogeys in the first seven holes, I birdied number nine and felt great heading to the back nine. Unfortunately, I couldn't get things to go my way on the back nine. I hit a lot of quality shots, but incredibly have bogied six of the first eight holes on the back nine to stand at eight over par with one hole remaining in my opening round. That is obviously not good, but my game feels like it is close to being as good as ever. Great results are coming soon. Hopefully I can get it started on Friday as I finish round 1 and play round 2. Come back for a great report from Friday's action. Thank you for keeping up with me. Keep believing in me; great stuff coming!!

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Great Course for This Week's NGA Event

I am writing this from my sister's house in Cartersville, Georgia, but this week's event on the NGA Tour is actually an hour and a half from here at Chattahoochee Golf Course in Gainesville, GA. I am in the afternoon wave for Thursday's opening round, so I'm soaking up a chance to stay with my sister and be Uncle Pete, but I will definitely be in "game mode" by mid-morning on Thursday. I am very excited about Chattahoochee Golf Course. It is a good layout with a nice variety of short and long holes, wonderfully shaped fairways lined by tall pines and sometime thick woods, and beautiful bunkering. The real highlight of the course, though, is the greens. They are fairly large putting surfaces, but dramatic undulation separates most of the greens into sections, and all are extremely firm and very fast. The greens will require intelligent planning and precise execution on approach shots. I have really been working on my iron play this week, and I am feeling good. All areas of my game are feeling good, in fact, and I am ready to put together a strong performance from beginning to end this week. The weather--cold, breezy, and potentially rainy at times--promises to add another element of challenge, but I am ready for whatever it can throw at me. I'm going to play intelligently, stay relaxed, have fun, and execute well this week. Keep it here for nightly updates after each round. Thank you for following me!

Frustrating Results but an Encouraging Week

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.

Good, Bad, and Ugly on Day 3

On Saturday morning I warmed up in the dark before the 8 a.m. restart of the second round. I was a little jittery knowing I faced eight tough holes in cool and breezy conditions. I felt good, though, and I had a feeling it would be a great day. I swapped a birdie and a bogey over the final eight holes of my second round to post a 71 (-1). With the exception of a terrible bunker shot on the par-3 7th hole, I played very solidly during the conclusion of my second round. As all of the scores came in, it became clear that my round was indeed pretty good. Though the leaderboard was very tightly bunched, my 1-over-par total through 36 holes had me just four shots behind the leaders.

I teed off at 12:30 to begin my third round, and despite 20+ mile per hour winds whipping across an already brutally hard golf course, I felt great and poised to make a move. I began my round impressively, recording eight consecutive pars on a tricky stretch of opening holes. A big blunder on the easy par-5 9th cost me a bogey as I made the turn, but I still felt good. Another poor swing led to a bogey on the par-3 11th, but I answered with two of my best swings of the day on the uphill par-5 12th. Unfortunately, my second shot must have carried just a bit farther than I intended, and though I thought it had a chance to go in the hole, we actually found it in some gnarly pine roots 20 yards over the green. I scraped out a difficult par, but that rattled me. Though I still felt good about the way I was swinging, my execution was sloppy the last six holes, and I compounded a few ball-striking mistakes with my worst putting stretch of the week. I ended up shooting 80; it is the only time in my professional career I have posted a score in the 80s. Of course I'm disappointed to have shot such a poor score and to see the plummet that ensued down the learderboard, but my game still feels good. I had a very focused practice session after signing my scorecard, and everything is in good shape.

I'm going to play great on Sunday. All the pieces are there; I just need to put them together. I feel fantastic, and I know that the good results are coming. Keep it here for a final-round report and a summary of the week. Thank you for following me!

Very Productive 10-hole Day on Friday

Consecutive mornings of 2+ hour frost delays have the NGA Tour event at Mount Vintage quite a bit behind schedule. With my second round tee time pushed back to 4:00 pm on Friday, I took advantage of a beautiful day to do some quality work. I had a great sprint workout in the morning and then put in a solid two hours of practice before having a rest and a second lunch prior to my tee time. I nailed a couple of my putting drills and had a great session on the driving range. When it was finally my turn to tee off, the clock said nearly 4:30, but I was feeling great. I played only ten holes of my second round before play was suspended for darkness, but I'm feeling good. The golf course is brutally tough, but I'm playing intelligently and decently well. I have made two birdies and one bogey.

Saturday will be a golf-filled day, and I am looking forward to it. As difficultly as the course is playing, I feel like I can easily get myself back into contention, and I have a 26-hole day on Saturday with which to do just that. I am going to stay relaxed, have fun, and play smartly. It will be a fun weekend! Keep it here for reports from the action. Thank you for your support!

Round-1 Report

It was a long day on Thursday at Mount Vintage Plantation. I arrived on time to warm up properly for my 8:36 opening-round tee time, but temperatures in the 20s promised a frost delay, and sure enough, I didn't tee off until nearly 11 o'clock. It was still quite brisk when I started, but the weather was not an issue. I had great days of practice leading into this week's event and was really feeling confident when we got started, but I struggled with my ball-striking early and often. The greens are very demanding on this golf course, and they require approach shots that are well-thought and precise. My thinking was good for most of the day, but my execution was very lacking. I made some great par-saving putts early and stood at even par seven holes, but bogeyed holes 8, 10, and 11 to fall to three over. I was definitely a bit rattled and frustrated, but I did a good job of staying patient, and though I could not get anything going, I played the final seven holes in one under par to post an opening-round 74 (+2). My game definitely felt a little off on Thursday, but I know that I am playing well. I'm going to find that lovin' feeling on Friday afternoon and play great the rest of the way. Come back for another report after round 2. Thank you for following me!