Solid Play, State Open today

I finished up the last eGolf event with a pair of solid rounds that saw some good ball-striking, but I didn't score as good as I should have. I fired a 71 and followed it with a 73. The 73 was a bit disappointing considering I was 2-under with 4 to play and shot 1-over. Just made a couple bad swings coming in. But overall, I'm very pleased with how I'm playing, and just in time for the State Open at Moselem Springs!

Unfortunately, yesterday's practice rounds were washed out due to 2 inches of rain the night before, so nobody was allowed on the tee boxes or greens yesterday. However, myself, Joe Boros, Mike Larkin, Kevin Shields, Jason Schmader, and CG Mercatoris went out together and walked the course. We had a productive day formulating game plans, taking notes, lasering distances, and talking strategy. The course looks to be in good shape, although the fairways were quite wet. It's a pretty tough layout for the most part, and I would be surprised to see more than a couple people take it under par for the week. When the Amateur was here in 2006 only the winner was under, and he wasn't more than 2.

Mike Larkin, Joe B, and myself grabbed dinner together afterward at a cool Italian Restaurant called Florences. As they sat us, I immediately felt like I had been there before, saying, "Umm, guys, does this not exactly look like a Damon's Sports Grill?" And it did. It had the 4 big TV projection screens and volume adjusters on the table to choose what you wanted to listen to. The food was great, and on the way out I read an article on the wall, saying how the restaurant used to be a Damon's (I knew it!), but they decided to keep the sports bar feel to go along with the Italian atmosphere. Interesting. We all really enjoyed it.

I tee off at 1:30 today out at Moselem and I'm about to head there right now to get an hour or two of practice in before I grab some lunch and re-warm up.