Sunday, July 15, 2012

Solid finish

The third round was awfully frustrating.  I just didn't hit it great and I couldn't buy a putt to fall.  I wound up with 15 pars, 2 bogies, and a birdie to shoot a third round 72.  And it was much of the same to start the opening 9 holes in the final round.  I made 2 bogies and 1 birdie, and again, couldn't get anything to fall.  But finally, with 9 holes left, things started to even out.  I continued to give myself chances and stroke it well like I had all week, and low and behold, it paid off.  I hit a good shot on 1 about 18 feet behind the hole, put a really good stroke and watched it break right into the center, finally!  Then I hit a great 8-iron on the par-3 3rd hole to 6 feet and poured one in.  3 holes later I would make a 10 foot birdie try on the par-5 6th.  And two holes later I hit a spectacular iron shot to 7 feet on the dangerous 8th hole, par-3 and poured that one in as well.  I would finish with 4 birdies on that closing nine for a 31, which included a pair of lip-out birdie putts on 7 & 9.  Great momentum builder going into this week.  I finished with a final round 68 to climb into 43rd, but had one of the lower rounds on a difficult day.

I'm excited about my play and am gearing up for this week's eGolf event in Wallace, NC at River Landing.  I'll try to keep up with my results on here!

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Made Cut

My first made cut in my third eGolf event of the year.  After getting off to a nice start, cruising to -2 thru 6, I bogied my 7th and 8th holes to drop back to 3-under for the tournament.  The problem with this was that I was en route to shooting a low score, and at -5, well clear of the cutline.  But when I fell back to the cutline number, I wasn't as free to take chances and get aggressive.  However, I played mistake free golf on my inward nine, which was highlighted with a 320 yard 3-wood that reached the green surface, followed by a 100 foot eagle putt that just burned the edge and stopped 6 inches away, leading to a tap in birdie and a 34 on my inward nine.  I finished with a 1-under par 70, 4-under for the tournament and made the cut right on the number.  No holds barred now, it's time to get aggressive, take it deep, and make a check.

I'm continuing to play well.  Really hitting it solidly, minus one drive and one second shot today.  Hit some really good putts that just wouldn't drop.  Had one of those days where the good shots just weren't quite the right distance and the good putts weren't quite the right line.  So close to a great round, feel one coming!  Tee it at 9:40 tomorrow

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Short on Monday, but great Wednesday

I just couldn't get it going in the Monday Qualifier.  I bogied my first hole and bogied my 12th hole to fall to +1.  I finished strong however, still managing to post a 69, but the real momentum swing/lost opportunities came at the turn, I missed an 8 footer for par on 8, after being -1 thru 7 and a 5-foot birdie chance on 9, and 6-foot birdie chance on 10, and another 5 foot effort for birdie on 11.  If I make those four putts, all inside 8 feet, I'm 4-under thru 11 and my 3 late birdies would have gotten me to -7 and into the John Deere.  From that perspective, I'm really close, just a few putts away from being in the mix.  I'm playing really well and am truly excited for the rest of this season.

So after coming up short Monday, I hopped in my car and drove 9 hours, to Lexington, KY where I spent the night.  I then got back in my car and drove another 7 hours and got to Kannapolis around 4 o'clock.  I played two balls around the Club at Irish Creek to get as much golf in as I could.  Really hit it great.  But my first round was at the Country Club of Salisbury, and I didn't get a practice round in there…

Hitting some putts to the pin locations could have been helpful today, but I got off to a solid start with a 3-under par, bogey-free, 68 to start the tournament.  Not bad after 16 hours in a car!  I made 16 pars, 1 birdie, and 1 eagle.  If that sounds familiar, it's because I made 16 pars and 2 birdies in the Thursday pre-qualifier a week ago.  I'm in 28th place of 161 guys after Round 1, with a cut to low 53 & ties tomorrow.

We had a 1-hour rain delay today and the greens were really soft and were bumpy and chewed up, so it was kind of difficult to make any putts of length, but I kept giving myself chances and finally poured in a birdie on 12 after 11 pars to open the day.  Then I stuffed a 6-iron on the par 5 15th to 5 feet and drained that to get to 3-under.  I play at Irish Creek tomorrow 9:54AM.  A course I know very well and have a good game plan for.  Gonna take it deep!

Friday, July 6, 2012

Bogey free, the way to be!

Shot a bogey-free 69 in John Deere Pre-Qualifying yesterday.  Had a good game plan going into the day, as I started on the par 4 10th.  I knew a couple good drives on 10 & 11 could net me some early birdies, so I tried to be aggressive.  It paid off on 10 as I hit a good pitch to six feet and poured in the birdie.  Didn't hit a good enough drive on 11 to go for the par 5 green in two with water in front.  So I layed it up to 90 yards and hit a good wedge shot that spun a little bit too much.  Good thing I started the day straight ROLLING my Bettinardi putter.  Poured it in from 15 feet, then made a 5 footer and 8 footer for pars on the next two holes.  I knew 2-under would be more than enough on a day when the top 50 of 140 players make it into the Monday qualifier.  So I tossed it in cruise control, which was the plan if I could get those birdies early on.  I did have a couple disappointing pars on a few holes on the front nine.  Could have played those a little better.  But I made it easy on myself all day long.  Never in trouble of making any big numbers, or even bogies for that matter.  Really playing good solid golf.  Excited for the chance to get back into my favorite tour event, The John Deere Classic!

I'm headed to Chicago for the next two days to practice and play some golf with former MU teammate Sam Bettinardi, who recently shot a 67 in the Illinois State Match Play qualifying rounds.  Going to be a fun couple days of practice and then back for another practice round Sunday afternoon before the qualifier on Monday.  I'm also signed up for an eGolf event this next week at The Club at Irish Creek in Charlotte, but hopefully I won't be headed there.

Stay Cool this week!