Day 2 at the Mass Mid Amateur

What a difference a day makes on the golf course - today, the weather was in the high 50s, winds were up to 15mph, and scores were rising. In round 1, the average score was roughly 75. In round 2, the average score rose 2 shots to 77.

My tee time was in the morning wave at 8:45am. Mr. Drama (Russ), my playing competitor from yesterday, decided to no show..a no no at these events and blatant disrespect to the Massachusetts Golf Association. Marcus (other playing competitor) and myself tee'd it up on 1, facing heavy winds. On the first hole, I got under my 3-wood, leaving myself 230 yards to the par-4 compared to 110-yards yesterday. What a difference! And I hit hybrid off the tee yesterday. Believe it or not I made par in this round and bogey yesterday.

Prior to the round, my swing felt terrible on the range. I worked through my mind different solutions and assumed certain problems. This is not how you want to start your preparation for a tournament round. I beat up my swing for 30 minutes and then decided to go with what I had for the day. This played out as one might expect...no consistency in ball striking and direction. I played from everywhere and I made up and down from everywhere.

I must say Haverhill CC has greens that are close to the best, if not the best, I've ever played on. They run as true as any greens you will putt on and they are consistent. Every putt I looked at I thought I could make and it showed. I had 11 putts on the front nine and 27 putts in total. I had 8 one-putts and a chip in. After the round, I was kicking myself that I didn't make more. Trust me, I needed every one of them.

Through nine holes, I was Even par. My best shots on the front nine were a chip in for birdie at the par 4 5th and a 140-yard approach on the par 5 8th that set up an easy birdie. Also, making up and down on 1 from 60 yards was a great way to start the day. My back nine did not create any necessary sparks to post a great score. I missed good birdie opportunities on 12, 13, and 14. I finished with 4 bogeys and 5 pars to shoot 39 in. Total score was 74 (+4). Two day total was 152, 5 shots over the cut line.

My Dad did an excellent job caddying for me, steering me to good decisions on many shots that put me in position to save pars when I could have easily turn those into doubles w/ one mistake. We both wish we put more focus on shooting a number on the back nine. After my front nine, I was in good position to make the cut if i posted -1 or better on the back. We didn't know what I needed to shoot at the time, but it was clear that my front nine score was ahead of the field and I needed to go low on the back too.

Overall, I am very happy with my short game and I feel like this experience will only make me better. I walk away learning from mental mistakes (swing fixes on the range, not using basic techniques like 1,99 and 4 (tempo and grip pressure relaxation techniques) to relax myself, and not stating specific goals). Remember when you get to tournament day, the warmup is a chance to get your muscles loose, see how the ball is flying in the weather conditions, and focus in on your goals for the day. Its good to check for basics, such as alignment, tempo techniques, and routine. Don't go crazy on backswing positions, follow through positions, transition, etc. Once you get to a tournament, your swing is not going to completely change...its simply a matter of calming your nerves, focusing on your basic swing checks, and setting your sights on the big picture. I got too caught up in the details of my swing this week and it caused me to lose my confidence over the ball.

I feel good about my resolve to score well on Day 2 despite many bad shots. Good players know how to score even when the swing goes bad. I'll be back stronger next year and will keep improving.

No tournaments scheduled for the near future. I will be posting something in the near future related to offseason plans.

Mass Mid Amateur: Day 1

August 15th - The first day of the Massachusetts Mid-Amateur Championship kicked off at Haverhill Country Club. The field was 120. The format was 54 hole stroke play with a cut down to the Top 30 after 36 holes.

I drew an afternoon tee time on Day 1 at 1:21pm. What do you do before an afternoon tee time? Do you squeeze in some practice, go to the gym, watch a movie, sleep, do errands?? One thing for sure is you get to sleep in. I chose to eat a nice breakfast at the Spot Cafe in Watertown with my brother and my friend Samuel. After gathering my golf equipment and attire and driving to my parent's house, I was left with less than an hour to stretch and eat some more food. We departed for Haverhill at 11:30am. All in all, if you like to arrive at least an hour prior to your tee time and have to travel many miles to get there, the amount of morning time goes quickly.

The weather conditions were close to perfect - temperatures in mid 70s and mild winds in the afternoon. The morning conditions were slightly better because of less wind. Overall, it was a fair comparison of playing conditions between morning and afternoon groups. The course conditions were excellent. Greens were in perfect shape and running around 10.5 on the stimpmeter. I started on the 10th tee, a 181-yard downhill par-3. My 9-iron missed short right and I failed to get up and down for par. Off with a bogey on 10 and then doubled 11. Its painful to start like that!

My brother was caddying for me and my Dad was spectating. It was awesome! After a tough start, I missed an easy birdie on 12 and then hit a towering 3-wood in front of the 300 yard par 4 13th. I pitched it to 20 feet and drained the birdie putt. After parring 14, I made bogey on 15 and missed a short birdie putt (10 feet) on 16, bogeyed 17, and parred 18 for a front nine 39.

On the back side, I started poorly by hitting my second shot into a hazard on 1 (my 10th hole). I made a great pitch shot from 60 yards to save bogey. On the par-4 3rd, I hit the shot of my tournament. My drive went way right into fescue. I was lucky enough to draw a good lie. However, I had a slightly sidehill lie (ball above my feet) and a huge maple tree 10 yards in front of me. The yardage to the green was roughly 135. My brother and I discussed the options. I felt it was best to try to go over the tree. My brother said you can do it no problem. I slightly opened up from pitching wedge and put a full swing on it. The ball launched straight up and barely over the tree, landing on the front of the green, rolling to 15 feet below the pin. It was Tiger-esque. Unfortunately, I missed the putt, but par was still exceptional from that position.

I birdied that par 3 4th, making a slippery 25 footer down the hill. My brother called me making this shot too! The rest of the round included many bunker shots and a great up and down on the par-3 7th (from a downhill lie with patchy grass and mud on my ball). I doubled my last hole to shoot 78, three strokes above the field average on Day 1. My round included 2 birdies, 8 pars, 2 doubles, and 6 bogeys. Total putts were 33.

Looking back on this round, I did not capitalize on the good playing conditions and put myself in a tough position to make the cut.

Thanks to my brother for being a great caddy. He gave me confidence in a lot of my decisions and kept me well energized throughout the round.

Additional Notes:

-My Dad took notes on all my shots and was having a good time, even took a beer to go after nine holes

-Playing partner Russ forgot to bring his driver to the tournament and left ALL his wedges in the car (he figured this out on our 2nd hole and drove his golf cart off the course to get them)...the drama continued with Russ having a ruling issue on the par 3 7th hole...his ball rested on an abandoned, embedded ball in the woods, the ruling did not go his way and he made 7

-Bob 'PGA' Green fired 75, a good start to the tournament

-Defending champ Brian Higgins shot 66 and held a one-shot lead

Dennis Four Ball Tradition

Mike Murphy and I finished T6 out of 80 teams at the Dennis Four Ball this past weekend. The event took place at Dennis Highlands GC and the format was best-ball gross over 36 holes. We shot 69-68 = 137 (-5). The winners were -9.

The field was strong including many of the top amateurs in the state (e.g. Mike and I, as well the 2006 Massachusetts Amateur Champion and 2009 Massachusetts Public Links Champion).

Highlights included making up and down off of a tree root, rimming the cup on my tee shot on the 222 yard par 3 sixteenth, and making bird on the final hole of the tournament (it was a 6 footer downhill with a 1 foot break). Mike was hitting crafty shots throughout the weekend, including a 20-yard hook shot around trees to approach the par-4 14th. His shot landed on the green and he made par. Also, Mike reached the par 5 8th in two after hitting a spectacular 3-wood from 250 yards+ off a downhill lie. He missed the 15 foot eagle try, but made birdie!

This was the 4th consecutive year Mike and I have competed in this event and it keeps getting better. I already have it marked on my calendar for September 18-19, 2010. One thing for sure is we expect rain to hit that weekend in 2010. For the past two years, we have played in the rain at least one of the rounds. The first round this year was some of the strangest and most annoying weather I've ever played in. On the front nine, it would be sunny and dry for one hole and then rain the next hole and it continued to alternate. On the back nine, from 14-17, it was downpouring. We actually saw lightning in the distance on the 13th green. On the 17th green, the green went from wet to under water in less than 20 seconds, lightning struck overhead, and we were called off the course. Mike and I managed to play 14 thru 17 in even par. Play resumed 40 minutes later and the course played fine. Dennis Highlands might be the best draining course in America. I was amazed. I shrivered my way to a par on the final hole after the rain delay. Then, we flew back to our guest house in Dennis and took a hot shower.

p.s.: I thought I would tell you that a house on the 12th hole had a massive poster reading OBAMA = SOCIALISM. Everyone could see it. As I've said in the past on political subjects, I'll let the reader make his or her own judgment. Such a political comment, ain't it!

KF