Flionis-Murphy Annual Four Ball Campaign - Norfolk County Classic

October 9-10: Norfolk County Classic @ Presidents GC in Quincy, MA
This event has been off our schedule for the last 4 years due to various conflicts. We were excited to have it back on our schedule and especially after a disappointing finish at the Dennis Four Ball.

We shot 73-68 = 141 (+1). The team birdie count was 7 and the bogey count was 8. You cannot afford to make more than a few bogeys in these events to have a chance. The winning team of Doug Clapp/Bob Malcolm shot 128 (-12).

Again, our issue was a slow start and lack of hitting greens. We played well on the final round, shooting 31 (-3) on our last nine holes. Round 2 was extra good because Mike and I got paired with Ryan Parker and Richie Stover, two former teammates of mine at Bentley. It made for a day full of good competition, laughs, and shared excitement. Parker and Stover were solid, shooting a bogey free 66. We couldn't catch them.

During Round 1, Mike made a birdie on the par-3 9th hole from above a left center pin placement. It was our last hole of the day and we needed a positive boost being +4 thru 17. Well this putt was the best putt I've seen in memory. Incredible, sharp downhill right to left from the fringe with me only in for bogey. Mike rolled it in at perfect speed. Wooooo, Don Small, PGA professional at Presidents, and Jim Fitzroy, President of Golf Course Superintendents of America, our playing partners were almost as excited as us. It was a pleasure playing with both Don and Jim, who shot 73 as well.

Other Highlights
>Weather was excellent for October, low 60s and sunny.
>I made birdie and par on the cornfields 15th, on the birdie i hit 3-wood to the peninsula and 4-iron on the green
>Hit the stick on the 6th hole, almost dunked it, from 85 yards to save par after hitting my tee shot into the fescue on the left side of the 8th hole
>Scores:

Bob Malcolm/Doug Clapp 65-63 128*
Frank Vana/RJ Foley 63-65 128

Herbie Aikens/Bob Mancini 67-62 129
Ryan Riley/Andrew Diraimo 64-67 131
Eric MacPhail/Doug Parigian 68-64 132
Kurt Flionis/Mike Murphy 73-68 141 (t38 of 76)
John Bradley/Steve McKinnon 84-79 163 (last place)

My advice to us is to get the ball on the green in regulation. Once we do that, we make birdies.

Big news for me: I officially made the debut with the Ping iSeries Craz-E putter! The first putter change since high school. I am very happy with the decision. I made a significant amount of putts in the 10-20 foot range.

This is the last tournament on the schedule for 2010. There will be additional blog entries about off-season plans, caddy comments, and maybe something else if I get creative.

Thanks for those who follow!

Live it up,
Kurt

Flionis-Murphy Annual Four Ball Campaign - Dennis Four Ball

Sept 18-19: Dennis Fourball at Dennis Highlands GC
Mike and I love this event. This was our fifth annual trip to Dennis where we play two days of golf, eat lots of food at Grumpy's (local breakfast place with some of the best muffins I've ever had, right up there with Gingerbread Man), walk to the beach, and enjoy a home cooked steak dinner with wine on Saturday evening. We always hope to play in the afternoon on Sunday so we can stay up later, sleep in a little, and have plenty time for Grumpy's.

This year we opened up the tournament with a horrendous round of 78 (+7) on a very scorable par-71 golf course. Weather was beautiful for this time of year, summer clothing. We didn't make a single birdie, struggling to find greens in regulations. With this type of score, our chances of playing in the afternoon were slim. Over our steak dinner, at approximately 730pm, Casey, Mike, and I put in bets for our projected tee times. I figured 830am. I made the call and was told we were teeing off at 12:50pm. What!? How was this possible? I had Mike call again 10 minutes later to confirm. I still don't understand. We got lucky. Cheers of joy and refills on the wine quickly followed that phone call. By the way, a late night here for us is 11pm.

Me being a morning person, I still got up by 8 o clock and walked to the beach barefoot. It was gorgeous. A few early birds with their dogs were walking. I did some yoga, stretching, and gazing at the boats. Perfect way to start a day.

Round 2 - Mike and I shot even par 71. We made our first birdie on the 9th hole, our 27th hole of the tournament. Wow, that's just bad. I hit a beautiful pitch to 2 feet on the par-5 18th (our 9th hole) to set up a birdie putt and Mike and I both looked at each other and said 'finally!'. Well, before I had a chance to be the birdie hero, Mike drained a putt from 40 plus feet for birdie. The one hole we birdie, we both do it!! I knew he was going to make it too. I had that feeling before he putt. We shot 3 under of the final nine, 4 under on the last ten. This would have been a great pace for the previous 26 holes. The difference was we started to hit greens and give ourselves chances. We were close to shooting 5 or 6 under on the last nine.

2-day total was 149, 19 shots off the winner. No winnings for us this year.

Other highlights:
>One of our playing partners on Sunday asked us if we wanted to take a hit of his reefa on the 16th tee and confirmed we were not DEA
>Teaching Mike some yoga moves in the front yard on Saturday afternoon
>No hot water on Saturday morning in the elephant shower (the strongest water pressure shower I've experience), I literally was shaking after trying to withstand the cold water, I felt like I would turn blue shortly if I didn't get out...Casey got the water fixed by the afternoon
>Multiple shanks hit by my partner
>Ordering an oatmeal waffle with fruit at Grumpy's
>Two days of awesome shorts weather (notable because its rained almost every year we have played)

2010 Mid-Amateur @ Dedham Golf and Polo

September 25 and 26 - Well, well, the time had come to compete in the 2010 Massachusetts Mid-Amateur Championship at Dedham Golf and Polo Club. I waited one month to set foot on competing against the best mid-amateurs in Massachusetts. I felt great about my chances in the prior week, then, confidence began to dwindle in the days before due to uncomfortable swing thoughts. Its like taking a big exam. On the days before, you don't want to cram everything in or exercise your mind trying to re-learn everything. My success in the CFA program was a result of my ability to trust the knowledge I had built over my study period and let myself share that knowledge through the exam. I've yet to apply this to my golf preparation. This time I got tense over multiple swing thoughts and lack of comfort with alignment. I didn't let my preparation come through on the golf course like I did on my CFA exams. My alignment may have been off a bit, but I put too much attention on it, making it a big issue for me come tournament day. On exam day, I didn't know every subject in and out, but I knew I had the tools to make the best of it and there was nothing stopping me from success.

My tension came through in my first round as I rarely allowed my good golf swing to come through. My tee shots were going left and right, my irons felt awkward, and my putting was mediocre at best. I shot 84, including 4 double bogeys and 1 triple bogey. I had 4 three putts. Only 1 birdie. The conditions were fair, overcast skies and temperatures in the 60s. Wind was light. The most interesting and embarrassing hole was the par-3 12th hole, my third hole. I was hitting an 8-iron off the tee and proceeded to hit a tree overhanging the tee box about 20 yards ahead of me. The ball was re-directed left into the woods near a large oak tree. I was left with a blocked out 105 yard shot from the woods on a 150 yard hole. I made a great up and down from short of the green to make 4. However, I don't think I ever recovered from the embarrassment. Come to find out (after the tournament), my boss at work (a member at Dedham) said he hits the tree over half the time on that tee shot and has been pushing to cut it down. Never get caught up in a past golf shot! You are only as good as your next shot! Dummy.

On Day 2, I had a major turnaround and proud of my ability to bounce back. Yes there is some relaxation of tension after putting myself in a hole. At the same time, my own expectations I put on myself is what yields the most pressure. I did not want to leave this event without putting up a better performance. I shot 71 with 3 birdies and no double bogeys. I hit 15 greens, drove the ball well, and was confident in my swings. Still had 3 three putts.

My improvement came from getting to the left side of my swing more aggressively. When you have tension, its difficult to get through to your left side in a free flowing release. I did that once I committed to my alignment and trusted my envisioned shot-line. Both days I cleared the 2nd hole's water hazard with a 3-wood. I didn't see one other player go for that. Despite the common belief of this play being too aggressive, I didn't feel that way. I went with what I felt most comfortable with and believed this play was the higher percentage shot for me, rather than hitting a hard 4-iron or laying off a hybrid. The hazard was 225 yards away. This is something for me to build on! Shot of the day was on the par-3 14th, playing 186. I stuck a 6-iron to 2-feet and sank the birdie. The ball strike was pure and the ball flight never left the flagstick.

Both days my Dad caddied for me. As always, its most special having him with me. We rise and fall together, which can be a disadvantage from a player-caddie standpoint. Nothing is sweeter than sharing success with my family. We optioned for a cart on Day 2 due to threatening rain forecast. Day 2 weather ended up okay for my morning wave, a few quick periods of rain; there was high winds (hit a 5-iron on the same par-3 I hit the tree on in round 1).

Enjoyed a great celebratory early dinner at Cheesecake Factory in the Atrium Mall with my Dad. We also watched some of the marquee amateurs Frank Vana, John Hadges, and Brian Higgins play a few holes. Great golf course and tournament. I missed the cut by 5 shots.

My playing partners were Michael Christian from Wampatuck and Michael Miele from Meadow Brook. Good guys.

I'm confident I'll be back next year and I will be in contention in the future.

Mistakes will happen, the key is to learn from there. Next up, Norfolk Four Ball!!

Ciao,
Kurt