May 18-19: The stars were lined up for a great weekend with sunny skies and little wind until mid-day on Sunday. Its rare to have little wind on Presidents GC and be able to hit a tee shot off 15 without holding your breath. Temperatures were in the mid-60s. The golf course was an excellent shape, greens were running hard and fast, fairways gave great lies, and the rough was challenging. The course crew made one significant change to the 7th hole, adding tee boxes at 145 yards and 191 yards. On Day 2, my group was the first ever to play the hole from 191 yards. Besides not being able to see the surface of the green from the tee, this was another improvement to the course variety. My 6-iron went right of the green and I hit an excellent chip to within a few feet of the back pin to save par. Dana Smith, Jim Fitzroy, staff, and volunteers did an incredible job getting the course ready and running the tournament (on time, spotters in appropriate holes, well run scoring area, fun attitudes, etc.). They make this a tournament worth coming back every year and its proven by the quality of golfers and golf course.
My game was on fire early with birdies on 2, 3, and 7. I hit it tight on 2 and drove the third green for the first time in my Norfolk career and stuck it on 7. I finished the front with 34 despite a two shot penalty on the scorable par-5 fifth hole. Turned a birdie into a bogey after hitting what I thought was my Bridgestone ball from the left rough. Devastating blow. It was a reminder to check your ball closely before hitting it and also will lead me to make more distinguishing marks around the brand name.
Making the turn, I was thinking this is my chance to get up on the leaderboard for Day 2. Well it was reversion to the mean for me on the back nine, with major slips at 12 (out of bounds off tee shot led to 7), 13 (missed way right lead to double), and 14 (unplayable lie led to 7 from 95 yards away on my second shot!). I shot 45 on the back to shoot 79. Oh man it hurts to give away a 34 on the front. On Day 2, I struck it solidly again, but didn't get much going to shoot a great round. Fatigue set in on the final 5 holes and shot 78. Threw away two great drives on 15, making par and bogey with less than 200 yards to the pin both days. I am still learning how to handle my game when I'm playing well under tournament conditions; right now instead of my confidence growing as I make shots, it tightens a bit knowing I'm close to completing a good round...in other words, I'm saying don't screw it up instead of saying take it lower.
Pin placements were challenging on Sunday. Even though we see similar placements each year, many of them get you each time. How aggressive should you get? If you are too conservative, three putts are not far off.
Played two days with JC Guthrie. Great guy and good golf swing to emulate. Keep the Scotty in the bag JC. Also played with Alex De Gunzburg (eats up par-5s while eating cherries) and Gerry Squires (blog follower :) ). Gerry and I were in close company on the leaderboard with the same scores. Alongside the tournament staff, playing partners like JC, Gerry, and Alex make the experience that much more memorable.
Congrats to J. Hadges on the victory, even par 140. Top 5 rounded out by K. Quinn, D. Clapp, A. Drohen, and D. Falcucci. https://www.presidentsgc.com/files/2012/04/2013-NCC-Final-Results-Web.pdf
To free swinging golf shots under pressure,
K
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