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

All-Star Team

During 2004 - 2009, either myself or Annie Sperandio or Ally Dunn or Rob Lynch was a winner of the Men's or Women's Club Championship. The four of us teammed up for the Play for Pink Tournament at Lexington GC yesterday. Its an annual 'pink' event to support a fight against breast cancer. All the girls come out with dazzling pink outfits. A few guys sported some pink as well; i'll leave opinions open to my followers on whether or not guys should wear pink. The tournament included 18-holes of golf, raffles, mulligans, pink tee gifts, dinner, and team prizes.

The tournament format is two best ball of four. A typical format in most cases, however, this tournament adds a big twist. Each team receives a pink ball (a Precept Lady which is suprisingly a good ball) that MUST be counted as one of the two best ball scores. Each player must use the pink ball at least 4 times during the round. The player who tees off with the pink ball is required to finish the hole regardless of their score. Pink ball = added pressure = added attention. I found myself looking at the pink ball differently than the white ball and turning my head multiple times a hole --- whos got the pink ball? where is it? what does it lie?

So how did we do??

We cleaned up on the Gross prize by shooting a team total of 151. The next best gross team score was 159. All four of us contributed to the victory. In fact, we had a side match between us that came down to the final hole (all-square after 17). It was Rob and Annie vs. Me and Ally. On the par-3 14th, Rob made a clutch 8-footer for par to halve the match. I'm all too familiar with Rob making putts (for those who don't know, Rob won this year's club championship). As a group, we played steady throughout the day. We didn't find ourselves in a stretch of bad holes or string of great holes. The pink ball caused us a few heartaches, but we didn't lose the ball and even made a birdie with it! My shot of the day was a lefty shot on the 2nd hole. I was pinned up against an out of bounds fence and proceeded to punch it out lefty. I didn't get back to the fairway, but I was able to give myself a third shot to the green (2nd hole is a par 5).

This was my first mixed event of my career. It was an awesome day. I'm looking forward to a repeat performance in 2010.

Thanks to Eileen Flanagan, John Flanagan, and the rest of the Social Committee for running the event. The show of support was solid and I'm sure we raised some good money for breast cancer.

I'm in full preparation mode for the Dennis Four Ball and Mass Mid-Amateur over the next two weeks. See you all soon for more inside the ropes.

K

Ticket to the Mass Mid Am

Today's event was the Massachusetts Mid Amateur qualifier at Highfields GC in Grafton, MA. Its an 18-hole stroke play qualifier. The Top 20 qualify for the Massachusetts Mid Amateur Championship at Haverhill CC on Sept 15-17. The golf course is public; a par 72 7,000 yards; slope 140; course rating 74.5. It plays shorter than the yardage, but the difficulty level is true because of well placed hazards, out of bounds, and firm greens. Its the type of course that will eat at you if you don't drive it well. The temperature was hot, probably low 90s, feeling like high 90s.

I'll cut right to the chase...the two highlights of the day were: 1) having my brother caddy for me (first time!) and 2) qualifying for the championship. The second highlight was a result of having my brother on the bag. He really turned my mental game around after I made consecutive double bogeys on the 6th and 7th holes. He basically lowered his shoulder into me (at least once) and said snap out of it, you are stiff as a board out here (I was tense, this happens frequently when i get under tournament conditions and it causes me to make poor transition moves, leading to both pull and pushes)...this game is a dream...think about it, you gotta enjoy this or else go sit in the office; the words came out a lot better out of my brother's mouth. It worked and we had a great time together. I responded by going 1 under on my last 10 holes. Fired a 35 on the back nine to shoot 78 (tie for 12th place). (Check out the results at http://www.ghintpp.com/mgalinks/TPPOnlineScoring/results.aspx?id=8 or http://www.mgalinks.org/championships/midamateur/midamateur.html)

My brother was even close to Y.E. Yanging the golf bag on 18, but I missed the birdie putt to justify it.

The low score of the day was 74 by three players. It was proof of a challenging golf course. Typically, someone shoots par or better in these events.

I played with two fine gents today, Jeremy Benedick and Walter Riley. Both were enjoyable and friendly playing partners (makes a difference in a round). Walter used a minature golf putter and made everything. He qualified by shooting 76. Fun to watch!

My friends Mike Murphy and Chris Bates were in the field. It was neat because both of them were in the groups ahead of me and we all played a practice round together yesterday. I did get to see Mike's shots on a few holes. He had a tough round and didn't qualify. Knowing Mike and his game, it was a fluke day for him and he will easily come back with better results. We are playing together in the Dennis Four Ball in less than a month. An absolute blast of a tournament and can't wait to compete with Mike.

Awesome job to my brother today. One other thing he did was keep my energy levels high throughout the day by good hydration and good nutrition (clutch stuff on a 90 degree day). I was eating food every 4-5 holes. It surely helped me make solid golf swings down the stretch.

I'm really looking forward to a big golf month in September. Its my chance to make a statement against the Frank Vanas of the world.

Celebrate with me...

Cheers
Kurt

Back-to-Back Bentley Cups

The 3rd Annual Bentley Cup took place at the Orchards Golf Club in South Hadley, MA on August 10, 2009. The event is run by Greg Maynard and the Bentley Alumni Association each year and they do an amazing job with sponsorships, golf, food, and prizes. Its a bramble format. Each player in the foursome hits a drive and the group selects their best shot. From the best shot, each player plays their own ball into the hole. The group takes its best score. The golf course is a gem. I know it for hosting the 2004 U.S. Women's Open. Meg Mallon won the tournament at 10 under par and Annika Sorenstam finished two shots back.

My team consisted of three powerhouse partners, each of whom I played golf with at Woburn High School. (Mike Murphy, Kevin Heimlich, and Mike O'Brien) We dazzled the field last year with a one-shot victory in our first appearance at the 2nd Annual Bentley Cup. Our team score was 8 under par. Note: Steve Aguiar was the fourth player in 2008. He was replaced by Mike Murphy in 2009.

This year, my team and I had full confidence in ourselves to repeat. And guess what? We pulled it off in more dazzling fashion. We rallied to shoot 6 under on the last 9 holes (birds on the final 3). Our total was 8 under par, tying one other team and then claiming victory in a card-off. I don't like card-offs, but I'll take being on the winning end. Two years in row with Team Bentley/Team Woburn. I'm already excited for next year. Where are the challengers?? Note to interested competitors: guests are welcome if accompanied by a Bentley alum.

Oh, and my teammates introduced me to the John Daly drink. Its an Arnold Palmer w/ vodka. Tastes similar to a sweet tea. Cheers to Murph for selling his Callaway golf bag (one of our prizes) for $11 and a beer.

It was awesome seeing familiar faces from school, including faculty members. I caught up with Professor Cross, my former marketing teacher and Gary Kelly, who I worked with during Summer Orientation. This tournament will be an annual mark of my calendar for many years to come.

p.s.: thanks to my teammates for another great performance and never ending laughs...hanging out with long-time friends makes me realize that good memories are carried on forever and they never get old

Keep on enjoyin' the summer weather

KF

MGA Father-Son Tournament

My Dad and I improved on our score by 3 shots compared to last week's Winchester Father-Son event. In yesterday's round, we shot 41-39 = 80, including only one three putt that came on the first hole (last week we had six three putts). We didn't let that 3 putt discourage our chances and bounced back with par, par, par, birdie on the next four holes. Unfortunately, we hit a bad streak of golf between holes 6 thru 10, going +7. Both of us butchered drives like Charles Barkley, me following my Dad left off the tee, then right off the tee, then both going different ways off the tee. Talk about frustration! Looking back, we realize we need to make more conservative tee shots if our partner is in trouble. This strategy will apply to holes that have narrow landing areas. Many of the holes at Segragansett CC did not provide generous landing areas.

Note: The MGA Father-Son Tournament took place at Segragansett Country Club in Taunton, MA; a par-72, 6,700 track. Its a fairly flat course with well manicured fairways, fair, but penalizing rough, and medium speed greens. The par-3s are difficult and many tee shots require precision over length. For example, the 530-yard par 5 2nd hole requires a 200-215 yard drive to avoid a hazard that runs the left side of the tee shot and cuts across the fairways; then you must lay up with a 150-170 shot to leave a short approach the green. The tournament takes place over two days, with each Father-Son team playing one round. We competed in the senior division (sons 18 years or older). A portion of the senior division competed on August 4th and the remaining teams compete today. The format is selected drive alternate shot. To see our results yesterday and to find the final results, go to http://mgatpp.org/results/Results.aspx?ID=165&FID=95 or http://www.mgalinks.org/

Going back to our round, my Dad and I finished the final 8 holes at +1. We had multiple great chances at birdies, only capitalizing on one at the 11th hole. My Dad hit his best shot of the day on the 11th hole. I hit my hybrid down the middle, leaving him a 90 yard approach to a tightly placed front hole location, surrounded by bunkers. Prior to the round, I watched some groups come through the hole and noticed the best play was to land the shot 20 feet by the pin and let it feed back down a tiered slope to the pin. Well, my Dad executed it perfectly, landing the shot 20 feet by the pin and it settled to within 4 feet for birdie. Picture perfect swing and result! Go Dad! This got us going again. Our only other blemishes on holes 12-18 were two bogeys, including a missed 3 foot putt (by me) and failure to par from 90 yards on a par-4 (bad approach and bad chip).

Overall, we are fairly pleased with our first appearance in the MGA Father-Son event (75 or better is really where we should be). We played with Lenny and Ryan Devane out of Wayland CC. They were a pleasure to play well. Lenny is 80 years old and hits it 200+ off the tee with driver, down the middle every time. Great inspiration to stay young regardless of age on paper! My Dad and I look forward to competing again next year. We expect better results and will be working on our games between now and then.

After our round, we grabbed a quick lunch at the 19th hole. Segragansett makes a solid steak and cheese sandwich. The bar is a fun setup, good for chatter amongst the competitors. Also, a nice HDTV to catch up on the latest sports news. Food menu is limited but it covers all the good ones such as a burger, grilled chicken, and salads. (I might have to start a 19th hole review column - I got some good ideas for LGC's 19th hole) I caught up with Dave Falcucci for a few minutes, former collegiate rival at Bryant. We will be competing against each other in the Mid-Am in two weeks.

My Dad and I then followed Chuck and Mike Murphy for their final 5 holes. Mike and I have been close friends since 6th grade and I've known his Dad the same amount of time. Chuck was looking good out there with his straw hat and deft putting stroke. Mike is always impressive was with a moonshot ball flight and nice touch around the greens. Hope we didn't put too much pressure on them. I enjoyed being on the spectator side, rooting for my friends to succeed. My Dad and I were able to relive some shots from the sidelines, many with smiles and laughter.

Route 44 in Taunton is quite different than the outskirts of Boston; its an area that has a country/hard nose blue collar feel, the houses are big and old and the businesses appear to be of old local descent. I say country mainly because there is a lot of open grass and we heard roosters on the 12th hole.

Thanks Dad for a great day.

After Party

Took place at Halfway Cafe in Watertown with my brother and friends Brandin and Tracy. We answered correctly on trivia questions about the New Testament, quotes by John Adams, baseball statistics, and many more. Let the good times role...

Not sure if I'll have a blog update prior to the Bentley Cup...I have some practicing to do and a wedding on Saturday

Be happy and healthy

KF