I got through the first stage of Asian Tour Q-School with a really smart and solid final round. It was windy once again, not as windy as round 3, but definitely as windy as the 2nd round. My final round 71 only had one bogey and it came on my last hole! I really wanted to finish without a bogey, but the 18th hole is really tough - 455 yards, uphill, into the wind, and missing the greens right or left is a difficult up and down.
Before the final hole, I had a couple of great saves for par. My approach to the 14 hole was way off line. My drive found a divot and I chunked the shot left and way short. I pulled it into a spot where I had the whole green to work with and was lucky not to be chipping down wind. I pitched that shot up to 4 feet and made a fast putt that was downhill and down grain. On number 12, the 207 yard par 3 played down wind and slightly cross. My 6 iron flew right to the hole and bounced over the back into the bunker. I didn't have much green to work with, but the lie was good, so I splashed it out very high and soft and it trickled to a foot where I tapped in for par. The other great save was on number 9, which is a 420 yard par 4 uphill and into the wind. My drive left me with 143 yards and I couldn't decide between an 8-iron or 7-iron. I incorrectly choose the 8 and right when I swung a big gust of wind ballooned my ball high into the air and way short of the green. Another fortunate spot to miss - I was left chipping uphill, into the wind, and into the grain. I left the chip 15 feet short, but rolled the putt in and made the turn with a 1-under 35.
It feels good to get through the first stage. Only 22 and ties advanced, which is much lower than I expected when I signed up for Q-School. They had a record number of people sign up.
The final stage begins on Wednesday. I'll be relaxing on Sunday. We rented motorbikes again, so we're going to drive down the coast to where we can get $1 smoothies and swim in the ocean. The beach there was gorgeous. It'll be a nice relaxing day before getting back to work on Monday.
Back on Wednesday, after the first round, I posted about my confidence to be able to get the job done over the last 3 rounds. The most obvious reason to why I was able to play better was because I made putts, but each round I eliminated as many mistakes as I could.
In Round 1 I made 5 really bad swings and that resulted in my 4 bogies.
Coming out in the afternoon for round 2 I only made 1 bogey (a 3 putt), despite still making a handful of awful swings. The difference was getting up and down on the 2nd hole after a birdie on the 1st. That freed my swing so I wasn't fearing a miss or wasn't worried about needing to get up and down.
In the windy, difficult 3rd round I made a lot of mistakes - but look at the scores and you'll see a lot of people made far more mistakes than I did. I plugged a wedge in a front bunker early in the round and then I chunked a wedge on the 8th hole into the water - I had mud on my ball, with a tight lie, and straight into the wind. That mistake really upset me, but by the time I dropped and hit my pitch to 20 feet I was calm and ready to save a bogey, which I did. On the back nine of the third day I got into a nice groove of hitting greens and having birdie chances. I made a big mistake on #11 with a 4-putt for double bogey and I finished the round with a 3-putt bogey on #18. In between those mistakes I made some long putts for birdies and to save pars.
Looking back at the final 3 rounds I see a double bogey and 5 bogies, which came from a 4-putt and 2 three putts. I see the other 3 bogies coming from a mud-ball, a plugged lie in a bunker, and bogeying the last hole of the tournament. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I eliminated the mistakes after the first round and found my confidence on and around the greens. The result were 3 solid rounds that advance me to the final stage of Q-School.
Neil
Before the final hole, I had a couple of great saves for par. My approach to the 14 hole was way off line. My drive found a divot and I chunked the shot left and way short. I pulled it into a spot where I had the whole green to work with and was lucky not to be chipping down wind. I pitched that shot up to 4 feet and made a fast putt that was downhill and down grain. On number 12, the 207 yard par 3 played down wind and slightly cross. My 6 iron flew right to the hole and bounced over the back into the bunker. I didn't have much green to work with, but the lie was good, so I splashed it out very high and soft and it trickled to a foot where I tapped in for par. The other great save was on number 9, which is a 420 yard par 4 uphill and into the wind. My drive left me with 143 yards and I couldn't decide between an 8-iron or 7-iron. I incorrectly choose the 8 and right when I swung a big gust of wind ballooned my ball high into the air and way short of the green. Another fortunate spot to miss - I was left chipping uphill, into the wind, and into the grain. I left the chip 15 feet short, but rolled the putt in and made the turn with a 1-under 35.
It feels good to get through the first stage. Only 22 and ties advanced, which is much lower than I expected when I signed up for Q-School. They had a record number of people sign up.
The final stage begins on Wednesday. I'll be relaxing on Sunday. We rented motorbikes again, so we're going to drive down the coast to where we can get $1 smoothies and swim in the ocean. The beach there was gorgeous. It'll be a nice relaxing day before getting back to work on Monday.
Back on Wednesday, after the first round, I posted about my confidence to be able to get the job done over the last 3 rounds. The most obvious reason to why I was able to play better was because I made putts, but each round I eliminated as many mistakes as I could.
In Round 1 I made 5 really bad swings and that resulted in my 4 bogies.
Coming out in the afternoon for round 2 I only made 1 bogey (a 3 putt), despite still making a handful of awful swings. The difference was getting up and down on the 2nd hole after a birdie on the 1st. That freed my swing so I wasn't fearing a miss or wasn't worried about needing to get up and down.
In the windy, difficult 3rd round I made a lot of mistakes - but look at the scores and you'll see a lot of people made far more mistakes than I did. I plugged a wedge in a front bunker early in the round and then I chunked a wedge on the 8th hole into the water - I had mud on my ball, with a tight lie, and straight into the wind. That mistake really upset me, but by the time I dropped and hit my pitch to 20 feet I was calm and ready to save a bogey, which I did. On the back nine of the third day I got into a nice groove of hitting greens and having birdie chances. I made a big mistake on #11 with a 4-putt for double bogey and I finished the round with a 3-putt bogey on #18. In between those mistakes I made some long putts for birdies and to save pars.
Looking back at the final 3 rounds I see a double bogey and 5 bogies, which came from a 4-putt and 2 three putts. I see the other 3 bogies coming from a mud-ball, a plugged lie in a bunker, and bogeying the last hole of the tournament. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I eliminated the mistakes after the first round and found my confidence on and around the greens. The result were 3 solid rounds that advance me to the final stage of Q-School.
Neil
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