Two weeks ago I finished T-46th at the BMW Charity Pro-Am in Greenville, SC. Overall it was a great week - making the cut and playing on Sunday - but a closer look at my play left me disappointed with my finish and anxious for my next Web.com event.
The story of each round is pretty similar, in that I played well, but did not get a lot out of any round. I never had back to back bogies and only had 6 throughout the entire week. On the other side, I only had 15 birdies for the week and never caught a really hot streak. I was waiting/expecting that hot streak because of how well I was hitting the ball.
The most frustrating moments of the tournament were the back nines of round 3 & 4 at Thornblade Club. I had 1 birdie and 2 bogies in those 18 holes and I had plenty of chances to get many more birdies. More specifically, I played holes 15 and 16 even par, when I should have made birdies on those reachable par-5s. In the final round, I was in the middle of the fairway with a hybrid into both 15 and 16. I came up short on 15 and flopped a wedge to about 10 feet. I made a good stroke, but over-read the putt and missed it on the high side. My hybrid reached the green on 16, but left me a 60 foot eagle putt that had to navigate a big slope. I left the eagle putt about 7 feet short and despite another good stroke, I under-read this putt and missed it on the low side. That was my first 3-putt of the week (70 holes into the tournament).
Best thing about the week was how much fun it was to play well and how comfortable I felt playing inside the ropes. My Web.com events in South America didn't have a lot of spectators, but Greenville was quite busy on Saturday and Sunday. The 18th hole was surrounded by corporate tents and I really enjoyed interacting with the spectators - especially the kids. Walking off of 18 green there were about 20 kids waiting there and asking for my hat or glove. My caddy and I emptied all of the golf balls from my bag and handed them to the kids - even autographing as many of the balls as I could. That was a lot of fun.
Now that I've made some money on the Web.com Tour, my current ranking will be moved up after the next reshuffle (after the event in Wichita, KS in 3 weeks). That will give me a better chance to get into tournaments, but I'll still be a bubble boy. Right now I've been about 30 spots out of most tournaments, but I think I'll be closer to 10 spots. Hopefully I can Monday qualify for the event in Wichita and make a big check. Then I'll be able to set my schedule for the rest of the summer.
Until then, I will be competing in the US Open Sectional qualifier in San Francisco. Play begins early on Monday, June 2nd. Here's a link to follow results. 36 holes on Monday played over 2 courses. I tee off at 7:21am PST and then 12:51pm PST. The qualifier is being played at Lake Merced GC and Olympic Club (Ocean Course). Olympic Club has hosted the US Open 5 times, most recently in 2012, but we're not playing the US Open course (Lake Course). I still love being on the grounds of Olympic Club. No where else in the world are the golf courses framed so well with Cypress trees and dense with fog.
Neil
The story of each round is pretty similar, in that I played well, but did not get a lot out of any round. I never had back to back bogies and only had 6 throughout the entire week. On the other side, I only had 15 birdies for the week and never caught a really hot streak. I was waiting/expecting that hot streak because of how well I was hitting the ball.
The most frustrating moments of the tournament were the back nines of round 3 & 4 at Thornblade Club. I had 1 birdie and 2 bogies in those 18 holes and I had plenty of chances to get many more birdies. More specifically, I played holes 15 and 16 even par, when I should have made birdies on those reachable par-5s. In the final round, I was in the middle of the fairway with a hybrid into both 15 and 16. I came up short on 15 and flopped a wedge to about 10 feet. I made a good stroke, but over-read the putt and missed it on the high side. My hybrid reached the green on 16, but left me a 60 foot eagle putt that had to navigate a big slope. I left the eagle putt about 7 feet short and despite another good stroke, I under-read this putt and missed it on the low side. That was my first 3-putt of the week (70 holes into the tournament).
Best thing about the week was how much fun it was to play well and how comfortable I felt playing inside the ropes. My Web.com events in South America didn't have a lot of spectators, but Greenville was quite busy on Saturday and Sunday. The 18th hole was surrounded by corporate tents and I really enjoyed interacting with the spectators - especially the kids. Walking off of 18 green there were about 20 kids waiting there and asking for my hat or glove. My caddy and I emptied all of the golf balls from my bag and handed them to the kids - even autographing as many of the balls as I could. That was a lot of fun.
Now that I've made some money on the Web.com Tour, my current ranking will be moved up after the next reshuffle (after the event in Wichita, KS in 3 weeks). That will give me a better chance to get into tournaments, but I'll still be a bubble boy. Right now I've been about 30 spots out of most tournaments, but I think I'll be closer to 10 spots. Hopefully I can Monday qualify for the event in Wichita and make a big check. Then I'll be able to set my schedule for the rest of the summer.
Until then, I will be competing in the US Open Sectional qualifier in San Francisco. Play begins early on Monday, June 2nd. Here's a link to follow results. 36 holes on Monday played over 2 courses. I tee off at 7:21am PST and then 12:51pm PST. The qualifier is being played at Lake Merced GC and Olympic Club (Ocean Course). Olympic Club has hosted the US Open 5 times, most recently in 2012, but we're not playing the US Open course (Lake Course). I still love being on the grounds of Olympic Club. No where else in the world are the golf courses framed so well with Cypress trees and dense with fog.
 |
| Heavy Fog |
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| Hit it through the chute of Cypress trees, but be careful because balls love to stay in them. |
Neil
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