Hello Friends,
I'm back from the Nebraska State Open and I was able to post another top ten finish in my third state open of the summer. I started with a 3-under par 68. I shot a 4-under 31 on the front side, then leveled off with 8 pars and one bogey on the back nine.
On day two I managed a two over par 73. During my round, I was one over through 9 holes. A birdie on my tenth hole got me back to even par, but a bogey on number 12 and a double bogey on number 15 put me three over for the day. The double bogey was a tough one to swallow because I was on the par five in two shots, but then took five putts to get the ball in the hole. I can't remember the last time I five putted. After my disastrous double bogey I made a birdie and two pars.
Just to show you how frustrating golf can be, I hit the ball better on day two than on day one, but shot 5 shots higher. I guess that proves how important putting is. I'll prove that even more so with my day three story.
I started the final round 7 shots back and in 25th place. I was the low amateur by 4 shots so going into the day I hoped to win low amateur and sneak into the top ten. Thanks to a wonderful front nine that included 5 birdies and 4 pars, I was close to wrapping both of those up. My front nine 30 was the second time I had shot that on nine holes, but the first time in competition. After making a birdie on number 8, I needed a birdie on 9 to shoot 29. I hit the drive in the fairway, but it found its way into a divot. I hit a good shot from there to 15 feet, but couldn't make that one to shoot 29.
Going to the back nine, I just wanted to keep swinging like I did on the front nine. After a good tee shot on ten, I have an amazing chain of events. For the second consecutive holes, my ball found its way into a divot. This one was far worse than the first one. It was a huge divot filled with sand. Just to make things worse, half of my ball was covered in mud. All I hoped to do from there was punch a shot onto the green. However, I wasn't able to control the shot and it sailed over the green and landed in the middle of a pine tree. Instead of getting upset, I just shrugged off the bad luck and walked up to hit my next shot. When I got up there, my ball had kicked out of the pine tree and had found a good lie. (nice break after getting stuck in the divot) I hit a flop shot and it landed barely on, rolled towards the hole, and on it's last drop, fell into the hole. As I said before, quite an amazing chain of events.
I then birdied number 12, 13, and 16. At that point, I was 9-under for the day and 10-under for the tournament. Word had traveled back to the clubhouse and officials were following me at this point. After almost a 10 minute wait on 17 tee, I hit my worst shot of the day and could do no better than chip it to 30 feet. I three putted from there for a double bogey. An up and down on number 18 meant a 7-under 64. I ended up alone in 4th place, two shots out of a three man playoff. It was a fun day and even though I didn't hit it that well, I still managed to shot 64. Once again, a great example of how putting is the most important aspect of the game. I had 24 putts in the final with a three putt!
I finished low amateur by nine shots. The second low amateur finished tied for 36th.
That is all for now. Next week, I'm off to South Carolina for the USGA State Team Championship. It will be my final amateur event.
Take care,
Neil
