Round 2 at Dakota Winds

Shot yet another 72, which was 2 short of making the cut. I'm stuck in a rut of shooting 72's and that's not good on the Dakotas Tour. I need to find a way to shoot 3 or 4 under even when my game isn't at it's best. I believe I hit the ball well enough and made enough putts the past two days to make the cut or to shoot in the 60's, but I wasn't able to score in the 60's.

Stats today:
Ballstriking: 42
Putting: 29
Penalty Stroke: 1

Here's a course map of the course we played.


Friday will be a travel day for me. I'm heading home and will try and find a way to shoot lower scores. It's very cliche to say, "I'm close," but it feels like my game will all come together if I can just find the right focus.

Dakotas Tour Championship

Shot an even par 72 in round one. I was +3 after 11 holes, but 3 birdies in the final 6 holes got me back to even. Some player shot a course record 64, so I'm way back, but at least I have two rounds to make up the ground.

I tee off at 12:10 on Thursday. Hopefully round 2 won't be as windy as it was last year.

As for today's stats:

Ballstriking: 46
Putts: 25
Penalty Strokes: 1

Here's a quick update on what my stats were in the Wisconsin State Open:
Round 1 - Ballstriking: 42 Putting: 32 Penalty Stroke: 1
Round 2 - Ballstriking: 43 Putting: 30
Round 3 - Ballstriking: 45 Putting: 27 Penalty Stroke: 1
Round 4 - Ballstriking: 41 Putting: 29

Looking at those stats you can tell I struggled hitting the ball during the week and the only thing keeping me in the tournament was my short game (chipping and putting). Odd thing about those stats is I feel like until the last nines holes I putted horrible and I really didn't think I putted well during the third round. I guess chipping it inside of 3 feet saved me more than good putting saved me.

Neil

Monthly Update

It shouldn’t have come to this, but it’s been over a month since I last posted so I have a lot of golf tournaments to catch up on. I’m not sure what the overall mood of this post will be because there are some good tournaments to discuss and some bad ones too. I have high finishes, but also some cuts that were missed by a single shot

First, the tournament in Marshall, MN was a missed cut by one shot. After Marshall I had the Minnesota State Open and that was a great weekend. Through two rounds, I was tied for the lead. On Sunday, I didn’t play very aggressive and made a few too many mistakes. I finished 4th, but had a fun time signing autographs, doing radio/newspaper interviews, and feeling the pressure of playing in the final group of a big tournament.

I successfully qualified for the Wisconsin State Open up in Hayward, WI. Later in August, I placed 9th in the Wisconsin State Open in Sheboygan, WI. Round one, two, and three were a test of survival and I finished with scores of 75-73-73. That put me into 16th place going into the final round. Three bogies through the first 8 holes of round 4 had me going in the wrong direction, but once I made the turn a new golfer showed up. I birdied 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14 to get to 2-under par. On 15, the horns blew and bad weather pushed the tournament into the next morning. I finished the round with 4 pars for a final round 70 (39-31).

Before I played in the Wisconsin State Open I traveled to Rapid City, SD and missed the cut by one shot. This one hurts because I shot 69-72 (1-under par) and was only 8 shots behind the leader, but this wasn’t good enough to make the cut. The top 30 and ties made the cut and I just missed it.

Currently I’m in Fargo, ND where I just missed the North Dakota Open cut after shooting 72-72. The cut was 141, and I missed that cut because I made no putts during the first two rounds.

I also have had a CVGA Tournament where I finished 2nd.

One final thing to mention is PGA Q-School, which will begin September 18 in Palm Springs, CA. I will be playing at PGA West (the Norman Course) and look forward to the grind that is Qualifying School. I’m much more prepared this year than I was two years ago so keep checking the site and I’ll try to update more frequently than once a month.

Neil