1 under 71. It wasn't pretty, but I hung in there and managed to finish. I hope to get something going in round 2 because a bunch of 71's isn't going to do anything on this course.
Neil
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Yankton, SD - Hillcrest Invitational
I finished T-16th at Marshall. Shot a second straight 70 in the final round.
Over the weekend I played awful in the Minnesota State Open, but forgot all about it by Sunday afternoon.
Monday was a Nationwide Tour qualifier and I lost in a playoff. The playoff consisted of 8 guys for 2 spots. I bogied the first hole and was out of it. I played well to shoot a 69. The wind was really strong all day and that made the greens very fast; not to mention hitting the ball straight.
Because I failed in the playoff in Omaha, I travelled to Yankton, SD for the next Dakotas Tour event. Tuesday was another qualifier - this time much easier. Monday was 80 guys for 7 spots. Tuesday was 57 guys for 27 spots. I shot a 68 and easily made it. The playoff was at even par 72. That means I'll be in Yankton for the rest of the weekend. This is the biggest Dakotas Tour event and it's 4 rounds.
First round is Thursday.
Neil
Over the weekend I played awful in the Minnesota State Open, but forgot all about it by Sunday afternoon.
Monday was a Nationwide Tour qualifier and I lost in a playoff. The playoff consisted of 8 guys for 2 spots. I bogied the first hole and was out of it. I played well to shoot a 69. The wind was really strong all day and that made the greens very fast; not to mention hitting the ball straight.
Because I failed in the playoff in Omaha, I travelled to Yankton, SD for the next Dakotas Tour event. Tuesday was another qualifier - this time much easier. Monday was 80 guys for 7 spots. Tuesday was 57 guys for 27 spots. I shot a 68 and easily made it. The playoff was at even par 72. That means I'll be in Yankton for the rest of the weekend. This is the biggest Dakotas Tour event and it's 4 rounds.
First round is Thursday.
Neil
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Marshall GC Charity Open - 1st 2 Rounds
I made the cut on the number. Nice twist after missing last year's cut my one. When I finished, I honestly thought I missed it again by a single shot. I shot 71-70, which is 1 under par. I made a 20 foot birdie putt on my final hole and that birdie got me inside the cut.
I haven't scored well the first two days. I've missed a lot of putts and hit a few too many wayward shots. My putting stroke felt good at the end of the 2nd round and I finally made some putts so I'll be able to carry that into the final round.
I tee off at 8:20, then travel home to get some rest before the weekends tournament.
Neil
I haven't scored well the first two days. I've missed a lot of putts and hit a few too many wayward shots. My putting stroke felt good at the end of the 2nd round and I finally made some putts so I'll be able to carry that into the final round.
I tee off at 8:20, then travel home to get some rest before the weekends tournament.
Neil
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Aberdeen Pro-Am - Mental Mistakes
Several mental mistakes were my problem this week. After two great weekends in South Dakota I had a setback this weekend and failed to make the cut. I shot 74-75, but that was the worst I could’ve shot.
My first mistake was on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. After failing to qualify for the Nationwide event in Missouri on Monday I drove home and safely reached Minneapolis at 3am Tuesday morning. Despite being exhausted, I didn’t get much sleep because by 9am the sun was beaming into my room and keeping me awake. It didn’t help that my room was at a balmy 85 degrees. I took Tuesday off, didn’t even touch a golf club. I needed one, but I fully expected to get back on the course on Wednesday.
I tried sleeping in again on Wednesday with a little more success, but when I woke up I was too worn out to play a full round. I ended up practicing for about 2 hours and then I repacked my car for this weekend’s trip.
Thursday was a travel day. I arrived in Aberdeen at about 1pm, with a plan to play a practice round. Again, I was too tired to play a full round so I only practiced for an hour. I never even walked the course – and that cost me 2 or 3 shots on Friday.
I never felt comfortable on this golf course. It was 7100 yards with plenty of hazards to hit the ball into. If I had played a practice round, I would’ve known where those hazards were and I wouldn’t have made so many tentative/steered swings.
The final mistake I made was in the 2nd round, hole 15. I had just birdied #14 to get back to even par (+2 for the tournament). I needed to play the last 4 holes 3 under to make the cut, but that was very possible with a reachable par 5, short par 3, and one short par 4. On #15 (the short par 4) I had a gap wedge left to the pin and in the middle of my downswing another professional on an adjacent hole began talking. He was no more that 15 yards from me and it startled me – I hit the shot long and right of the green. The mistake wasn’t that shot, but the next three. On my chip, I was still upset about the pro talking in my swing and I stubbed my chip. Then on my 20 foot putt for par, I was STILL upset about was happened back in the fairway. Making bogey there pretty much eliminated all hopes of making the cut. I remained “on tilt” for the next two holes and bogied 16 and 17.
I’m disappointed that I missed the cut this weekend, but it seems pretty clear why. My preparation was not what it had been the previous two weekends. I was understandably tired after Missouri, but I needed to see this golf course before playing the tournament. Hopefully I won’t make that mistake again.
Monday I have a tournament in Marshall, MN. I have played that course before. Friday I have the MN State Open – a course that I have played before. Plus I have all day tomorrow to sleep in and get reenergized.
Neil
My first mistake was on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. After failing to qualify for the Nationwide event in Missouri on Monday I drove home and safely reached Minneapolis at 3am Tuesday morning. Despite being exhausted, I didn’t get much sleep because by 9am the sun was beaming into my room and keeping me awake. It didn’t help that my room was at a balmy 85 degrees. I took Tuesday off, didn’t even touch a golf club. I needed one, but I fully expected to get back on the course on Wednesday.
I tried sleeping in again on Wednesday with a little more success, but when I woke up I was too worn out to play a full round. I ended up practicing for about 2 hours and then I repacked my car for this weekend’s trip.
Thursday was a travel day. I arrived in Aberdeen at about 1pm, with a plan to play a practice round. Again, I was too tired to play a full round so I only practiced for an hour. I never even walked the course – and that cost me 2 or 3 shots on Friday.
I never felt comfortable on this golf course. It was 7100 yards with plenty of hazards to hit the ball into. If I had played a practice round, I would’ve known where those hazards were and I wouldn’t have made so many tentative/steered swings.
The final mistake I made was in the 2nd round, hole 15. I had just birdied #14 to get back to even par (+2 for the tournament). I needed to play the last 4 holes 3 under to make the cut, but that was very possible with a reachable par 5, short par 3, and one short par 4. On #15 (the short par 4) I had a gap wedge left to the pin and in the middle of my downswing another professional on an adjacent hole began talking. He was no more that 15 yards from me and it startled me – I hit the shot long and right of the green. The mistake wasn’t that shot, but the next three. On my chip, I was still upset about the pro talking in my swing and I stubbed my chip. Then on my 20 foot putt for par, I was STILL upset about was happened back in the fairway. Making bogey there pretty much eliminated all hopes of making the cut. I remained “on tilt” for the next two holes and bogied 16 and 17.
I’m disappointed that I missed the cut this weekend, but it seems pretty clear why. My preparation was not what it had been the previous two weekends. I was understandably tired after Missouri, but I needed to see this golf course before playing the tournament. Hopefully I won’t make that mistake again.
Monday I have a tournament in Marshall, MN. I have played that course before. Friday I have the MN State Open – a course that I have played before. Plus I have all day tomorrow to sleep in and get reenergized.
Neil
Monday, July 14, 2008
South Dakota State Open - Final Round
Many of you regular readers of this blog already know I finished 2nd at the South Dakota State Open. I shot a final round 65 and lost on the third playoff hole. I could stop here and simply enjoy the high finish. However, I'm going to be brutally honest. I choked my guts out during the last 6 holes.
My round started out great. I birdied 2, 3, 4, and 6. A violent lip-out on 9 had me turn with a 32. I then went crazy with birdies on 10, 11, 12, 13, and 15. That got me to -14 for the tournament and -9 for the day!
If I could have one shot over, it'd be my 2nd shot on 16. I hit a gap wedge that landed within 10 feet of the hole, but spun back 30 feet onto the fringe. I then missed the downhill 3 foot par putt. I also bogied 17 and failed to birdie the par-5 18th.
In the playoff, it got worse. After my opponent bogied 1 I had a 3 foot putt for the win. I missed in on the low side. We both birdied 2 and then he birdied 3 to win.
It's very unfortunate that I missed two 3 foot putts on the final 6 holes. I don't think I made a bad stroke, the putts just broke a lot! I played them both outside of the hole and they still broke across and missed.
Mentally I struggled down the stretch. I was cruising for 15 holes and the one bad break (spinning back off the green) rattled me. I also started thinking different thoughts. No longer was I thinking about the tempo of my swing, but rather the possibility of shooting 63 or lower.
The positive about the tournament is that I put myself in a position that I've never been in before. I admit that my nerves got the best of me, but I believe that I'll learn from yesterdays mistakes and hopefully not make them next time.
Today (Monday) I tried to qualify for a Nationwide event in Springfield, MO. I shot 70 and will most likely be 4 shots short. My downfall was on the greens. I hit the ball really close on the last 11 holes, but regardless of whether I kept it below the hole or not I couldn't get the putts to drop. Again, I don't feel like they were bad strokes. I started all of them where I wanted, but I misjudged the speed/break or both.
I'm about to get on the road. I'll be back in Minneapolis sometime Tuesday.
Neil
My round started out great. I birdied 2, 3, 4, and 6. A violent lip-out on 9 had me turn with a 32. I then went crazy with birdies on 10, 11, 12, 13, and 15. That got me to -14 for the tournament and -9 for the day!
If I could have one shot over, it'd be my 2nd shot on 16. I hit a gap wedge that landed within 10 feet of the hole, but spun back 30 feet onto the fringe. I then missed the downhill 3 foot par putt. I also bogied 17 and failed to birdie the par-5 18th.
In the playoff, it got worse. After my opponent bogied 1 I had a 3 foot putt for the win. I missed in on the low side. We both birdied 2 and then he birdied 3 to win.
It's very unfortunate that I missed two 3 foot putts on the final 6 holes. I don't think I made a bad stroke, the putts just broke a lot! I played them both outside of the hole and they still broke across and missed.
Mentally I struggled down the stretch. I was cruising for 15 holes and the one bad break (spinning back off the green) rattled me. I also started thinking different thoughts. No longer was I thinking about the tempo of my swing, but rather the possibility of shooting 63 or lower.
The positive about the tournament is that I put myself in a position that I've never been in before. I admit that my nerves got the best of me, but I believe that I'll learn from yesterdays mistakes and hopefully not make them next time.
Today (Monday) I tried to qualify for a Nationwide event in Springfield, MO. I shot 70 and will most likely be 4 shots short. My downfall was on the greens. I hit the ball really close on the last 11 holes, but regardless of whether I kept it below the hole or not I couldn't get the putts to drop. Again, I don't feel like they were bad strokes. I started all of them where I wanted, but I misjudged the speed/break or both.
I'm about to get on the road. I'll be back in Minneapolis sometime Tuesday.
Neil
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Catching Up
I'm behind on posts so I'll update you on my last few rounds. Going back to last weekend in Sioux Falls, I shot a 2 under 69 on the second day and finished T-7th. I won a skin that day so I made $1534.33.
On Wednesday I played in a one day pro-am in Okoboji, IA and shot a 76. Struggled on the greens all day and didn't come close to winning any money.
This weekend, I've been in Vermillion, SD playing the South Dakota State Open. Round 1 was on Friday and it was windy; much like last weekend - gusting to near 40 mph. I played really well and shot a 1 under 71. That put me in 19th place. I teed off at 1:50 and most of the 66's, 67's, and 68's were in the morning.
This morning, I caught a break with the weather. Very little wind starting out and I shot an opening nine 34 (2 under). Making the turn the wind was picking up very quickly. I eagled my 11th hole of the day, hitting an 8 iron into the par 5. The next par 5, which was also down wind, I hit a wedge into it and made an easy tap in birdie. Through 17 holes I was 5 under without a bogey and without a 5 on my scorecard. I played the 4 par 5's 5 under and parred every other hole. On number 9 I hit a great drive down the left side. The wind was blowing hard to the right, but the wind never moved my ball and my ball went under a tree and into long grass. I hacked it up by the green, but failed to get up and down. Nearly perfect through 17 holes and then bogey the last for a 68.
Final round is Sunday afternoon.
Dakota Tour results are found here
Neil
On Wednesday I played in a one day pro-am in Okoboji, IA and shot a 76. Struggled on the greens all day and didn't come close to winning any money.
This weekend, I've been in Vermillion, SD playing the South Dakota State Open. Round 1 was on Friday and it was windy; much like last weekend - gusting to near 40 mph. I played really well and shot a 1 under 71. That put me in 19th place. I teed off at 1:50 and most of the 66's, 67's, and 68's were in the morning.
This morning, I caught a break with the weather. Very little wind starting out and I shot an opening nine 34 (2 under). Making the turn the wind was picking up very quickly. I eagled my 11th hole of the day, hitting an 8 iron into the par 5. The next par 5, which was also down wind, I hit a wedge into it and made an easy tap in birdie. Through 17 holes I was 5 under without a bogey and without a 5 on my scorecard. I played the 4 par 5's 5 under and parred every other hole. On number 9 I hit a great drive down the left side. The wind was blowing hard to the right, but the wind never moved my ball and my ball went under a tree and into long grass. I hacked it up by the green, but failed to get up and down. Nearly perfect through 17 holes and then bogey the last for a 68.
Final round is Sunday afternoon.
Dakota Tour results are found here
Neil
Saturday, July 05, 2008
Round 1 Bakker Crossing Pro-Am
I survived the first round. It was very windy today. Only 3 or 4 guys shot under par, which is extremely rare for the Dakotas Tour. This tour is usually about going as low as possible. Today, I shot 72 (one over par) and find myself in the top 15. I pared the last 10 holes.
I hit the ball very solid today. With as much wind as there was, any poorly struck shot would be blown a long ways off course.
In to the wind, I hit a 3-iron 170 yards. Down wind I hit a drive 380 yards. That kind of shows how dramatic the wind was. Toughest thing about the round was that 4 of the first 5 holes were dead into the wind. Many guys (including one in my group) got off to horrible starts and couldn't recover when they got to the down wind holes.
Everybody's talking about less wind tomorrow, but I don't believe it. This is South Dakota. There is nothing to stop the wind. The entire state is one big plain.
Neil
I hit the ball very solid today. With as much wind as there was, any poorly struck shot would be blown a long ways off course.
In to the wind, I hit a 3-iron 170 yards. Down wind I hit a drive 380 yards. That kind of shows how dramatic the wind was. Toughest thing about the round was that 4 of the first 5 holes were dead into the wind. Many guys (including one in my group) got off to horrible starts and couldn't recover when they got to the down wind holes.
Everybody's talking about less wind tomorrow, but I don't believe it. This is South Dakota. There is nothing to stop the wind. The entire state is one big plain.
Neil
Friday, July 04, 2008
Bakker Crossing Pro-Am
I'm in Sioux Falls, SD playing in the 1st Dakotas Tour event of the summer. This tournament and this course are new to the Dakotas Tour and it'll be interesting to see how the course plays. It's not a long golf course (6901), but most of the Dakotas Tour courses play at about 6500. The golf course is also extremely firm; it's what I imagine playing in Scotland is like. On the par 3's, you're not looking at the distance to the pin, you're looking at the distance to the front of the green.
I tee off at 11:48 on Saturday and it's going to be windy. It's supposed to gust to 45 mph.
Neil
I tee off at 11:48 on Saturday and it's going to be windy. It's supposed to gust to 45 mph.
Neil
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