Marshall - Final Round

Winner in Marshall. Fun words to write.

3-under 68 in final round, won by two shots.

I'll comment more later.

** UPDATE ** Finally a major win on the Dakotas Tour. Every event that is 3 or 4 rounds on the Dakotas is considered a major. It feels great to finally break through and win one. I've been in contention nearly a dozen times - 10 top tens in the last three years - and it's awesome to get that first win behind me.

It wasn't easy, but it certainly was satisfying. I had a hot putter and that was the difference in a win and yet another top 10. Here's a list of all the putts I made today:

20' on 3 for birdie
9' on 6 for par
10' on 7 for par
18' on 8 for birdie
20' on 12 for birdie
15' on 16 for par

Those were the lengthy putts made. I made at least 4 other tricky 4 footers to save par. Marshall's greens have a lot of slope so it isn't uncommon to have a 4 foot putt break 6 inches.

Looking back, it's easy to say that the 15' par putt on 16 was the putt of the day, but at the time it only maintained my 1 shot lead with two to go. I still needed to play 17 and 18.

I had a one shot lead on 18 tee, which was a downwind par 5. I hit my drive slightly into the rough. Josh Persons was further into the rough and had to hit his 2nd shot first. He hit a 5-iron from 225 that never left the flag. He was very unlucky that the ball rolled 30 feet above the hole on the green.

I hit a 6-iron from 204 yards that bounced just onto the front edge of the green. That left me a 10' uphill eagle putt with a one shot lead. Persons tried to make his eagle, but just ran by and after he missed his birdie putt I was able to lag my eagle putt up to 6" and tap in for the win.

Tim Ailes also finished two shots back, but he was in the group in front of me and I had no idea where he stood so I don't know if he had an eagle putt to reach 8 under.

What a wonderful week.

I've got Thursday off and then I play a one day event on Friday in Mitchell, SD.

Feel free to ask any questions about the victory in the comments. I'll answer them.

Neil

Marshall - Second Round

Played early Tuesday morning, but it wasn't early enough to beat the wind. It was blowin' about 20 mph when I teed off at 9:50 and stayed that windy all day.

I hit the ball very solid and was able to control the ball into the wind or with the wind. Finished with a 2-under 69, 33 on the front and a 36 on the back.

My lag putting was good today and it was tested. I had 30 feet on #4 and #5, then again on #9 - all of them basically tap ins for par.

My only mistake of the day came on 14 (which was my only bogey in round 1). I hit a 3-wood up the left side and it came to rest directly behind a tree. I thought about hitting a herculean shot, but decided to play safe and chip out. After hitting my third shot onto the green I got a little overzealous with the putt and ran it by 6 feet. I missed the come-backer and made a double bogey 6.

Besides my double on 14, I had 13 pars and 4 birdies.

I'm one shot back of the leader with the final round on Wednesday morning.

Neil

Marshall - First Round

A clear mind goes a long way during a golf tournament. Sunday in Aberdeen, my mind was racing with too many thoughts. Monday in Marshall, I had very simple and quick thoughts that did not clutter. My pre-shot routine was quicker because I made decisive club choices and more specific aiming points.

I shot 4-under 67 and find myself 2 shots behind the leader.

Tuesday morning is round 2. My mind needs to be quiet and then hopefully I'll play another solid round of golf.

Neil

Aberdeen Final Round

Tough day on the course. Despite a lot of recent rain, the golf course played very fast and firm today - and we had a lot of wind.

I failed to adjust to the adverse conditions and shot a disappointing 76. Too many poor swings that were brought on by an overall lack of decisive choices. My mind was trying to be too perfect and I wasn't able to comfortably make a swing.

No break; I'm back on the course Monday in Marshall, MN for another 3 day tournament.

Leaderboard

Neil

Aberdeen Second Round

Yesterday's post had a goal - hit the ball more consistent.

Mission Accomplished. Today I hit every green on the front nine and only once did I have a birdie putt over 15 feet.

1 - 8 feet
2 - 10 feet
3 - 12 feet
4 - 15 feet
5 - 3 feet
6 - 12 feet
7 - 10 feet
8 - 35 feet
9 - 2 feet

I found a little bit of trouble on #12. I drove it into the trees and punched it just short of the green, but I managed to chip it to 4 feet and made the par putt.

My two bogeys were both 3-putts, but I still only had 29 putts for the whole day.

Final round is Sunday afternoon. I tee-off at 1:45. There might be live scoring throughout the afternoon, but I can't guarantee that. Check the leaderboard for updates.

Neil

Aberdeen, SD - Moccasin Creek CC

One under 71 this morning. Got a lucky break with the weather. It got windy and cool this afternoon whereas I had nearly perfect conditions.

I started on #10 and three-putted 13 for a bogey. On 17, I pulled my tee shot and failed to get it up and down from the bunker. Two bogies and no birdies through the first 12 holes was extremely boring, but I got things going on #4. I hit a smooth 9-iron to 10 feet and made the putt. Two holes later, I hit a 3-iron from 230 yards to 15 feet and made the eagle.

My goal tomorrow is to hit the ball more consistent. Today I hit it all over the place and managed to save pars everywhere.

Neil

Waterloo Open - Weekend Shootout

6-under 66 in the first round. I played very early - teed off at 6:50, which had to be an advantage compared to teeing off at 2pm. I'm in a decent position for the final round, but I'll have to go very low.

My putter was very hot for the first 14 holes today. I only had 16 putts through 14 holes, but I wasn't able to make anything on the last 4 holes. If I catch the leaders, my putter will need to be hot for all 18 holes.

I tee off at 11:50.

** UPDATE ** There is a live blog that will have frequent updates during the final round. You can find it here

Neil

Okoboji, IA - Final Round

Three penalty strokes today really hurt. Plus I missed 2 or 3 short birdie putts. That adds up to about 6 shots and that would've put me in contention to win. Instead I shot 71 and got passed by a lot of golfers and finished T-9th.

Neil

Dakotas Tour 2010 Begins

Immediately after the 4th of July, I begin my Dakotas Tour schedule. It always sneaks up on me, but it's fun to see some friends that I haven't seen since last September.

Today's first round was a pro-am (for some guys) and I got paired with a 14 year old, 72 year old, and a 40 year old. Odd mix of ages, but they were a fun group. I got off to a quick start with a birdie on the first hole, and 5 in the first 10 holes. One more birdie on #16 got me to 6-under - not 7-under as the leaderboard says. This course is a par 72, not par 73.

My ability to update this blog is always dependent upon an internet connection. Many of the hotels and houses I stay at on the Dakotas Tour don't have internet so you'll want to get used to checking my twitter page for daily updates of scores.

I've added a new gadget to the right side of my blog. It's a twitter feed that will show my 5 most recent tweets. However you check it, my tweets will be the quickest way to find my results on a daily basis.

Neil