Winter Series #9 - First Round

* Before I get to this week's tournament, I must finish last week's. My final round last week - as Papago GC, which is a "muni" - was very boring. I hit the ball well, even better than I had in round 2. Unfortunately the better ball-striking didn't lead to a lower score. I only made 2 birdies all day. The biggest reason I didn't make more was my putting.

Final Leaderboard last week

Now onto my current tournament. I have continued my improved ball-striking, but only managed to shoot a 68. I'm not complaining about it, but it felt better than a 68. Plus one of my playing partners shot a 65 and he admitted that his round didn't feel like anything close to a 65.

Whatever the score was today, I'm happy to be hitting the ball as solid as I'm used to. It should only be a matter of time before everything clicks and I put up a really good number.

Leaderboard this week

Winter Series #8 - 1st and 2nd Round

Looks like I made the cut - but just barely. On Wednesday, my first round was an ugly one. I only hit a handful of truly solid shots, but I managed to shoot 73. In round 2 I hit the ball much better, with nearly 2 dozen solid shots! However, hitting it 400% times better than day 1, I only shot 2 strokes better.

Tough to explain that if you haven't played a lot of golf, but most golfers understand that scoring has nothing to do with how well you hit the ball.

During the 2nd round I was only in trouble twice, but I made a bogey and a double bogey on those holes. The other 16 holes were really positive. I had plenty of quality birdie chances, but couldn't convert many because the greens have become very fast and firm. I found myself hitting a great approach shot into the green, only to be left with a quick, downhill, sliding putt - not one you can get aggressive with.

Leaderboard

Neil

Winter Series #7 - Final Round

Probably not a surprise to anybody who follows my blog, but I forgot to post yesterday after my final round. There is a pattern to my absences. They are directly related to how well I play. If I played well, I don't forget to post. However, if I struggle - like I did on Friday - my blog conveniently "slips" my mind. I apologize for that. It's a horrible excuse because I do enjoy keeping my family and friends up to date.

As for Friday's final round - it was a poor performance. Only one birdie and it didn't come until the 17th hole (which on a side note, I birdied all three days!). One of my problems was my tee ball. I had been very accurate through the first two rounds, but in round three I started pulling my tee shots left and finding trouble. I managed to save pars on #1, #6, #7, and #8 with pulled tee shots. A pulled tee shot cost me a bogey on #13 and that was one of the easiest holes all week - and I played it +2.

I finally fix that mistake and hit the ball really well the last 4 holes, but it was too late to make a serious comeback.

Leaderboard

Neil

Winter Series #7 - Second Round

Now that was anything but a ho-hum second round. The perfect weather I mentioned yesterday changed into a breezy afternoon. We had steady winds around 20 mph and gusts reaching 35 mph. Despite the difficulty, I got off to a great start. Missed my first green long, but chipped it in. Made a good birdie on the short par-4, 14. Made a 18 foot birdie putt on #15 and made a 15 foot birdie putt on #17. A par on 18 and I made the turn at 4-under par. Biggest difference from round one was putting. I only made 60 feet worth of putts in round one. During round 2, I made 90 feet of putts (including the chip-in) on my front nine alone.

After my great front nine, I birdied #3 to reach 5-under. After that I stalled out. I bogied #4 and #6, which were both really tough par-3s. On #8, I was in the middle of the fairway and made a terrible swing, missing the green left and failing to get up and down.

It felt good to play a good second round. It's been 2 months since I scored better on day 2 than I did on day 1.

Final round is Friday morning. Leaderboard

Neil

Winter Series #7 - First Round

Another ho-hum first round - one under 71. I hit the ball well today, but couldn't make any putts. My stroke felt horrible for a majority of the day. I finished with 33 putts, which is a horrible number. I three-putted numbers 12 and 13 for bogies, but finished strong with a birdie, eagle, birdie run on 15, 16, 17.

Perfect weather down here - 70 and very sunny. Not trying to make everyone jealous, just stating a fact.

Leaderboard

Neil

Winter Series #6 - Second Round

More issues with my second round. At times today I hit it horrible and it looked like I would shoot 78, but then other times I hit it great and had several chances for birdies. I only made 2 birdies and that was not enough. I chipped in for one of my birdies and the other birdie came on the easiest hole on the course - a short par-5.

I'm glad we have an off week next week. I'm not as mentally sharp as I'd like to be. That explains why part of my round is ugly to watch. I believe a little break will help me find a tight focus in the next tournament.

Leaderboard

Neil

Winter Series #6 - First Round

Before I get to this week's tournament, I've got some catching up to do. I haven't had access to the internet and that's why I've failed to update my blog. Since my last post, I've put some new irons into my bag and it has taken some time to develop confidence with these irons. I was so comfortable and so confident with my old set that try anything new would take a few weeks. In case you're wondering, I switched because my old irons were extremely overused and beginning to look beat up. Also, I will have to switch in the near future because of the new groove rules.

Two weeks ago, I returned to competitive action and I failed to make the cut, shooting 147. During that tournament I made a double eagle on my 15th hole (#6) of the second round. That was my first double eagle, but the second one I have witnessed. The other one was witnessed 90 minutes before mine. Charlie Beljan had a double eagle on his 9th hole of the day (#18) and we were paired together. I'm not positive, but somebody told us the odds of 2 double eagle's on the same day - in the same group - is somewhere around 1/68,000,000.

Last week, I had an ok first round, but things fell apart on day 2. Missed the cut by 4 shots.

This week, I began with a 1-under par 71. Looking at my results from the past month, my first round isn't the issue. Tomorrow's round - round 2 - has been the problem. I play early and I hope to have much better results than the past month.

Neil

Winter Series #3 - Final Round

CANCELLED!!

No final round. It rained all night and still hasn't stopped. The golf course has added a lot of water hazards since yesterday so they called the tournament after 2 rounds.

Leaderboard

No tournament next week.

Neil

Winter Series #3 - 2nd Round

I guess I'm still on the roller coaster. My 2nd round had a terrible finish - a 40 on the back nine. I was playing well through 12 holes. I was 1-under par, but I had already missed three 5-foot birdie putts.

On #4, I made a bad club selection - tried hitting an easy 5-iron instead of a hard 6 - and made a bogey. On #5, I chunked a chip and three putted from 18 feet. On #6 I again made a bad club selection -easy 7 instead of hitting a full 8 - and I three putted for my third straight bogey. So three straight holes I make a bogey with two bad club selections, two three putts, and just a whole mess of mental errors.

I made yet another costly error on #8. After a simple birdie on #7, I rushed my tee-shot and hit it in the desert. I then chunked another chip and made my third 6 of the day. Any day with three 6s on the card, you're in trouble.

The only good thing about my bad finish is that all of the mistakes were simple mental errors. *If we play tomorrow, I hope to be much more focused - and this time for all 18 holes.

* I say if because we're supposed to get some bad weather. The past two nights we've have a lot of rain and Thursday it's supposed to rain all day - thunderstorms possible too.

Leaderboard

Neil

Winter Series #3 - First Round

Gateway tour has been like a roller coaster. First week was all fun and the 2nd week I threw up all over myself. Now to begin week 3, I'm on the way up again. Or would it be on the way down?

Either way, it's a relief to play well after last week's disaster.

Leaderboard

Neil