A few days

It has been a few days since I last wrote and I would love to explain/recap what has happened.

First off, I played in the two-man two-day best ball tournament out at Rose City with a golfer named Tyler this weekend.  It was my first time being in a tourney of this type and I actually found it to be much more stressful than an individual event.  Tyler is about a 1 handicap and being a best ball (where you each play the hole with your own ball then take the best score between the two of you for the score of record) I not only had the pressure I put on myself to do well, but also didn’t want to let him down.

The thing about Rose City is that there is not a range to warm up on.  The first round was Saturday morning and I had a radio interview in the AM before we teed it, so didn’t have a chance to go to a different course to hit some balls first.  I’m not really at the stage where I can just walk up and have my first swing of the day be the drive on the first hole, so was a bit apprehensive going into the round.  My first drive, though, hit the fairway and we were off.  I didn’t play overly bad on Saturday, but after that first fairway my drive was off all day and when you are focussing on contributing to some holes but your second shot is in the rough behind trees all day, it gets to you.  Together, we shot a team 74 but my only additions to the team were to show him a few putting lines and by getting a par on one of the 3s as well as a birdie on the 18th hole, which might be the toughest hole on the course so a great way to end.

On Sunday, I woke up early enough to head to the range at CECC and warm up before we teed it at 8.  I didn’t hit a ton of balls, but 20-30 were enough to get a feel for the drive and when we played this day, the long sticks were on.  They set up the course extra tough (one group playing behind us was a team +3 handicap and shot a 64 on Saturday, 68 on Sunday) and the holes were quite exciting in length and pin placement.  We both played much better and were cruising along, but seemed to bogey the same holes.  In the end, we shot an easy 74 as apposed to the struggle for 74 on Saturday.  What hurt us was, surprisingly, my putting.  I had a number of birdie looks but none of them dropped.  I’ve never seen so many lipped out putts in one round.  If half of them had dropped we would have posted a 70, but that’s golf and sometimes it doesn’t roll your way.  I felt much better after this round as I had contributed more and hit enough fairways and greens to allow my partner to get aggressive in his game.

After that, it was three days of filming for two different media outlets.

On Monday, CBS’ morning show was in town from New York for an all day shoot.  We met out at CECC and they filmed me doing my thing on the range and putting area and an interview with correspondent Jim Axelrod then Axelrod and I hit the links for an 18-hole match play game.  He’s a 10.7 handicap, so we decided to go straight up in match play to see what would happen.  I definitely had the advantage as it was my home course and he had only played a couple times this year so far, but the added pressure of me getting filmed on every shot, I felt, evened that out.

A bit before we began the producer mentioned that 2.4 million people watch the show, “but no pressure” of course .  I always tell myself that cameras don’t make me nervous, but it was hard to get in a groove as you have to wait for them to set up and then basically hit on command.  It’s really different, but something to get used to and to work with.  I see these times as opportunities to work under pressure, and it’s a great thing all in all.  That said, I bogeyed the first hole, took a double on the second, bogeyed the third and hit a ball in the water on the par 3 fourth for another double.  Ended up the shooting a 10-over on the front nine and was down by two holes to Axelrod.

It was time to up the game and the cameras were forgotten by the turn, so I could start playing some solid golf to gain my ground back.  I started the back with a bogey, but then got hotter and parred the next five holes to go up 2 holes on Axelrod. We tied the next two so I won the match play, but then he wanted to press on the 18th for a double or nothing.  We both had decent drives, but were blocked by trees so had to lay up.  I pitched on from the layup and his landed just short and had to chip to get on.  We both two-putted, me for bogey he for double.

All in all, I shot an 85 out there, which isn’t great, but the back was much more solid.  I learned a bit about playing under pressure and had a great time with the CBS guys.  Not sure when the piece will run, but I will let you know as soon as I hear something.  Perhaps next week.

On Tuesday and Wednesday it was Golf Channel’s turn.  The Golf in America guys came out for an update of The Dan Plan.  They shot the story last July and were in town to see what had changed.  Last time they were here my longest club was a 6-iron and I had just started playing on par-3 courses, so a lot has changed.

Here are the guys:

The days went well.  A few different interviews and then shooting on the range and course.  I don’t think their piece will run until August, but if that changes I will definitely post something.

By the end of yesterday, I was pretty beat.  I hadn’t had a day “off” for a while and it’s been a high of 50 and rainy for the past few days, which has taken a toll on my body.  My back is sore and energy levels are lower than normal.  This weather has got to pass soon.  It’s May…  Seriously, we could use a spot of sun and a day where your body actually stays warmed up between shots.  It’s pretty hard on the back to take a big swing, cool completely down and then take another large swing.  Repeat this a couple hundred of times a day and things just get stiff.

But, who’s complaining?  I love what I do and will take any type of weather!  Heading out to the “office” right now for a non-filmed session.  It’s time to get back to practice and work on some swing aspects that need tuning after last weekend’s tournament.  Namely: getting off the tee.  That has been my biggest weakness in rounds, which makes sense as it’s the newest aspect of my game.  All things come with time.