Family visit tournament prep

This might be the last blog posted until after I play in the Oregon Am qualifier next Tuesday.  I’d love to write more right now as there is plenty to talk about, but it’s been a house-guest kind of week.

I had two friends visit from Denver (one originally from Cuba and Portland is now the third place he has been to in his entire life) over the past two days and now my parents are flying in tonight for their once-every-two-to-three-year visit.  We’re going to head to the coast for three nights starting tomorrow morning and I was not planning on bringing any clubs on the trip (although a putter and wedge might be in order).  We planned this trip months ago, well before the Oregon Am qualifier was scheduled, and I am going to stick to the plan of taking some time away from training to spend with family.

It’s hard to say whether this will positively or negatively influence my score next week, but it’s how it is and sometimes things can’t be perfect.  It’s important to go with the flow and just let what happens happen.  As my buddy Country Club told me, I’m ready for the qualifier and there is plenty of good golf in me; perhaps a few days off will allow me to stop overthinking about my putting and just play shot by shot.  That’s what I hope.

My game is on the cusp right now of what’s needed to get through to the actual Oregon Am.  If I hit it decently I will get in as the number is usually a 76 to pass this stage.  If I have an off day I will just miss it.  I’ve been shooting between 74-80 pretty often lately so anything can happen during an 18-hole event.  I will relax over the weekend and then enter with a clear head and the specific goal of remaining engaged throughout each shot.  Perhaps it’s time to reread Every Shot Must Have a Purpose.  This would be a good week for that.

Even though my game is on the cusp, I am also very ready for the event.  Going into the weekend I know I have about a 60% chance of passing the qualifier and the most important thing is to keep an open mind and learn from the experience.  This is the first big tourney of the season for me and I’m excited to see how it feels to be out there and what my mental process will be like.  To get past the qualifier I don’t have to play great golf, just have to play decent golf and make sure to remember every shot is important and deserves a clear vision of intention.  I know I can do this.

Speaking of mental process, I haven’t posted that many blogs lately because I have been spending a lot of time reading over the entire blog from day one in order to build an edited down ebook about the journey from launch through breaking par/5,000 hours.  I didn’t realize how big of a task it was going to be as I’m not just breezing through every entry but am instead lingering on the memories and moments and finding myself learning a ton from my own past experiences.  It is a good reminder to look back at journals/blogs/notes from years past when trying to improve in something as it helps demonstrate just how far you have gone in a short period of time.  It’s easy to get bogged down in the daily grind and hard to see progress from one moment to the next, but looking back less than 3 years ago to my first ever round of golf from white tees (with 6 clubs) and shooting a 97 is humbling and inspiring.

I was hoping to have the ebook up soon, but I’m not quite half way through the past blogs and it might take a few more weeks to read them all with proper attention.  Will definitely write about it and have a link when it is finished.

Off to the last day of practice before the tourney.  Today I want to solidify my putting and work out a couple kinks in my iron swing that have been leading to inconstancies with those clubs.  Then some chipping and tee shots as those can always use improvement.  After that it’s officially summer vacation then right into a great tournament round.