After taking a few weeks away from competition to work on my game, I’m back playing in a tournament for the first time in nearly a month. This week I’m at Barnsley Gardens Resort in Adairsville, GA just outside Atlanta playing the Georgia Open. It’s hosted by the state PGA section, and features a field of 144 players all from the state of Georgia. It’s the premier event hosted by the state PGA section and attracts a mix of mini-tour pros, club pros, teaching pros, and top amateur players. Whenever you play an event exclusive to your state it’s always a fun week because you’re competing against lots of your friends, and anytime you can call yourself the champion of your state at any level it’s a fun distinction.

The golf course is in great shape for us this week. We played a Peach State event here back in April, but because it was so early in the year there was basically no rough and the ball was rolling a lot in the thin fairways. Now the mix of heat and rain this summer have made the Bermuda grass fairways and greens grow like crazy; the rough is long and the fairways are lush. Unfortunately the heat has put some stress on the greens, but considering how hot it has been they’re holding up pretty well. The course in general is pretty difficult, and with the long rough hitting fairways will be key, but overall I still think there will be some good scores,

It feels like it’s been ages since I competed in a full tournament. I had to qualify for the state open in a one-day qualifier last week, but other than that I haven’t competed since the Peach State event at Balsam Mountain in North Carolina around the beginning of the month. I went to Michigan for a few days of lessons just after July 4th and when I got back felt like I needed a few weeks of work to get on top of the things I worked on with my coach. I had planned to try to play the Peach State last week, but just before the event I decided not to play because I still didn’t feel ready. The last couple months I’ve been feeling like I shouldn’t go to a tournament unless I feel I can compete at my best because anything less is just a waste of time and effort that I could be using to build confidence at home practicing and playing. It seems like this strategy is seeming to pay off. After my layoff from competition I tied for the win in my state open qualifier last week and feel like my game is taking a turn for the better. It was definitely productive to get some time at home to get into a new groove and build some confidence before going to compete. With a full August of tournaments coming up it looks like getting some rest in my own bed may pay dividends as well.

I’m teeing off tomorrow bright and early at 7:40 so I’ll need to close the post for the night, but keep following along for updates this week. I’ve posted the course info and scoring links below. Thanks for watching, and if you live in the Atlanta area you may want to think about coming out to watch some good golf on the weekend!

Course Info: http://www.barnsleyresort.com/play/golf/golf.asp

Scoring: http://gapga.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/gapga11/event/gapga1121/contest/1/leaderboard.htm

Tim