Standard Club Peach State Event

This past Monday and Tuesday I competed in a Peach State tour event in the Atlanta area at the Standard Club. Although I just returned from a lesson last Friday, I decided to play this event because I usually play the course it was hosted on very well. I never really got anything going though either day shooting 76-74 to miss cashing by 3 shots.

The first round was a rough one every way I looked at it. I didn’t hit the ball particularly well, missed four short putts, and had to call a really dumb two-shot penalty on myself after accidentally grounding my club in a bunker. Nothing went right. However, my second round had some bright spots although I didn’t shoot a good score. I hit the ball much better but again couldn’t make the putts I needed in order to play well. In all I missed five putts inside five feet the second day causing the over-par score. The most encouraging thing about the round though was the rhythm I got into on my second nine. I hit a string of greens in regulation from my ninth hole through my 17th hole where I gave myself good looks at birdie on all but one of them. That’s the first time I’ve hit that many good shots in a row in a long time. Even in the rounds I’ve played well, I haven’t seemed to get on an extended streak of good ball-striking like that; recently I’ve shot good scores due to great chipping and putting. If I can continue the trend I’m on with my ball-striking, and I believe I can based on how my latest lesson went, I think I’m going to be playing consistently good golf in the very near future.

In the meantime I’m going to keep working hard on all aspects of my game and hopefully figure out the issue with my putting sooner rather than later. Most likely my next event will be next week on the Peach State Tour at Barnsley Gardens Resort in Adairsville, GA. I’ll spend the rest of the week prepping and hopefully will have a better week out there next week.

On another note, it looks like I’m going to be playing a lot of the Peach State events this summer and will try to mix in some Nationwide qualifiers. Looking into all the options I had after not getting Canadian Tour status, this option seemed to be the most economical that still provided me with numerous tournament rounds to help me get ready for Q-School in the fall. As always the schedule is subject to change, but I feel pretty confident I’ll make the Peach State Tour my home tour the remainder of the year. Check out my schedule page for the most recent update to my schedule.

Thanks for watching.

Tim

2011
04/20
CATEGORY
2011 Mini-Tour events
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Canadian Tour Q-School Recap

I’m now back in Atlanta and have had a chance to decompress and look back on the disappointing finish to Canadian Tour Q-School last week. I shot 75-73-69-76 for a 293 (+5) total for the week and finish in a tie for 16th place. The playoff for the last fully exempt cards came at 287 (-1) and the last conditional cards were awarded to players who finished at 289 (+1). While the ultimate goal was to finish in the top six and gain a fully exempt card, and a finish in the next six and a conditional card would have given me a few starts early in the year to try to improve my status and maybe get into all the events. Finishing outside the top 12 gives me no status of any kind, so now I will have to find another place to play this season.

Going into the tournament I didn’t feel like I was playing as well as I’d like, but I thought I was putting decently and believed that my short game could carry me at least to a conditional card. I also felt like if I could just find a little consistency with my long game I could grind my way to a fully exempt card. In the first two rounds I hit the ball terribly but putted well enough to keep myself in the tournament. However, sitting in a tie for 20th at +4 and the conditional card line looking to be even par or so, I knew I couldn’t afford any more rounds over par and needed to start working back towards even.

Serious storms came through central Florida after the second round and washed out almost all of play on the third day. I only completed three holes meaning I had to play 33 holes on the final day. After restarting the third round I finally hit some good shots and fired 69 missing a number of good looks at birdies. Because we had to play so many holes on the fourth day we were given just 20 or so minutes between the third and fourth rounds to get some lunch at then head to the tee. I knew getting back to +1 on the tournament had gotten me back into the thick of things, but I didn’t know exactly where I stood. Heading into the fourth round I was just trying to keep going lower. I knew if I could get under par for the week I’d probably be in good shape for at least a conditional card, maybe even an exempt card, but there was no way to put a precise number on what I needed to shoot to get status.

Unfortunately when I started the fourth round all my momentum from my strong third round was gone. I hit some terrible shots on the front nine and turned in 40. That really put me in a bind. I knew +5 for the week wasn’t going to do anything good for me, but I still had lots of birdie holes to play on the back. Standing on the 10th tee I still had an outside chance if I could shoot 31 or 32 on my last nine. However, I blew my tee shot on the tenth deep into the woods and ended up making bogey. A drive in the water on the eleventh and subsequent bogey pretty much did me in. I managed to make three birdies against a bogey from there coming in to make things look better, those two bogeys to start the back pretty much ended my chances.

Reflecting on the week, the issue that kept me from advancing was simply poor ball-striking. I putted slightly better than average, managed my game incredibly well, and willed my way to just having a chance. At a point though you have to hit good, solid shots to compete at the highest level. I wasn’t able to do that, and going forward that’s what I’ll need to work on.

Although this was a very disappointing result, and the Canadian Tour could have been a great opportunity for me, missing out won’t make or break my golf career. I will find other places to play this year and keep working to get better. My initial plan is to play some of the Peach State Tour events like the one I played in Macon, GA a few weeks ago, and I’ll add some other events as they fit my playing schedule and needs. I’m planning on going up to Traverse City, MI now that it’s starting to warm up some time in the next week or so and have already taken a lesson from putting guru Mike Shannon. I’m not going to let this disappointment get me down and will keep focusing on how I can improve. I know my best golf is still ahead of me and will continue working hard to realize my goals. Thanks for all the words of encouragement in the last week and as always I appreciate everyone following along.

Tim

2011
04/04
CATEGORY
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Canadian Tour Q-School Update

I’ve had a little time this afternoon so I wanted to give a quick update to the blog as to how things are going so far. It’s been a real struggle tee to green both days on my way to firing 75-73 to sit at 148 (+4) and in a current tie for 22nd. There was a severe storm that came through the area this afternoon so some of the groups haven’t finished the second round, but it doesn’t look like my field position should change too drastically heading into the third round.

Both days my long game just hasn’t been very good. While I’ve hit one or two really squirrelly ones, the main issue hasn’t been big misses; it’s been the lack of hitting solid shots throughout the day that’s plagued me. For the most part I’m keeping the ball in play and avoiding big numbers, both of which really hindered me last year. This week however the repeated lack of solid compression on the ball is making it very difficult to hit it close to the hole. With different contact every time, I’m missing differently each shot making choosing targets and clubs very difficult. My lack of consistency has given me very few good looks at birdies and has made me scramble to save par seemingly endlessly.

The bright spot I guess would be the way my short game and putter have held up. The greens here are an interesting combination of firm yet very slow and undulating. They offer the real defense of the course with numerous pin positions that are very difficult to putt to if you miss the shelf or bowl where the pin is located. With how poorly I’ve hit the ball I’ve ended up in some brutal spots yet have found ways to at least keep myself in the tournament. I’ve made a couple bombs of putts including a 60-footer today and have found ways to make the putts I need for pars and sometimes even bogeys. While I’ve missed a couple putts inside 10 feet that I really would have liked to make, on the whole I really have to be proud of the way my short game has held up.

That being said if I can get anything going with my long game I think I could make a serious run up the leaderboard. I’m doing a great job focusing on my shots and finding ways to score, so if I could just give myself a few good birdie opportunities I think I’m going to do a great job converting them. I’m going to need a good run from here though with just two rounds left. The top six is really the golden number I’d like to get to, but at this point getting a conditional card (7-12th position) would be a success. As of now the cut line for the exempt card would be -3, and for a conditional card would be even par. That means that although I’m pretty far back from exempt status, I’m just one or two good rounds from having a shot at a conditional card. I can’t afford any more rounds over par, but I at least am still in this tournament.

It looks like there’s a strong possibility I may not play much golf tomorrow (if at all) based on the way things are looking. I don’t think the seven remaining groups will restart today meaning they will have to finish tomorrow morning, and then we’ll have to re-pair for round three. The forecast for tomorrow looks terrible, so even if the last groups do finish the second round it will be tough to get much more in than that. Luckily Friday looks perfect so we should be able to make up lost time then, and there is a chance we could use some time on Saturday to finish. I’m hoping we can get all 72 holes in because the more holes I have the better chance I have of climbing up the leaderboard. Check back in the rest of the week to see how things turn out. Thanks for watching.

Leaderboard: http://www.cantour.com/leagues/cantour_leaderboard4.cfm?clientid=3776&leagueid=11710&seasonnum=2011

Tim

2011
03/30
CATEGORY
Other Blog Updates
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Canadian Tour Q-School Preview

This week I’m in Weeki Wachee, FL to play the qualifying school for the Canadian Tour. The tournament is a four-round qualifier starting tomorrow with 53 guys vying for six fully-exempt spots and six conditionally-exempt spots for 2011. The fully-exempt players will be guaranteed to get into every Canadian Tour event for the year, and the top conditional finishers usually have a pretty good chance of getting into most of the events. The goal for the week though is to take care of business and finish in that coveted top six and not have to worry about getting into anything the rest of the year.

The course we’re playing this week, The Dunes Golf Club, is an average length course of about 7100 yards with lots of waste areas and mounding as it’s primary defenses. The course played incredibly firm yesterday in my practice round, but with the area getting close to 4 inches of rain today it will probably play a little slower for the tournament. It’s very much a first shot golf course with a premium on driving to set up your approach shots. Well placed drives can cut numerous corners of doglegs and give you short irons in, allowing yourself to be aggressive coming into the greens. In addition, numerous reachable par 5′s and a reachable par 4 put a premium on hitting good tee shots to set up easy birdie tries.

In four-round qualifiers like this it usually doesn’t take anything crazy low to advance, but it does take good solid play for the entire week. Coming into the event I’m not feeling quite as good as I’d like about my game on the whole, especially my long game, but I know that I can figure out a way to get the ball in the hole. I was at least able to talk to my swing coach tonight to get a couple little tips that should help as the week wears on. In the end though I’m just focused on finding a way to post a good solid score each day. I know that if I go out and perform up to my standards I’ll have no trouble getting status, so all I can do is focus on what I need to do to succeed each and every day this week.

I’ve posted the normal links below, but I don’t think the leaderboard will post our scores until the entire field finishes each day of play; if nothing is up until late in the day don’t be surprised. I’m the last group off tomorrow at 10:50 am and in the middle of the field on Wednesday going at 9:20. Depending on how things are going and what my schedule looks like I may try to post again before the tournament is over, but regardless check the Canadian Tour’s website, cantour.com, for any pertinent updates and information. Thanks for watching.

Course Info: http://www.dunesgolfclub.com/

Leaderboard: http://www.cantour.com/leagues/cantour_leaderboard4.cfm?clientid=3776&leagueid=11710&seasonnum=2011

Tim

2011
03/28
CATEGORY
Other Blog Updates
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