trip report-- mid Am qualifying

played in my first USGA event ever this week and thought i'd give a quick trip report. (I know i wish I knew more before the first time I played.)

The course- - Rich Harvest links, an exclusive private club about 40 miles west of Chicago. It will host the Solheim cup in 2009. As a result, there was a totally fully field here (more on this later)

The Weather-- It had been raining most of the week off and on and the course drained well, but was still quite wet. I joked when I checked in "we are playing lift clean and place, right?" The USGA official was not amused.

The Course-- Beautiful and long. probably 300 yards longer than when I played a practice round. I realized very quickly that I really didn't have the length to be competitive here. Overall, one of the best courses I have ever played. The greens were much faster than I woudl expect due to the weather. Course was in perfect shape, not sure how much play it gets from its membership. There were no easy pin position. Almost ever pin was either 5 feet off the green on behind a ridge.

Playing partners-- Neither ended up turning in a card and I doubt either one broke 120. I am not sure if one guy broke 90 on the front. He didnt have the distance to drive the fairways on many holes. Guess I really didn't have to wait until my handicap was legitimately this year.

My round-- Didn't really play that bad. shot 42-45 (i think). Hit 7 greens, 3 in water with 2 birdies. 32 putts overall, which is pretty bad for me. Tons of uneven lies which made it harder to hit greens. Probably played too conservatively. Been recovering from a wrist injury and was really afraid to swing hard when i needed to.

Overall, a postive experience. Probably need to do a better job picking shorter courses where I can be competitive.

I assume when you asked if it was lift clean and place, they werent amused because it wasnt?

Of course the PGA tour is playing down the road, and on a day with no rain, they still played lift clean and place... I dont see why a bunch of amateurs wouldnt be afforded the same opportunity.

from what i've been told, if there were puddles in the fairways, the USGA probably wouldn't let you play lift clean and place.

I believe you're entitled to relief from casual water. I forget the exact rule, as I don't live in a part of the world where we get rain on any real basis and have never had to use it.