The Day is Nearly Here

[Fairway_CY]

It's Friday morning... and for the last four days straight, I've been unable to think about ANYTHING but the upcoming tournament on Sunday. I hit the driving range yesterday morning for a 90 minute practice session, and I played a simulated round again... coming up with an 87 this time. If I could TRULY shoot an 87 on Sunday... I'd likely put my clubs down and retire 'on the way up'. (Okay, that wouldn't really happen... but I WOULD be extremely happy!)

Our tee time listings are on the website... and as this is a shotgun start at 8:00 am... that doesn't much matter. What DOES matter is that I'm teeing off on hole number twelve. A fairly easy start for me with it being a somewhat short par 5. Much better than starting on a 185 yard par 3 or something. My gameplan for the round is simply to keep the ball in play. If I do that and manage to NOT lose any balls... I could easily shoot a net score below 70.

In my singles match... my opponent is receiving 23 strokes. I will be receiving 26 strokes... so, in the end... I'm getting 3 strokes from him. In our doubles match, my partner is receiving 24 strokes... giving us a team total of 50 strokes. Our opponents are receiving 41 strokes (23 + 18)... giving us 9 strokes. I've been told that their number one is a slow starter and typically shoots rounds like 40 - 55 = 95 or 55 - 40 = 95. Either way... we should be able to beat them, providing my partner doesn't fall apart at any point.

I have concerns about how he's going to play as he's NEVER played a competitive round... and I don't know if the scores he's posted to GHIN are true scores or not. He seemed flustered at the rules meeting about penalty strokes, provisionals, etc. This makes me believe he's one of those 'drop it where you think it went out and hit your next shot without a penalty' golfers. If that's the case and he hits 3 or 4 wayward shots... it could put a big number on the board for him early on.

My singles match will come down to me executing. My opponent, so I've been told, is an older guy who will likely be cold. I've warmed up for the last 2+ months and think that will give me a big advantage. I've heard many of the guys in this club put the sticks away at the end of October and don't touch them until the first round of the season. If that's the case... I could find myself in a pretty good position early in the season.

My predictions for Sunday:

Gross Score = 93
Net Score = 67
Final Position (Net) = 1st Place (But I don't qualify for a win until after my 3rd round with this club... so, it doesn't much matter.)

Match Result (Singles - Match Play) = Win 5 & 3
Match Result (Doubles - Team Net Stroke Totals) = Win 67 - 85 = 152 / 77 - 79 = 156

I will report back Sunday evening or Monday morning with the actual results. 'Til then...

CY