First Tournament

[Travtex]

Well, that was a bit nerve-wracking.  Played my first tourny round, today... My idea was that it'd be a good way to meet playing partners, and my hesitation was that I suck at golf.

Anyway, I ended up still sucking at golf, but no more or less than my normal everyday hack around the course.  I'm still sitting at about 100 and change per 18.

I dropped about ten shots at the tee.  Blasted four out of bounds, and pull hooked one into the lake.  I'd break 100 if I could just get out of the damn tee box without incident.

In interest of that, I tried to leave the driver in the bag.  After a blow-up hole, I went ahead and pulled it for the next... ended up 280 yards in the fairway.  Encouraged, I pulled it on the next hole and blasted it out of bounds.  The driver was done for the day.

My dreaded push fade crept into -all- of my longer clubs at points, but for the most part my 3 hybrid was good for 215 or so off the tee.

Shot of the day:  152 (Hooray for GPS-equipped tournament carts) yards to a ridiculously uphill green.  Dude after me hit a shot up the hill... it struck the side of said hill, then rolled back down toward him.  About halfway, it hit the cart path and rolled ever-more-quickly...

Anyway, popped a seven iron uphill to 6 feet.  Then fricking 3-putted on the fastest green I'd ever putted.  (Sticking on the side of a hill seems to do that.)

In any event, I managed to suck quite impressively in front of more people than I think I actually know in person... BUT, hey, good experience is good experience, right?

[phillyk]

Well, it's always good to get an idea of what playing in tournaments feels like.  Next time you play in one, you will know what mental mindset you need to get yourself into to play well.  Also tournaments are good at shining light on what you need to do the most work on in your game.

[walk18]

Well, that was a bit nerve-wracking. Played my first tourny round, today... My idea was that it'd be a good way to meet playing partners, and my hesitation was that I suck at golf. Anyway, I ended up still sucking at golf, but no more or less than my normal everyday hack around the course. I'm still sitting at about 100 and change per 18. I dropped about ten shots at the tee. Blasted four out of bounds, and pull hooked one into the lake. I'd break 100 if I could just get out of the damn tee box without incident. In interest of that, I tried to leave the driver in the bag. After a blow-up hole, I went ahead and pulled it for the next... ended up 280 yards in the fairway. Encouraged, I pulled it on the next hole and blasted it out of bounds. The driver was done for the day. My dreaded push fade crept into -all- of my longer clubs at points, but for the most part my 3 hybrid was good for 215 or so off the tee. Shot of the day: 152 (Hooray for GPS-equipped tournament carts) yards to a ridiculously uphill green. Dude after me hit a shot up the hill... it struck the side of said hill, then rolled back down toward him. About halfway, it hit the cart path and rolled ever-more-quickly... Anyway, popped a seven iron uphill to 6 feet. Then fricking 3-putted on the fastest green I'd ever putted. (Sticking on the side of a hill seems to do that.) In any event, I managed to suck quite impressively in front of more people than I think I actually know in person... BUT, hey, good experience is good experience, right?

Absolutely, and at least you played. 99% of golfers would never have the courage to play in a true stroke play tournament where every shot and penalty is counted, plus the pressure that comes with it. Good for you I say.

[Travtex]

Originally Posted by phillyk

Well, it's always good to get an idea of what playing in tournaments feels like.  Next time you play in one, you will know what mental mindset you need to get yourself into to play well.  Also tournaments are good at shining light on what you need to do the most work on in your game.

The same problem has stood out my last couple of rounds -- Tee shots are tearing me up.  4 hit OB, 1 pull-hooked into the lake, 2 topped, 3 or 4 sent me off on a scenic trip through the woods.  I lost at least 15 strokes just by screwing up on the tee.  AND I wasn't even playing my driver (Except for two holes, and 1 of those worked out).  Too many 3 putts, of course.  A -few- lousy chips and pitches, but that'd be a distant third on the list to the other pair of problems.  Keep the tee shots in the game and I'm breaking 100 pretty easily.  Take away 3 putts and I'm in the 80's.  Easy to see where this season's scarce practice time needs to focus.

Got a nasty push with my hybrids, woods, and driver that I can't seem to shake.  Might see if I can't sneak in a lesson sometime this summer... plan out a vacation to somewhere I can actually FIND lessons, haha.