Mini Tour Play

[Shindig]

I passed stage 1! Right on the number.

Awesome! We knew you'd succeed. This is like U.S. Q-School, where it's just binary pass/fail, right? Or would passing with one fewer stroke have done more for you?

Either way, this is awesome.

[Ben]

Thanks guys. Final stage starts on the 13th. Practice rounds begin tomorrow. Back to work after a day off.

Shindig, yeah, I just need to make the number, no matter the score.

[Quinn07]

Good Job Ben! Good Luck in the next stage.

[kleraudio]

Im sure you'll be writing after the tour card party!!

Jim

[Ben]

Golden State Tour event today. Tied for 4th. details in my blog...

http://thesandtrap.com/forum/entries...geles-National

[Ben]

Well, Golden State Tour event at Oak Valley yesterday. 2-over par 74 got me nothing. Nothing monitarily, but plenty in my ongoing boost in confidence since Thailand. Although the score wasn't that great, the high score was only due to a few silly putting errors early in the round.

My baseball playing buddy always says, "its not how you start, but how you finish." 3-over on the front, 4-over after 10 holes. Went on to finish the back at 1-under, bringing me back to 2-over overall. That 2-over was about as bad as I could have shot yesterday, and that being the case, I feel pretty good. I hit the ball nicely, got around the golf course with a good amount of control. Didn't miss many fairways nor greens. This was only my fifth time playing this course, so I'm still a little unfamiliar with where to put my approach shots in regard to pin positions. The greens here are a bit tricky in that regard. Some serious slopes and undulations. Find yourself in the wrong spot, and you'll have a hard time making a birdie.

I really turned my game [putting] around on the back finishing with two birdies in my last four holes, with good looks at birdie on the other two. After not really making much of anything on the front, my putter really caught fire on the 11th hole. I just remembered my putting mantra: "Keep head down, putt goes in." And sure enough, I only had 10 putts from holes 11-18. 5 feet for par on 11, 8 feet for par on 13, 15 feet for par on 14, 3 feet for birdie on 15, 30 feet for birdie on 16. I love making putts. Feels so great!

So, not so great in terms of throwing away $300 on the entry, but, a feel good round for sure.

[bogeyhitter25]

Nice job on the good score, Ben. Take that positive mojo on with you in your next few stops.

[Ben]

Well, good day at the office. Golden State Tour event at Twin Oaks GC, San Marcos, CA. This course holds San Diego Open (Farmers Insurance) qualifiers. I'm getting the hang of this place now. Been about my 5th time here. Finished at 2-under par 70. Got me a tie for 10th in a field of 45. GSTour started a new little additional prize to certain events. Being the first event of the month, winner gets the entry fees paid for the month. That drew a big turnout, solid field.

Super front nine. Finished 3-under par. Three solid birdies, no bogeys. Two-on, two-putt on the par-5 2nd hole. Birdied the next par-5 too, hole 5. Then a nice little chip in on 9. All pars in between were nice. Solid tee shots, solid approach shots. Two nice up-and-downs too. One from a greenside bunker, the other from being short-sided on an 40* downhill lie. Birdie putts that didn't drop all looked like they had a chance.

Same thing on the 205y par-3 10th. 5iron, 2-putt.

11-18. 11, dumb little missed par putt. Whatever, chalked it up as an anomaly after I made my par putt on 12 from the same distance. 13 was fun. Donkey pull drive into the trees. Smallest of a window through the trees out of jail. Hit a laser of a punch 7 iron under then over the trees, also right over the flag. Another solid up-and-down. Finally made up for the bogey on the par-5 16th. Good drive, good lay-up 2hybrid, good 58* wedge from 59y, one-putt from 5 feet. Three par 5s, three birdies. 17, a par-3, had 200y to the hole. 6iron, 30 feet. Left putt in the jar. Gave it a go. 18, par-5 to finish. Licking my chops! I bogeyed it. hahahaa. A 3-shot hole for me, and I played it as such, just had a little trouble with my 4iron lay-up. Hit it solid, felt like a good swing, just pushed the push out of it. Ended up behind a tree and 100y out. Had to play way left of the pin, but I caught a piece of the green. 25 feet, had to manage a tier. Just brain-farted on the first putt. Wasn't thinking about speed for some reason. 3-putt bogey, blech. What a dumb finish. Look at the final standings, that putt cost me. I got lazy, it cost me. Won't happen again!

Neat side note for the day. I got to play with Jason Cook, John Cook's son. Really fun and cool guy. He rocked today. Even on the front. 5-under on the back! He was knocking shots close and making some monster putts too.

Three events so far, in the money twice. Yay

http://www.jcgolf.com/courses-twinoaks.php

http://gstour.com/results.php?tourna...OAKS+GC+020110

[Ben]

Weekly Pepsi Tour event at Brookside today.

1-under, 71 got me a tie for 3rd. As with any round of golf, it could have been better. However, I've been a little off in the confidence department lately, particularly with my ball-striking. Today, I got myself back on track. Hit some sloppy shots, but more good ones then bad. I like it when it works out that way. Two birdies and an eagle, offset by two bogeys. Unfortunately. But, more circles then squares is also a good sign!

Got in the thing on a whim too. Didn't plan at all on playing this morning. But got a text from the tournament coordinator. I figured "why the heck not play?" Had to drive at a higher then average speed to make it. Made it in the knick of time. My group was on the way to the tee as I was walking up. Stepped up to the tee with a few practice swings in me and got a ball out a reasonable distance. Managed a good up and down from 58y. Nice birdie! Went on to bogey Hole 2 though (erasing from memory...). Dumb bogey on 7. Whatever, finish the front at 1-over.

The Back. Nice drive on Hole 10. Been having a problem with this tee shot lately. Today, I ripped one down the right side of the fairway, right we're I'd imagined. Decent approach shot, 2-putt. Solid par. Hole 11. Driver, 3w, 1-putt. Nice eagle! Man this course is playing long right now, with all the rain we've been taking in Southern California. I hit as little as 5 iron into this one. I can't wait until summer time! Back to the back. Nice par on the 480y par 4 12th. That one felt really good. What felt even better? Chip in birdie on the Par-3 13th. 205y small looking green with deep bunkers that guide front right and front left. Pin high with an "okay" hit 4iron. A bogey followed though, on the very next hole... That didn't feel good. Held it together through the rest of the round. Really solid pars from decent birdie looks on the way in to 18.

All in all, a pretty fair day. Nice for the confidence. I have a busy two weeks on the Golden State Tour coming up. Three one-day events. Keep it going!

http://www.americangolf.com/ca/pasad...side-golf-club

http://www.americangolf.com/photos/B...scorecards.pdf

[Ben]

Well, another Golden State Tour event, another day on the leaderboard. Even par 72 got me a tie for Tie for 9th.

Played at the Southern California Golf Association's course. I fun track. 7,036y 74.6/136. Played a little shorter though, maybe 100 yards. A few of the tees were up. Got to play a practice round yesterday which helped as that was the first time I'd ever seen the course. There were certainly times today where the practice round came in handy.

That being said, this was the worst even par round evar! I was 4-under after 13 holes. Man I blew this one. Bogey, bogey, double bogey (on a reachable par 5) on holes 14,16 and 17. I was pretty upset with that for a bit. Not to mention the hour and 45 minute drive home that was waiting. Threw away about $500. whatev...

Let's focus on the positive though. Bogey free, and like mentioned, 4-under through 13. I really hit the ball pretty good on my mess-up holes too. Hit some good shots and made some good putts all day long. Finished the front 9 at 3-under and that was without birdie'ing either of the par 5s. Just good control over what was going on. Solid tee shots, solid approach shots and solid rolls on the greens. Things are really feeling good. That's six events, and in the money four times now! Next up is another new course in Carlsbad, The Crossings, on Monday the 22nd.

Traveled with my buddy Sam, he took 1st place in the Amateur division with a 20under 70. 18 year old kid. Really goofy. Reminds me a lot like an 18 year old me. Crazy part, he lives on the same street now, that I grew up on.

I've started taking tournament stats. Scoring average: 72.33, Eagles: 3, Birdies: 16, Bogeys: 14, Other: 6 (bleh). That's enough for the others. This is through 12 events. Which include my Asian Tour QSchool.



http://www.gstour.com/results.php?to...nt=SCGA+021610

http://www.scgagolfcourse.com/

[mcfc_nick]

cheers for the info

[Alex B]

Well done again, Ben, even if the end wasn't your best. Your stats are probably way better if you take out that one poor round from Japanese Q School -- it seems like you've been par or better every other round. Keep it up -- this is your year!

[Ben]

Thanks guys. Golf is really fun!

Stat update. I was looking at my records and realized I didn't have all my numbers imputed from QSchool. Duh.

Scoring Average: 72.33 Eagles: 3 Bridies: 32Bogeys: 32Others: 9

[Ben]

Well, another tournament round, another score of 2-under par. Got seem to kick the trend. I'll take 2-under all day long, but lets get deeper!

Played at The Crossings in Carlsbad. The TaylorMade and Callaway factories are about a block anyway. Some people have called it "MickeyMouse" or "tricked up". I did get to play 15 holes yesterday in a practice round and I tried to clear those thoughts from my head and play the course for what it was both yesterday and today. Granted it was most certainly demanding off the tee in spots, definitely demanding into the greens, and once on the greens two putts pars were not guaranteed if you aren't in the right spot. If you watched the WGC event last week, you'd know what putting on these greens today were like. Large greens, lots of different sections of greens, marked by some seriously extreme tiers. Thankfully I managed my way around nicely.

I managed the front nine quite nicely. Just one bogey offset by three birdies. Took advantage and birdied both the par 5s. Hit a really solid shot to a tucked pin on the par-3 8th and made the putt from 6 feet.

The back nine, quite frankly could have gone MUCH better. I was stripping tee shots and hitting my approach shots tight. Holes 12, 13, 14 and 15 I had birdie putts from no longer then 6 feet. How many did I make? None! hahaha. But, did roll in a nice 8 foot birdie putt on the par-5 16th. Then followed that up with a bogey. One of those "wrong part of the green" putts I'd mentioned earlier.

Shot of the day. 6 iron from 160y on the 18th holes. You should have seen where this pin was. Back left on a green that was divided into four with crazy tiers. And this tier was about 10 paces front to back, and side to side. Anyhow, 6 iron from 16y. Wind in the face and slightly from the left. Just a laser of a punch shot to about 10 feet. Really used my visualization well. Kinda dorked the putt, but I was super stoked to have hit that great of a shot on the last hole to save a stroke and get a legit look at birdie.

Updated stats: 72.15 Scoring Avg, 36 birdies, 34 bogeys, 9 others


http://www.gstour.com/results.php?to...INGS+GC+022210

http://www.thecrossingsatcarlsbad.com/

[Ben]

Whew, a rough couple of events lately. I wouldn't say I've gone off the deep-end, but the scores just aren't quite there.

Last Wednesday I played in the weekly event at Brookside in Pasadena. A really good day of ball striking, and great putting too putting! The trouble came late in the round. I found myself 3under and 145yards out from the middle of the fairway on 16. Missed the green, then kinda let a chip get away from me, but still had a legit chance of par from 7feet. Didn't go in. 2under on the 17th tee, I hit my tee shot on the par 3 into the bunker on the left. Hit a super shot from there to 3 feet. You won't believe what happened next. Ready? 3-putt, double bogey. Back to even par. #18, I think the toughest hole on the course. Dead straight and narrow, a stupid man-made lake and the Rose Bowl parking lot to the right, huge trees and thick rough to the left. I'll spare the gory details, I made bogey. So, yeah, from 3under to 1over in four holes. Saving grace for the day, I still made the money, finishing alone in 5th. Wednesday is coming up, we'll see how it goes!

Today I played in the Golden State Tour event at Oak Valley in Beaumont . I played quite solid. Shot 2 over to miss the money by one shot. The good news: I was hitting the ball great. Solid tee shots and laser approach shots. Hit my spots with my chips too. The bad news: The greens were punched last week, gave everyone fits. Everyone in my group was missing three-footers. Only three guys finished under par. Not to make excuses or anything, everyone had to play on the same punched greens. Oh well. My buddy and I filled our guts with Chinese buffet, then we made the rest of the hour and a half drive home. I dropped him off, and drove to my course. There I spent an hour and a half on the 2nd green working on getting up and down. Mostly from bunkers. It was great fun, and really helped cheer me up.

I've got the weekly Pepsi event Wednesday, then a GSTour 2-day event on Monday and Tuesday next week. Gotta work harder!

[Quinn07]

Glad to hear that you are still hitting some of the spots for money. Thanks for the update and it sounds like you aren't far off from breaking through and having a great event.

[Ben]

Back on track! 4under par total for the 2-day Golden State Tour event at Temecula Creek Inn.

Day-1. Totally awesome golf! Started out bride, par, birdie, birdie. 3-under after 4 holes would put a smile on anyone's face. A couple solid pars to follow then birdie on 7, par 8, birdie on 9. 5-under after the front 9! Obviously everything was working. Fairway, greens, 3 foot putts, 8 foot putts, 15 foot putts. Even had a nice short-sided sand save mixed in there! Hole 10 I'm looking at 4 feet for birdie, but missed that one. I shrugged it off. Didn't take advantage on the short par 5 11th and left the green with a par. Then, disaster, double bogey the par-3 12th! But, I didn't loose my cool. It didn't even phase me in the slightest.

What almost phased me was the 13th. I think the toughest hole on the course. Its a 405ish yard par 4, straight, into the wind, with a tree in the middle of the fairway and a green with a false front. And when I say False front, I'm talking a 50 drop off false front. Hit a great tee shot to 150 in the rough, With the breeze howling, I tried to hit a hard 8 (my 160y club). Well, the wind got it, I hit it short and it rolled and rolled and rolled and trickled down to 30y short of the green. I hit what I thought was a pretty good chip, but it come up short of the green. Luckily it stayed there and I was left with about 11' for par. Draino! That really saved my day! Went on to get one more bogey which was offset by another birdie.

Finished the day at 4under par and 3 off the lead.

Day 2. Not much to write home about. Well, I shouldn't say that, just a really solid day of even par. One birdie, one bogey. Had the putter working, but I was making par putts instead of birdie putts. I did have a couple of incredible up and downs. One being on that same stinkin' 13th hole.

I was hesitant to play because I'd had a bad tournament there years ago, when I'd just turned pro. So the place left a sour taste in my mouth. Good thing I didn't let that get me down. I actually quite enjoyed the place this time around. Its set in a nice part of the world, the design is fun and the conditions were quite nice! There's an event there next Monday too. I should be playing in that. Along with an event today and another tomorrow. I'm really rockin this season!

http://gstour.com/results.php?tourna...EEK+INN+032910

http://www.temeculacreekinn.com/golf.html

[Quinn07]

Awesome news!! Glad to hear you picked up those loose ends.