MasonAsher2014's College Golf Thread

[MasonAsher2014]

Well today was the Indiana Am qualifier and I thought I was ready. The Am is the most prestigious tournament in Indiana and I really wanted to make it my first time trying. I played Bear Slide in Cicero.  Par 71, 74.1/6998. The weather was terrible 20-25 mph winds all day long and of course it was a links style course with lots of water so that was not fun at all. The guy I played with hit a high ball and didn't really hit many bad shots, but still shot an 87 (off a 2 handicap). It was the toughest wind I've ever played in. Here's how my round broke down.

Hole 1 395 - Pond all down the right, hit a nice easy driver to 120 out, hit to about 30 feet, lagged it well to about 2 feet, but missed the par putt. It broke a ton to the right, away from the water and I was just lazy with it. +1

Hole 2 426 - Simple straight hole, Hit the fairway, hit a nice 9I and two putted. +1

Hole 3 517 - Playing downwind hit in the fairway bunker but had a great lie, I'm not bad out of the bunkers so I hit a 4I because I could reach the green downwind from 210, pulled it left hit the cart part and hopped OB. Did it again, landed short chipped up and two-putted for a 7. +3

Hole 4 166 - Down wind all carry over water, bunkers long so you had a landing area of about 18 yards or so, hit back of the green and two putted for a par. +3

Hole 5 453 - Straight into the wind, slammed a driver to 180, 4I to the right of the green in the heather, blasted out to 8 feet and made par. +3

Hole 6 186 - Hard hold slanting left to right, hit a 4I again just right and chipped up to 4 feet, draino. +3

Hole 7 469 - Straight simple, fairway, green 2 putt par. +3

Hole 8 533 - Into the wind hit a driver and hybrid to about 50 yards, sitting way up I went under my 60 and landed short, chipped on and 2 putted. +4

Hole 9 429 - Into the wind, driver 4I that hit the green but went over I chipped on and hit it great it just was downhill and rolled out to 15 feet. Missed it for bogey. +5

Hole 10 446 - Nice easy driver, down hill approach just long and went over onto the fringe, hit a putt 15 feet short and then ended up making the second. +5

Hole 11 344 - Dogleg right, hit hybrid to 90 out, blocked by some trees I went over just right, chipped down off the hill and 2 putted. +6

Hole 12 583 - Into the wind hit, driver, 3wood, PW and still didn't get it to the hole, two putted from 60 feet for a par. +6

Hole 13 448- Down wind hit a terrible driver, PW way to long from 155 and chipped up for a easy par from 6 feet, but missed for bogey. +7

Hole 14 212 - Hit the green and 3 putted from 15 feet. Dumb. +8

Hole 15 337 - Straight down wind pulled driver and hit it to 40 yards, chipped short, putted from the fringe and made par. +8

Hole 16 188 - Down wind somehow I hit 8I over into heather and couldn't find it, dropped pitched on and two putted. +10

Hole 17 376 - Hit a driver, 9I to 12 feet but left the putt a bit short, par. +10

Hole 18 449 - Dogleg right and tried to cut the corner a bit to much, landed on path and had to take relief behind a tree with a walk bridge 3 feet in front of me, no shot at green so I hit the tree and dropped down behind a grove of trees in front of the green, couldn't even get on the green since I was blocked so I hit a 30 yard 7I cut to left of the green, chipped over, putted up and doubled it. +12

With an 83 I would not have thought it'd be close but I actually got into a 5 for 3 spot playoff to advance to the AM starting with Hole 1 after my wait for an hour. Never been in a playoff and here I was in one for something I've wanted my whole life.

On the tee, one guy went way left and the rest of us hit it out in play, I hit mine about 60 yards ahead of everyone and had 50 yards to the pin somehow (still confused how I hit it 350) The guy who went left found it in the heather, hit it back in the heather and then put it to 20 feet. Two guys in the fairway chunked it short and one stuck it to 5 feet. I hit over to green because it didn't bite. So being the last one to chip on - one was 5ft for birdie, one was 20 feet for par and the other two were 15 for par. I chipped it up to 2 feet (other side of hole from earlier, had a straight downhill this time) First guy drained his 20 footer, spectacular considering he went heather heather green, the other two guys missed theirs and so I had a 2 foot putt to advance with a par and made it. So the Am is in 2 weeks. I'll keep you posted, not happy about my bad play today but I didn't really hit any bad shots and putted decent. The wind added about 4.5 strokes to the field from last year on the course. But I am very relieved.

5 fairways

7 greens

32 putts

 

[RandallT]

Congrats. Great story on the playoff.

[Hardspoon]

Awesome, congrats!

It's crazy that you had a two-foot putt on the same green where you missed one earlier in the round...pulse must've been a little quick on that one!

 

[MasonAsher2014]

6 hours ago, Hardspoon said:

Awesome, congrats!

It's crazy that you had a two-foot putt on the same green where you missed one earlier in the round...pulse must've been a little quick on that one!

 

It sure was. I knew I had it though since it was straight downhill and my friend who caddied for me kept me loose. I was more nervous over my chip! I couldn't believe I flew the green from 60 yards!

[MasonAsher2014]

Well, tomorrow is the first day of the State Am. Played a practice round there today and shot 74. -1 on the par 4s, E on par 5s, +3 on the par 3s. Nice course, going to play at about 6900. Old school country club narrow and lots of trouble off the tee. If you want to follow along here's the tournament page: https://iga.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/iga16/event/iga1639/index.htm  and here is the course. I'll update you with each round for hopefully 4 days in a row. http://elconacc.com/Golf/Course_Tour.aspx

[iacas]

So an 80? Competition is tough. Are you pleased, or disappointed?

[MasonAsher2014]

First round shot an 80. Kinda disappointed but I played well besides about 3 holes where I hit bad tee balls. Started on 10 and shot 39-41. How I got there is as follows:

Hole 1 (10) 335: Hit a nice hybrid straight out and had 89 yards in. Missed a 20 footer for bird by an inch. E

Hole 2 192: Blocked a 5I into the front trap, blasted it out and rolled in a 7 footer for bogey. +1

Hole 3 450: Hit a great drive but came up short on my approach. Chipped up to about 6 feet and made the putt for par. +1

Hole 4 170: Into the wind tried to hit a hard 8I and came up short. Chipped to a foot and made the putt. +1

Insert 2 hour rain delay here.

Hole 5 560: I was tight from the delay still so I hit hybrid hybrid PW just short and chipped up and missed the par putt from 8 feet. +2

Hole 6 419: Great drive two putt par from 20 feet. +2

Hole 7 557 Hit a great drive and laid up to 100 yards. Hit the green about 20 feet from the hole and 2 putted for par. +2

Hole 8 420: Perfect drive and hit a 52 degree wedge to 7 feet left of the pin. But it sucked all the way off the green. rolled about 35 feet back, 3 putted from there. For a bogey. +3

Hole 9 340: Hit a pulled drive but had 104 in. This green is elevated and if you hit the front 5 yards with any spin it's coming back off 30 yards. Punched it up to 5 yards in front and it stuck. Chipped up to about 3 feet and parred it. +3

Hole 10 316: Hit a hybrid 66 yards out. Was in right rough and got too aggressive. Hit a few leaves and came up short to a front pin. Hit a chip 30 feet past and bogeyed it. +4

Hole 11 423: Hit a really good drive and had 130 left, hit a low PW to 12 feet and missed it on the high side. Easy par +4

Hole 12 166: Water short right and I clubbed up but made a terrible swing at the ball. Went in water and hit my second over but got up and down for a 5. +6

Hole 13 570: Crushed a drive and hit hybrid in front left bunker. Hit it out to 12 feet but missed the birdie. +6

Hole 14 460: Hit my drive way right, topped a punch and had 100 yards left. Hit it 40 feet below the pin and 3 putted after I creamed it past. +8

Hole 15 430: Pulled my drive way left and had 170 left. Punched it out, missed the green left and hit a bad chip to 10 feet and 2 putted. +10

Hole 16 502: Blasted my drive and had 217 to the pin. Stuffed a 4I to 5 feet and made the eagle putt. Best laser 4I I've hit in my life. +8

Hole 17 206: Flared a 5I off to the right and flopped it over the bunker to 12 feet but missed the putt. +9

Hole 18 327: Knew I had to birdie so I hit driver to 66 yards out and stuck to to 3 feet. +8

I was happy but disappointed with the round. I hit it really well but had a lot of bad breaks. The greens are really tough and you have to putt well to have a shot. The rain delay really helped. The scoreboard is bunched up and I'll have to shoot 75, 76 or so to make the cut. The weather was horrible today and there are about 70 guys from +5 to +9 and the top 60 make the cut. I'll have to be on my game tomorrow.

56 minutes ago, iacas said:

So an 80? Competition is tough. Are you pleased, or disappointed?

Competition is tough. A bunch of good players played not well today. Early morning wave before the delay was really windy and the greens were super slick. Afternoon wave the greens got wet and the wind died down a lot. I'm pleased with it, I just had 3 shots that cost me 6 strokes.

[MasonAsher2014]

83 today. Disappointing but it was a good experience. I'll give some details later after I get home. 1 triple, 1 double, 7 bogeys and a birdie. 

[RandallT]

Thanks for the updates. 

http://www.indianagolf.org/Packed-Leaderboard-at-116th-Sta.news. In this news article, there's a guy named Busch who is a senior golfer at OSU who thought he was well-positioned after an even par Round 1 (quote that he thought the Am title was within range), but he went on to shoot 85 today. Sounds like it might've been fairly tough conditions. 

[MasonAsher2014]

Not going to go too in depth with this round as all my pars were just fairway green 2 putts but I did have some pretty nice holes. I played better than yesterday but this course is just so tight that a drive off line will set you up for disaster.

Hole 2 I pulled my drive maybe 10 yards left of my line into heather and had to hack it out. Was still behind a tree and punched it up towards the green. Hit on and two putted. One shot cost me 2 shots.

Then a few dumb bogeys where I missed the green and couldn't get up and down.

Hole 6: I hit a really good drive and hit an 8I to 10 feet and made birdie there.

Hole 11: I went short into the front trap and had a plugged lie. Didn't get it out and left it in once more. Got it out and chipped it on and 1 putted for a triple.

The rest of the holes I played okay, I just couldn't make any 10 feet putts for par and the driver got a little wacky. I played well though. Didn't really hit any poor shots just hit a few squirrelly ones.

Felt like I shot about 77-77 but a few big numbers catapulted it. Final stats were 18/28 fairways, 20/36 greens, 62 putts. Like I said the course was super narrow and it was really windy both days. Some big scores by very very good players. Greens were very hard too. Not a straight putt and they were very well bunkered. Lots of false fronts.

3 hours ago, RandallT said:

Thanks for the updates. 

http://www.indianagolf.org/Packed-Leaderboard-at-116th-Sta.news. In this news article, there's a guy named Busch who is a senior golfer at OSU who thought he was well-positioned after an even par Round 1 (quote that he thought the Am title was within range), but he went on to shoot 85 today. Sounds like it might've been fairly tough conditions. 

Very tough. I was in the afternoon wave yesterday and the morning guys had to deal with fast, firm windy conditions. Lowest guy in was a 75. My wave dealt with a 2 hour rain delay but super soft and calm conditions. Balls were spinning off the greens. Today it was very windy once again and the greens ran about a 13 on the stimp. Sean Busch shot 72-85 and I believe he will miss the cut. The cut hasn't been in the double digits since 2012 when it was +12 and I believe that it will be +14 this year. Very hard course. Lots of D1 players are shooting 80s.

Edited June 21, 2016 by MasonAsher2014

[MasonAsher2014]

For the Am the cut was +15, T58 was +14 so they all made it in. I could have easily made it but I didn't. There were a bunch of very good players miss it. A few Butler guys, Purdue kid (who shot 62 in a tournament I was paired in with him), a couple Ball State guys missed it. It was a very high scoring tournament and I look for the winner to be above par somewhere which is unheard of in our am.

 

Edited June 21, 2016 by MasonAsher2014

[MasonAsher2014]

Indiana PGA Monticello Open today. I tee off in 2 hours. https://iga.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/iga16/event/iga1641/contest/22/leaderboard.htm

[MasonAsher2014]

Played the Indiana Monticello PGA Open. Neat course surrounded by a huge lake. http://www.tippecanoecc.com/photogallery/ Shot a 77 today to place T49. T25 against amateurs.  https://iga.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/iga16/event/iga1641/contest/22/leaderboard.htm I'm feeling like I'm really making strides in my game this summer after a terrible spring. I went up from a 2.1 to a 4.7 but now I'm coming back down to a 3.7 (next trend). I played well today just couldn't make putts or get momentum going. It was a 6 hour round and on the back 9 I just started getting a little tired I think. 90 degrees coupled with black pants didn't work out too well.

Hole #1 394 yards - Straightaway par 4, water left and behind the green. Hit a great drive, had 87 yards in and was full of adrenaline so I hit my 60* about 25 feet over the pin and burned the edge for birdie. E

Hole #2 528 yards - Hard tight par 5. Lake all down the left side.  With a pond that is running down the left side of fairway. Hit a low fade to right rough and then hit a little 4I up the right. 78 yards out I was laying on a dirt patch and just hit it bad to the front of the green and 3-putted from 50 feet. +1

Hole #3 184 yards - Narrow par 3, tough undulating green. Stuck a 7I to 10 feet and missed the birdie. +1

Hole #4 328 - Narrow slight turn to the right. Hit a hybrid and had 78 yards in. Hit a 60* perfect but it barely caught the top of the bunker and stayed there. Had a terrible lie but chipped it to 5 feet. Pushed the putt and made bogey. +2

Hole #5 310 - Hardest hole on course. You have about an area 10 yards wide and 40 yards long in the fairway you must hit to see the green. Green is elevated and you easily can get blocked out by trees. Hit a great hybrid to 52 yards out just at base of the hill. Hit a 60* to 12 feet and missed the uphill look. +2

Hole #6 470 - Long par 4. But straight and no trouble. Hit driver to 179. 7I to 20 feet and two putted. +2

Hole #7 435 - No trouble but a tree close to the left of the fairway. Tried to hit a cut off of it and I flew into it. Had to punch a 4I up to the green chipped up to 8 feet and made par. +2

Hole #8 366 - Dogleg downhill. Hit a nice fade right at the green over the trees. Had 52 yards in and chunked it 20 yards. Pitched it on and two putted for bogey. +3

Hole #9 198 - Hit a 5I into the wind that faded off a little. Chipped up to 3 feet and parred it. +3

Hole #10 310 - A driveable par 4 with a tree dead in the fairway. Elevated tee box and green. Pulled my drive left into trees but it made it through. Had a terrible lie and hit it just over the green. Chipped up to 10 feet and missed for par. +4

Hole #11 460 - Hit driver into the left rough, had to sling a 8I over left from 155. It hit a foot in front of the pin but released to 20 feet. Made it for a birdie. +3

Hole #12 213 - Into a stiff wind I hit a hybrid just short. Chiped up and tapped in for par. +3

Hole #13 605 - Left the face open and went O.B. right. Hit another one, layed up with a 7I to 92 yards and stuck it to 2 feet for a tap-in bogey 6 lol. +4

Hole #14 555- Hit a perfect drive, had 270 in and pulled hybrid. I hit it solid but hit a sweeping draw. It hit a tree and landed 60 yards out. Hit a low runner with a 60* to about 20 feet and two putted. +4

Hole #15 188 - Hit a hozzled 7I and chipped on but missed my par by an inch. +5

Hole #16 443 - Hit a bad drive way right, punched it pin high and chipped to 4 feet. Had about 4 inches of break and missed it. Bogey. +6

Hole #17 515 - 90* dogleg left. Had to hit about 290 to get through the dogleg. I crushed my drive and had 198 in. Hit a 6I to 40 feet and 2 putted for birdie. +5

Hole #18 345 - Clipped a pine tree on my drive and it took a lot off. Hit a 60* from 92 yards over the green somehow. But got up and down for a par. +5

Next up is a tournament at the Brickyard Crossing at the Speedway on July 17th.

FIR - 8

GIR - 9

Putts - 32

[MasonAsher2014]

Decided to WD from the Brickyard tournament. Don't have enough money and have only played once since the Monticello Open. Next one will be the IGA Match Play Championship next week July 19-22. 

 

[MasonAsher2014]

Qualifying for the IGA Match Play championship was today and I finally played well. Shot 37-35 for an even par round. T10 and I am the 11 seed. I tee off at 11:36 for my first round match tomorrow against the 22nd seed who shot 75 today. Gotta win 5 matches to win the event. Really excited that I made it this year, no expectations for tomorrow just wanna keep striking the ball well and anything can happen. Here are the results of the stroke qualifying: https://iga.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/iga16/event/iga1649/contest/16/leaderboard.htm (No the kid didn't shoot -7, he was set there as the automatic qualified for winning last year) and he is the match play bracket: https://iga.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/iga16/event/iga1649/contest/1/leaderboard.htm

Here's how my round went:

Otter Creek Golf Course North/West course (73.5/142, 6897)

Hole 1 Par 5 512 - Easy starting hole straightforward with a creek about 30 yards short if the green. I hit my drive a little right into the trees and could hit a cut hybrid to the green. I hooked it into the pond on 7. Dropped, hit it to 25 feet on top of a ridge and 3 putted for an opening double. +2

Hole 2 Par 4 405 - Hit my drive into the fairway bunker and had 163 in. Hit a nice 7I to 17 feet and buried it for birdie. +1

Hole 3 Par 3 187 - Over a pond, hit a 5I off the toe just short and chipped up to 5 feet and missed it as it hit a spike mark. +2

Hole 4 Par 4 405 - Hit a bad hybrid off the tee and had 200 in, hit my 5I in the bunker short and had a terrible downhill lie and hit it out to 2 feet with a ton of spin somehow. Made par +2

Hole 5 Par 5 584 - Hit a great drive to 280 out, shanked my hybrid into the trees right but had a shot at the green if i flew it over the front bunker and kept it less than 10 feet high. Hit a PW from 11 and it almost made it on top but rolled back down the hill to 20 feet. Buried it for a bird. +1

Hole 6 - Hole 10 was just fairway green two putt from 15-20 feet. Played really consistent no reason to go shot by shot.

Made the turn at +1 and we begin on:

Hole 11 Par 4 321 - Hit hybrid to right side of fairway. Pin was 6 paces on and the creek is 4 feet off the front of the green. I had 113 to the pin which is a perfect 56 degree. Stuck it to 5 feet and made the putt. E

Hole 12 Par 4 375 - Hit my drive straight down the middle and then stuck a 52 degree from 119 to 6 feet and made it for back to back birdies. -1

Hole 13 Par 3 172 - Hit a 6I to the center of the green and two putted from 20 feet. -1

Hole 14 Par 5 512 - Hit a driver way right and laid up to 60 yards, hit it on and barely missed a 15 footer for birdie. -1

Hole 15 Par 3 192 Hit an easy 7I to the middle of the green and two putted for par. -1

Hole 16 Par 4 447 - Almost missed the ball and had it on a mud patch with 222 left under a tree. Punched it up the left side and was dead behind a tree green side, Decided to hook a 56 from 40 yards out and it worked rather than punching out. 2 putted for a bogey. E

Hole 17 Par 4 387 - Crushed a drive and had 116 in. Tugged a 52 into the sand and hit a great sand shot that rolled down a slope. Hit the 15 footer for par. E

Hole 18 Par 5 549 - Knew I was in at this point so I hit a driver down the middle, could've reached it but there are 7 bunkers greenside and didn't want to mess with them so I laid up to 70 yards and chunked my wedge just short. Chipped on and made the 5 footer. E

Happy with it. We'll see how it goes tomorrow. Today was 94 degrees with 80 percent humidity and tomorrow is supposed to be hotter. Hope I don't die walking 36 holes carrying my bag. (2 matches in a day if I win)

[MasonAsher2014]

Never updated with the result of my match but I lost in the first round 4 and 3. I was +2 thru 15 and the guy I played against was -2 so not much I can do.

 

Played with a teammate today and shot my lowest score ever. 65 -5. 30/35. I've shot 67 on a par 72 course but this was number wise my best. Playing really really well right now.

[David in FL]

11 minutes ago, MasonAsher2014 said:

Never updated with the result of my match but I lost in the first round 4 and 3. I was +2 thru 15 and the guy I played against was -2 so not much I can do.

 

Played with a teammate today and shot my lowest score ever. 65 -5. 30/35. I've shot 67 on a par 72 course but this was number wise my best. Playing really really well right now.

Thanks for the update.  I enjoy following along. 

[Hardspoon]

42 minutes ago, MasonAsher2014 said:

Played with a teammate today and shot my lowest score ever. 65 -5. 30/35. I've shot 67 on a par 72 course but this was number wise my best. Playing really really well right now.

That's awesome - good stuff!  You must have been doing a little "scoreboard-checking" after that 30...no matter how hard you tried not to!