State Am Qualifier

[Denny Bang Bang]

@iacas @David in FL I actually enjoy playing in a little rain, the air smells a certain way, I like the sound, it's relaxing to me.  It's a little drizzle at the moment, not pouring or anything.  Looks like it will clear up in the next couple hours anyway.

I tee off at 12 MST, just relaxing for the next hour or so, and then headed out to the course.

[mcanadiens]

Go get em.

 

[MacDutch]

Hit them where you wanna be!

[Denny Bang Bang]

There was a 3-way tie for first at -5.  26 players qualified with the cut at +1.  I placed 79 (out of 84), shooting an 88.  It was a strong field, even if I tied my best score at this course (78), I would have been in a tie for 52nd.

There are only two holes I'm upset at myself about (will explain below), the rest of it was just golf and some bad breaks (ended up in 5 divots throughout the round, up against the front or back edge every time).  The driver was on (not one bad shot, my best round off the tee in as long as I can remember) and I hit several other good shots (gave myself 4 reasonable chances at birdie).

Hole #2, Par 5.  I was just off the left side of the green in two, and chipped to give myself a 5ft uphill putt for birdie.  I barely missed the putt, but left a slippery 3 footer on the way back downhill.  I didn't take my time, and tried to put it in the back of the cup.  Well, I missed and left myself with a 7-8 footer back up, which I also missed.  I four putted for a 7.

Hole #17, Par 3.  I was feeling uncomfortable at address, and didn't back off and reset.  Wound up toeing my 5i into a lateral hazard, that gave me no chance to do anything, and my best option was stroke and distance.  I took a 6 on the hole.

Overall, there were a lot of positive things I did, and even though it was a bad score, I don't feel terrible about it.  It was a great experience, the guys I played with were both good guys, and the official assigned to us was a good guy as well.  I plan to give it a go next year as well (assuming I maintain the necessary single digit index) and maybe try to play in a couple other tournaments as well every year.

Thanks to all of you who provided some advice, experiences, and well wishes!

[Groucho Valentine]

26 at one over or better? Geez...freakin mini-tour event out there... lol

Like the attitude you have about all of it. You got a benchmark now.  Play in as many tournaments as you can. It gets easier. 

[Denny Bang Bang]

11 hours ago, Groucho Valentine said:

26 at one over or better? Geez...freakin mini-tour event out there... lol

Like the attitude you have about all of it. You got a benchmark now.  Play in as many tournaments as you can. It gets easier. 

Yea, there were some players yesterday.  In the qualifier this morning, it looks like they took 26, with scores ranging from -5 to +3 (there was actually a playoff and only one +3 made it in).  The guy who shot the -5 today is also named Denny, so I guess root for him to win the whole thing haha.

Appreciate the follow up thoughts Groucho!