Tournament #1 Recap - Back to the Drawing Board

The first event of the year is over - the Cinci two man team championship. Don and I entered for the first time; the format was a scramble the first day and a best ball (both play our own ball; we take the best score) for the second day.

We played at a beautiful country club in Kentucky; the set up was extremely difficult - 7,005 yards, par 72, with the course being extremely wet due to heavy rains before each round - no roll. Rating: 74.6/139.

The first day scramble started OK; westarted on the back nine. I hate opening on a 475-yd par 4, but Don played 3 great shots. I made a putt on #11 for birdie; Don hit a nice shot on #13, a long par 3, but we couldn't cash. #14 was a long par 4 with water in front and right of the green; a few bad shots later , we had a 20 footer for par that Don drained. We birdied #16 to go -2, but on #18 - an uphill, 460yd par 4 unto the wind, Don pulled his long approach left (don't ask where mine was) and we couldn't get up and down. Turn in -1, even though I did nothing off the tee (thank God Don had his driver working most of the opening nine).

I can't feel too bad about the bogey on the course's toughest hole; if that's the only crime of the round, that's like a misdemeanor. But don't worry, the first-class felonies are coming.

#1 is a slightly downhill par 4 of 370 yards. Don pulled his; my drive could charitably be described as a 190-yard duck. In the rough, I caught a flyer and my ball was the closest off theback part of the green; I lost all concentration and ran the chip by 20'. We missed the putt.

So - let's recap; 370, downhill par 4, relatively open - in a scramble, bogey.

We finished the rest of the round in -1; highlight was a 130 yard par 3 that we had to get up and down out of a sand trap for par!. We also missed a 3 1/2 footer. Overall, 71 (-1). Not good. We left a few out there.

Today was best ball; it was classic Eric golf for me on our opening nine; I hit 2 fairways, 1 green - and shot 39, with a missed 4 footer for par on one of the holes. (That came on #14, described above; I hit a 220 yard drive, a 5-wood that got about 10 feet off the ground that stayed out of the ater by 2 feet; and a great pitch to 4 feet. It wouldn't have been the greatest ugly par in my life, but it would have been in the top 25.) As a team, we shot 37, which I though was pretty damn good given the conditions. I think Don also shot 39 as well.

On the front nine, our second nine, we both did not play that well; we each shot about 41-42 and the team shot 39. 76 for the team (+4); we didn't make up that much ground. Our playing partners today were two guys in their 40s who were great; it was a stark contrast to the two 20 year old snobs we played with on Monday. Maybe my superios shotmaking was too intimatidating for them. Not everyone can play good golf when hitting an average drive of 208.4 yards!

By the end of the tournament, Don and I were like a married couple. I can confidently club him accurately now; our non-verbal communication speaks volumes. On the final par 3 today, I asked him what he was going to hit to a downwind, 195 yard par 3:

Don: "I have the three iron. A good, solid 3".
Eric: (pause) Ummmm.... (slowly) O. K.
Don picks up the 4, hits it pin high, and thanks me for telling him to take a club less. As you can see, I said nothing of the sort!

Seriously, though, my game is in shambles. Thank God Don had the driver working most of the time to carry us; I was useless. I am either leaving it out to the right, or lunging at it and bringing the duck hook into play. I had 4 good drives today - which was an improvement from Monday and the weekend - so it's in there; I just need to execute that swing consistently.

I guess a lot of range work is in my future. It's really frustrating right now. I have 3 separate mechanical swing thoughts in my head; that doesn't work in a tournament environment.