Played a couple rounds so far this week and I’m pleased to say that I’ve been playing well. With exactly 1 week left before I leave for my 3-day tournament in Palm Springs, I’m started to find my game. Just been trying to trust my full swing and I changed my putting grip and it has given me more stability and the putts are coming off the face flush and straight down my target line. I was pulling my shorter putts and I think it was because my left hand was shutting down the face… I have now regained my confidence from the 10ft and in range…and it’s starting to show, making a lot of them this week.
Encinitas Ranch Golf Course 6,178 Par 70 Slope 129
Yesterday my buddy and I decided to head up north and play a different course than we normally do. We both had played up here once before, but it had been like 10 years for me, so I only remembered 1 of the holes. We played up at the Par 70 Encinitas Ranch Golf Course…a really nice track and we had a lot of fun. They were doing some construction on the bunkers of #8 so they told us to skip that hole and that they had created a new short par 3 hole on the back. So we skipped #8, but played a #11a and #11b….never seen this before, but it worked out well. I shot even par on the front 9 and then we headed to the makeshift #11a, a short par 3 of 112 yards. Hit a poor wedge that caught the bunker, lots of sand in the bunker and I couldn’t get it out on my first attempt. Ended up making a horrible double bogey 5 on this short par 3. For this round, I hit the ball relatively well except for about 3 or 4 shots that were really poor and cost me strokes, missed a few greens, with only wedges in my hand from the middle of the fairway….bogeyed both. I finished the back 9 at +5, missed a great shot at birdie on 18, only about 7 ft, but all in all, I’m satisfied with this round…a solid 75 (+5). Here is the scorecard….
Final Stats for round: Score: 75 (+5) Fairways Hit (FW) 6/13 46% Green in Regulation (GIR) 10/18 55% Up/Downs 2/6 33%. Sand Saves 0/2 0% Penalties: 0 Putts: 30
Encinitas Ranch
Front 9 Scorecard
Encinitas Ranch
Back 9 Scorecard
Carmel Mountain Ranch Country Club 6,252 Par 72 Slope 128
Today, I decided to get up early (6:00am) and try to get on Carmel Mountain for a quick round. I’m so glad that I did….was able to out by myself at 7:20 and played all alone until 15 when I linked up with a 3-some for our last 3 holes. Played amazing today and tied my career low round of +1! Carmel Mountain is a really difficult course, no doubt harder in my opinion than Vineyard, where I shot my other low round of +1 about a month ago. Today was my best ball striking round ever and if it wasn’t for three 3-putts, I would have shot my under par round!! I hit 9 fairways today and 2 were a foot away from the short stuff, my best driving performance. I also and more importantly hit 15 greens in regulation and the three that I did miss were no more than 10 yards from the green. I did however have three 3 putts and they cost me my lowest round ever, but overall I feel I putted well compared to how I have been and I’m certainly improving tremendously in that department. My final two 3 putts were a result of rushing myself, the first because a group was waiting behind me and I rushed my 2nd putt.
View From 10th Hole Par 5 Fairway at Carmel Mountain Ranch
The final was bad, it was on the Par 5 15th….I crushed my tee shot down the middle and the group in front was just hitting up to the green, they yelled at me to just join them, so I went for the green in 2. Hit a perfect hybrid to just 15 ft for eagle! When I went to putt for my eagle, I kind of started to think negative thoughts about how I didn’t want to mess it up with these new people watching me and after they just watched me hit a great shot….my putt burned the edge, but I gave it way too much juice and it ran about 6 ft by, where I promptly missed the comebacker to 3 putt the Par 5 for par…ouch.
So yea I let some opportunities slip by today, but I’m not going to dwell on those, I know now that I truly do have the ability to shoot under par, it’s just a matter of time. If I keep giving myself these chances, it will happen. I’m really excited that I was able to shoot my career low today and only a week before the tournament I’ve been thinking about for a year now. I’m going to head to Palm Springs with a positive mindset, relaxed and looking to have a great time and play some great golf. My goal is to break 80 each day, but I’m really hoping to score low and make a run at winning it.
Will hopefully be playing this weekend and Monday/Wednesday before leaving on Thursday….let’s keep this momentum rolling!
Final Stats for round: Score: 73 (+1) Fairways Hit (FW) 9/14 64% Green in Regulation (GIR) 15/18 83% Up/Downs 3/3 100%. Sand Saves 0/1 0% Penalties: 0 Putts: 35
Front 9 Scorecard
Back 9 Scorecard
My Journey 2 Scratch 
How did the tournament go?
I Won!