7/21/14
The Vineyard Golf Course 6,531 Yards Par 70 (Blue: 71.0/126)
Score: 69(-1) FW: 12/14 GIR: 12/18 Putts: 29 Up/Down: 7/8 Sand Save: 0/0 Penalties: 0
My 2nd under par round!! Feels great to validate my first under par round a few weeks ago and I’m happy about how mentally focused I stayed all day. Golf is a funny game, even though I played really well last week too, my range sessions on Thursday and Sunday night this week were terrible in my opinion. I just couldn’t feel comfortable and wasn’t hitting many shots out the center of the face. I was getting really frustrated with myself, as I always seem to do on the range as of late. I see how well I’m hitting it and scoring when I’m playing rounds, but for some reason I can’t stay consistent and repeat it on the range. Don’t get me wrong, I would much rather have it be the way it is than the other way around, but it is slightly frustrating.
Anyway, needless to say, I didn’t have a lot of confidence in my ball striking going into my round today. I just wanted to focus on the mental aspect of my game, making sure that I went through my pre shot routine on ever shot, visualized my target and how I wanted the shot to come off and try to play unconscious golf. I tend to get extremely mechanical on the range a lot of the time, but when I’m on the course, I’m just trying to play without any conscious thought and it really does free up my swing. I’ve been working a lot of my mental side lately and the idea of acceptance of outcomes.
I had it at 3 under with no bogeys through the first 13 holes, but bogeyed the 14th from the fairway with only a SW in hand and 3 putted 17 for a bogey after missed a 2ft par putt. So Disappointing finish, but I played really great and I’m happy that I could keep it at under for the round!
7/22/14
Oaks North Executive Par 60 South/North 56.8/89 3,608 Yards
Score: 58(-2) FW: 3/6 GIR: 10/18 Putts: 26 Up/Down: 7/10 Sand Saves: 1/1 Penalties: 0
Played Oaks North today, finished at 2 under 58 for the day. I hit my irons well all day, but my putting and driving were way off. Missed a bunch of great birdie opportunities, that’s nothing new, but I basically hooked every one of the 6 tee shots with 3 or 5 woods on the par 4s. I seem to have lost it off the tee today where that has been a big bright spot for my game over the last 2 months consistently, so that is kind of scary. I still ended up getting an eagle on one of the par 4s on the back, I pulled the drive, but chipped it in from right of the green! Back to back rounds I have chipped one in, yesterday I chipped in for a birdie at the 5th and today for eagle.
I’m still missing way too many short putts, ones that are pretty straight too. My ball is just not starting off on line and the troubling thing it is a 2 way miss, some I’ll push others I’ll pull…I need to fix this fast before my tournament in 3 weeks.
7/23/14
Woods Valley Golf Club Par 72 6,670 Yards 72.2/131
Score: 79(+7) FW: 7/14 GIR: 11/18 Putts: 36 Up/Down: 2/7 Sand Saves: 0/0 Penalties: 2
Got a couple friends together and we decided to go up to Woods Valley again and play this challenging course. I played absolutely terrible, just did not feel comfortable all day with my stance, grip, alignment or putting. Shot a (+7) 79 with 4 3-putts!! That’s right, FOUR 3-putts, all less than 3 ft misses. I’ve been trying to work on my mental game and stay as positive as I can, but I just can’t when I’m missing seemingly every 3 ft putt I look at. Despite poor shot making and putting, I was only 3 over after 9 holes, but then I promptly 3 putted the 10th from about 20ft and then 3 putted for par on the par 5 11th after hitting 2 quality shots and being only 15ft for eagle!! That just broke me mentally and I was basically done for the rest of the round
Despite the real bad day, I’m going to keep believing in myself and working hard. I’m focused on playing well and trying to shoot an under par round at the Palm Springs tournament in mid August. I need to keep working to improve my mental and short game if I’m going to make that happen. Probably won’t be able to play again until Monday, so I have 4 days to practice and improve from Wednesdays round.
My Journey 2 Scratch 
“I tend to get extremely mechanical on the range a lot of the time, but when I’m on the course, I’m just trying to play without any conscious thought and it really does free up my swing.”
That’s exactly how I feel about track & weightlifting practices – I tend to get bogged down in technical or execution details and cannot “feel” the movement. Played with letting go of technical stuff a lot in my last strength training cycle and yesterday’s meet felt better than my last two years of competition. Trying now to put that mental focus on the track.
Appreciate the like as well! I see our goals aren’t dramatically different, so best luck on the way.