I’ve played two rounds so far this week, Monday and Wednesday and shot +6 and +5 respectively. Monday we played over at Carmel Mountain Ranch again where we played from the tip black tees. I did not drive the ball as well as I did the week before, but was still able to shoot a very solid score. Only hitting 4 out of 14 FWs compared to the 9 of 14 the week before, my total score was only 1 shot worse, which means my short game continues to be solid.
Also, I almost had my first albatross on the Par 5 554 yard 10th hole! Hit a great drive and had only 196 to the front of the green and the flag was only a few paces on at about 208. The fairway slopes down toward the green so I had a pretty significant downhill lie, I took my 6iron and hit it flush…a nice little draw that worked back right at the flag. It landed just on the front and started rolling like a putt right at the flag. It looked like it was going in and my buddy and I were screaming “get in the hole” “one time please” as we watched the ball slowly creep toward the flag. Although we were over 200 yards out, since we are elevated from the fairway you can see the green perfectly, (The picture below and to the right is a view from this Par 5 10th hole) and I’m telling you that ball missed the hole by an INCH and finished about 6 ft above the hole. 
Unfortunately, the green slopes back to front so my eagle putt was a slick 6 ft downhill putt with some break. Of course I botched the putt and missed the eagle!! So I went from what looked like an amazing 3-under albatross to a tap in 1-under birdie…but hey, I’ll never be disappointed in a birdie! I started and finished this round poorly, started off giving myself no shot to get GIR’s because of poor tee shots and I started 4 over after 4 holes. I finished the round with 3 straight bogeys on 16, 17 and 18 and still only shot +6. It was windy too, so I’m overall pleased with this round, I kept my focus even after I started off poor and strung together a lot of solid holes, shooting 1-under over the 11 holes stretch of #5 through #15.
Yesterday, Wednesday April 2nd, we played a round over at the par 70 Vineyard, one of my favorite courses and it had been a while since I played this track. Another cold, windy day, with gusts of 15 or more for most of the round, but I played solid and finished at 75 (+5). Started off +4 after 5 with 2 double bogeys that were a result of poor tee shots that found the out of bounds. One was just a 4 iron that I nicely hit off the hosel and watched as the shank flew out of bounds. On that shot I was trying to hit a punch off the short 2nd hole tee box. I have been experimenting on the range with my long irons setting up for a cut with my feet wide open, but my club square to the target and cutting across it. I’m not trying to hit a cut though because if I time it just right, I have found it actually results in a dead straight solid shot that can pierce the wind. That’s what I was going with on that shot, I still need to put more time into it to be able to use it confidently on the course, but when I’m hitting that shot well, it opens me up to a lot more options on the course and I’m able to confidently use my long irons without the fear of it over drawing to the right.
So again another poor start, followed by a long string of solid holes, +1 over my last 13 holes. This seems to be the theme for my golf game at the moment. Over my last 4 or 5 rounds, I have either started or ended badly and had a solid streak or 8-15 holes where I’m shooting around scratch level. I am still not making a lot of birdies, only 1 in this round, but could have easily had a few more if I just would have put a few more revolutions on the ball. My putting has been solid lately, zero 3-putts in my last 2 rounds and just two 3-putts over my last 5 rounds. The birdies will come soon; my reads have been really good it is just my speed and my proximity to the hole with my wedges. I’m not giving myself very high percentage looks at birdie, so I need to start sticking it in closer to the flag when I have a wedge in my hand.
At the end of the week now I think I’ll posts my total stats for the week, so we can gauge my progress and how my numbers compare to those PGA Tour averages we talked about last week.
My Journey 2 Scratch 