Whirlwind Championship results

Been too busy to keep up with the posting, so apologies for the delay. I played a practice round at Whirlwind on Saturday after my lesson with Jeff Ritter. Hit the ball really well on the front after a slight (felt like major) tweak to my position at the top. Out in 37 thanks to my worthless gap wedge, but felt pretty good about everything. Next thing I knew, I came in with 41 for a stellar 78 in the practice round. Ah well, at least I got to see the course. On to the tournament.

I showed up early after eating a hearty breakfast of Eggo's. Those didn't sit well, I choked it down a couple of times on the range, started out well on the first hole, blew up on #2, then limped it in for a total of 76, three shots out of a win. Here we go...

Got to the first tee and made the introductions, I hit last, one guy left, other guy right, 3rd guy down the middle, I hit mine well down the middle also. All three guys gave me kudo's, leading me to believe most first timers on this tour don't do well off #1. So middle of the fairway, 135 out, I put it about 30 feet above the hole with a wedge, then made the putt. Awesome, we're in a skins game as well, I'm feeling good about this. Next guy cans his, 2nd guy cans his, 3rd guy leaves his about 6 inches short. Our group played that hole well, but we didn't win any skins now did we? One under after one. The guy I'm riding with pulls his tee shot left on #2, I hit 3 wood as well, ensuring a good tee shot. I pulled mine left and we both ended up in identical bushes, unplayable. Dropped out and tried to hit a hero shot with a punch cut 6 iron under and around some trees, into the greenside bunker. The pin is cut on the back shelf, and my bunker shot nearly made it to the top, but stopped just short and rolled back down. Now I'm thinking "make this putt for 5 so we can get out of here even through 2". I'm about 20 feet away, up a severe (maybe 3'-4') incline, run it about 8 feet by. Now I have 8 feet for double, and hit a really good putt, but it burned the left edge, and ran about 4 feet by. Now anyone who's been keeping up with me can almost tell you the result of the third putt, but in case not, I missed it. So I make three on 1, then follow up with an 8 on 2. Perfectly played if I do say so myself.

Hit a decent tee shot on the par 5 third, 593 yards so no chance to get there. Good 5 iron layup to 109 yards, hit it pin high left, two putt par. Number 4 is a 190 yard par three, but the pin was up at 176 yards. I tugged a 7 iron pin high left, in a little swale. Hit a really good chip shot that landed right where I wanted, then it went about 12 feet by. I hit such a good putt there, I can't believe it didn't go in, made bogey. We're having fun now. Hit a good tee shot on 5, left me with 145 to the back pin, hit a fat 9 iron to the front of the green. I have about an identical putt to what I had on #2 now. Remember #2? I do. Hit the first putt just to the top of the ridge, about 4 feet short. Wow, I couldn't see that coming. This time I center cut the putt for a solid par. As I walked off I thanked the other 3 guys for willing my ball into the hole. I swear I could feel it. They all laughed, but you know damn well they all went "phew, at least he didn't 4 putt again". Lord knows that's what I'd have been thinking.

Hit a lame cut tee shot on the par 5 sixth, hit a good 5 iron again to the center, left me with 105 yards. Not sure what move I made but I left it out to the right, just off the green. Hit the worst chip shot of the last 3 months there, left it about 8 feet short, straight up the hill. I made sure I got it there (meaning it hit the hole at 100MPH) and it went in the middle for a good 5. Great tee shot on the par 3 seventh to about 15 feet. One of the guys we played with put it short left. He hit his putt and that thing didn't stop rolling, I thought he was about 6 feet short, but it nearly went in. Seeing that made me aware of just how fast my putt was, well maybe not, 2 feet short, good par. Number 8 is a 317 yard par 4, uphill, junk right, lots of deep bunkers left. Hit 5 iron yesterday, pin is back left, so 4 iron today. Great 4 iron, 119 yards to the stick (115 in the practice round), another perfect gap wedge. Hit it just like I did the day before, I'm about 60 feet away on the front right corner. Left the first putt about 6 feet short, hit another great par putt, slid left, bogey. Good tee shot on 9, tugged a 9 iron to the left side of the green, sidehiller that broke about 2 1/2 feet, good 2 putt there from about 18 feet for par. That's 41 on the front folks.

The previous day, I hit a bomb off of #10, and I had every intention of that again. My driver however wanted to go about 240 yards down the left side (God I hate that club). I fanned a 9 iron to the front right corner, two putted from the fringe for par. Hit another weak cut tee shot on #11, which is fine because it's only 444 yards uphill a bit into the breeze (that's a joke there). I had 208 to the pin, up on the back shelf on the right side. Hit a beautiful cut 3 iron that didn't cut, pin high left. Great chip to about 2 feet, good 4. Hit 6 iron again on #12 (191 yards) just like the day before. Planned on a cut but blocked it a bit, which ended up fine as that just put me online to the pin. Came up short though (about 15 yards short of target, hmmm). Two putt from the fringe for a solid 3. Hit another weak cut on 13, luckily weak enough to be short of the fairway bunker (that equals about 230 yards off the tee). Solid SW up the hill to about 10 feet, hit another fantastic putt, just didn't go in.

Now we get to 14, 172 yard par 3. The day before, the pin was up front, I had 148 to the stick, into a gentle breath of wind. I decided on a punch cut 7 iron and as soon as I hit it I was calling for it to go in. I dropped the club, had my hands in the air, already planning on the color of frame for my scorecard and golf ball to commemorate my hole in one. It dropped about 15 yards short. Ah well, it would have been a nice frame. So today, pin is on the top shelf, I hit it just short of the shelf and made a decent run at it, good 2 putt. Hit a great tee shot (finally) on the par five 15th. 507 yards, I had 204 to the stick, beats the hell out of those 230 yard tee shots I've been belting. Hit a slightly overcut 4 iron that just caught the front bunker, oooh that would have been good. Great bunker shot to about 3 feet, made the putt. I say to the guy I'm riding with "You know, those birdies are nice. I think I'm going to go ahead and try to make more of those".

Mediocre tee shot on 16, fat 7 iron just short, hit what I thought was a great chip, but it broke left instead of right on me, about a foot left, good 4. Par 5 17th, hit a heeled tee shot, got lucky with it as it went dead straight. There is a wash about 40-50 yards short of the green, about 280 to carry it all. I went back and forth between 6 and 7 iron, finally settled on a 7. Just nuked that thing, ended up about 5 yards short of the wash, I had to have hit that 7 iron nearly 200 yards, had to hit a sprinkler head or something. I'm 135 out, hit a good wedge about 12 feet left. I swore my putt broke right until I saw the guy putt ahead of me, his didn't move. I played it straight and it broke left, hmmmm. Another par though. Hit another weak cut tee shot, dead behind the trees at the corner on 18. I looked it over and finally settled on hitting a 6 iron through the top left of one tree as it was pretty sparse, to put me just short. It came off just like I drew it up. Left myself about 20 yards short, and kind of fatted the pitch, about 12 feet to the hole. As I mustered up all of my courage, I hit a great putt and it was center cut. 35 on the back.

So all in all, 76 on the day, 4 over with a quad on #2. I could play #2 a hundred times and not make 8, but we're playing here for the experience, so the hell with it. I experienced making a quad with a four putt and coming back to shoot one under on the back. 73 ended up winning, which is disheartening to say the least, but we'll take it on the chin and regroup. I had 19 putts on the front and 12 on the back. A drastic turnaround and better than one under on the front and 5 over on the back. Strong finishes are the order of the day.

So these events are well run from what I can see. They put a premium on pace of play, and the folks who run it and play in it are very pleasant to be around. The guy who runs it here even mentioned that he read this blog as he got a hit for the "Golf Channel Amateur Tour". So Greg if you end up reading this, thanks again for putting on the event. I look forward to playing in more of them. Can I skip #2 next time though?

Now let's go talk about some equipment changes...