Arizona Open Qualifier results

Ugh, what a day. I didn't play all that well all day, which is a bit of a letdown because I hit it great on the range. Off the first tee I hit a weak little cut, which kind of set the tone for the day. End result - 82 with a 10 on 17. I was out of it after 16 and just went brain dead. Chipped in on 18 though! Here we go!

As I said, hit a weak little cut off the first tee, still in the fairway. Hit a weak blocked wedge right of the green, mediocre flop over the bunker to 8 feet and missed the putt, bogey. Hit a solid 3 iron off the tee of the par 5 second (it's a weird hole, 90 degree dogleg left with a forced water carry starting at 230 yards. 7 iron layup and a lame wedge pin high, 15 feet right, 2 putt par. Hit a big 8 iron on #3 to about 30 feet, hit a chickenshit putt down the hill 6 feet short and missed it, bogey. Good 3 wood off of #4 and a great GW to about 6 feet on the fourth, then left the putt short. Good tee shot on 5, was in between 8 and 9 iron, decided on a hard 9 as the pin was right in front, left it just short in the fringe, 2 putts from there.

Hit a horrible tee shot on 6 into a fairway pot bunker, had to hit a wedge out, left me about 80 yards. Hit SW a bit past the pin to about 8 feet and made it for par. Hit a great 6 iron on 7 to about 8 feet, and left the putt short. Could be even right now, kicking myself for that one. Decent drive over the fairway bunker on 8. It's the kind of hole where you need to hit 3 iron to put it in a safe spot away from all the fairway bunkers, leaving 160 in, or just bomb a driver down to 50 yards and hit a flip wedge. I went with the latter, and flipped it into the bunker short of the green. Great plan. Here's where it gets fun, so we're playing with another guy who is pretty let down with his play. At this point he may be even or one over, not sure, but he's uttered every curseword known to man so far. He puts it in the same bunker, and let everyone within 4 miles know that he wasn't happy about it. So I go first, hit a fairly poor shot to about 15 feet, then move to outside the back of the bunker with the rake to wait for him. He hits it out to about 5 feet, proceeds to scream an F bomb, and slams his club into the bunker, which splashes sand all over me, in my face, in my hair, on my clothes, etc. Now, I've never gotten into a fist fight on a golf course, but my man was one apology away from getting a rake shoved up his ass. We exchanged pleasantries, I politely suggested that he get his emotions in check. He literally didn't utter another curseword for the rest of the round. Oh yeah, two putted for bogey. Still shaking sand out of my butt crack. Asshole.

Hit a great tee shot on 9, 470 yard par 4, forced carry over the lake on the 2nd shot, it's a really good hole. I hit what I thought was a perfect 6 iron, but when I looked up, it just had this weird, weak flight to it, landed short in the bunker in between the green and the lake. Blasted out to about 8 feet and missed the putt. Out in 39 just like that. How the F did that just happen? Good tee shot on 10, then decided on a 7 iron to the back pin, hit it perfect. Too perfect, flew the green onto a really steep bank behind the green. Hit a ridiculously good chip that nearly went in for 3 off of that bank, good 4 though. Weak blocked tee shot into the fairway bunker on the par 5 11th, 7 iron out into the fairway, wedge to 12 feet, 2 putt par. Good driver off of 12, wedge to 15 feet, 2 putt par. Good 3 wood on 13, lame 9 iron to 20 feet, two putt par. Hit what I thought was a decent 5 iron on the par 3 14th, came up about 5 yards short of the green. Chip to 4 feet and solid putt for par. So we get to 15, I start taking inventory here, I'm 4 over, 4 holes to play and 2 really straightfoward holes coming right up. I'm thinking if I can get it to 2 over, I "might" have a chance.

Great tee shot on the par 5 15th, 3 wood just short, pitch to 8 feet. How this putt didn't go in, I don't know, hit it just like I wanted. Great tee shot on 16, then slid under a GW, landed it dead in the front 1/4 of the green, pin is all the way back up on a shelf, probably 45+ feet away. I hit the putt about as hard as I could and still came up 6 feet short. Missed it for par and make bogey. So now instead of getting it to 2 over, I'm 5 over with 2 to play. We're dead. Let's get it in and go home. Par 3 17th, 170 yards over water, hit a fat pushed 7 iron into the water. Re-tee as there is no drop area, all over water. Another fat pushed 7 iron into the water. Back to the bag for another ball. I said to the guys I'm playing with "maybe I should hit driver so I can make sure it's dry this time". Put some effort into this 7 iron, but hooked it left of the green. Hit a nearly one handed chip to about 10 feet, ran the putt about 6 feet by, missed that one. Go to tap that in for a 9 and back hand the putter, stubbed it into the ground. Awesome. Let's go ahead and make a real stroke this tip, one inch for a 10. Solid play on that little par 3 no?

Hit a baby cut driver to the landing area on 18, then blocked a 7 iron right of the green. I say to myself "well, might as well make this one, haven't made a birdie all day" and wouldn't you know it, 2 hops and it rolls dead into the heart for a 3. Can we play a new qualifying round starting now? So all in all, played bad on the front and had a chance to keep it in check, I just let it get away from me. Had a good talk with myself on the way to #10 and played really well through the fairway on 16. Once I 3 putted to shoot myself out of it, I just went brain dead obviously. As it turns out, I would have needed to shoot 70 or better to get one of the 25 spots available, wasn't even close. Bitter, party of one, your table is ready...