Today was almost SO good!
I started out hitting a great shot into the first green and sank the eight foot putt for birdie! I went on to par the next three holes (three strokes better than yesterday already). I missed a great opportunity on the short par 5,#14 when I left my 10 foot birdie putt short. The next hole I hit my approach to one foot and tapped in for birdie! #16 was another par 5 offering a great opportunity for birdie. I had 51 yards to the pin, but my wedge shot came up short of the green entirely. I made a good chip to a few feet and made the putt to save par. The wind was a little gusty today, and caused me to be indecisive on my club choice for #17 (par 3). I decided take an extra club but choke down on it...in hindsight...really, I'm more comfortable taking full swings so I should have just hit the full club below. My indecision led to an unsure swing which landed me short of the green in the bunker. I made a good out, but missed my 10 foot par putt. #18 was even more difficult. It was a long par 4 straight into the gusty wind. My 3wood drifted left and found the front bunker a LONG way from the back right pin position. I took a gamble on the sand shot. I had at least 50 yards and all the green in the world to work with, plus, the lip wasn't high. So...I attempted to hit a sand/bump & run shot...and it worked! I still left myself with 30' for par simply because I had never attempted that shot before. But, nonetheless, I have a new shot to work on AND I was able to limit the damage to a bogey.
At the turn, I refocused my attention to hitting fairways and greens. And I did! I hit every green on the next nine! I had a lot of good looks at birdie, but only made one (I hit it to a foot from the fairway again!). The real heartbreaker was that I had THREE three-putts, including one on the last hole. I carded a 74, hitting 14 greens, having seven birdie opportunities that were 15' or less, three three-putts (34 total), and didn't take advantage of any of the par 5s.
Obviously, there were a lot of positives to today's round, but I quickly made my way to the practice green after signing my scorecard to work on my putting. I really struggled with distance control on the longer (40-60') putts. Plus, my shorter putts just weren't falling today, so I wanted to make sure there wasn't anything technically wrong with my stroke. Hopefully, the practice will help tomorrow's putting!
I tee of #10 tomorrow at 10:30 EST! Thank you again for all of your encouraging comments and texts! Have a great night!
Soli Deo Gloria
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