South Riding: A Day of Rememberance on Many Levels
April 16th, 2007 started out like any other day, but it ended in the deadliest shooting incident by a single gunman in U.S. history. It was terrible that it happened, but personally, it was more terrible that it happened at my alma mater, Virginia Tech (ChE Class of 2000). I'll never forget sitting at work and all of a sudden getting the CNN news flash of the shooting. I left my desk and immediately went to the Town Center at the Washington Navy Yard (Ironically the future site of another shooting 6 years and 5 months later to the day) and was glued to the TV for the next six hours. The following Sunday, myself and a friend went down to Blacksburg to pay our respects and help out in any way we could. What I will never forget was how quiet it was around campus. In my 7 years at VT, even during summers with much fewer people, there was always that buzz, that noise that can only be described as having tens of thousands of young people around. That day, the silence was deafening.
Fast forward to April 19th, 2014. There was a VT Remembrance Race at East Potomac Park in DC. Aptly named, "3.2 for 32." A little more than a 5K (3.1 miles) for the 32 that lost their lives that day. Being a die-hard Hokie, I felt it was my duty to participate. However I also had a golf tournament that day. But thanks to the powers that be at the GolfWeek Amateur Tour, Tim the commissioner told me that he could schedule me for a later tee time so I could participate in the race (That is the sound of my tour membership being renewed next year).
I went to the race and ran into an old friend from Roanoke, Va. Did I mention he was the Hokies' star running back and played for the Cleveland Browns! And I used to pick on him in high school... There's a lesson here ladies and gentlmen... Sometimes the skinny little preacher's kid grows up to be a bruising star tailback. The best part is that he (Lee Suggs if you didn't recognize the photo) recognized me on sight. Gotta love humble superstars, especially from Roanoke.
As for the race, it wasn't officially timed and therefore no pressure for me to try to make a personal best (or tire myself out too much before a golf tournament). But I jogged the first mile, walked the second mile, and ran the last 1.2 miles to finish in 38 minutes and change. Not bad, but had to leave myself some room for improvement for my next 5K (Race for the Cure).
It was fun to see old friends and young faces. And it was especially fun to see everyone in the Hokie Spirit. WE ARE VIRGINIA TECH!! LET'S GO HOKIES!
So to continue for the rest of the day, I finished with the race festivities around 9:00 AM. Which I thought would leave me enough time for a good solid breakfast at one of my favorite places in Old Town Alexandria (Table Talk), then home to take a shower and get to the course in enough time to practice and be ready. Sadly I still have yet to learn in my 11 years in the DC Metro area that traffic dominates your time. Long story short, my tee time was at 12:10 PM, I arrived at 11:45 AM. Just enough time to check in, hit two balls on the range (7-iron & Driver), and spend 5 minutes on the putting green. My playing partner and ringer (Rachel B.) shows up a few minutes after me, doesn't even hit a ball on the range, and proceeds to show me up on the course. But she's a ringer, she's supposed to :). This was a member-guest event, so you and your guest played best ball. I'm not ashamed to say she carried me pretty much the entire way. Teamwork makes the dream work :).
Date: Saturday 4/19/2014
Location: South Riding Golfers Club, Chantilly, VA
Score: 84
Excuses: Ran a 5K in the morning, practically ran from my car to the tee box
Course Conditions: Excellent. Greens rolled fast and true, fairways in excellent shape, 90 degree rule everywhere but the par 3's, weather was near perfect, only a little breeze. The one knock on the course was the condition of the bunkers. I could count the number of bunkers on one hand that actually had proper sand and not hardened dirt.
The Good: First tournament without a triple bogey
The Bad: A soul-crushing 0-7 in Par saves
The Ugly: Missing 3 birdie putts inside 10 feet, including 2 inside 5 feet
The 84 was good enough for a 4th place finish, and I finished "In the Money!" Or in this case, the gift card.
Looking at the positives, I finished 5 shots back and achieved my lowest score in a tournament so far. I took a look at my round hole by hole and I can tell you I learned a lot from my practice round and my planning. For example:
You will recall on Hole #12, In the practice round I took a driver to try leave myself a wedge into the green. It resulted in a double bogey. This time around I took my 3-Wood. I ironically still pushed the shot into the right rough but did not bury myself behind the trees. Instead of trying a hero shot to bend it around the tree, I instead had a straightforward 170 yard shot out of the rough. I hit the shot thin but it still got over the water and settled pin high left of the green. Sadly I did not get up and down for the par, but still got bogey and improved from last time.
Total improvement from practice round: 5 strokes. Instead of being +4 on par 5's, I was only +2. Instead of being +4 on the par 3's, I was only +2. Instead of 4 double bogeys, I only had one (an ugly 3 jack from 7 feet).
Overall, I can say I did not make any "preventable" mistakes. I followed the plan to a tee (pun intended) and I did not lose a single ball or incur any penalty strokes. What did cost me was chipping and putting. I was a dismal 0-7 in par saves, I three jacked from 7 feet (after an incredible blast out of a hard and muddy bunker), and I missed 3 very makeable birdie putts. I could chalk it up to not being used to putting on good greens after months of aerated greens, but I know the truth. Taking about 15-20 minutes before the round working on chipping and putting would have done me wonders. If I could have saved half of those 7 pars, I'm solo second. If I save half the pars and convert on half the birdies, then I'm threatening first.
I also had 3 poor iron shots in a row, starting from my 6-iron on #12 that I hit thin from the rough and landed left of the green, then the 7-iron on #13 that I hit thin and into a greenside bunker, then the 9 iron that I thinned and hit over the green on the par 3 15th hole. In that stretch I finished 4 over. With the putting day I had, if I hit any of those greens, I save a stroke (or two).
Lastly, I had 3 birdie chances that I could not convert on. On #8 (short par 4) I hit a driver to within 50 yards of the green, then put a great lob wedge to within 10 feet of the cup. I had the read but could not get the ball to the cup. On #9 (long par 4), I hit a monster drive to 130 yards and put a 9 iron 4.5 feet from the cup. I even had a read from both sides of the cup. Sadly I did not give the putt enough break or speed and missed again from the amateur side. Lastly, on #10 (short par 5) I hit another great drive and end up 240 yards from the pin (back pin placement) I slightly push my 3 wood off the deck and it settles into the rough below the greenside bunker. I hit another wonderful lob wedge to 4 feet from the cup. I again had a decent read, but didn't give it enough to get it up a small rise to get the ball in the hole. That would be the last truly "makeable" birdie putt I would have for the rest of the day (two more but more than 20 feet for both).
All in all, it was a good day. I played well, just not well enough to win. But I am encouraged by the improvement. Now I have stay vigilant to keep preventing the preventable mistakes, and slowly improve the chipping, putting, and ball striking.
Until then, BACK TO THE RANGE, THE GYM, AND THE PRACTICE GREEN!!
Next Stop: Westfields
Fast forward to April 19th, 2014. There was a VT Remembrance Race at East Potomac Park in DC. Aptly named, "3.2 for 32." A little more than a 5K (3.1 miles) for the 32 that lost their lives that day. Being a die-hard Hokie, I felt it was my duty to participate. However I also had a golf tournament that day. But thanks to the powers that be at the GolfWeek Amateur Tour, Tim the commissioner told me that he could schedule me for a later tee time so I could participate in the race (That is the sound of my tour membership being renewed next year).
As for the race, it wasn't officially timed and therefore no pressure for me to try to make a personal best (or tire myself out too much before a golf tournament). But I jogged the first mile, walked the second mile, and ran the last 1.2 miles to finish in 38 minutes and change. Not bad, but had to leave myself some room for improvement for my next 5K (Race for the Cure).
It was fun to see old friends and young faces. And it was especially fun to see everyone in the Hokie Spirit. WE ARE VIRGINIA TECH!! LET'S GO HOKIES!
So to continue for the rest of the day, I finished with the race festivities around 9:00 AM. Which I thought would leave me enough time for a good solid breakfast at one of my favorite places in Old Town Alexandria (Table Talk), then home to take a shower and get to the course in enough time to practice and be ready. Sadly I still have yet to learn in my 11 years in the DC Metro area that traffic dominates your time. Long story short, my tee time was at 12:10 PM, I arrived at 11:45 AM. Just enough time to check in, hit two balls on the range (7-iron & Driver), and spend 5 minutes on the putting green. My playing partner and ringer (Rachel B.) shows up a few minutes after me, doesn't even hit a ball on the range, and proceeds to show me up on the course. But she's a ringer, she's supposed to :). This was a member-guest event, so you and your guest played best ball. I'm not ashamed to say she carried me pretty much the entire way. Teamwork makes the dream work :).
Date: Saturday 4/19/2014
Location: South Riding Golfers Club, Chantilly, VA
Score: 84
Excuses: Ran a 5K in the morning, practically ran from my car to the tee box
Course Conditions: Excellent. Greens rolled fast and true, fairways in excellent shape, 90 degree rule everywhere but the par 3's, weather was near perfect, only a little breeze. The one knock on the course was the condition of the bunkers. I could count the number of bunkers on one hand that actually had proper sand and not hardened dirt.
The Good: First tournament without a triple bogey
The Bad: A soul-crushing 0-7 in Par saves
The Ugly: Missing 3 birdie putts inside 10 feet, including 2 inside 5 feet
The 84 was good enough for a 4th place finish, and I finished "In the Money!" Or in this case, the gift card.
Looking at the positives, I finished 5 shots back and achieved my lowest score in a tournament so far. I took a look at my round hole by hole and I can tell you I learned a lot from my practice round and my planning. For example:
You will recall on Hole #12, In the practice round I took a driver to try leave myself a wedge into the green. It resulted in a double bogey. This time around I took my 3-Wood. I ironically still pushed the shot into the right rough but did not bury myself behind the trees. Instead of trying a hero shot to bend it around the tree, I instead had a straightforward 170 yard shot out of the rough. I hit the shot thin but it still got over the water and settled pin high left of the green. Sadly I did not get up and down for the par, but still got bogey and improved from last time.
Total improvement from practice round: 5 strokes. Instead of being +4 on par 5's, I was only +2. Instead of being +4 on the par 3's, I was only +2. Instead of 4 double bogeys, I only had one (an ugly 3 jack from 7 feet).
Overall, I can say I did not make any "preventable" mistakes. I followed the plan to a tee (pun intended) and I did not lose a single ball or incur any penalty strokes. What did cost me was chipping and putting. I was a dismal 0-7 in par saves, I three jacked from 7 feet (after an incredible blast out of a hard and muddy bunker), and I missed 3 very makeable birdie putts. I could chalk it up to not being used to putting on good greens after months of aerated greens, but I know the truth. Taking about 15-20 minutes before the round working on chipping and putting would have done me wonders. If I could have saved half of those 7 pars, I'm solo second. If I save half the pars and convert on half the birdies, then I'm threatening first.
I also had 3 poor iron shots in a row, starting from my 6-iron on #12 that I hit thin from the rough and landed left of the green, then the 7-iron on #13 that I hit thin and into a greenside bunker, then the 9 iron that I thinned and hit over the green on the par 3 15th hole. In that stretch I finished 4 over. With the putting day I had, if I hit any of those greens, I save a stroke (or two).
Lastly, I had 3 birdie chances that I could not convert on. On #8 (short par 4) I hit a driver to within 50 yards of the green, then put a great lob wedge to within 10 feet of the cup. I had the read but could not get the ball to the cup. On #9 (long par 4), I hit a monster drive to 130 yards and put a 9 iron 4.5 feet from the cup. I even had a read from both sides of the cup. Sadly I did not give the putt enough break or speed and missed again from the amateur side. Lastly, on #10 (short par 5) I hit another great drive and end up 240 yards from the pin (back pin placement) I slightly push my 3 wood off the deck and it settles into the rough below the greenside bunker. I hit another wonderful lob wedge to 4 feet from the cup. I again had a decent read, but didn't give it enough to get it up a small rise to get the ball in the hole. That would be the last truly "makeable" birdie putt I would have for the rest of the day (two more but more than 20 feet for both).
All in all, it was a good day. I played well, just not well enough to win. But I am encouraged by the improvement. Now I have stay vigilant to keep preventing the preventable mistakes, and slowly improve the chipping, putting, and ball striking.
Until then, BACK TO THE RANGE, THE GYM, AND THE PRACTICE GREEN!!
Next Stop: Westfields
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