Queenstown Harbor - Don't Leave All Your Good Shots on the Range!
The second major of the year for the GolfWeek Amateur Tour brought us over the Bay Bridge to Queenstown Harbor. I'm no stranger to two day tournaments (Bay Creek Amateur) and I always follow the same mantra: You can't win it on the first day, but you can lose it on the first day... And ladies and gentlemen, I lost it something fierce on the first day.
Date: Saturday and Sunday 5/03/2014 - 5/04/2014
Location: Queenstown Harbor (Lakes Day 1, River Day 2), Queenstown, MD
Scores: 99 & 86
Excuses: Too much practice, not enough practice, lack of strategy.
Course Conditions: Lakes: Okay, not as green or lush as it could have been. Cart Path only, wet and mushy, overall terrible. River: Excellent. Greens were rolling well, fairways were green and lush, the rough was penalizing but overall very satisfied.
The Good: First tournament birdie and picked up $20 in skins because of it :)
The Bad: Second Four-Jack in a tournament.
The Ugly: 6 hour round on Lakes Course the first day!
Uncharacteristic for Harry Sherman, on the first day I showed up to the course 2 hours before my tee time. I proceed to putt for an entire 20 minutes; chip, pitch, and work on the sand game for another 20 minutes; and then proceed to hit balls on the range for nearly an hour. I hit some real gems on the range with all my clubs, so much so, that I went into the round supremely confident that I would do well. Famous last words...
The first hole was a short Par 4, I hit a solid drive to within 90 yards and put a 50 degree wedge within 12 feet of the cup and I had a read from one of my competitors. Sadly I did not give the putt enough juice and missed the birdie but started with a solid par.
The second hole was another short Par 4, I hit another solid drive to within 125 yards. I thin my 9 iron trying to hit a knockdown shot and ended up on the back of the green. I chip the ball to within 5 feet and make the putt for another solid par.
Then the wheels started to come off... The third hole was a 170 yard par 3. I pull out a 6-Iron and did not get 100% of it (more like 75%) and ended up short of the green on a back pin placement. I had plenty of green to work with on the chip, but sadly not plenty of power. I left myself 25 feet to try to sink par. Sadly I don't even get the putt 75% of the way there leaving a knee knocking 7 footer to save bogey. Sadly, I don't save bogey either.
The fourth hole was a very trecherous par 5 with water along the entire right side. Try to cut off too much and your ball ends up in a watery grave. One of my playing partners found the water twice. I launch a beautiful drive and end up 225 from the pin, but facing a daunting carry over the water. I therefore decide to play it conservative and try to hit my 5 iron around 180 yards straight down the fairway to take the water and the traps out of play on my approach. Sadly I hit the club way too far left and buried myself behind a tree. Long story short, I ended up with another nasty double. Lesson tee: Had I to do it over again, I would have went for it. Reasoning: Even if I would have hit the water, only one stroke penalty and a better lie in which to hit a pitch. At worst, bogey. At best, I'm on the green putting for eagle!
The rest of the round that first day was a comedy of errors. I did not get a single bogey during my round. I either got par, double, or triple bogey on my way to a crowd-pleasing 99. There was only one golfer that did worse than I did... I was an amazing 67% in par saves and hit 71% of the fairways, but I had a total of 37 putts (including a four-jack on #9) and put four balls in the water. I chalked it up to leaving all my good shots on the range and the good putts on the practice green. And maybe, just maybe, I will attribute some of my poor play to the fact that it took 6 hours to finish the round...
I briefly contemplated not returning the next day. Simply because the River Course was much more difficult and there was probably no way I could climb back into the leaderboard and I didn't want to embarras myself again or endure another six hour round. But then I remembered a quote from Winston Churchill:
Therefore I wanted to return the next day to simply improve on my prior score and to see if I could recoup my investment by winning some skin money :).
The second day started out pretty rough. It all started out at 9:00AM in Clifton, VA playing a flag football game. Sadly we lost the game and I spent the next hour and 10 minutes (the amount of time it took to get from Clifton to Queenstown) thinking about how close we were to winning. I arrive at Queenstown basically with enough time to check in, load up my cart, and get to the first tee.
First Hole: Very short Par 4. I probably should have taken a hybrid to get the ball inside 150 yards. Sadly I took out my driver and sliced it into the water. I then put the pitch into the sand, and eventually walked away with a triple bogey.
Second Hole. Short Par 3. Par.
Third Hole. Decent drive but 200 yards away from the pin. I hit a magic 4 hybrid and put it pin high but 30 feet from the cup. Three putts later I get my first bogey of the weekend.
Fourth Hole. Short Double water carry Par 4. Put a great 3 wood onto the fairway. Sadly I hit a very thin 7 iron into the water. After a drop, pitch, and two putts, I save a double bogey.
Fifth Hole. Par 5, relatively short but playing into the wind. I hit a beautiful drive but it only goes 225 yards. I then crush one of the best 3-woods of my life to around 110 yards. I then crush a full 9-iron into the green and leave myself 25 feet from the hole. I then sink an awesome putt to give myself my first birdie in a tournament and later I would find out, a $20 skin. No one else in the entire tournament birdied that hole.
Long story (or round) short, I shaved 13 strokes off my previous round and finished near the middle of the pack for the tournament (at least I didn't finish last!). There were a couple of holes I wish I could have back, but I was firing at pins and playing aggressively in order to get birdies and was willing to risk bogeys and doubles in order to get them. The best part about the round was the two guys I was playing with (Steve and Brandon), we all knew we were out of the tournament so we played a very pressure free round and just had fun hanging out and playing the game. Not to mention the round took a blistering four hours and 15 minutes! There was actually a 5 hole stretch were we all played a combined 1 over par!
Next tournament, I won't leave all my good shots on the range! Until then, back to the Range, Putting Green, and the GYM!
Next Stop: Pleasant Valley (Scramble)
Date: Saturday and Sunday 5/03/2014 - 5/04/2014
Location: Queenstown Harbor (Lakes Day 1, River Day 2), Queenstown, MD
Scores: 99 & 86
Excuses: Too much practice, not enough practice, lack of strategy.
Course Conditions: Lakes: Okay, not as green or lush as it could have been. Cart Path only, wet and mushy, overall terrible. River: Excellent. Greens were rolling well, fairways were green and lush, the rough was penalizing but overall very satisfied.
The Good: First tournament birdie and picked up $20 in skins because of it :)
The Bad: Second Four-Jack in a tournament.
The Ugly: 6 hour round on Lakes Course the first day!
Uncharacteristic for Harry Sherman, on the first day I showed up to the course 2 hours before my tee time. I proceed to putt for an entire 20 minutes; chip, pitch, and work on the sand game for another 20 minutes; and then proceed to hit balls on the range for nearly an hour. I hit some real gems on the range with all my clubs, so much so, that I went into the round supremely confident that I would do well. Famous last words...
The first hole was a short Par 4, I hit a solid drive to within 90 yards and put a 50 degree wedge within 12 feet of the cup and I had a read from one of my competitors. Sadly I did not give the putt enough juice and missed the birdie but started with a solid par.
The second hole was another short Par 4, I hit another solid drive to within 125 yards. I thin my 9 iron trying to hit a knockdown shot and ended up on the back of the green. I chip the ball to within 5 feet and make the putt for another solid par.
Then the wheels started to come off... The third hole was a 170 yard par 3. I pull out a 6-Iron and did not get 100% of it (more like 75%) and ended up short of the green on a back pin placement. I had plenty of green to work with on the chip, but sadly not plenty of power. I left myself 25 feet to try to sink par. Sadly I don't even get the putt 75% of the way there leaving a knee knocking 7 footer to save bogey. Sadly, I don't save bogey either.
The fourth hole was a very trecherous par 5 with water along the entire right side. Try to cut off too much and your ball ends up in a watery grave. One of my playing partners found the water twice. I launch a beautiful drive and end up 225 from the pin, but facing a daunting carry over the water. I therefore decide to play it conservative and try to hit my 5 iron around 180 yards straight down the fairway to take the water and the traps out of play on my approach. Sadly I hit the club way too far left and buried myself behind a tree. Long story short, I ended up with another nasty double. Lesson tee: Had I to do it over again, I would have went for it. Reasoning: Even if I would have hit the water, only one stroke penalty and a better lie in which to hit a pitch. At worst, bogey. At best, I'm on the green putting for eagle!
The rest of the round that first day was a comedy of errors. I did not get a single bogey during my round. I either got par, double, or triple bogey on my way to a crowd-pleasing 99. There was only one golfer that did worse than I did... I was an amazing 67% in par saves and hit 71% of the fairways, but I had a total of 37 putts (including a four-jack on #9) and put four balls in the water. I chalked it up to leaving all my good shots on the range and the good putts on the practice green. And maybe, just maybe, I will attribute some of my poor play to the fact that it took 6 hours to finish the round...
I briefly contemplated not returning the next day. Simply because the River Course was much more difficult and there was probably no way I could climb back into the leaderboard and I didn't want to embarras myself again or endure another six hour round. But then I remembered a quote from Winston Churchill:
The second day started out pretty rough. It all started out at 9:00AM in Clifton, VA playing a flag football game. Sadly we lost the game and I spent the next hour and 10 minutes (the amount of time it took to get from Clifton to Queenstown) thinking about how close we were to winning. I arrive at Queenstown basically with enough time to check in, load up my cart, and get to the first tee.
First Hole: Very short Par 4. I probably should have taken a hybrid to get the ball inside 150 yards. Sadly I took out my driver and sliced it into the water. I then put the pitch into the sand, and eventually walked away with a triple bogey.
Second Hole. Short Par 3. Par.
Third Hole. Decent drive but 200 yards away from the pin. I hit a magic 4 hybrid and put it pin high but 30 feet from the cup. Three putts later I get my first bogey of the weekend.
Fourth Hole. Short Double water carry Par 4. Put a great 3 wood onto the fairway. Sadly I hit a very thin 7 iron into the water. After a drop, pitch, and two putts, I save a double bogey.
Fifth Hole. Par 5, relatively short but playing into the wind. I hit a beautiful drive but it only goes 225 yards. I then crush one of the best 3-woods of my life to around 110 yards. I then crush a full 9-iron into the green and leave myself 25 feet from the hole. I then sink an awesome putt to give myself my first birdie in a tournament and later I would find out, a $20 skin. No one else in the entire tournament birdied that hole.
Long story (or round) short, I shaved 13 strokes off my previous round and finished near the middle of the pack for the tournament (at least I didn't finish last!). There were a couple of holes I wish I could have back, but I was firing at pins and playing aggressively in order to get birdies and was willing to risk bogeys and doubles in order to get them. The best part about the round was the two guys I was playing with (Steve and Brandon), we all knew we were out of the tournament so we played a very pressure free round and just had fun hanging out and playing the game. Not to mention the round took a blistering four hours and 15 minutes! There was actually a 5 hole stretch were we all played a combined 1 over par!
Next tournament, I won't leave all my good shots on the range! Until then, back to the Range, Putting Green, and the GYM!
Next Stop: Pleasant Valley (Scramble)
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