Good Tournament... Disappointing Finish

[Maddog10]

Played in one of the area's biggest tournaments this past weekend that always has a great turnout (200+ entrants). Had a really good weekend all things considered, but never have I had two days that were so consistent yet so different.

 

I played really well the first day. Stayed out of trouble with driver and hit some nice approach shots, leading to easy birdie putts. Even still, I missed a couple putts inside 5 feet but all in all putted the ball pretty well. Had two bogeys on the day and 6 birdies for a first round 68 (-4), which landed me in the leader group and one shot off the leader. The second day was quite a struggle though, especially the front 9. Admittedly, I was nervous and I think that played a role in my early struggles, but even after working the nerves out I just never could get things quite right. Started the day off with a 3 putt for bogey, and missed another short putt to save par on the second hole which started me out 2 over after just 2 holes. I settled in to a string of pars after that, but missed out on some very good birdie opportunities. I then caught a bad break off the cartpath on the 9th, which led to a double bogey and a front 9 score of 40 (+4). That was a tough pill to swallow because it is the easier of the two sides. I was able to regroup and card a 34 (-2) on the back, but once again missed some very good birdie opportunities (one from about 3'). Anyways, I finished with a 74 (+2) on the day for a tournament total of 142 (-2), which was good enough for 4th place.

 

Overall I'm pleased, but I'd be lying if I said that final round wasn't bothering me. If you would have told me before the tournament that I would have finished in 4th place shot -2 for the weekend, I would have taken it. However, after having a good shot at the win after the first day, I'm pretty disappointed in my finish, especially the front 9 performance. I hit the ball well enough all weekend to win, but my putting the second day just wouldn't allow it. I never made a putt outside of 5 feet, and I missed 4 putts inside of 5 feet.

 

Anyways, just wanted to share my experience with you guys. I'm sitting at my desk at work and it's really all that's on my mind. What could I have done different, what if I had done this or that, all kind of scenarios running through my mind. Once again, this was a good tournament for me and 142 was about my expectations going in, but after playing well the first day and continuing to hit the ball well the second day, my expectations kind of changed. It's not the score that's disappointing, but more of how I accomplished that score. I played equally well both days, but my putting the second day along with the one bad hole in the 9th resulted in a 6 shot difference between the two. Goes to show how important those putts inside of 5 feet can be. There was a definite pattern that most of my short misses were putts that broke left to right (I'm a righty), and I consistently missed on the low side. Despite trying to make adjustments, the pattern continued all day. I just continued to lip out putt after putt after putt.

 

Anyways, not really looking for any sympathy or anything like that. In fact, I'm not real sure what the whole motive behind this post is. I've just been sitting here all morning pondering what I should have done differently and felt like I needed to share my story with someone. I played well both days, hit the ball well both days, I just didn't putt well both days and it cost me. Guess I'll be spending some extra time on the putting green this week.

[Hoot151]

Here's a story to make you feel better. I played in one of our club championships this weekend, 2 day stroke play. Championship flight, I shoot 71 the first day and I'm in the final group the second day with the leader who shot 70. Yesterday he shoots 72 and I shoot 87. I finished triple, triple, par, triple to cruise into a tie for 5th.

I don't even know what to think at this point. Right now my thoughts are "quit practicing, it's not worth it".

[Maddog10]

[quote name='Hoot151' timestamp='1402326609' post='9459073']
Here's a story to make you feel better. I played in one of our club championships this weekend, 2 day stroke play. Championship flight, I shoot 71 the first day and I'm in the final group the second day with the leader who shot 70. Yesterday he shoots 72 and I shoot 87. I finished triple, triple, par, triple to cruise into a tie for 5th.

I don't even know what to think at this point. Right now my thoughts are "quit practicing, it's not worth it".
[/quote]

Ouch! That doesn't necessarily make me feel much better, but it does make me feel for you. You had to be ready to get that round over with after back-to-back triples... That's kind of how I felt at least on the front 9 of my round. I was hitting the ball well, I was doing everything I wanted in terms of getting to the green, and then I just could not get the damn ball in the hole.

[Hoot151]

[quote name='Maddog10' timestamp='1402328118' post='9459295'][quote name='Hoot151' timestamp='1402326609' post='9459073']
Here's a story to make you feel better. I played in one of our club championships this weekend, 2 day stroke play. Championship flight, I shoot 71 the first day and I'm in the final group the second day with the leader who shot 70. Yesterday he shoots 72 and I shoot 87. I finished triple, triple, par, triple to cruise into a tie for 5th.

I don't even know what to think at this point. Right now my thoughts are "quit practicing, it's not worth it".
[/quote]

Ouch! That doesn't necessarily make me feel much better, but it does make me feel for you. You had to be ready to get that round over with after back-to-back triples... That's kind of how I felt at least on the front 9 of my round. I was hitting the ball well, I was doing everything I wanted in terms of getting to the green, and then I just could not get the damn ball in the hole.[/quote]

I hear ya, there's nothing worse than putting yourself in position to score and not capitalizing. My regular group of playing buddies always tell me I need to "learn how to score". They might as well tell me to "learn how to flap my arms and fly to the moon".

[cardoustie]

madDog,

My top tourney days are 10 years past now, but I advise you take all the positives away from the weekend and flush the negatives. You can't win them all

Chalk the bad stuff as learning to be better for future similar situations. From what I have read, learn to make more putts under pressure and learn to embrace the nerves as part of being in the fight

[zstar77]

Remember at the moment before each shot during the round you did what you thought was right.....never think back about this or that as it doesn t help.Learn from your mistakes and kick a** next time!

[aliikane]

Great playing. Golf is crazy because a few missed short putts, a first putt that runs by the hole 5 feet, poor chip outside of makeable range, etc can be the difference in a good round or not so good round. Golf is so hard and way harder when nerves are involved. You can do things that are so uncharacteristic of your game when pressure is involved. In the end it is still a game. When I think about it that way it alleviates a lot of the frustration.

[Maddog10]

Appreciate the comments guys. I completely agree with your second sentence aliikane. The first day of the tournament I birdied the first hole by making about a 10 foot putt, and went on to putt really well all day leading to a lot of birdies. Second day I have about a 16 footer for birdie that I run right by the edge, so close to going in. It rolls about 3 feet past the hole and I ended up lipping it out coming back for par, leading to a 3 putt bogey from 16 feet. I really think that missed putt played a major role in my putting struggles the rest of the day. I never could get comfortable over another putt and always had that thought of missing lingering in my head, as I showed on the next hole by missing another short one. Had that short putt dropped for par on the first hole, I really think my entire day would have went better in regards to putting... It's all a mental thing, and mentally I beat myself on the first hole. The rest of the day I was trying to "not miss" putts instead of trying to make them.

[Forged4ever]

Similar to Cardoustie, my best days are behind me, with the exception of a fortunate break to get that trophy in my avatar, lol. However, the one thing that I will say, and this may differ from some, though since most giving mental advice is even crazier than them giving me mechanical/physical swing advice, because far fewer golfers know, utilize and benefit from the mental side effectively.

First, and I take most of this from my teacher of 36 years combined with talks with some men that I have had the good fortune to play with. First, yes, look at the shots that turned out poorly and analyze why. Was it mental a or physical mistake? Once you learn from it, forget it. That's it. Wipe it from your memory banks. And visualize the correct swing, shot and outcome. And burn that into your subconscious mind and movie screen to be replayed when you are in that position again, and it could be the first tee, second day, last group, or the #9 tee or 14 fairway.

Because if you do not forget those shots and holes, you can count on them reappearing at a very inopportune time, with the same poor outcomes. Those who say forget the good and remember the bad have never won sh*t, trust me.

Yes, you learn from the bad or poor, and then you clean it off and wash it down the drain, like dirt off of your body, never to be seen or thought of again. You keep replaying the correct decision, and remember this, if nothing else, always hit the shot that you KNOW that you can hit, not the shot that you HOPE that you can hit. You are obviously on the plus side, so you have a vast array of shots to choose from. And if you find yourself in a shaky place mentally, as in your focus has been broken by a temporary case of the nerves, play the safe shot. Remember, as you have shown, you can throw birdies up in bunches, though the key is to minimize the bad scores. You will always get your birdies and opportunities. Some will fall and some will not.

This is the game. However, the one thing that you have to do, and you obviously had played tournament golf, though obviously not enough to do this without thinking, and that is to quickly learn from the bad, be it a swing or score, and wipe it out if your mind, replaced by the positive swing/outcome.

Poor swings happen. We cannot control those. They happen-

But a poor decision?

There is absolutely no excuse for that-

NONE!

You have made enough great swings, shots and putts that you could easily, in less than 3-5 minutes, replay that round with the correct shots, putts and decisions inserted, tab the score, and burn that your subcinscious mind. Screw the garbage. Throw it away. And whenever you replay that second round, you have the proper swings, shots and outcomes, and you have the round in your head that you need to learn from and benefit from in your next tourney.

Remember the story of Jack, when he made the statement that he's never missed a putt of 5' or less with the tourney on the line?

A reporter, dumbfounded, because Jack had indeed, and recently, missed just that-

A 5'er that cost him the victory.

They had it on tape.

Nicklaus would not budge, and the most amazing thing is that therapists who have seen the video of this exchange have said that judging by his response, his tone and inflection, and his body language, he believed what he was saying, 100%.

Do you really think, that when a champion, be it Jack, Tiger or frickin Jimmy Walker(I love him, lol) hits bad shots, make poor decisions, or have bad rounds, they keep replaying that crap?

Of course not.

It was a fluke!

And remember this-

The subconscious mind cannot tell fact from fiction, truth from lies. The only thing that it does is store what is given it.

Give it your best Bro, and trust yourself, it'll give it back to you-

When you need it!!

Hat's Off on am excellent finish, and please, as I cannot play right now, I sorta live vicariously through a few guys-

You just became one of them!

Continued success and have a great season

Fairways & Greens My Friend,
Richard