I played in two local Club Championships in the past month. Although I finished third in both, the first tournament was a disappointing failure, while the second was a huge success!


Tiger and Stricker at Presidents Cup by 44Diaries

In the first Club Championship, I was tied for the lead after the first day. I had nearly given up after throwing up a triple bogie on the 8th after grinding so hard to get through the first seven holes just 1-over. A bogie on nine just frustrated me further. I figured I was out of the hunt at 5-over, but after finishing with 3 birdies on the final 4 holes, I rallied back to actually finish tied for first, with the defending champion just 1 back. The fourth player was 3-back.

We played together as a foursome in the final round the following day. We were all friends who enjoy playing together, and although we all wanted to win, each of us would genuinely be happy for whoever played well and earned it that day.

Interestingly, our place in the pack all changed on the very first hole!

The other co-leader tripled while I doubled the first hole and the fourth place player parred and the third place player bogied. So I was now tied with the defending club champion, the other two players were 1-back. But scores widened over the remaining holes on the front nine. The day one co-leader stumbled on several more holes as did the fourth place player. After nine holes, it appeared to be a match between the defending champ and me. I was 1-up after nine.

Steady grinding helped me stay at 2-over through 12 holes, maintaining my 1 stroke lead.

I'd been grinding hard for two days now since my driver was still proving to be unreliable. I'd hit a big booming drive on one hole, then flair one right on another. Then on thirteen, I hooked one hard left. I punched out into a fairway bunker, the barely got my next shot out. I finished this hole with a double bogie. The defending champ 3-putted for bogie so we were now tied for lead. We both bogied 14 to remain tied.

On the back nine, I'd not only become tired from two days of grinding for pars, but I started thinking about my chance to win a Club Championship. I also got caught up in my individual match with the defending champ instead of continuing to just take each shot one at a time and let the results simply happen.

I felt tense on the tee for most of the back nine, still void of any real trust in my driver. It cost me another poor drive on fifteen resulting in another double bogie! I fell 2 behind. I got it back together on the difficult sixteenth. But my par was matched so I remained 2 back. Then on the downhill par 3 seventeenth, the defending champ pushed his tee shot into the trees right of the green, making bogie a likely result. Unfortunately, I hit my 5-iron to the same spot! We both double bogied seventeen!

I'd just shot 7-over on the last 5 holes and my opponent had shot 4-over! We were hoping to redeem ourselves on eighteen.

I managed to par eighteen after hitting a poor drive into a fairway bunker, but finishing with a impressive chip to 1 foot for an easy tap-in par. The defending champ actually bogied, so I finished 1 back. However, both of our hiccups down the stretch apparently allowed the 5th place player, who had played well in the foursome in front, to win the championship by 1 stroke! I therefore fell back to finish 3rd.

I wasn't unhappy about not winning, only with how I played those final holes. It was a huge disappointment, but also proved to be a valuable lesson.

Fortunately, I had another chance to test myself in another Club Championship this past weekend. Given another opportunity, I was determined to remain positive, allow myself to make mistakes, and simply play my best. This Club Championship would also prove to be a better test because of the size and talent of the competition. Any expectations of winning were frankly unrealistic. My goal was to play well. A top five finish would be a very satisfying outcome.

I started off nicely. Although I hit a poor drive on the very first hole, leaving me 200 yards out in the rough, I hit a good second shot just short of the green. Unfortunately, I scalded my chip well past the hole leaving a long putt over a large mound. I accepted my fate, remained calm, and sunk the breaking putt for par!

My ball striking and putting were solid over the next few holes and I remained even through five. I then hit a perfect drive on the par 5 sixth, leaving me only 220 yards from the green. After waiting for the green to clear, I then hit a 4-wood that barely left the ground and failed to carry a lake by about one foot. I finally got on the green, but missed a makeable bogie putt to give me a dreaded double bogie. I was now 2-over. Amazingly, I let it go and didn't let a single thought about the overall outcome enter my mind. I just kept playing one shot at a time. I parred seven and eight and bogied the difficult ninth to finish the front 3-over.

Although I'd hit the one ball in the lake on six, I was very satisfied with how I was playing. I was especially happy with my putting. I was making everything within 5 feet - no 3-putts so far!

My solid ball striking and putting, and attitude, kept up on the back nine. I scored my only birdie of the round on twelve along with 2 bogies to finish the back 1-over and an overall 4-over 75.

I found myself alone in 5th place! Two scratch golfers had shot rounds of even-par and 3-over. Two other golfers were also 3-over. The leader played college golf at Fresno State with Nick Watney and several others who turned pro. As far as I could tell, he could play professionally as well. The rest of us were playing for 2nd place. The leader was much more likely to shoot under par on day two than come back to the field. That turned out to be the case. He shot a second round 68 to win.

Regardless of the fact that I didn't have a realistic chance to win, I stuck with my goal on day two to just play my best and let go of the outcome. The four players in front of me, and several behind me, were undoubtedly more talented and experienced. A top 10 finish would be very respectable.

I decided to walk on the second day. It turned out that 3 out of the 4 golfers who walked that day were in my final grouping. We played in front of the top 4 players from day one.

I got off to a rocky start again on the 1st hole, but managed to make a good up and down to save bogie. I was now 5-over for the tournament. But more solid ball striking and putting, and a birdie on the par 5 fourth got me back to even for the round after the front nine. The other players in my group finished the front nine at 2-over, 4-over, and 6-over. My fifth place standing overall was likely still intact.

I stayed even for the round through 13 after scoring a bogie on 11 and birdie on 12, but I was starting to feel tired. The ongoing grind of trying to get up and down and make 4-5 foot putts was draining, and I was even getting tired just from walking. Realizing that I was tired and that I was at the point were my round crumbled in last month's Club Championship, I focused hard over my tee shot on 14. I hit my best drive of the weekend, a 300 yarder that overran the end of the fairway, stopping just short of a bunker in some length fescue. Unfortunately, I took too much grass with my wedge and only advanced the ball half way to the green. I failed to get up and down and bogied.

I then hit my 6-iron fat on the par 3 fifteenth and failed to get up and down again from the hazard to bogie again. I was now 2-over for the round.

I gathered myself and focused even more for the remainder of the round, determined to stay present and just finish the round one shot at a time. I succeeded. I finished with 3 pars and came in with a very satisfying 2-over 73!

I soon learned that I overtook 2 players from the leaders group to finish in third place! The only two players to beat me were scratch golfers in their 20's!

My third place finish in such a talented field was certainly my most successful competitive effort! More importantly, I learned how to play my best golf in a competitive event. It was a very rewarding weekend -- along with getting to watch the President's Cup!

Labels: Club Championship, Rounds