Club Championships recap

Our club championships were held recently and I was very excited in the lead up to it. It was going to be my first ever club champs, and I knew that the course would be setup for an extra challenge. Playing the course last year (for my card) just before the competitions, I found that the course was playing really long, the pins tucked into corners and the greens were super slick. So that was what I expected this year. The comp would consist of 3 rounds stroke play, then a cut of the top 12 from each division going through to the final round of stroke. I was playing in B-division and my game was average at best leading up the the first round.

Round 1

The day was cold and wet. We did get sunshine for our first tee shots, but the rain soon came after that. And I found myself standing over my shot with hail coming down by the 4th hole. The greens were soggy, I was wet and cold, I couldn't feel my fingers but I was enjoying it for some reason. I didn't play the front 9 well, going out with a 45. But the back 9 was better with quite a few pars. In the end I finished with a score of 77 nett. It was one of those strange days where you feel like you've played well, but it just wasn't reflected in your score. I thought that it would be pretty hard to make the top 12 with a starting score like that.

Round 2

Another cold and wet day was what we played in, but I was still determined to enjoy the day and not give up. It was a solid round with good ball striking and not too many mistakes. It felt good enough to be under par but once again the score didn't reflect how I thought I played. Perhaps I think that I'm better than I really am :)

I finished the day with 73 nett. 6 over for the tournament seemed like a lost cause but having a quick look at the scores of everyone else in my division put me somewhere in the top 20.

Round 3

So being in the top 20 gave me a glimmer of hope. I thought anything under par might give me a chance and I went out with confidence. Once again the round felt great, and I thought that I played my best round in a few months. But for some reason I finished the day with 73 nett ... again! 

I didn't think my 3 rounds were good enough to make the cut but I was suprised to find the next day that I had made the cut. Perhaps I pulled off a Steven Bradbury of sorts. Anyhoo... excitement all round!

Final Round

I turned up knowing that I was probably about 6-7 shots behind the leader and that it would be a pretty hard task to get near that. Our group were probably the guys "making up the numbers". :)

The day started better than expected with a chip in birdie on the first hole. Not bad at all. I finished the front 9 well with a few good pars. By the 10th hole I was 4 under my handicap, and I thought that I might even have an outside chance of top 3. But my good run ended with a 7 on the 11th. I had 2 more 7's coming home and that really hurt. Another birdie on the 17th reduced the hurt but the damage had already been done.

I finished the day with another 73 and 2nd in my division. Not sure how I finished overall but it sure was a wild ride.

Overall it was an enjoyable experience. The pressure of stroke play over 4 rounds, the tough conditions and the solid golf played will not be forgotten.

I'm looking forward to the next couple of weeks, hoping that I can carry the good form through and lower my handicap.