I have an hour or so to kill at the airport here in Sacramento, so I thought I would post a summary of the event this week.
This week was the beginning of Qualifying School for me. Because of a slight mix up with dates I had to come all the way to Sacramento, California for the preliminary stage of Q School. With a small field (73) the top 36 players would advance to the First Stage.
Yolo Fliers Club was the host of the 3 rounds. A nice course just outside Sacramento. Tight with quite a few doglegs and nice smooth greens. The rough this week was pretty penal so a premium on straightness off the tee.
Round 1 included 4 birdies and 3 bogeys. I stumbled a bit on the back 9 (3 bogeys in my last 5 holes) but nevertheless was in decent position heading into round 2. I had only 27 putts in round 1, I seem to thrive on 'bentgrass' greens and I made the most of it. 71 (-1)
Round 2 was very steady indeed. I made 15 pars, 2 birdies and a bogey at the last. I didn't hit many fairways, but again relied on my creativity from tough spots and short game when I needed. After 2 rounds I was t12 on the leaderboard. 71 again
Round 3 was all about staying in the present moment. It's easy to start thinking 'Ok I have a bit of a cushion inside the qualifying mark'...but that can easily lead to defensive golf and you cannot ever score well with that mindset. I started with a birdie at the first but then 2 bogeys and a double in my next 4 holes and I found myself over-par for the tournament, a bit out of the blue. After having a little word with myself 'stay in the present, one shot at a time etc etc' I managed to hit 2 great shots into the 6th which would lead to a birdie. A nice wedge into the 9th set up a birdie and I felt like I was back on track again. The back 9 was more solid stuff. 7 pars and birdies at 11 & 15 added up to another 71! I was very pleased at the way I salvaged the round, playing my last 13 in -4.
I ended the week t13th and earned my spot into the next round. Sites will be announced toward the end of the month. Very excited to get to the next stage.
Thanks for following. Will update in a couple of weeks.
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