Not my best golf in New Orleans but feeling better for Greensboro.

Sorry I haven't posted anything for a while. I have driven 1,600 in the past 5 days and haven't had much time to blog.

I traveled to a very wet New Orleans, Louisiana to try and qualify for the Zurich Classic (PGA tour event). I had been feeling a lot better about my long game back home in Hilton Head since my visit to Andrew Rice. But when I got to New Orleans for the practice round on Thursday I felt pretty drained and the body wasn't firing as it usually is, perhaps something to do with driving 11 hours cross country the day before.

However, I started off steadily in the qualifier. Four pars and a birdie through the first 5 holes and I was settled into the round. I made an alarmingly bad swing with a 5 iron on the 6th, finding the water hazard right on a lay up shot. Although I tried to remain in the moment and focus on the process, this kind of freaked me out and I went through a 3 hole stretch of missing everything right. After dropping 4 shots in 3 holes, I found myself +3 through 9 and facing an uphill battle to make it through.

I made an excellent birdie on the 10th to steady the ship, then missed medium-short length birdie try's at 11 & 12, before what can only be described as bad luck and a total momentum killer at the 13th. I hit my tee shot a little right, maybe 5 yards off the fairway in the rough. When I got to where I thought my ball was, I couldn't find it even after 5 minutes of searching. Assuming it was plugged, I went back to the tee, hit another, walked up to that one (similar position to ball #1) and found the original ball plugged in a low wet area! The double bogey kind of killed the momentum I had built over the last couple of holes. I made a nice putt for birdie at 16, but my ultra aggressive strategy got the best of me at the last to put the nail in the coffin.

I ended up with a very disappointing 77 and obviously didn't qualify.

What I have learned from this week is probably to try and break up my travel so I don't write off a day before a competitive round. I have also learned that I can't let a mistake rattle me. I allowed the shot on 6 to define my front 9, and I can't afford to let this happen.

My stats for the day were:

Fairways - 9/14 (64%)
Greens in reg - 9/18 (50%)
Putts - 28
Up & Downs - 6/10 (60%)
Bunker saves - 1/3 (33%)

On to the Sedgefield Classic in Greensboro, a course I like and played solidly at last year. I have had time to recoup and rest so I am ready to go on Wednesday.

Stay tuned, thanks for following.

Lee

Championship @ St James

Unfortunately my good play in Monday's Pro-Am somewhat dried up for the main tournament this week. I shot 74 (+2) and 78 (+6) and missed the halfway cut.

My game was pretty solid in round 1, and barring a double bogey at the 5th (my 14th hole) I would have been in the top 15 or so. Going in to round 2 I was confident of posting a low score to assure I made the weekend and started off great, birdieing the 1st and 2nd. However my momentum was halted abruptly after double bogeys at the 3rd and 4th, following 2 hooks off the tee. For the rest of the round I couldn't seem to build any momentum. I made 5 birdies but couldn't sustain a good run of holes.

Throughout the 2 rounds of the main event I struggled with my ball striking particularly the long irons. I also struggled shaping the ball right to left when I needed to. This comes mostly from being a little steep with the downswing and a slightly shut club face in the delivery of the club.

My short game (as my statistics will show) was good, as it mostly is. I just have to sort out my long game. I am booked in Tuesday to see Andrew Rice a very well renowned swing coach based here in Hilton Head. Really looking forward to working with him.

My stats for the tournament were:

Fairways: 18/28 (64%)
Greens in Reg: 19/36 (53%)
Putts: 28.5 per round
Up and downs: 10/15 (67%)
bunker: 1/2 (50%)

Some better stats to come.......

A couple of action shots from this week: