Who would’ve guessed it? I sure wouldn’t have! I haven’t played a competitive round since December 6th and I played my first 18 holes yesterday. I think I shot around 90 yesterday so looking forward to today’s tournament round things weren’t looking so bright. Howeva, golf is a funny game. I woke up this morning with pretty positive thoughts. My trainer back at OU told me to think of it as I hadn’t made a bad swing in over a month and that I also haven’t missed a putt in over a month. I thought that was pretty smart of him to say. I knew that no matter how I played yesterday or how little I’ve held a golf club in the past month that once the guns went off, I’d be ready to play.
I’m having Phillip Bryan caddy for me this week since his golf tournament was canceled. I’m so thankful it was canceled because I would have been a lost dog out there today. I had never seen the course before and there are a lot of twists and turns. Being on the correct side of the fairway was also important. But even more than that, Phillip is very good at reading Bermuda greens…something I haven’t gotten a knack for yet.
We started off great, birding two of the first four holes. I had 4 straight one putts to start off the round. That gives you a bit of confidence with the putter. In the first nine holes I found 3 birdies but two dumb bogeys to make it one under at the turn. The first three holes on the back were playing pretty tough, straight into the wind but thankfully my length allowed me to either reach the green or get it somewhere in the vicinity of the hole. That’s the difference right now with my game. I can’t be too upset with not hitting perfect shots because it’s just not going to happen right now. I found two more birdies on the back so that left me with three under going into 18. I won’t go into detail but I doubled it to finish one under. The double was dumb but I have to look at it that I had 11 one putts for the round and a few rusty shots here and there. Unfortunately a rusty shot came on the approach shot for 18. Phil and I had a lot of fun out there today and I personally had a lot of fun because he told me where to aim the putt, I did, and more often than not, it went in. Golf seems simple when you have a good caddy like that.
I’m sitting one shot back of the lead, but it’s pretty packed behind me so I need to go out tomorrow and Thursday with the same mindset that I cannot expect myself to hit every shot where I want it to go but I know that even my rusty game can compete. I need to learn how to take it low and keep it low.
My new philosophy on practice is to not practice. I’m kidding but I loved my offseason. I was honestly a little burnt out on golf at the end of ‘09 and I enjoyed every bit of my time off. Being back on the course today made me appreciate that this is what I want to do with my time and money and that there’s a reason I should be out here competing.
Here’s a pic I took while sunbathing in my cart. I had my friend/caddy Phillip practicing instead of me. I don’t want to ruin what I had going today.
Here’s what I cooked for Phillip and I last night. It’s a secret (I can cook when I want). You’ll have to ask Phillip if it was good.
This shows you all how much I was able to practice over Christmas break:
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