Practice Practice Practice

Our next tournament is not until the end of May, so I have a lot of time to work on the things that I think are the reasons I have been struggling a little as of late. It feels good to be able to go out every day and work on things, instead of just a day here and day there.
I had my U.S. Open local qualifier up in Durham, NC earlier this week. I shot 73, which left my out of the 8 qualifying spots. I was +5 through 10, birdied 11, and then was in the middle of the fairway on 12 with a pitching wedge into the green. The pin was back left, with the green sloping from the back to front. Left of the green dropped off into a very low collection area. I missed the green deep left, which left me extremely short sided. After I hit the shot, I stood in the fairway and asked myself what in the heck I was doing! I realized that I really was not analyzing everything that I needed to going into every shot, and these were the things that I had been doing all year.
I somehow got up and down for par. I then went to the 13 tee at +4 and told myself that I needed to analyze each shot a lot more in order to put the ball where I needed to.
I then birdied 13, 14, and 15. I lipped out for birdie on 16, barely missed birdie on 17, and made a great up and down on 18 to shoot +1.
Even though I didn't qualify, I left the course feeling very satisfied! Now I am back in Charlotte practicing hard and doing a little caddying at Quail Hollow. I am going to work hard on my mental approach in the next two weeks to better understand what I need to do in order to position myself better and manage my way around the golf course in a better, more efficient manner.
On a side note, my boys of SJU are currently in 5th place at the National Championships going into the final round. Please keep them in your thoughts as they go out and try to win Saint John's their 3rd National Championship in 4 years!!

Funk

Well I had another not so good round yesterday that left me out of the weekend. My swing is just in a little funk right now and the ball is not flying like I want it to. I didn't drive the ball well at all this week, hit the irons everywhere, and putted average. I hit a lot of good putts that just didn't go in the hole.
All there is to do is work harder!

Bittersweet

Today was a good day overall! The reason the title is "Bittersweet", is because I left a lot of birdies out on the course today. I did however, make some clutch pars coming in to stay a couple under par, so that made me pretty happy! I will take -2 any day!

I had a lot of good chances today for birdie that I let slip by. I don't think I read the putts very well today and caught a lot of edges. I shot 37 on my opening nine, and then took advantage of the par 5's on the second nine to shoot 33.

The scores were real low today and as of right now, I am tied for 66th. So I got some work to do tomorrow if I want to be around on the weekend.

Look for another good update tomorrow night!

Progress

Well another short week for me. I did however, make some good progress with my Dad. He was able to help me realize why I have been struggling this year. As we broke it down, it all came to commitment. When I stepped up to a shot and was fully committed, the result was a good one. If I made guiding swings or hesitant swings, the result was not so good. So I need to re-gain my complete focus and not let down my guard whatsoever and commit to every shot!

I have another tournament next week and I am going to really work hard on getting in the zone and not letting anything come between me and my focus!

Lots of Practice!!

I know it has been awhile since the last time I blogged, but there has not been too much going on down here. I have been doing a lot of practicing and analysis of my game, trying to figure out why my scores have been the way they have. It has been going pretty good, I have been putting in a lot of long days and am starting to feel closer to the way I felt when I was playing solid golf, so that is encouraging.
I am especially excited for the tournament next week because my parents are going to be here! My dad is going to be on the bag and my nervous mom will be following, just like in college! It will be nice to have them here for the week and have my dad here to help me figure some things out!
It will be a pretty busy week around here with the Quail Hollow Championship going on about a mile from my apartment!
I am really looking forward to playing better golf and the last 8 rounds I have played, I was -13. Let's just hope that continues into these next tournaments!!

Struggles Continue

This week was kind of a summary of my year so far. I scored bad both of the first two rounds, which led to a missed cut. The two courses were tougher then the ones we have been playing, and there was some pretty good wind. I did however, hit the ball fairly well this week, but my scores were not what I am looking for.

I have been pretty confused this year so far. I don't feel like I am hitting the ball bad, but for some reason, I am not scoring well at all. I do know some things that I need to practice in the next couple weeks. My wedges and putting were fair this week but do need to improve.

I just need to sit back and really analyze my rounds and figure out why I am not scoring. I have to be honest and say that I have felt like my head has kind of been in the clouds at some points. I do know some things I need to do mentally. I let my mind wonder at points during the round and that cannot happen.

I will keep working on these things in the next couple weeks. It is a process out here, and I am just trying to learn as much as I can.

Home

I got home to Minnesota last week. My sister and her husband flew me home to surprise my Mom for her birthday. It was awesome to get home and see the family. I have missed them so much, especially my nephew, Hunter. He is growing up so fast. He calls me Doe!

I also got in to see the changes at the Litchfield Golf Club. Chad Siem is a close friend of mine and I am very excited to see all the good things he and his partners are going to do for LGC. He also built me a new driver that is spectacular. I don't know how he does it, but he comes through for me all the time and I don't think that Litchfield could have found a better team of guys to manage the club.

I am currently in Southport, NC. We have a tournament here this week at the St. James Plantation. We had our first practice round today and things are continually getting better with me swing. We are playing on bent grass greens this week, which is what we have back home in MN. So as you can imagine, I am excited about that. One of the courses is a Nicklaus design and the other, a Dye design.

I am excited for the week ahead! Check back this week as I will keep everyone updated on the progress.

Again, thank you everyone for all your support through this transition in my life. It has been tough for me, but it is improving and I look forward to the rest of the season!