Putting like a Pig

I have played in 2 tournaments in the last week and what normally is the strength of my game, putting, has been atrocious. I have been driving the ball very well and hitting my irons OK but my short game has been rather weak. Below is a quick recap of the 2 events.

Lynnewood Hall Invitational

I was invited to this event at Huntington Valley Country Club (Philly) based on qualifying for the USGA Mid-Am last year. Looked like a good event and there were some things for Emily and the girls to do in Philly so we decided to make it a family trip. Golf course is off the charts good. Really well maintained with very fast slopey greens. A lot of fun to play. Not really much to say about this tournament. I shot 78-74 and was obviously never a factor. Over the 2 days I had 7 3 putts which is completely unacceptable. This doesn't even consider the stretch I had in round 1 when I had birdie putts inside of 15 feet on 5 of 6 holes and didn't touch the hole once!! In round 2 I played rock solid but the putter just wouldn't cooperate. Hit it to:

• 15 feet on 1
  
• 6 feet on the 230 yd par 3 3rd
• 4 feet on 4
• 8 feet on 6
• 15 feet on 7 and 8

Obviously none of those went in or I would have had a different title to this entry! Finally I hit it to 6 inches on 9 and even I could handle that. Then I 3 putted 10 & 11 and kind of limped in for a 74. I did feel like I hit some good putts in those stretches but just can't get the damn ball in the hole.

Oh well we had a good weekend and it was good to get back into tournament conditions. I haven't played a lot of tournament golf this year so I think that is part of the problem.

MD Open

This year's MD Open was played at Fountain Head Country Club in Hagerstown. I almost didn't play since it was so far away but I need the competitive rounds and after my pathetic play in the MD Am I wanted to redeem myself. Fountain Head is an old course that was designed by Donald Ross (Pinehurst, Pine Needles, etc) and may be the only Ross course in MD (not sure about that). It is short and relatively tight with very good, although small, green complexes. On Monday (Round 1) I hit it really, really well and walked off with a 75. Again I hit a lot of good putts that just wouldn't go in. At one point early in the round I had 5 very make-able birdie putts (inside of 15 feet) and made exactly 0 of them. Gets pretty frustrating after three str8 tournament rounds. Anyway I polished off this gem of a round by making bogey on the 9th hole (my 18th) when I failed to make par from 110 yds out off the tee. I shot about as high as I could have shot without question.

The second round got off to a good start when I almost canned a 115 yd wedge shot on the 2nd hole and had a kick-in birdie. But I backed it up with a bogey on the 490 yd par 5 3rd hole. That was bad. Almost felt like a double bogey. Anyway it was more of the same and I was 2 over through 12 holes when I came to the 380ish par 4 13th. I striped a drive and had 105 to the pin. The green on this hole slopes VERY VERY hard from back to front and the pin was back left. There really is nowhere to hit my approach. If I hit it at the pin it may well spin and feed off the front of the green. So I elect to hit it 20 feet right where it is a bit flatter. This, however, leaves me with a 20 footer that breaks 5 feet right to left and is basically str8 downhill. I run it 4 feet by and miss it coming back. Now I am 8 over par for the tournament and I am pretty sure +7 makes the cut. So I need to make a birdie with a balky putter. Try to jam one in close on 14 and short side myself and make bogey. I par out and am finished at 149 (+9) with no chance of making the cut. Funny thing is I wasn't all that disappointed. I am striking the ball really well and I am sure that my putter will return soon.

Over the next 4 weeks I have the following events:

• USGA Amateur Qualifier
• USGA Mid-Am Qualifier
• Hayfields Club Championship
• MD Mid-Am Championship

Plus a few other one day events I have a lot coming up. Will be practicing pretty hard over the next 2-3 weeks and hopefully something good will come up. The USGA events are important to me because I have loved playing in the Mid in the past. The USGA runs phenomenal events so getting into 1 or both of these is my real focus right now. I also have had a couple of high finishes in the MD Mid the last couple of years (top 10 and a T-5th) so I would like to be prepared for that event and see what I can do.