Thursday, August 14, 2008
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Played well...but not well enough
I played the sectional qualifier for the US Amateur yesterday and today and played pretty solid. It is a 36 hole qualifier and at my site (which was the DC section) there were 5 available spots for the 130 or so entrants. I ended up at +3 147 (75-72) and the playoff for the final 2 spots occurred at 143. I easily could have been significantly lower but every player in the field can say the same.
The biggest difference is that the Am is open to everyone whereas the Mid-Am specifically excludes those under 25 (i.e. college kids).
I was in the first group off on Monday morning at 7:00. Since the course, Worthington Manor GC, was an hour away from home that meant I was out the door at 5:00 a.m. I started on 10 and as usual I was older than the combined age of my playing partners (19&18). I got off to a solid start with 4 straight pars, although I did miss 3 makeable birdie putts. I then made a bad bogey on 14 (my 5th) when I flew the green and was essentially in jail. I bogeyed 17 but backed it up with a good birdie on 18 to turn in +1.
Unfortunately, we had to wait 30 mins on the first tee for the groups teeing off 1 to clear and obviously I bogeyed 1. But I backed it up with a tap in birdie on 2 and a 3 foot birdie on 4. Couple of pars later and I was even on the 8th tee (my 17th). This was a weird hole. The green is really big but the pin was back right and you had to get your ball up on the back tier (about the size of the roof of a car) or the ball would roll all the way down to the front of the green. So I overclubbed and flew the green into arguably the worst spot on the golf course. ABSOLUTE JAIL. F-Me. I have absolutely nothing and chip it onto the green and as expected it rolls all the way off the front edge of the green. 3 whacks later and that is a double bogey. F-Me again. But I compose myself and stripe a drive at the par 5 9th (565). I get to my ball and I have 275 to middle but it is downhill and downwind. I have to carry it about 245 to fly the hazard that fronts the green. I go back and forth and decide that I need to stay aggressive and go for it. Well I hit a squirrely 3 wood that never gets higher than nose high and goes in the hazard (actually almost cleared). F-Me thrice. I then take my drop and end up making bogey. So I shoot 75 finishing double bogey-bogey. I am pissed. Probably need to go low on Tuesday.
Today I get a little better tee time (8:15) and able to "sleep in" until about 5:45. The leading scores aren't as low as I expected so it looks like -2 (142) will have a good shot to get in. That means a 67 is needed for yours truly. Here is a rundown on today:
Hole 1 Solid par
Hole 2 Power lip out on my par putt...+1
Hole 3 Brain dead double bogey on the hardest hole on the course...+3
I didn't really feel as though I was out of it at this point strangely. I had hit all solid shots the first three holes but had gotten a bad break on 2 and hit a poor chip on 3. I felt if I could fight back to even par at the turn I could freewheel the back and try and shoot really low (like 30 or 31).
Holes 4-7 Hit all of these approaches close and made two putts for birdie...back to +1
Hole 8 This is the site of my trainwreck from yesterday. This time I hit the right club on the back tier only to see my ball back up and slowly (painfully slowly) roll back to the front of the green. 3 putts later we are...+2 This is a terrible hole and needs to be blown up immediately.
Hole 9 Play this hole more traditionally today and damn near hole out my 3rd shot. Tap in birdie...+1
So I am not where I wanted to be when I started but nothing I can do. I need to do something special on the back and shoot lights out (probably need 29 or 30). 10 and 11 are good birdie hole and I need to get at least one of the two.
Hole 10 Hit a good approach but miss a 15 footer
Hole 11 Hit a good drive followed by my worst shot of the tournament-a pulled wedge from 125 yds that leads to a deflating bogey. +2
Hole 12-16 Hit great shots all the way. Really very, very solid. Make three birdies in that 5 hole stretch to get into red numbers -1
Hole 17 225 yard par 3..Hit in greenside bunker and fail to get up and down...E
Hole 18 Make a sloppy par on this reachable par 5...Finish at E
So while I didn't get in I did take some good from these rounds:
Driving- I drove it very well for 2 rounds. In the 28 driving holes I hit 26 fairways. That is as good as I can hope for.
Putting- I putted very well and made 9 birdies in 2 rounds. That is a good sign. I also made several good par putts in each round from 4-8 feet. I think all my work there has paid off.
General Execution- I made good decisions and executed them very well. The only two doubles I made were from hitting over the greens where I simply misclubbed. That happens but both of the shots were solid I just misjudged the wind and the amount uphill the respective holes played.
Overall I am very pleased with my play right now and am in very good form heading into the US Mid Qualifier next Monday. I will play a practice round at the course (Argyle CC) this Thurs.
The biggest difference is that the Am is open to everyone whereas the Mid-Am specifically excludes those under 25 (i.e. college kids).
I was in the first group off on Monday morning at 7:00. Since the course, Worthington Manor GC, was an hour away from home that meant I was out the door at 5:00 a.m. I started on 10 and as usual I was older than the combined age of my playing partners (19&18). I got off to a solid start with 4 straight pars, although I did miss 3 makeable birdie putts. I then made a bad bogey on 14 (my 5th) when I flew the green and was essentially in jail. I bogeyed 17 but backed it up with a good birdie on 18 to turn in +1.
Unfortunately, we had to wait 30 mins on the first tee for the groups teeing off 1 to clear and obviously I bogeyed 1. But I backed it up with a tap in birdie on 2 and a 3 foot birdie on 4. Couple of pars later and I was even on the 8th tee (my 17th). This was a weird hole. The green is really big but the pin was back right and you had to get your ball up on the back tier (about the size of the roof of a car) or the ball would roll all the way down to the front of the green. So I overclubbed and flew the green into arguably the worst spot on the golf course. ABSOLUTE JAIL. F-Me. I have absolutely nothing and chip it onto the green and as expected it rolls all the way off the front edge of the green. 3 whacks later and that is a double bogey. F-Me again. But I compose myself and stripe a drive at the par 5 9th (565). I get to my ball and I have 275 to middle but it is downhill and downwind. I have to carry it about 245 to fly the hazard that fronts the green. I go back and forth and decide that I need to stay aggressive and go for it. Well I hit a squirrely 3 wood that never gets higher than nose high and goes in the hazard (actually almost cleared). F-Me thrice. I then take my drop and end up making bogey. So I shoot 75 finishing double bogey-bogey. I am pissed. Probably need to go low on Tuesday.
Today I get a little better tee time (8:15) and able to "sleep in" until about 5:45. The leading scores aren't as low as I expected so it looks like -2 (142) will have a good shot to get in. That means a 67 is needed for yours truly. Here is a rundown on today:
Hole 1 Solid par
Hole 2 Power lip out on my par putt...+1
Hole 3 Brain dead double bogey on the hardest hole on the course...+3
I didn't really feel as though I was out of it at this point strangely. I had hit all solid shots the first three holes but had gotten a bad break on 2 and hit a poor chip on 3. I felt if I could fight back to even par at the turn I could freewheel the back and try and shoot really low (like 30 or 31).
Holes 4-7 Hit all of these approaches close and made two putts for birdie...back to +1
Hole 8 This is the site of my trainwreck from yesterday. This time I hit the right club on the back tier only to see my ball back up and slowly (painfully slowly) roll back to the front of the green. 3 putts later we are...+2 This is a terrible hole and needs to be blown up immediately.
Hole 9 Play this hole more traditionally today and damn near hole out my 3rd shot. Tap in birdie...+1
So I am not where I wanted to be when I started but nothing I can do. I need to do something special on the back and shoot lights out (probably need 29 or 30). 10 and 11 are good birdie hole and I need to get at least one of the two.
Hole 10 Hit a good approach but miss a 15 footer
Hole 11 Hit a good drive followed by my worst shot of the tournament-a pulled wedge from 125 yds that leads to a deflating bogey. +2
Hole 12-16 Hit great shots all the way. Really very, very solid. Make three birdies in that 5 hole stretch to get into red numbers -1
Hole 17 225 yard par 3..Hit in greenside bunker and fail to get up and down...E
Hole 18 Make a sloppy par on this reachable par 5...Finish at E
So while I didn't get in I did take some good from these rounds:
Driving- I drove it very well for 2 rounds. In the 28 driving holes I hit 26 fairways. That is as good as I can hope for.
Putting- I putted very well and made 9 birdies in 2 rounds. That is a good sign. I also made several good par putts in each round from 4-8 feet. I think all my work there has paid off.
General Execution- I made good decisions and executed them very well. The only two doubles I made were from hitting over the greens where I simply misclubbed. That happens but both of the shots were solid I just misjudged the wind and the amount uphill the respective holes played.
Overall I am very pleased with my play right now and am in very good form heading into the US Mid Qualifier next Monday. I will play a practice round at the course (Argyle CC) this Thurs.
Friday, August 1, 2008
Random Stuff (Poker and Golf)
I have not been playing much tournament poker at all recently. The combination of the time involved and my lack of desire to grind it out for 4 hours+ just hasn't interested me. So I have been playing a lot of cash games in little hour blocks.
I did, however, play a few tournaments on Wednesday night. I actually managed to take one down. It was a smallish tournament with only ~200 players and a small $10 buy-in (I usually don't play these small buy-in tournaments but I have been running bad and just was goofing around). First place paid over $500 so what the heck. The top 20 or so made the money and I got into the money with a fairly decent stack (top 5). I had murdered the cash bubble by playing hyper-aggressive and actually was responsible for bursting the cash bubble. I had about 35k in chips and a guy to my right raised (blinds were 300/600/50 ante) to 1600. He only had 7500 or so in chips. I put him all in from the button with JT suited. He snap called with AK and the flop came AJT and my 2 pair held up.
Once we were down to 10 people I had built my stack to ~60k when a strange spot came up. The blinds were 400/800/100 and we were 5 handed. I was relentlessly raising and taking the blinds and antes probably 4x every 2 orbits. I raised with AQ to 2200 and got shoved over for a total of 20k. This looks like AK or a pair. I probably need to fold here since I am taking down the blinds and antes so easily at this point without resistance. But I felt this player's range was basically any pair 66-QQ and AK or AQ. I doubt AA or KK shoves all in there since they want action with those hands. Since I am 50/50 against most of those hands in his range I found a call and he showed the one hand I didn't want to see AK. So I lost 20k+ there and was back down to an average stack of 40k +/-. That was a bad call given the whole situation, etc.
We got to the final table and I switched gears and played much more conservatively until we got 4 handed. Guy on my left was raising and re-raising virtually every pot so I was patiently waiting. Finally my opportunity came when I was dealt JJ. I was in the cuttoff and just called (I think the blinds were 1000/2000/200). Right on cue Mr. Aggro raises to 12k and I shove on him for 60k putting him all in for his remaining ~35k. He calls with AT (lol..good call) and my hooks hold up. I then busted the other shortish stack when my 22 all-in preflop faded a million outs on the river versus AJ suited. Any club, board pair, A or J and I would have lost 40% of my stack but no sir.
Finally we got heads up and it lasted a good while with both of us sucking out to keep the stacks fairly even. We then got it all in when I flopped middle pair, a flush draw and a gutshot straight draw holding 9T. He actually had top pair (Q) so we obv got it all in and I hit my 9 to make 2 pair.
Not a huge pay by any means but I hadn't won a 100+ player tournament in some time so it was good to take it down. I also had played rather poorly the last few times I had final tabled. So always nice to play well at a final table and catch a few cards too.
Golf
Finally seeing progress in my short game and specifically my putting. I have really been struggling making anything and decided to play around on the practice green and try different grips, postures, etc. until it felt like I was hitting better putts. Buddy of mine actually said it looked like I was too far from the ball. Generally a good putter will stand over the ball with his eyes directly over the ball. My eyes were significantly inside the ball which causes an inside out stroke and a lot of hook or pulled putts. So I got more up over top of the ball and this squared up my stroke and they started rolling much straighter and more solid. Played yesterday a practice round for Monday and made 4 birdies as well as a bunch of 4-5 footers.
Much more fun to play when you are making putts. I had played in the Baltimore Country Club guest day last Thursday and shot 69 missing everything. Missed a 3 footer, 3 or 4 five footers and a ton of birdie putts from 10-16 feet. That gets old very quickly and begins to creep in to all phases of your game. I am really excited for all of the tournaments I have coming up in August and if my putting is back....
I did, however, play a few tournaments on Wednesday night. I actually managed to take one down. It was a smallish tournament with only ~200 players and a small $10 buy-in (I usually don't play these small buy-in tournaments but I have been running bad and just was goofing around). First place paid over $500 so what the heck. The top 20 or so made the money and I got into the money with a fairly decent stack (top 5). I had murdered the cash bubble by playing hyper-aggressive and actually was responsible for bursting the cash bubble. I had about 35k in chips and a guy to my right raised (blinds were 300/600/50 ante) to 1600. He only had 7500 or so in chips. I put him all in from the button with JT suited. He snap called with AK and the flop came AJT and my 2 pair held up.
Once we were down to 10 people I had built my stack to ~60k when a strange spot came up. The blinds were 400/800/100 and we were 5 handed. I was relentlessly raising and taking the blinds and antes probably 4x every 2 orbits. I raised with AQ to 2200 and got shoved over for a total of 20k. This looks like AK or a pair. I probably need to fold here since I am taking down the blinds and antes so easily at this point without resistance. But I felt this player's range was basically any pair 66-QQ and AK or AQ. I doubt AA or KK shoves all in there since they want action with those hands. Since I am 50/50 against most of those hands in his range I found a call and he showed the one hand I didn't want to see AK. So I lost 20k+ there and was back down to an average stack of 40k +/-. That was a bad call given the whole situation, etc.
We got to the final table and I switched gears and played much more conservatively until we got 4 handed. Guy on my left was raising and re-raising virtually every pot so I was patiently waiting. Finally my opportunity came when I was dealt JJ. I was in the cuttoff and just called (I think the blinds were 1000/2000/200). Right on cue Mr. Aggro raises to 12k and I shove on him for 60k putting him all in for his remaining ~35k. He calls with AT (lol..good call) and my hooks hold up. I then busted the other shortish stack when my 22 all-in preflop faded a million outs on the river versus AJ suited. Any club, board pair, A or J and I would have lost 40% of my stack but no sir.
Finally we got heads up and it lasted a good while with both of us sucking out to keep the stacks fairly even. We then got it all in when I flopped middle pair, a flush draw and a gutshot straight draw holding 9T. He actually had top pair (Q) so we obv got it all in and I hit my 9 to make 2 pair.
Not a huge pay by any means but I hadn't won a 100+ player tournament in some time so it was good to take it down. I also had played rather poorly the last few times I had final tabled. So always nice to play well at a final table and catch a few cards too.
Golf
Finally seeing progress in my short game and specifically my putting. I have really been struggling making anything and decided to play around on the practice green and try different grips, postures, etc. until it felt like I was hitting better putts. Buddy of mine actually said it looked like I was too far from the ball. Generally a good putter will stand over the ball with his eyes directly over the ball. My eyes were significantly inside the ball which causes an inside out stroke and a lot of hook or pulled putts. So I got more up over top of the ball and this squared up my stroke and they started rolling much straighter and more solid. Played yesterday a practice round for Monday and made 4 birdies as well as a bunch of 4-5 footers.
Much more fun to play when you are making putts. I had played in the Baltimore Country Club guest day last Thursday and shot 69 missing everything. Missed a 3 footer, 3 or 4 five footers and a ton of birdie putts from 10-16 feet. That gets old very quickly and begins to creep in to all phases of your game. I am really excited for all of the tournaments I have coming up in August and if my putting is back....
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