Time Off!!

After my Win, I traveled to Cali, to play 2 tournaments... I was supposed to catch my flight right after my final round at the Nogal Open, but unfortunately I had a problem with my car leaving the golf course and I missed my flight. I had to fly the next morning, giving me no time to relax before teeing off. It was a Pro-Am tournament, and I was very tired to play well... It was a fun tournament, specially the Alternate shot day.
The week after, I played the Shalom Open. Shalom is a short 9-hole course, but is VERY tight. I think is the tightest course I have ever played! If you are stripping your shots, you can go low there, but as easy you can shoot over par. I shot 76-74 and missed the cut, only the third one this season.
Following my Cali trip, I took some much needed time off, about 2 weeks. I needed it to recharge my batteries for December, which is again heavy with tournaments. I leave 1 week from today for the Colombian Master (Dec. 6-9), then Caujaral Open (Dec. 13-16) both in Barranquilla, and the National Match Play tournament, hosted by the Colombian PGA (Dec. 19-23).
I've been working on my swing this past few weeks, with great improvement! I think my Coach nailed it with a little drill to work on my shoulder plane, which was slightly off on the top of the backswing. I've been hitting the ball really well with my short irons. I will try to tape my swing this week and post it.
Also, I'm having a little equipment change for this tournament. Usually, I play the New Cobra Pro S or D, but for Barranquilla (Sea level, lots of wind in December) I will be going back to my Cobra 400 Tour 8.5* Vista Pro shaft. I hit that really low and with low spin, so is perfect for a windy day.
I will try to keep you updated about my tournaments!!

Nogal Open

I finished the tournament on friday (October 12th), since it was a tue-fri open. 72 holes at the golf course I grew up playing, with one of the best fields of the year. Except for Camilo Villegas, I would say that all the best Colombian Pros were there. Coincidentally, it was one of the bigest purses of the year so far also.
I struck the ball beautifully this week, hitting 67% of the fairways, 90% of the greens and shotting a career low 273 (-15), for my FIRST PRO OPEN WIN!!! I shot rounds of 69, 71, 64 and 69. Here are the stats for this week!
Click HERE for pics of that week, more to come! (Link is fixed now!!)

Avg Score 18 Holes: 68.3
Avg Score Front Nine: 34.3
Avg Score Back Nine: 34
Fairways: 35/52 (67%)
Fairways Front Nine: 15/24 (63%)
Fairways Back Nine: 20/28 (71%)
Greens: 65/72 (90%)
Greens Front Nine: 33/36 (92%)
Greens Back Nine: 32/36 (89%)
Avg Putts 18 Holes: 33.25
Avg Putts: 1.85
Avg Putts Front Nine: 1.92
Avg Putts Back Nine: 1.78
Avg Putts Per Green in Regulation: 1.91
Avg Putts Per Green Non-Reg: 1.29
Zero Putts: 0 (0%)
One Putts: 18 (25%)
Two Putts: 48 (67%)
Three or More Putts: 6 (8%)
Sand Saves: 1/2 (50%)
Non-Sand Saves: 4/5 (80%)
Total Saves: 5/7 (71%)
Hole in Ones: 0 (0%)
Double Eagles: 0 (0%)
Eagles: 4 (6%)
Birdies: 17 (24%)
Pars: 43 (60%)
Bogeys: 6 (8%)
Double Bogeys: 2 (3%)
Triple Bogeys: 0 (0%)
Others: 0 (0%)
Par 3 Avg Score: 3.3
Par 4 Avg Score: 3.91
Par 5 Avg Score: 4.1
Par 3 Green in Regulation: 16/20 (80%)
Par 4 Green in Regulation: 29/32 (91%)
Par 5 Green in Regulation: 20/20 (100%)

Country Club Tournament

I'm finally done with my 7 tournaments in a row, and let me tell you, I don't think I will be doing that again anytime soon! It just takes too much of a toll on my body and mind to play that many tournaments back to back.
This last tournament was a little more relaxed, because it was an invitational tournament for 36 pros (18 players and 18 instructors). The 18 couples had guaranteed money and we had a drawing on Wednesday to find out who your partner was. I drew Pedro Russi, who is Maria Jose Uribe's instructor, the girl that won the US Women's Amateur this year. He caddied for her in that tournament and he was a great amateur player himself, before turning pro and deciding to teach instead of play.
We played 3 different styles: Best Ball, Canadian Foursome and Aggregate Score on the last day. First day we had a good day, we made 6 birdies, but we both three putted from 6-8 feet on a par 4 to make a best ball 6, and then we bogey the par 5 18th to finish at -3, 4 of the lead. It was unfortunate, because we should have taken advantage of that round. It felt like we left a quite a few strokes out there.
Second day we shot 74 (+2) Canadian foursome (best tee shot, alternate shot from there). Again, we didn't play bad, but we just didn't capitalize on good opportunities and we made some silly bogeys.
Last day, I figured something out with my ball striking. On my 3rd hole (#12) I made was 183 out and I hit a pefect 8 iron to about 10 feet, with perfect hit, perfect trayectory, perfect line and perfect distance. I felt something different there and I kept it thru the whole round. Unfortunatedly, I made a triple 8 on hole 18 and ended up shooting +4 for the round. Pedro shot 79, and we finished 14th/18 groups.
I don't have any tournaments until October 9th, when I play a PGA Colombia Tournament, which has a pretty good purse and it will be hosted by San Andres Golf Club, where I grew up playing at. Now I will work on my swing for a couple of weeks with my swing coach Jorge Mesa. I feel like there are some things loose on my swing that I need to work on. I will keep you guys updated!!
Feel free to write comments, its been a while since someone commented anything!!
Cheers

Farallones Open

Farallones is the 6th tournament in a row, and I can tell that I'm tired! I did not have a good week at all, my ball striking was non existent but I scrambled ok. First round I shot +3, -3 for a Even Par round. Second round was better, I was -1 thru 10 holes, when I got to the par 6 11th hole, yeah, a PAR 6, playing 710 yards. Really, is not a hard par 6, you can get there easy in 3, but it has a really narrow fairway. Anyway, I was 175 yds out, tried to punch a 7 iron and clunked it in the water hazard in front of the green, ending up with a bogey 7 (it felt like a double). My group got into an argument with a Marshall and I lost my focus, finishing with 3 bogeys in the last 4 holes to barely make the cut on the number!
The weekend was a disaster! I knew I wasn't hitting the ball well, but I was trying really hard to score, but my putter didn't want to cooperate. I think I missed around 15 putts from inside 7 feet, which I usually make.
My mind was out of it and I took 2 days off, completly off from golf. I went to the gym, I streched and I slept, that was pretty much it. I felt more relaxed today as I played the practice round for the Country Club Invitational, a Pro-Pro event that starts on Friday. I shot a nice 65 (-6) on the same course that I played the Challenge tour event in February, but obviously the set up is not nearly as hard. I will update this week!

Arrayanes Open

I'm playing the Arrayanes Open this week in Bogota, so I'll be able to post after each round.

I wasn't able to play a practice round on Tuesday, so today I had to go by memory and my caddie. This is another course that I haven't played in a long time, over 8 years I would say. It is a short course with some really fast greens.

I currently stand tied for 7th place. I've shot 71-69-73 (-3). Three good rounds, first round started with 2 bogeys and ended up under par, second round was pretty solid with 4 birdies and 1 bogey, hitting 17 greens in regulation, but today I started bogey, bogey, birdie, birdie and had a triple bogey 7 on the par 4 7th, that featured a nasty four-putt, but I was able to bring it back to +1 for the day with a good 34 (-2) on the back 9. I'm 6 strokes back with one round to go! Time to make that Sunday charge that I have stored from last week!

Final Round Report!
I started the final round tied for 7th place with -3 and I knew that I needed a few birdies just to keep up with the guys, because with greens that roll this good is easy to make lots of birdies if you get on a roll. I talk to one of the tournament officials and he said that the greens were rolling at 12.5 on the stimp in the morning and they would probably roll around 13 in the afternoon.
I just couldn't start on the first two holes... Two short par 4's, but they got the best of me! I pared the first and then made a bogey on #2, quickly recovering with a birdie on #3. After five solid pars, I got to #9, a reachable par 5. I missed my drive right and got lucky and it stayed out of the water hazard. I had to layup to 130, where I made a strategic mistake and ended up hitting the ball in the left bunker, short siding myself. I made a good bogey and ended up +1 (37)for the front.
While I was walking to #10 tee box I looked at the leaderboard and saw that I was being passed by a lot of players and I knew that I had some ground to make up. I missed a good birdie opportunity (7ft birdie putt) on the par 5 10th. On the par 3 11th, I had 206 to the pin, and I played a beautiful high fade with my 6 iron that landed 3 feet from the pin and just rolled off the green, leaving me with a about a 12 footer for birdie that I went on to make. I then got on a roll making a 35 footer on #12 and two putting for birdie on #13. I had some good par saves on 14, 15, 16 and 17. On 18, my approach landed 10 feet short of the cup and rolled just missing the cup, stopping about 10 feet past the pin (firm and fast greens). I took a peek at the leaderboard while walking to the green and I saw that I stood in 8th place and I needed to make that birdie. I rolled it perfectly capping off a perfect 32 (-4) on the back to finish strong. Some of the players that were playing behind me bogeyed some holes coming in and I finished T5th, 1 stroke off third and two strokes off 2nd.
It was a pretty good tournament over all; I only made 1 mistake (a triple bogey on the third round) and I'm pretty comfortable with my swing. I was able to finish strong, showing me that I can keep my focus coming down the strech. Thats something I was lacking this year, keeping me from finishing higher. I made a lot more birdies on the weekend, which was another stat that I was keeping track of. In Pereira and Pueblo Viejo, I only made like 3 birdies on the weekend and still managed to finish top 5, but without birdies is really hard to win tournaments. My putting was very solid and it is improving. I had 28 and 26 putts on the weekend, which will always keep your scores low (I putted like a friend of mine, right Mr. Blaske?).

I have 3 more tournaments coming up, 3 straight weeks again!

Here is the link for the Final Results: http://www.clublosarrayanes.com.co/www/resources/adg_profesionales.pdf

Barranca and Medellin

I was out of town for 2 weeks playing in two courses that were new to me. Well, Barranca was completely new to me, and I didn't remember much about Medellin's Llanogrande course. I played there 10 years ago, so I didn't remember many holes.

Barranca Golf Course was built in the 1940's by Oil Companies that worked in the region. Its only a 9 hole course that is not in the best shape, but it has a pretty interesting design. The greens were Japanese Bermuda, a really weird type of grass, that sometimes grabs and sometimes releases and they roll around 4 on the stimp! (REALLY SLOW) Unfortunately, it was a mud hole this year (see attached cell phone pic). It was hard to find dry land on the fairways and the ball plugged most of the time. I've never played in those conditions, but it was different and fun at the same time. First round (Saturday) I was -3 after 12 holes, when the round got called off due to darkness. I started early on Sunday, but my fortune was turning... On the 14th hole, I hit a drive down the middle and my ball plugged and we couldn't find it, so I had to take a double and things went downhill from there. I ended up with a 73 (+1) for the day. The afternoon was really hot and humid, turning the round into a torture... Needless to say, I didn't do my best to shoot 74 (+2). Monday was a completely different story, I was hanging in there my whole round and ended up with 2 birdies in my last 3 holes for a 71 (-1). My +2 total was good enough for 8th place. It was a new and interesting experience to me!


Medellin (UPDATED)...
The course in Medellin, called LlanoGrande, is a pretty nice design with some really good finishing holes. It played around 7,000 yards, and it was fairly long since it was pretty wet. The downside to the course is that it has 3 types of greens, bent, bermuda and mix, so is hard to get used to the speed. The first 2 days were pretty uneventful, filled with missed putts and a little of bad ball striking on Friday. I shot 75-78 with 34 and 32 putts. Saturday was a good day, I shot 70 (-2) and moved to 16th place, last on the money, so I figured that with a good Sunday round I could probably reach another Top 10. Sunday started off well with birdies on holes 2, 7, 10 and 13, but on hole 14 the rain started and it didn't stop! I was -4 after 14 holes and play got cancelled for the day!!! After talking with some of my fellow pros, I figured that I stood in 9th or 10th place the way my round was going, but the tournament got shortened to 54 holes, so I was last on the money. Not bad for a bad week! Too bad I couldn't finish my Sunday charge, but it left me a good feeling for the upcoming weeks

Pueblo Viejo Open

Last week was Pueblo Viejo Open, my home course. I've been playing there since March and I really enjoy the Club, the people and the course. Of course I wanted to play well in front of my home crowd and everybody was rooting for me, so it was a little more added pressure for this tournament.

First round started off pretty good with a easy birdie on #1, then followed with birdies on #4, #5 and #7 for a 32 (-4) in the front. After two good pars on #10 and 11, I birdied #12 to move to -5. #13 is a long dog-leg left par 5 with OB left and water right on both the tee shot and the second shot. I hit a good drive that rolled just a little too far and got on the first cut, where I got a really good (or bad??) lie. The ball was sitting perfectly on top of the grass with a footprint behind it. The ball was sitting up about 1" above the grass. I tried to hit my hybrid, but it was sitting up too high, so I caught it on the top part of the club and it jumped high and to the right, where it clipped a tree and went into the water. I ended up with bogey there. I followed it with 3 straight pars to settle down and I birdied #17 and 18 with two good putts, for a 34 (-2) on the back. I shot 66 (-6) and I was in second place behind the eventual winner, Oswaldo Villada, that shot a flawless 64. I felt pretty good with my game after hitting 15 greens, hitting 79% of the fairways and adding only 28 putts to my score. Here is the link to the first round stats ( http://www.mygolfdomain.com/member.php?member=1964&which=view_round&round=4869 )
I started two shots back and I was on the final group on Friday, and I knew I had to get a good round in to be in contention for the weekend. I birdied the first hole again, then bogeyed #3, and came back with birdies on #4, 7 and 9 to finish -3 in the front. I played well the back 9, but I wasn't lucky with my putts, I hit some really good putts that just didn't go in. I had 9 straight pars for a 69 (-3). After the second round, I found myself tied with Villada for the lead at -9. http://www.mygolfdomain.com/member.php?member=1964&which=view_round&round=4874
Saturday and Sunday were pretty uneventful for me. I only had 2 birdies and an eagle for both days and my putting lacked touch and luck. I hit some really good putts that didn't go in and I hit some bad putts that also missed the hole. I had 3 bogeys, a birdie and an eagle on Saturday for an Even par 72. After Saturday, I was only one shot back of the lead, held by Alvaro Pinedo at -10 (Saturday stats: http://www.mygolfdomain.com/member.php?member=1964&which=view_round&round=4897 )
My Sunday round started quite awful. I started my day with a 3 putt double bogey on the first hole and just never got anything going after that. I had some really good par saves, but none for birdie. I only birdied the 7th hole and had 2 more bogeys for a +3. I tried to hang in there, but my game (or mind?) wasn't up to it. It was a good experience, because even though I didn't play my best, I never gave up and I fought until the last hole. I wan't nervous to be playing in the final group the last day, it felt right to be up there in the leaderboard. (Sunday stats: http://www.mygolfdomain.com/member.php?member=1964&which=view_round&round=4914 )
I finished tied for 5th, and even though it wasn't what I was looking for, it was a great experience to be close to the lead and hold my own for 3 days. Now I know that I belong up there in the leaderboard and that is not a fluke to play well. I know I can win out here and it is just a matter of time, patience and hard work that will take me there.
I leave tomorrow for a 3 day tournament in Barranca and then travel again to Medellin for another 72 hole tournament. I will play 4 weeks in a row again. I will try to keep updates, but it might be hard from Barranca. Until then, cheers!

2 Tournament Review

Well, I've been slacking with my writing, but I'll try to write more often... Since the Colombian Open, I've played 3 tournaments (Rodeo Open, Militar Open and Pueblo Viejo Open). On this post I will only review 2 of them, I'll make another post for the Pueblo Viejo Open, my home course.

The first was Rodeo Open, in Medellin. I've never played that course before and besides the greens, it was pretty playable, with some tough tee shots and some blind shots. I was surprised to find a hilly course right next to the airport. Now, the greens.. mmmm what can I say... Stupid is the first thing that comes to mind, but I think that might be a little too much, but they were hilly and fast!!! How about the pin placements? I have the right word... STUPID!! They were close to unplayable!! Some pin placements were only 4 feet away from the edge and some were almost impossible to two-putt!! I shot 76-74-80-83... I had 38 putts on saturday and I consider myself a good putter!! Gustavo Mendoza shot a flawless 65 on saturday to win the tournament by 9 or 10 strokes. It's one of the most impressive rounds of golf I've ever heard of. The areas on the greens where you had to place (place, not land) your ball was usually 12 feet wide by 12 feet long, otherwise, you couldn't two-putt, or you had to make a 20 footer to par the hole. Needless to say, I didn't enjoy that setup too much... I made the cut by 6 strokes and then finished last of the guys that made the cut, in 19th place.

The second tournament was the Militar Open. I've played this Open about 10 or 12 times. It is a must every year and I played it every summer while I was in College. Is a fairly short course with fast and hilly greens and they have the same pin placements every year. The back 9 has Out-of-Bounds left on every hole, so if hook is your shot, this place is a nightmare!! I shot 69-73-73-76 to finished tied for 15th. I played pretty good, but unfortunately, the third day I hit one of those nightmare hook shots on hole 14 for a double-bogey 7 on a par 5 to top a little bogey-double-double run that killed my momentum. I was -5 at the moment, only 3 strokes back and by the end of the day I was at -1, 7 strokes back. I should have been only 2 strokes back at -6. The last day I tried too hard and luckily finished with an Eagle on the last hole to get in the money (t-15th). But I learned from that and moved on to Pueblo Viejo Open.

Colombian Open

I flew back from Pereira on Monday night (it was a Fri-Mon tournament), arriving at my house around 11pm and then I went to play my first practice round for the Open on Tuesday morning. The greens were rolling around 11 on Tuesday, and were fairly firm. To my surprise, the long rough I'd seen the months prior the tournament was gone in some parts due to lack of water or morning freeze. Still, the course had sharp teeth and you needed good luck in the rough to even have a chance of advancing your ball a few yards.

On Wednesday I played the pro-am and played pretty decent and shot a +4. By Wednesday afternoon the greens were rolling close to 12 and it was hard to stop the ball on the green.

Thursday: I started my day on the 10th tee at 12:30 (with a 11:35 tee time) after a long delay. I pared my first 10 holes, bogeyed 2 and 3, birdied 5, double 7 and bogeyed 9 for a round of 76 (+4) and tied for 25th, right on the cutline. I played a solid round, except for a couple of holes where I lost my concentration and hit poor shots. I wasn't satisfied with my round because I played a lot better than a +4 but over all it wasn't a bad start. The course was playing harder than most expected and there were only a couple of scores under par. The leader was at -2. The greens (the course biggest defense) were rolling around 12 or 12.5 on the stimp. The afternoon was playing considerably harder than in the morning, since the wind picked up and the greens dried up pretty quick!

Friday started early, with a 7:27 tee time on the 1st tee. I started with a birdie and then proceeded to bogey #2 and double #3. I was at +6 for the tournament and worried about the cutline! I settled down and shot an 38 (+2) on the front. I got it going on the back 9 with 3 birdies, 5 pars and only one bogey for a 34 (-2) on the back, for a total of 72 (E). After the morning wave, I moved from 25 to 6th with that round!! As the afternoon went on, I started to see the cutline move up (109 players, only Top 30 and ties made the cut) from +4 to +6, +8 and finally +10!! Gosh I was happy I played in the morning that day! My round kept getting better and better and by the end of the day I was tied for 10th place with +4.

Saturday was a bad day. I didn't have my A game and I missed a really good opportunity to move on the leaderboard. The course was playing really hard that day and the pin locations were close to unfair. If you happen to hit a green on the wrong side of the pin, a good putt would come to rest at least 10 feet from the hole! Some holes the ball wouldn't stop around the cup. The average for the 33 pros that made the cut was 78.84, over 6 strokes on the wrong side of par! I had 3 three-putts and shot 78. All and all, I only lost 1 spot with that round. I was at +10 for the tournament.

Sunday was my big opportunity to play a good round and gain some places. I pared my first 2 holes, birdied 3, pared 4 and 5, missed a short up and down on 6 for a bogey and made a 40 foot sneak on 7. After 2 more pars, I shot a solid 35 (-1) on the front. On the 10th tee, I barely missed the green and drew a bad lie on the fringe, plus a bad club selection led to a double bogey. I kept my cool and decided that I was still in a good spot, since 11 and 12 were birdie holes. Sure enough I birdied both, but I didn't stop there, adding 2 more birdies on 13 and 14. I made a great par save from 60 yds out on 15 and on 16th tee box someone told me that the leader was at +4 for the tournament and I was at +7 then! I hit 3 perfect shots on the par 5 16th and my 7 footer barely missed the cup. I lost my focus a little and finished with 2 bogeys, shooting a final round of 71 (-1) and the second best round of the day by a stroke.
I finished tied in 6th place and felt very close to the top spot... I was 5 strokes of the playoff, but I really felt like I have the game to win out here. I feel that my path is starting to be a little clearer and that I'm going in the right direction!
Well, I think this is enough for now... I travel again this coming Tuesday for another tournament and start another string of 3 tournaments in 4 weeks.
Here is the article for the Colombian Open (there is a pic of me there): http://www.federacioncolombianadegolf.com/noticia.php?nt=20328
Here are the results for the Colombian Open: http://www.federacioncolombianadegolf.com/noticia.php?nt=20324

Pereira Open!

First day in Pereira was long, very long. I teed off at 12:30 and got to #5 at -1, but then a rain storm delayed play for over two hours. I finally got back on the course to par 5, 6, birdie 7, bogey 8, birdie 9, 12, 15 and came back the next morning to finish with par, birdie, par on 16, 17 and 18. I shot a 66 (-5) and I was leading by one shot, but since we finished the next morning and we started play again, I wasn't aware of where I was on the leaderboard. Second round was a nice fought 72 (+1) and I was still tied for the lead. I played 2 solid rounds on the weekend, shooting 71-71, finishing in T5th with a total of 280 (-4) and 3 shots back of the winner, Rafael Ponce from Ecuador. Rafa played for 5 or 6 years on the Asian Tour before coming back to South America.
I felt really good all weekend, and eventhough I was playing with top players and in contention, I handled the presure great and I had my nerves under control for most of the round. I'm getting familiar with the top of the leaderboard and I feel comfortable up there now! This was the most important part of the tournament, that I learned to be up there and contend. It was great preparation for the Colombian Open.
For results click go here: http://www.federacioncolombianadegolf.com/noticia.php?nt=20284

Found New Light!

After missing the cut in Armenia, I went to the range on Saturday to give a lesson to my friend's mom, where I was staying for the tournament. Right there, something clicked and I found a way to work on my swing, which was a little long and producing all kind of different shots (not on purpose!). Sunday was a long day at the range working on that new tip I found and it started to work. I decided that I wasn't going to let the missed cut affect my confidence or my plans for the upcoming weeks, leading up to the Colombian Open.

Armenia... Cut short!!!

Well, I made it to the course where I won my first amateur open tournament. Armenia used to be a short par 72 course and usually the cut was around -4 for the pros and the winning score was always around -20. One year the winner shot -24 in 3 days!! That's pretty impressive and also tells you how easy the course was playing. Back then, it was fairly new and the trees were small.

Those days are over!! This year I came back after 3 years of not playing in Armenia, and I found a new beast in town! The tournament committee decided to have a Par 70 course for the tournament, having firm greens and lots of run-off areas that trickled down to OB's or water hazards. One of the courses biggest defense are called "Guaduales", which are basically bamboo trees, but only thicker and more bunched close together. If you happen to hit it in there, 95% of the time, you won't have a shot and 99% of the time you won't even have a swing. The space between trees is usually a couple of feet only. Tough test if you ask me.

This year the cut was at +9 and unfortunately I missed it by 4 strokes. This was the first tournament where I really struggled off the tee and with my irons. I shot 79-74 and really didn't have it this week at all. I usually have good control over my ball flight, but this week it seemed to be lost somewhere in my luggage, good thing I decided to pack it and bring it to my next tournament, Pereira.
I'm quickly learning about the touring pro life, which is pretty hard and you just have to grind it every week, because you never know when it could be you week. I've learned that swing thoughts and overall game doesn't necessarily carry over from one week to the next, and even if you miss the cut one week, you can win the next. At least, that is what I will tell myself for the rest of the season. Its not luck, it's hard work paying off, and sometimes it just takes a little more time, but I will get there, I know I will. This is a process, and so far, I'm pretty happy with my performance, and I'm getting hungrier by the minute.
I will make some updates about Pereira's Open in the next few days... I play my practice round tomorrow.

Ibague Weekend Review

I had some problems getting into a computer to update my blog. I made the cut for the weekend, and I was in 18th place. Only top-15 got money on this tournament. Saturday was another though round. My short game was there, but wasn't sharp or wasn't working the way I was visualizing the shots. The greens were really firm, so hitting the ball close was a challenge, and the fringe/fairways were bumpy and slow. Though combination. I shot 76 (+5) and fell 1 spot to 19th, 4 shots out of the money.

Sunday was frustrating on the front nine. I FINALLY par No. 1, which felt like a birdie (after 4 straight bogeys on that hole). I pared No. 2, the hard par 3, which pretty much had my round going, but after a OB pull-hook on No. 3 I was again over par (+2) on No. 4 tee box. I pared out from there to finish at +2 for the front nine. The back nine was a completely different story!! I'll make it short. I had 4 sand saves for par, one up and down for bogey, one for par and 3 birdies, for a nice -2 on the back, with 9 PUTTS!!! I finished with birdie on 16 and 18 to get 15th place, right in the money!
Here are the results: http://www.federacioncolombianadegolf.com/noticia.php?nt=20089

I felt pretty good after that round, it was very satisfying to have a good round when I really needed it. Now is off to Armenia Open, which starts tomorrow!

Two Rounds Report

Well, first things first, I made it to the weekend. Not in the way I wanted, but I have 36 more holes to play and improve.

First round I shot -1, 70 (39-31). I started on Hole 1 with a bogey, then proceeded to bogey the third hole and the seventh hole for a +3 on the front. Then I birdied 11, 12, 15 and 18 for -4 on the back. I was in fourth place after the 2 rounds, 6 strokes back. I played with a local pro, with colombian Golf leyend Eduardo Herrera and again with Rodrigo Castañeda. All of them shot under par in the front 9 and I ended up beating them for the round. The pins were mostly on the fron of the green and tucked behind bunkers and hills, which made for difficult scoring conditions. I thinkI was a little nervous at first, but then I settled down and started making some birdies. It was a good round, I was 6 back of first, 3 back of second and 1 back of third.

Second round didn't go so well. I started again on short No. 1 with bogey, then birdied hard par 3 No. 2, then bogeyed 3 and 4, birdied No. 6 for a +1 and I though that the round was on its way, since the first few holes are the harder ones. I bogeyed 8 and 9 for a +3 again on the front. The back wasn't any better. I had 2 bogeys and a double for a +4, +7 78 for the round and +6 for the tournament. I dropped 14 spots to No. 18 and made the cut by 2 strokes.

I tee of at 11:55am today. It's moving day!

Ibague Preview!

I called last week to find out about the condition of the course, and they said that the course it had been closed for over 3 weeks!!! The course was completly soaked by many rain showers and the ground was too soft to mow. The fairways were about 4 inches long and the rough was even longer! They mowed Saturday and Sunday with a weedeater and they were able to mow on monday with the regular equipement. I played 9 holes yesterday, and to my surprise, the course is playing firm and fast!!!
They had 3 days of sunshine and the course back to its normal condition. The fairways and greens are bermuda grass and the rough is a native grass, pretty thick. The fairways are still a little on the fluffy side, but they are very playable. You might get the occasional flyer, but its the norm on the longish bermuda.
I played the Pro-Am today and shot a solid 67 (-4). I had 2 eagles, 2 birdies, 2 bogeys and 12 pars. I played solid all day and I only had some problems with the sand... Its pretty tough to hit the ball close from the greenside bunkers. The thick sand and firm greens make it pretty tough.
It's been hot the past 2 days (i would say around 90-95) and I have a late tee time tomorrow. I tee off around noon.
I feel good coming into this week and my game is pretty solid right now, all I have to do is let it flow!
I will report tomorrow!

Week Off Update!

Well, I've had a lot of rest this week, and I'm also nursing a bad wrist and a bit of a cold (long lasting cold, since I've had it for over 2 weeks now). I took monday and tuesday off to rest and recover from last weeks tournament travel. Wednesday I practiced for a few hours and had some friendly bets going on the putting green with some kids from the course I play at. It was pretty nice and is great putting practice.

I played today (thursday) at Club El Rincon, where the Colombian Open will be held in 4 weeks. The course will be playing really hard. The rough is long, thick and fluffy. Its almost impossible to hit the ball out if you get a bad lie. I played the white tees today, since they are protecting the tournament tees and I had a good day. I hit 15 greens, I had 28 putts for a 67 (-5). It was almost like a mini tournament, since we had 16 guys, mostly touring pros from down here. I came in first by 2 strokes and it was a great confidence booster for the upcoming 4 tournaments.

On friday, I played well again. I shot 66 on another money game with some pros, which I beat again! Saturday I shot a 71, raising my total to -12 in 3 rounds, which is great for the upcoming tournaments. Sunday all the weeks work got to me, and I played an ok round, but I still feel like I have my A game for these coming tournaments. I travel tomorrow and I will be out of town for 3 weeks. I'm not sure how easy it will be to post, but I will do my best. You can check scores at www.fedegolfcolombia.com and look for "Ibague", "Armenia" and "Pereira" which are the tournaments I will be playing in.

Now, I'm ready for tournament play!
Cheers!

Tournament Report!

Well, I had problems getting to a computer after my second round. I wasn't able to post anything, so I will make a review of the 3 remaining rounds.
I just got back from Manizales, and it's around 4:30am here... it was a looong trip back, with a lot of turns and little sleep.

Second Round:
I hit the ball pretty well and I finally made some putts! I hit 15 greens and had 31 putts. It felt like I left some birdies out there, but with a score of 69 (-3) I was moving into a good spot. I moved up 4 spots from 16th to 12th. We played with lift-clean-and-place rule. Angel Romero shot 63 to move into the lead with -10.

Third Round:
The lift-clean-and-place rule was gone, but the course was in even worst conditions than before. It rained all Friday afternoon and night, making the course soggy and the ball was picking up a lot of mud. It was hard to hit the ball close and control was the big issue on Saturday. I hit only 8 greens and I had 27 putts, for a score of 74 (+2). Usually I would have been disappointed with that score, but I had a rough stretch from 11 to 13, where I shot +5 in those holes. I was even par going into the par 3 11th, and I made a simple bogey. On the 12th hole, I hit my ball out of bounds, then proceeded to hit my second ball in a cross-bunker and ended up making a triple bogey 7 on that hole. Hole 13 is a short par 4, but I hit my ball behind a tree, and after failing to get it up and down for par, I was +5 for the day, +2 for the tournament with 5 holes remaining on my round. Here is where my round turned around. I made a 35 footer for birdie on the 14th hole, then hit my approach shot within 5 feet on 15, and I hit the green in 2 on the par 5 16th. I got it back to +2 for the day and -1 for the tournament. I went backwards on the leaderboard, moving to 15th place. Juan Carlos Echeverry was the leader with -11.

Final Round
I had a pretty uneventful front nine, I only missed a 4 footer for par on the second hole and pared the rest for a +1. I really didn't make any putts on the front nine, so I decided that I would take only 9 putts on the back. That was my goal, and I missed it by just a few! I had 12 putts, which shows me that I just need to concentrate more on my putting, be a little more aggressive and putts will drop. I was -1 for the day going into 18, where I pulled my drive and the ball plugged in the rough. I didn't get relief, so I hit it out of the hole was tough, but I managed to get it to the greenside bunker. From there I hit a bad bunker shot and a ball first putt, leaving me 12 feet for bogey and finish the tournament under par! I made that putt, and I was really happy to finish under par, and after the round, I realized that the bogey on 18th didn't cost me much, since I finished 11th place and 2 shots behind 10th place. I shot 72-69-74-72=287 (-1). Angel Romero won by 4 strokes with -14.

Over all, I'm pretty happy with my performance in this tournament. There is a lot of room to improve, which is good, but I finally finished under par again in a 72 hole tournament. This is another step in the right direction. Now is back to Bogota for a week before I get back on the road for 3 weeks straight.
I will get some well deserved sleep now... Cheers!

First Round Report

Well, first round is over and now it's time to report. I shot 72, I hit 17 greens, 12/14 fairways (the new Pro S Driver seems to be working fine!) and had 35 putts. Now, before anything I would like to say that I didn't putt all that bad. I had 4 horrible lipouts and one normal lipout, so that accounts for most of the putts, besides, I hit some greens on the wrong side (testing those pesky downhill putts I was talking about yesterday) and of course it was hard to two-putt. But I'm nothing but encouraged by this start. I'm rolling my putts well, I'm striking the ball awesome and its a matter of time before I get a good round going and even a good tournament going!

Now about the course. Unfortunately, last night it rained ALL night, so the course was completely soaked. My worries about having mud on the ball were dissipated after I found out that the first round would be playing with lift-clean-and-place rule. The fairways are pretty wet and its all carry with your driver. The greens are in ok shape, they have some brown spots, but I'm not sure why. It seems that they tried to get them fast too soon and scalped them. But it still they roll fine.

I play at 9:30 tomorrow, again with Rodrigo, who didn't have a great round today. He shot 74 (+2).

I'm ready for a good round tomorrow... I hope it doesn't rain tonight!

Ready for the First Round...

Well, I've played 2 rounds at the Manizales course and it is a pretty nice layout... It is a short course, where you can hit a bunch of drives. It is pretty wet (we are in the middle of the rain season down here). The ball is picking up a lot of mud, which is a pain, because it affects the flight of the ball and it is very hard to measure how much. On the other hand, the course will play a little easier with wet fairways, since they are very undulated and have some runoffs towards out of bounds and hazards. It is a short course, I believe it plays around 6,600 yds. The greens are protected by a bermuda collar which is around 3-4 inches long, penalizing errant shots, good thing I played in bermuda grass last week!
The greens are bermuda also, but they are not in very good shape, I would say they are in ok shape. Some are flat, but most of them have a lot of movement to them, and they are lighting fast going downhill.
My tee off time tomorrow is at 9:20am and I will be playing with Rodrigo Castañeda, who is ranked 6th on the money list this year.
I'm looking forward to playing tournaments again and I feel good about my game! I will try to write after my round tomorrow! Cheers!

I made it!!!

Well, I just finished an 9 hour trip from Bogota to Manizales, where I will be playing my next tournament... It was a long trip, but I was traveling with 13 other pros from down here (we rented a bus) so it was a fun experience, well, not really, but it was ok! ;-)

I will be playing my practice round tomorrow, pro-am on wed and tournament starts on thursday. I've never played this course, so I will tell you what I think about it either tomorrow or wed, depending on how much time I have to write....

logging off....

Upcoming Tournaments!

After a two month layover without any tournaments, some swing changes and a trip to Wichita, I have 5 tournaments in the next 6 weeks! I leave Monday for my fist one, the Manizales Open. After that, I head back to Bogota for one week and then I'll be on the road for 3 weeks and playing tournaments for 4 weeks in 4 different cities (Ibague, Armenia, Pereira and Bogota).

May 31- June 1-2-3 Abierto de Golf - 'Ciudad de Manizales'
Club Manizales, Manizales

June 14-15-16-17 XXIII Abierto de Golf - 'Ciudad De Ibagué'
CC Ibagué, Ibagué

June 21-22-23-24 XXXI Abierto Cafetero de Golf
Club Campestre de Armenia, Armenia

June 29-30-1-2 III Abierto Internacional del Eje Cafetero - XXIII Abierto - CC Pereira
Club Campestre de Pereira, Pereira

July 5-6-7-8 60 Abierto de Colombia 'Copa Joaquin y Tomás Samper Brush'
El Rincón, Bogotá

Year in review!

Well, so far this year I've played 7 events, I made the cut on 6 of them and I won the first tournament, the Colombian Qualifying School. I played really solid golf in that tournament, where all I wanted to do was play smart golf and keep big numbers out. I knew if I could do that, I would have one of the 20 cards for the 2007 Colombian Tour. I did that and ended up winning the tournament, which was a big plus and a bust of confidence.
Serrezuela (Q School Tournament)
71-69-72=212 (-4) 1st/165

After that, I Monday qualified for a Challenge Tour event (2nd Circuit under the European Tour) and played good golf, except the third day when I injured my neck while warming up. Overall it was a great experience, I got to play with Nicholas Thompson and David Morland IV (they were in a Nationwide playoff 2 weeks after the event in New Zealand) and I realized that my game is not that far off from theirs and that I'm on the right track!
Club Colombia Masters, Country Club (Challenge Tour Event)
75-69-78-72=294 (+10) 56th/144

Third on my schedule was the National Pro Championship where I played either good golf or bad golf for each of 9 holes the first 2 days. I shot 33-40 and 40-32. I really played solid golf on that tournament, except 2 big numbers on hole number 3, where I was +8 (a 7 and a 9 on a par four) and finished +7 for the tournament. So -1 for 70 holes is not all that bad... I know, I got to keep those big numbers away.
National Pro Championship, Sabana Club
73-72-70-76=291 (+7) T19th/53

Following that even, it was the Carmel Open, which is a short course with some diabolic greens and pin placements. On some holes, it is IMPOSSIBLE to stop your ball around the cup, making 4, 5 or 6 putt greens pretty available to all players. I had problems with the grain of the grass (native grass) and I wasn't up to my normal ballstriking abilities. I was hitting a pronounced draw of the tee and my short irons were falling short of my targets most of the time.
Carmel Open
71-77-75-71=294 (+14) T19th/46

Moving on to the Club Campestre de Cali Open, I knew I had to make some swing changes, since that course is very demanding of the tee and it requires a slight fade on every tee shot. I took some lessons from Jorge Mesa, which in my opinion is one of the best golf teachers in Colombia. We changed some positions on my backswing that were producing the pronounced draw of the tee. The first day it worked perfect and I was able to hit the ball exactly where I wanted. I played nearly a flawless round for a -1 and a third place start. The second day, it was all a different story. I really couldn't work the ball and I was in the trees all day, no need to elaborate on that!
Cali Open
70-83=MC

After a weeks rest, I traveled to Girardot (2 hour car ride from Bogota) to a PGA Colombia Tournament, the first of the year. The Colombian Golf Federation runs the big Tour, and it has around 25 events per year, but the PGA also has a few events, not sanctioned by the Federation. This course is a long good test for most golfers, and unfortunately (or should I say, fortunately) it wasn't in its best tournament condition. The fairways were soft and the greens soft and slow, so it allowed for great scoring. This is by far the best ball striking tournament I've had this year. It was near flawless all tournament and I believe I hit around 80% of the greens in regulation. Unfortunately, this time my putting let me down, or I would have been around the 8-10 under par for the 72 holes. I see the light at the end of the tunnel!!
Penon (PGA Colombia Tournament)
74-73-70-71=288 (E) 10th/42


The last tournament of this stretch was the Serrezuela Open, which was played in the same course where I won Q School at the beginning of the year. The first day the set the hardest pins for each hole, and some were borderline stupid. The round was stopped due to a huge storm and we had to resume the next morning. After two good rounds I was in 7th place, and I think it kind of got to me. Saturday I shot 80, killing my hopes for a good tournament. I didn't handle the pressure well and I was mentally tired of all the tournaments. I was glad to have a break, but not such a long one, since we had a 2 month period without any tournaments.
Serrezuela Open
75-71-80-76=302 (+14) T23rd/61

First Post...

Well, I just got back from Wichita, after being away for over 5 months and it was a great experience... I got to see all my friends, all the people that have been around my life for the past 6 years, and I finished moving my belongings back to Bogota, Colombia, my new hometown. Closing a chapter of your life is tough, saying goodbye to really important people in my life is even worse, but it will only bring new light to my life, as I chase the dream of being a professional golfer.

I can always look back to my life in Wichita, and I will certainly know that it was probably the happiest time of my life, it was when I finally got my independence and lived my life how I wanted it to be... It was scary living on my own, on another country after living in the security of my parents house, but this experience made me what I am today and I grew up in 6 years what would have taken me at least 10 years in Colombia. I met the most interesting people and most important people in my life (besides my family) and I will always remember and cherish that part of my life.

As I ran into all people that I knew in Wichita, most asked about how to get info on my tournaments, so I decided to start this blog to keep an updated and detailed journal of my trip through pro life. I will try to update it as often as I can...

And so, it begins....