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.