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!
Friday, June 8, 2007
Monday, June 4, 2007
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!
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!
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