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.