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.