2008 season is finally here!

I just got back from my first tournament of the year and I'm quite pleased with my results! I shot 71-75-67-70 (-5) to finish tied for fourth.

The tournament was the National Pro Championship, held at Peñon Resort. The course is almost at sea level (only 288 meters, around 950 feet), plays 7020 yards long with a 74.1 rating and a 130 slope. This means that it is a pretty hard course. The back 9 is one of the hardest of the country, having really long and tight par 3's. It is a good ball striking test, the only downfall for that course is that the greens are really slow and grainy, making it hard to chip and putt.
Fist round I played ok, didn't hit the ball too good but i made a bunch of putts. I had 27 putts. Second round was tough... I just couldn't get anything going and couldn't make anything that day. I ended up with 34 putts...
Third round was a completly different story! I chipped in on #2, birdied #3, #5 and #8 on the front for a 32, then I chipped in again on #11, birdied #12 and #13. I was -7 thru 13 holes with chance to tie or break the course record! Unfortunately, i lost my concentration and finished with 2 bogeys in the last 3 holes, for a 67 (-5). My college coach would have been very mad with that round!
Final round was fun, because I was close to the final group and there were a lot of people watching the tournament. I've really gotten my game to where I can perform under the toughtest pressure. That is when I play my best! I shot a solid 70 (-2) to climb 4 spots and T-4th.
Diego Vanegas won, with a total of -15. He played solid golf.
Here is the link to the final results. http://www.federacioncolombianadegolf.com/noticia.php?nt=21923
There is a picture of my on this page, from the tournament. http://www.federacioncolombianadegolf.com/noticia.php?nt=21891
Some more pics:
http://wichita.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2051672&l=299e0&id=46104209

I will be in action again this week here in Bogota, at Carmel Open. I will keep you updated!

2007 Recap

Well, 2007 was a good year for me. I won two tournaments, had 2 top-10 the Majors, had a few top-5 and finished the year ranked 13th. I played well on my last 3 tournaments, 2 in Barranquilla and the National Match Play tournament.
At the Master, I finished 7th, unfortunately I blew my chances of winning with a round of 43 on the front nine saturday, but it was blowing around 40mph and the average score that day was around 77 or 78. Good solid top 10.
At Caujaral Open, I shot 77-75 and made the cut, before moving up with 2 solid 70 (-2) on the weekend, finishing 13th. Good comeback!
I lost on the second round to the runner up, Angel Romero. He played solid golf and was -4 through 16 holes and I was around par, so he beat me 3/2.
After my December tournaments, I took some time off to recharge my batteries and work on my swing, to get ready for 2008. I will update my swing, with some minor changes...

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