State of the Union

I haven't updated this in a while. On Friday the 13th, 3 friends from Washington came down and visited me for their spring break. It was a great time. My friend Jenni brought an entire plastic tub full of cooking utensils/supplies so she cooked dinner every night. I definitely ate the best food ever in this apartment that entire week. The weather was cold and wet for their first 3 days here, but it cleared up and warmed up for most of the week so we had some nice time in the sun. I think they enjoyed it. They left early Friday morning.

I was supposed to have day 1 of the Medalplay Championship on Tuesday afternoon, but it rained the entire night and through the day so play was washed out until yesterday and today. At the start of this tournament, I was in a tie for 34th on the Order of Merit list, and the top 30 after this tournament qualify for the Players Championship at a super nice course next Monday and Tuesday. That was enough motivation for me to definitely buckle down and play some good golf. Yesterday, I played at the Witch. The same place with the Gators and swamps. I hit the ball pretty well for the most part, but couldn't putt, so I shot 89. That definitely put me in a tough spot to get enough points to qualify for the Players Championship. I knew I wasn't that far off though with my game going into today.

I played at Man o War today, and the course was in great shape. It was super windy, though. I recently put the driver back in my bag for tournaments, and it is definitely paying off from the tee. I bogeyed the par 5 first hole, and then came the par 3 second hole. It's a semi-short par 3 with bunkers on the left and right, with a narrow gap in front for any balls running up. It was playing 155 yds and into a breeze from the left. I stepped up with a 9 iron and hit it solid. It started left of the flag and worked back toward the flag with the wind and then BAM! it hits the bottom of the flagstick on the FLY. Too bad it rolled back down the green to about 20 ft. I missed the birdie and tapped in for par. Easily could have been birdie with such a good shot, just a bad break. Parred the next 4 holes, then hit a wayward drive into a hazard and made a bogey on 8. Played a cool knock down full 7 iron into a stiff breeze from out of the trees from 140 yds to pin high on the green on 10. Hit a perfect 4 iron off the tee on 11 and had 140 yds to the flag. Hit a pitching wedge about 35 ft past the hole and made the putt for birdie. So I was 2 over through 11 at that point. Left a putt 1 revolution short for birdie on 12. Hit a wedge to 6 ft on 14, but the birdie putt did a 360 lip out. And then my only hiccup wasn't even something I did wrong. The hole is a short par 4 with water all down the right side of the hole. I hit a 2 iron right down the middle, but the fairway has 2 levels on the left and right side, and my ball hit the ridge between levels and kicked right into the water. I proceeded to 3 putt that green and make a double. Missed a 3 footer for par on 17. Hit a good drive on the par 5 18th and had 190 yds to the hole. Hit a solid 7 iron hooking right at the flag, but it hit the downslope and rolled to about 45 ft. Left the eagle putt 3 inchs short and made a closing birdie. I hit 12 greens, but had 35 putts, so I ended with a 77. I'm still kicking myself for those 3 shots I lost on 16 and 17, and the 360 lip out, and the ball that hit the flagstick. Might lose some sleep tonight....

After I hit my second shot on 18, the 4th semester kid I was riding with said something really funny. I sat down and he said "I wasn't gonna say anything, but now I have to. Why the **** are you in this tour? You belong on the PGA Tour." (Please note, the PGA Tour he is referring to is the one from our school's tours. Not the one Tiger plays on.) Another kid in my group said basically the same thing a few holes before that, too. He said I didn't belong on this tour cuz my swing is "rhythmical" and it's butter. My handicap is on the way down, so I'll definitely move up at least one tour next month.