Tournament Recap: 2017 Phoenix Open Pre-Qualifier

• Posted on Grant
• in My Journey, Tournament Recap
• on January 26, 2017
• Comments Off on Tournament Recap: 2017 Phoenix Open Pre-Qualifier

Overview:  The temperature was about 55 degrees with about a 5 to 15 mile per hour wind that blew off and on all day. It was nice and sunny and the course was a little muddy from all the rain we’ve been having lately. The tournament officials turned two of the par 5’s into par 4’s to make it play a par 70. I played solid but needed a 67 to be in the top 4 to advance. Even though I didn’t advance, I have some very positive things to take away from this round.

Highlights:

Hole #5: I hit a 5-iron from 185 into the wind to 6 feet and left the putt hanging on the edge of the hole for an easy par.

Hole #15: I hit driver into the right trees. From there I had a small window under and in between the trees and over water with 235 yards to the flag. I hit a low draw punch hybrid that stayed under the trees and carried the water and finished about 20 feet from the flag in the greenside bunker. From there I almost holed my bunker shot but it rolled past about 7 feet and then just missed that putt which led to an easy par.

Hole #16: I hit a high 320 yard draw driver around the corner of the dogleg which left me 98 yards to the pin. From there I hit sand wedge to five feet and then lipped out the birdie putt which left an easy par.

Positives: For not having been in competition in a long time, my game was solid overall. I never 3-putted and also played the same ball all day so I did not have any big misses. The bogeys I made were from running 3 chips too far past the flag: This was from being a little too aggressive while trying to chip in from the edge of the green. Also, 13 of my 15 pars were made with tap-ins under 2′ so I had lots of chances for birdie. Also, I played the par 3’s in even par.

Areas to Improve: My distance control with my iron approach shots was not good. I was not pin high consistently. Most of my shots were on line, but I missed about 20 yards short on 5 different occasions. Next tournament I will consistently stay in my posture longer and extend past impact instead of coming out of the shot and hitting it off the toe. My par 5’s were even and par 4’s were 3 over. Also, my balance at address was off in the beginning (leaning too far out over my toes) and I didn’t realize it and make a correction until after the 4th hole.