Phoenix Open Pre-Qualifier: Moon Valley CC, Phoenix, AZ

• Posted on Grant
• in My Journey, Tournament Recap
• on February 4, 2019
• Comments Off on Phoenix Open Pre-Qualifier: Moon Valley CC, Phoenix, AZ

Overview:  We had an hour frost delay and I teed off in the first group off the number 10 tee. The weather was perfect and the greens were fast and smooth.

I needed to be in the top 3 to advance to the Monday Qualifier. So I didn’t move on, but I actually played pretty solid even though the score was a little rough.

Highlights:

#8. Driver down the middle and then 4-iron from 235 yards to 20 feet for an easy two-putt birdie.

#13. Driver down the middle. The drive wasn’t very solid, so I had 250 left to the green. It was still a little cold at this point in the round, so I took my 3-wood and hit a punch-fade that rolled up to twenty feet from the hole on the fringe. Then I made that putt for eagle.

Learning Opportunities:

On holes 3, 4, 6, 10, 17, and 18 I missed putts within 5 feet. This hurt momentum and can easily be fixed with some practice. I will practice my putting before my next tournament.

On hole number 10 I had 70 yard approach off of a tight, dormant bermuda lie. I tried to take the ball up high over a tree and I hit it little fat and ended up hitting the tree. Next time I will go under the tree off that bad lie.

Positives: I never got in trouble off the tee and my chipping was solid. I hit my iron shots solid as well.

Areas to improve: Distance control when taking a little off of iron shots. I left a few shots 15 yards short of my full distance when I was only trying to just take 5 yards off.

Putting inside 5 feet. It was hard to see them going in today. I need more repetitions in practice so that I can picture the putts going in. I will practice the putting pull-back game at least 3 times a week to get sharp again.