Dreamchasers Tour: Moon Valley CC – 72, 72

• Posted on Grant
• in Tournament Recap
• on February 19, 2015
• Comments Off on Dreamchasers Tour: Moon Valley CC – 72, 72

Overview: I’m so thankful to be playing tournament golf. It’s still such an amazing feeling to be out on the course competing. I definitely have a fresh perspective on tournament golf after so much time off and I am really enjoying playing.

Moon Valley CC in Phoenix is a great course. I hadn’t played there before my practice round, so it was fun to get to know a new course. The greens were fast and the bunkers didn’t have much sand in them (which was just fine because I know how to play those shots :) Three Keys for Playing out of Firm Sand.)

Day 1 Highlites:

#8: 3-Wood off the tee into the left trees. Then I hit a low 40 yard hook under the trees and between a few greenside bunkers from 250 yards to just in front of the green. My pitch shot almost went in, so I had an easy tap-in for birdie.

#10: Driver down the middle of the fairway. Then 3-wood from 280 yards to just in front of the green. My chip shot just missed so I had an easy tap-in for birdie.

#13: Driver off the tee left me 250 yards into the green. I hit 3-wood onto the green and two-putted for birdie from about 60 feet.

#14: 3-Wood off the tee to 124 yards. Then I hit a little pitching wedge to 5 feet and made the putt for birdie.

Day 2 Highlites:

#4: Driver off the tee into the left rough behind some trees. I had 280 yards to the green and threaded a 30 yard hook between about 6 fairway and greenside bunkers with my 3-wood to just in front of the green. I chipped to 4 feet and made the putt for birdie.

#10: Driver into left rough. The rough was so thick, I just had to pitch out with my 9-iron. Then from 128 yards, I hit a pitching wedge to 3 feet and made the putt for birdie.

#13: Driver into the right rough to about 220 yards from the green. From there I hit a huge slice with my 3-hybrid onto the fringe about 20 feet from the flag. From there I two-putted for birdie.

Positives: I only missed the money by one shot, and was only 7 shots from winning. It’s only a matter of time before it all comes together and my scores get into the low 60’s. I was very pleased with how I stuck to my mental routine over the two days. Also, I made birdie on 6 of my 8 par five opportunities.

Little by little my tournament play is getting more simplified: My mind is picking out what is most important for each shot and is just focusing on that. From hole 4 to 18 on day 2, I just made sure to just hold my finish on every swing. Next tournament I will focus on looking at my target and then hitting right away and then holding my finish.

Areas to improve: I read the greens much better than last week’s tournament. During my practice round, I charted all of the breaks around the hole placements. This really helped me read all of my putts correctly. However, I had a little bit of an unsettled feeling while I putted over the two days and will work on looking at the hole and then hitting the putt immediately after I look back down at the ball.

My ball striking wasn’t quite as good as last week but I never had a bad miss. I made 7 bogeys that all happened from uncommitted swings. In my next tournament I will back off of my shots when I am not fully committed to my plan.

The best parts of my ball striking were 4 pitching wedge shots from 124 yards to about 128 yards: They all ended up within 10 feet of the flag.

I will stick with my two hour practice routine between my lessons and will also play a few holes whenever possible this coming week. With all of my preparation, I feel ready to win any time I step on the course.