I lost in the first round of the club championship this year, disappointingly. Without going into too much detail, the round went like this: I lost each of the first holes to birdies and won the third. Then I lost the 4th to a bogey by missing a very short putt. My opponent and I tied the 5th and 6th holes with bogeys and the 7th, 8th and 9th with pars. That left me 2 down through 9. On the back nine, my opponent and I tied the 10th and 11th with bogeys, and I lost the 12th badly. That left me 3 down with 6 to play.
I began to play a bit better, winning the 13th and 14th holes. My birdie putt on 15 lipped out and my opponent made a great putt on 16 to tie. At that point, I was one down with two to play. I birdied the 17th hole and walked to the 18th all tied up, the first time the match had been tied since the 1st teebox. On 18, I hit a great drive while my opponent hit his into the left rough. Hitting first, I hit my 4i onto the green about 30 feet away. My opponent stiffed his approach shot to about 4 feet and sunk his putt in front of a large gallery, while I missed. Game over, thanks for playing.
I learned a good lesson this time around. Recreational golf, even while playing a match for $20 or even $200, is very different than playing a tournament, even a small club tournament. The fairways seem narrower, the trees more burdening, the greens slicker. It made no difference that I was playing the best golf of my life in the weeks approaching the club championship. I wasn't prepared, this time, for playing under the pressure and expectations that I faced.
After losing this year, I've now won the club championship 6 of the past 9 years. The three times I've lost, I lost in the first round as the defending champion. The psychology behind these matchups is key. As the defending champion playing the individual who qualified in last place (shooting 84 or so), the pressure's squarely on me while my opponent, probably just happy to have made it in the tournament, enjoys all upside with low expectations to win. I will have to do some thinking at how to attack this situation, but won't have a chance to face it again until 2015, assuming I have it in me to win next year.
As I wrote in my first post this year, "playing poorly affords me valuable perspective." It's true. It's frustrating but enduringly instructive going out on the golf course, expecting greatness and producing turds. It helps me realize just how lucky I am to even have the opportunity to pick up a club and play, to walk the course and compete. It may be a bit premature to say (as its about 82 and sunny outside currently), but I'm looking forward to ski season!
Who's with me?
