I lost in the quarterfinals of this year's WGA Amateur held at Rockrimmon Country Club after winning in the rounds of 32 and 16. In the first round, I played some of the most solid golf I'm capable of playing. I started with a birdie on the relatively easy par 5 first after a good drive and a solid 4 iron to 20 feet. I was working effectively with my caddie, a local, who helped me strategize each shot on a course I hadn't played in over ten years.
Strong, stable driving carried my play forward. I was able to place pressure on my opponent Jordan by hitting good iron shots into birdie range from 30+ yards behind his drives. Ultimately on the 15th hole, a beautiful downhill par 5 of 510, I flew the green with my two wood in two, and holed out for eagle. Jordan missed his eagle putt and I won the match 4&3.
The afternoon match was delayed by a monsoon that soaked the course and flooded the greens in a 15 minute-long downpour, but not before my opponent, Dana, and I hit two shots in the deluge. 90 minutes later, but still damp, we went back out on the course. I two putted for birdie and went to the second 1 up. I continued to drive straight, but short, hitting my best drives about 270 and my shortest about 250. Straight really matters though, and if you can withstand the pressure on your long irons that shorter drives bring, it can be a winning strategy. I wound up winning again on the 15th hole after nearly holing out for eagle from the front bunker.
In the quarterfinals, I played against John, who went on to finish runner-up. We both didn't have our best in the early going and we found ourselves all square through 8. All square, though I struggled with two three putts and significant error: missing the green (over) from 76 yards and unable to get up and down.
On 9, a gorgeous par 3 with a 50 yard wide but very shallow green, I caught my 4 iron fat and twinged my right wrist. I've been noticing my wrist this year, feeling some dull pain when I hinge my wrist on the backswing and again on the follow through. I feel it most on shots where I connect with the ground, but thankfully less on my drives. Catching the tee shot on 9 heavy and how it made my wrist feel caught me off guard and I lost the ability to play competitively. I skulled my chip shot over the green for my second shot, unconsciously making a slight adjustment to avoid hitting the ground and feeling my wrist. I lost the 9th, the 10th, the 11th, the 12th and the 13th before tying the 14th to lose. Disappointing! I can't say that I would have won, but it certainly would likely have been closer had I made a better swing on 9.
In any event, I am pleased with my performance overall, going from an initial qualifying field of 132 to the top 8. And I still feel as if I can do better, go later in match play, shoot lower in medal. Love this game!
