This was my first event in eight months, and it was quite apparent. Unfortunately, I ended up with my worst career tournament showing scoring a 92, 83, 88, 263, and ending up in fifth place out of only six players. It was quite a challenge, and I was able to learn exactly what points of my game need the most work. You can visit the full leaderboard here. You can also listen to episode seven of The Perfect Par Podcast starting at 34:09 where I talk about the tournament. Below I will talk about the course conditions, weather, and how each individual day went.
Course Conditions and Weather
First off, on the tournament information page, it says we played from 6700 yards (I played up a division in the 14-15 division), and that is not true. We ended up playing from over 7200 yards, which was a surprise. The course itself was in good condition, but it was a little damp. Luckily, there wasn’t much wind, but we did have two weather delays.
Greystone GC is one of the most difficult courses I have ever played. Its undulation makes walking exceedingly difficult (let alone for three days). The fairways are wide, but the greens are quite difficult to read.
Round One (5/23/2020)
I can sum up round one in one word, “terrible.” For my first tournament back, I didn’t expect much, but I expected better than what I got. The round started off with one of the best drives I have hit in a while. It was a high draw 285-yard drive. Luckily, my drives were like this the entire rest of the day (I only missed one fairway). Unfortunately, my irons were a little off, and my putting was way, way…. way off. I had seven three-putts on the front nine alone! Round one was also one of the unluckiest rounds of golf I have ever played. On hole eighteen (481-yard par 4), I had 210 yards into the green, and I pushed my shot about five yards. It bounced off the green, into rocks next to the green, onto the cart path, it then bounced backward three times, into three-feet tall rough. Was that a shot or what! Needless to say, round one was one to forget.
Round 2 (5/24/2020)
I woke up the morning of round two with a clear head and determined to do better than I did the day before. I got to the course and decided to not to hit on the practice green because the day before the practice green was dramatically different from the greens on the course. I hit my first drive identically to the one the day before. I hit my wedge to the same spot on the green, and guess what, I three-putted again. Luckily, this wasn’t as big of a trend this time. I only had one more three-putt on my first nine and shot thirty-eight. Unfortunately, the dreaded air horn sounded on the next hole, and we went into a two-hour rain delay. After this, I never fully got back into a groove. I started missing putts again, and I stiffened up a little after not moving for two hours. I ended up shooting forty-five and ended with an eighty-three. This was much better than the day before, but I still could do much better.
Round 3 (5/25/2020)
I’m going to be honest and say, I woke up sore the morning of round three. Walking Greystone GC is like walking up Mount Everest. It is certainly one of the hilliest courses I have ever played. I was still determined to do better than I had done the day before. I showed up to the course and did hit a few putts on the green since the greens had dried out. I got to the first tee and pulled my drive a little left, but nothing too bad. Unfortunately, my ball landed in one of the deepest divots I have ever seen. I had to hack it out, and it landed just short of the green. I proceeded to hit a less than average chip, and, you guessed it, I three-putted AGAIN. I continued to find myself in some of these unlucky situations, and I continued to play only at a mediocre level. With two holes left to play, the dreaded air horn blew again. This time it was only a one-hour delay. I finished the round bogey, bogey, and ended up shooting an eighty-eight. In round three, my driver continued to perform but my putting and irons were still missing.
Conclusion
In conclusion, this tournament was my worst showing yet; however, it was also the toughest conditions at the toughest course. I learned that putting is my biggest weakness at this current moment, and I learned that my biggest strength is my driving. My goals for my next event consist of having fewer putts and hitting my irons more solidly. Even though I did not play well, it was a great reminder of how humbling the game of golf is.