2020 Golf Tournament Season Recap (Part 3)
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Having qualified for the Massachusetts Mid-Amateur was a highlight of my golfing tournament season. I was beyond excited because my good friend, and 4-ball partner, Jesse Santos, also qualified for the Mid-Am championship. I went into the championship with some high hopes but the weekend before I was struggling to find the center of the club face so I was a bit nervous. My friend, and client, caddied for me for the tournament so that helped calmed me down, but Greathorse Golf Club proved to be a TRUE CHAMPIONSHIP course and too much for me to handle as I went 84-88 to miss the cut by a good 14 shots. It was a tale of 2 days because the first day (84) I was hitting the ball purely but just could NOT get the speeds of the green down. That, coupled with 3 legit lip-outs from inside of 10 feet left me on the wrong end of 80. I was happy, however, with how I finished because it was a strong finish. I finished my opening round with 5 straight pars (an excellent up and down from behind the 18th green).
I started the 2nd day about as poorly as you can and topped my long-iron tee shot into the fescue about 50-60 yards off the tee. That grass was so thick that even with violently hard lashes from my 54° wedge I was unable to advance the ball more than 20 yards at a time and it took me 3 times to get the ball to the edge of the fairway but the severe downhill rolled the ball down to about 120 yards from the flag. Hit my 50° to the back third of the green and made an opening 7. Whelp the pressure was off because I knew I was out of the tournament now so I could have some fun with my caddy and play partners. This day, I was putting well but couldn’t find the center of the clubface so had relatively few chances at birdie opportunities. I was unable to convert any of the chances I had and finished with a dismal 88 after carding a 7 and a 9 (both on par 4’s).
After this tournament, I went back to NJ for my mother’s 60th birthday and to meet with my swing coach for a tune up before my final tournament of the year: USGA Amateur 4-Ball Qualifier (with Jesse Santos) . . .
TO BE CONTINUED