YOUR STATE AMATEUR TOURNAMENTS

[jbil8802]

Well boys my day has almost arrived. Tomorrow I'll tee it up in the West Texas (Senior) Amateur. My tee time tomorrow is 1:20 and 8:00 on Saturday. There are only 30 players from all over the state in the Senior division with a 36 hole cut. The cut will be approximately 1/2 of the field.

 

Reality check and goals:

I've checked all the handicaps of the entrants/players and I'm standing on a 6.5. That's the highest of any player. Most of the field have anywhere from a 4 down to a +3. The guys I'm paired with the first two days are +1.5 & 1 hcp. players. I know the +1.5 guy so that will be nice.

People say to me to not talk defeatists. I'm not... but I do live in a world of reality. My goal is to of course play good. I'd like to 1st; make the cut. If I could somehow manage that then I'd like to finish in the top 5. That would be a win in my book. Slim chance but I'm going to give it hell.

Good luck PJ. You never know what will happen on any given day.

[JudgeSmails]

Good luck!

[Undershooter]

Well boys my day has almost arrived. Tomorrow I'll tee it up in the West Texas (Senior) Amateur. My tee time tomorrow is 1:20 and 8:00 on Saturday. There are only 30 players from all over the state in the Senior division with a 36 hole cut. The cut will be approximately 1/2 of the field.

 

Reality check and goals:

I've checked all the handicaps of the entrants/players and I'm standing on a 6.5. That's the highest of any player. Most of the field have anywhere from a 4 down to a +3. The guys I'm paired with the first two days are +1.5 & 1 hcp. players. I know the +1.5 guy so that will be nice.

People say to me to not talk defeatists. I'm not... but I do live in a world of reality. My goal is to of course play good. I'd like to 1st; make the cut. If I could somehow manage that then I'd like to finish in the top 5. That would be a win in my book. Slim chance but I'm going to give it hell.

Rootin for ya bud!

[PlaidJacket]

My first state amateur tournament is in the history books. (history is key) I'll  cut to the chase. I played horribly. 92-90. Two and out. The course was a nice one and the tournament was professionally run by our state golf association (Texas Golf Association - TGA). My expectation was not high going into this event ... West Texas Amateur. I just wanted to play respectable and make the cut. Didn't do either. There's really not much more to say about my game over the two days I competed. Needless to say I was disappointed I didn't play even close to my handicap/ability.

 

The golf course was setup fair...but it was a difficult one I thought. The Rawls Course http://www.therawlscourse.com/index.php in Lubbock is a design by Tom Doak. He designed Pacific Dunes http://bandondunesgolf.com/golf/golf-courses/pacific-dunes at Bandon Dunes. The course has many similarities to Pacific Dunes. Rolling fairways, shaggy bunkers, and smooth-fast greens. Look at the photos of Pacific and you'll have a general idea of the Rawls course. Just without the ocean. 

 

Since I didn't play well I have a much different takeaway from the event than others probably do. For me the guys I was paired with over the two days couldn't have been better. They are +1.5 to 2 handicap players. Not once did I get a whiff of attitude from these guys. They were all gentlemen. Not to mention very good players. Even though I was personally discouraged they were encouraging to me. Courteous and respectful. They never made me feel like I was out of the game (or their league) or a drag on their game. They just played their game and played it well. The overall feel of the tournament was quite and subdued - friendly. I really enjoyed that aspect of the tournament. Keep in mind... we all were competing in the Senior division. 55-64. I'm going to assume age had a lot to do with the comfortable feeling of the tournament. Everyone is glad to still be competing, playing good golf among peers, and alive!

 

Here's a key for you guys that might be thinking of playing in an event like this in your state. It goes like this: on Saturday we had a few minutes waiting on the tee making idle chit-chat. I asked the guys how much they'd been playing. Both of them played more than they practice telling me they played about 3 days a week and practice maybe one day. They both had played a few tournaments this year too. I suspect if I had surveyed the entire field; most if not all of the truly competitive players would have said the same. Nothing shocking there.

 

Will I play in the tournament next year? Mmmm?... maybe. But one thing is for sure. I'd better start playing more than I do now.

[JBones]

Tournament golf is a completely different beast. I played in a tourney a couple weeks ago and went 80-81.....played a practice round the day before and shot 68. The only thing that changed was the pressure. The high you get on the first tee is why I keep going back for more.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy mobile app

[Undershooter]

Tournament golf is definitely a different animal. I actually like pressure most of the time but I have no problem admitting that sometimes it gets at me. Both my best round in the last few years and worst round in the the last few years have come in tournaments. -6 and +15 although albeit in different tournaments.

 

 

Good on ya for giving it a shot Plaid! The more you play, I'm gonna guess the better you do.

[PlaidJacket]

I'll jump my own post and tell you guys. One of the guys I played with in the tournament had a new set of PXG irons. That was my first hands-on look at them. As you might imagine, they're good looking IMO. The guy that owned them had been playing them for about 3 weeks and said he really enjoyed them. He was a +2 player and hit the ball flush most every shot. It was nice to watch.

[drewneddy]

Having a lot more success in mid-am events. I'm at the point where I don't want to compete with the professional armatures, college players who practice all day and have memberships to the nicest country clubs, and guys with no show jobs.

 

I work as a banker so I get to play more golf than usual, but only practice about an hour or two a week mixed in with 3 18 hole rounds. It just isn't enough time to contend in regular amateurs. I've found the mid am events to be guys with jobs and families who enjoy competing.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy mobile app

[Undershooter]

Having a lot more success in mid-am events. I'm at the point where I don't want to compete with the professional armatures, college players who practice all day and have memberships to the nicest country clubs, and guys with no show jobs.

 

I work as a banker so I get to play more golf than usual, but only practice about an hour or two a week mixed in with 3 18 hole rounds. It just isn't enough time to contend in regular amateurs. I've found the mid am events to be guys with jobs and families who enjoy competing.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy mobile app

That's what I've been told by some of the better Am's around my area.