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Senior Amateur Tour - journey


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Getting back into the game this weekend.    In the Senior Amateur Tour - Chicago    

First event at Bolingbrook Golf Club  

I don't have handicap index just yet but am starting in the "D" flight   

Wondering if there are any other MGS members playing?  

 

 

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Good luck. No in Chicago.  But I’m playing in the AM Tour Baltimore event next Weekend.  
 

Your post gives me a good idea.  I may start a thread for the US Am Tour and any other ones that people think are of interest for everyone to share their Thrill of Victory and Agony of Defeat stories in. 

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44 minutes ago, Golfspy_CG2 said:

Good luck. No in Chicago.  But I’m playing in the AM Tour Baltimore event next Weekend.  
 

Your post gives me a good idea.  I may start a thread for the US Am Tour and any other ones that people think are of interest for everyone to share their Thrill of Victory and Agony of Defeat stories in. 

I also joined the Golf Week AM Tour in Chicago as well -   they don't start for 2 weeks but their schedule is not meshing with mine until later in the season.  I joined mostly to play courses that I would not normally play and received a discount on both tours. 

 

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Is it still called the Golfweek AM tour there.  In Maryland the GW AM Tour became part of the US Amateur Tour.  
 

It has pretty good events both locally and nationally and run every Saturday and have a couple private clubs mixed in on some Monday’s.  

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Yes it is the  Golf Week Amateur Tour   the Senior Tour is similar but you have to be 50yrs old by October of the prior year to join. 

 

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Recap from my first event -  weather was 46 degrees - with winds gusting to 15mph.    Many of the players were wearing winter hats.    

85 total players in 5 flights handicap index after flight name ( Champ 0-3.9, A  4.0-8.9, B  9.0 - 13.9 , C  14.0 - 18.9  , D  19.0+)

maximum score on any hole is triple bogy   

Bolingbrook Golf Club was in great condition -  greens were super fast.

Playing my Hogan Driver, Hogan 4w,   Sub70 3H,   Sub70 TAIII,  Hogan 54, 58 wedges,   Sub70  002 putter 

I'm listed last on the score card and put in a solid 48-53 for 101.

Inconsistent drives left me scrambling on my 2nd shots. Strong points was my Sub 70 3H and Hogan Wedges,  my TAIII irons were solid and consistent.

Hi-lights  -   I skipped a Drive over a water hazard  -   like they do on the 16th hole at the Masters during practice.   -  5 GIR but only 1 par out of those,  too many 3 puts, only 1 blow up hole.

 

   

Event1-Bolingbrook.png

 

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1 hour ago, tucker_jct said:

Recap from my first event -  weather was 46 degrees - with winds gusting to 15mph.    Many of the players were wearing winter hats.    

85 total players in 5 flights handicap index after flight name ( Champ 0-3.9, A  4.0-8.9, B  9.0 - 13.9 , C  14.0 - 18.9  , D  19.0+)

maximum score on any hole is triple bogy   

Bolingbrook Golf Club was in great condition -  greens were super fast.

Playing my Hogan Driver, Hogan 4w,   Sub70 3H,   Sub70 TAIII,  Hogan 54, 58 wedges,   Sub70  002 putter 

I'm listed last on the score card and put in a solid 48-53 for 101.

Inconsistent drives left me scrambling on my 2nd shots. Strong points was my Sub 70 3H and Hogan Wedges,  my TAIII irons were solid and consistent.

Hi-lights  -   I skipped a Drive over a water hazard  -   like they do on the 16th hole at the Masters during practice.   -  5 GIR but only 1 par out of those,  too many 3 puts, only 1 blow up hole.

 

   

Event1-Bolingbrook.png

Wow. Nasty conditions for sure.

Turn those double and triple bogeys into bogeys and you are threatening to break 90.   
I’ve learned to HATE double bogeys.  I’m ok with a bogey, that’s my index or better.  But I literally do what I can to keep them off my card.  Of course they happen. But I hate them 😬

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  • 4 weeks later...

The second event of the Chicago Senior Amateur Tour was held on Saturday May 7th at Blackstone Golf Club in Marengo IL.     There were 78 golfers registered,  8 in Champ flight, 19 in A flight, 16 in B flight, 27 in C flight and 8 including myself in D flight.     Weather was in the mid 60s with 10 mph wind the week before, it rained every day and the course was very wet, carts had to remain on cart paths.

D flight used the Silver Tees.   In this round max score for each hole is a triple bogey.  I'm listed first on the card. 

I played my Sub70 849D driver, Hogan 4w, Sub70 3H, Sub70 TAIII, Hogan 54, 58 wedges, Sub70 002 putter 

First tee jitters left me scrambling from the start, I recovered for a bogey on the first hole and felt real good that I did not drop a shot to my group.  2nd hole par 3 I pulled tee shot to the left, chip up with 5 feet, but I dropped a stroke as I could not complete the up/down.   3rd and 4th holes natural triple bogey setup by poor drives and short approach shots.  Highlights of the round were holes 6, 7, 8 where I went par, bogey, par with both pars I had a GIR and 2 putts. The front nine I finished with a double bogey and I went out with a 49.  At this point I was feeling good at the turn.  I had a good stretch of 3 holes on the front 9 and was optimistic heading into the back nine.  On the 10th hole I struggled to get to the green, but finished with a 15ft 1-putt for a double bogey.  Hole 11 short par 4,  GIR but I could not convert as I had a 3 putt.  Holes 12 through 14 were disasters I picked up on 2 of the holes without finishing (one of the worst feelings ever).   Last 4 holes I was able to recover with bogeys on each except on 18 where I had a GIR but took 4 putts to finish.     

In D flight I actually won 2 skins with pars on 6 and 8  -   payout  $8.00 

 

image.png.c5b95fa36ee527f6e668e4180ba855eb.png

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

The third event of the Chicago Senior Amateur Tour was held on Saturday May 21sth at Calumet Country Club in Homewood, IL.  There were 72 golfers registered,  6 in Champ flight, 7 in A flight, 12 in B flight, 9 in C flight and 8 including myself in D flight.     Weather was mid 60s with a 50% chance of rain during the round.        D flight used the Silver Tees.   In this round max score for each hole is a triple bogey.

I played my Sub70 849D 10.5* driver, Hogan GS53 4w, Sub70 3H, Sub70 TAIII 4-AW , Hogan 54*, 58* wedges, Sub70 002 putter                                            Equipment adjustments:  I was struggling in the first 2 events getting off the tee with my driver(pop ups and left pulls) so I adjusted my loft to the highest +2 setting taking my 10.5* up to 12.5* with a 4.5* closed face angle.    

Calumet Country Club, designed by Donald Ross was recently opened to the public in 2019,  it was established in 1901 and was the site of the 1924 Western Open and the 1945 Chicago Victory Open, which was one of the 11 tournament victories that Byron Nelson achieved that year.    The course has been undergoing slight renovations the greens were fast and the fairways were surprisingly open for a course 120 years old, the bunkers were not in good shape not much sand and somewhat washed out.

The weather called for 50% chance of rain,   this turned out to be true  as we played the front nine in a constant light rain which slowed to a light drizzle by the time we started on hole #10 and stopped completely as we were putting on #10. 

I'm listed first on the card below and was in the 4-some with the eventual 1st and 2nd place D flight finishers, Mark and Ben.    On the first hole, a par 5 my drive caught the bunker on the right side and my 2nd shot was a clean pick but I ended up hitting a tree branch about 20 yards down range and it bounced sideways into the fairway, 3rd shot was a great strike with my 3h which put me about 68 yds. to go, I went with my Hogan 54 wedge but caught the fringe on the right side of the green and it did not release due to the ground being wet.  A chip on and 2 putts started me off with a double.  2nd hole par 3 I went with 2 extra clubs due to the rain and stuck it 20 feet below the pin on the severely sloped back to front green.   My birdie putt stopped just under 1 foot short,  I walked up to finish out with a nice tap in par and I missed it to the left it went around the lip and out,  my nerves got me and my 2nd tap in also missed, I finished up with a 4 putt double and I learned my tournament lesson.   Every shot counts and you need to concentrate on each one.       

The rain picked up on the 3rd hole,  I recovered after the mental mishap on the prior hole and had a GIR with 2 putts for a par.    The rest of the front nine my drives were all in the fairway and I pared 7 and 9 to go out in 46 my best 9 so far.   On the back nine, I continued to have success with the driver, hitting all the fairways even on one of the dog legs where I clipped a tree but got a lucky bounce into the fairway - lost distance but had an open second shot.   My wedges were strong as long as I was on the turf,  I could not get out of the bunkers, the sand was really like quick sand I felt like I was sinking in taking my stance and a traditional blast technique did not cause the ball to get out of the bunker.

I lost a total of 6 shots on holes 13 and 14 to poor bunker play.   I didn't let that part of my game bother me as I was able have birdy putts on 3 of the last 4 holes, but only made 2 pars on those 4 finishing the back 9 with a 49  for a total of 95.  

Looking back the mental  error on #2 cost me 3 strokes and the bunkers cost me 6.   Improving my thought process I could have taken unplayable lies in the bunkers and may have had a chance of finishing in 1st or 2nd place. 

In the end on D flight I still won 2 skinks with my pars on 7 and 17 and received a payout of $16.00 with a $9.00 buy in.

image.png.a200e6f0210c2081cd0c7bc703f41736.png

 

image.png.63b263f2ff300a6e681e63b551b635ca.png

 

 

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  • 7 months later...

I was hoping to give a weekly update with score cards and highlights of each round.   Unfortunately life took over and I find myself only able to post this summary of the 2022 season.

So here is the quick list of events that I played in along with my results. 

4th event held at Ravisloe CC on 6/18/2022   D flight -  overall finished in 7th place out of 11 with a score of 99,  10 shots off the lead.  Highlight is I birdied a hole for a skin.

5th event at Big Run GC  on 7/2/2022   D flight - overall finished in 6th place out of 13 with a score of 96,  9 shots off the lead.    I won 1 skin in this round.

The 6th and 7th events were the mid-season Major held on 7/16 and 7/17 2022. 

6th event at Sheperd's Crook  on 7/16/2022  D flight - I completed the first day in 6 place out of 9 with a score of 100,  14 strokes off the lead.

7th event at Thunderhawk Golf Club   D flight - second day I tied for low round of the day with a 96, but finished in 6th place out of 9, 13 strokes off the lead with a 2 day total of 196.

8th event at Prairie Landing   on 7/30/2022   D flight - I shot a 97 which was 6 shots off the lead.  I finished in 5th place out of 8. 

9th event held at White Deer Run  Golf Club on 8/13/2022  D flight - I finished in 7th place out of 9 with a score of 104,   I did birdie one hole for a skin.

10th event held at Ruffled Feathers Golf Club on  8/27/2022  D flight I finished in 6th place out of 11 with a score of 96,  9 strokes off the lead,  I birdied 1 hole and won a total of 3 skins.  After the front nine I was only 2 strokes off the lead with a 46, but I could not keep the momentum for the full round.

11th event held at Bowes Creek Country Club on 9/10/2022  D flight -  I finished in 5th place out of 8 with a score of 102 which was 11 strokes off the lead.

12th event held at Village Links of Glen Ellyn  -  Final event of the regular season.  D flight -  I finished in 2nd place out of 7 with a total of 96 which was 6 shots off the lead.  I won 1 skin and took home the second place prize money of $100.00 

Overall I finished the season in 5th place overall in points out of 17 total players in D flight.   

With that finish I was invited to play in the Chicago Senior Amateur Tour Match Play event held at Harborside.   I was seeded in 4th with a total of 8 players.   The format was 3 nine hole matches.                        In the first match I was paired against the 5th seed,  I stated strong and after 4 holes I was 4-up.   Only needing to win one more hole I ended up losing 3 holes in a row starting the 8th hole I was 1-up.                I finally broke the losing streak and won the 8th hole to finish 2 and 1.    In the second match I was paired against the number 1 seed.  I held close through 4 holes I was only 1-down, then I started my slide and by the 6th hole the match was "Dormie" and with the tie-breaker going to the highest seed, I conceded the match.   The last match for me was in the consolation bracket where I won 3 and 2. 

My overall 5th place finish in the Chicago tour ended up qualifying me for the 2022 Senior National Championship held down at Hilton Head on October 19-20   in D flight there was a total of 81 total players.

I played 2 courses Arthur Hills at Palmetto Dunes and Oyster Reef Golf Club

On the first day I shot a 104 which put me in a tie for 23rd place,  I felt confident going into the second round as I had shot a 96 in a practice round on the Oyster Reef course where I hit 10/14 fairways .    Unfortunately my driving in the second round left me with some challenging 2nd shots and I only hit 6 out of 14 fairways and I finished with a 106 for a 2 day total of 210 which I was tied for 57th place.

In my first year playing organized tournament golf I had a blast.  I exceeded my expectations and showed improvement in my scoring relative to my tour.   I ended up winning a good number of skins and placed in the money in 1 tournament and qualified for the season end match play and the Nationals.   I met new friends and will be playing again in 2023.

For anyone who thinks their game is not good enough and needs to practice more before joining a local tour, just get out there and start competing it is the only way to see how you hold up under pressure.   

 

:Sub70:  849D 10.5* UST PROFORCE v2 Black, 939X Hybrid 3H Aerotech SteelFiber Hybrid HLS 780

:taylormade-small: SIM2 MAX USA EDITION for winning the 2021 Ryder Cup contest sponsored by Taylormade and MGS  

:Hogan:  GS53Max 10.5* HZRDUS Smoke Black 5.5 ,  GS53 Fairway 4W HZRDUS Smoke Black 5.5,   VKTR+Hybrid 18* 

:titelist-small:  975D 9.5* ,  975F  3-w , 5-w 

:Sub70:   699 Pro Utility Black 19.5*

:Sub70:   TAIII  RAW 4-AW , True Temper Dynamic Gold 105 (R) 

:benhogan-small:  ICON Black  4- PW , with SteelFiber i80 (R) shafts

:benhogan-small:  Wedges Equalizer II  50*, 54*, 56*,  58*, 60*  , UST Recoil 780-F4/Stiff (Graphite)

:Sub70:  005 Wide Blade putter - with :garsen: Max 17"

:Sub70:  002 Mid Mallet putter - with :garsen:  Max 17"

:Arccos: Smoke Sensors (GEN 3+) ,  Link (GEN 2) 

old clubs

:wilson_staff_small:   Wilson Dyna-Power II  3-PW,  R90 Sand iron

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