Playing The Waiting Game

After my successful opening round in the Haig Cup at Royal Ascot I was back this morning to complete my second and final round. Conditions were a little harder and although it was warmer, there was a little more breeze to contend with. It seems my +3 score was usurped yesterday afternoon and I wasn't in fact the clubhouse leader but was sitting in second place.

I have to be honest and say its been a long time since I've gone into a round in contention. I know I had success at the Golf Monthly Centenary qualifier at St Pierre and then in the grand final at the Forest of Arden but they were stableford events, over one round. It was a case of trying to score as many points as possible and see what happened. Here I had to deal with a level of expectation, not only from myself but from my regular playing partners and the usual suspects in the clubhouse. I wrote yesterday about having previous for implosions and to be honest some of that was trying to take the heat off and a case of "so what" if today was a horror. I wanted to play well and show it wasn't a flash in the pan.

There wasn't that many nerves on the first tee and I was pretty relaxed. I'd already mentally prepared that in a worse case scenario and I had a first hole shocker and lost the hole to the course that there would be plenty of opportunities and plenty of time to recover and it wasn't the end of the world as I know it. In the end, a great three wood into the heart of the green banished any doubts and my par and a win got me off to a flying start. My drive down the 2nd was a tad too far right and close to the out of bounds for comfort. It landed in a downhill lie and I had the corner of the boundary fence to contend with and didn't want to top it out of the confines of the course or hit a fade/slice and stuff it over the fence. In the end I hit a great six iron into position A1 and put my wedge to within eight feet. I wasn't trying to make birdie and looked to simply two putt and walk away but the ball dropped and i was two holes up and one under par.

Some days you have an inkling it might be your day. Today was mine. I hit a poorish tee shot at the 3rd which headed towards one of the trees on the edge of the environmental area. We didn't see it land so I was forced to hit a provisional. As we walked up, there was the first shot sitting up and in the clear. Granted my five wood was rubbish and missed the green by a good twenty yards but it was so much better than it could have been. I was faced with a pitch over a bunker. This area has been a bete noire but I executed sufficiently to get the ball on the green some twelve feet away. Again I'd mentally thought two putts for a half and move on having dodged a bullet. The putt never left the centre of the cup and dropped for an unlikely par and a win. Definitely one against the head.

A routine par at the next and it was onto the 5th where I'd hooked it left yesterday and lost a ball and the hole. No such trouble today and I creamed a drive away. I pulled my second into the rough but with only 115 yards left hitting the green should have been routine. Sadly not and I pulled it left. Another pitch over a bunker and a definite tightening of muscles going on and a lot of chattering in my head. I did enough to get it on the green and managed to make a half but it was a chance gone.

The 6th is a killer for me. Always has been. Today I hit a four iron and this was when I knew I could be in business. I hit it thin but it cleared all the ditches and streams and finished some ten yards short of the putting surface. I elected to play a simple pitch and run but hit it too hard and it would have been out the back of the green if the pin hadn't intervened. It crashed into the flagstick and stopped a few inches away for a fluky par. I've often been told that you need to capitalise on your good fortune in golf and I definitely made hay at the 7th. Fine drive, so much better than yesterday, and a five iron into the heart of the green. I couldn't see the line of the putt at all and the downhill twenty footer was really just coaxed into the vicinity but made it all the way to the bottom of the cup for an unlikely birdie and a totally unexpected win.

What you receive with one hand is given away with the next. I hit a good looking seven iron into the 8th but it was about a foot too far left and bounced off the green. I couldn't repeat my chipping exploits and could only make a bogey four to give a hole straight back. Unperturbed, I found the green in regulation at the 9th and two putted for another win. Out in level par gross and +4 for the front half and +7 overall. Heady times.

Arguably the biggest challenge in golf isn't getting the ball around the course but dealing with the pressure within and the constant chattering that goes on between the ears. I was pumped on the 10th tee and got another fine drive away. Suddenly I was thinking about what would happen if I won that hole, maybe a couple of halved holes here and there and what would be a good score. I don't know what happened to the nine iron approach but it was messy and everything felt rushed. It was as if I'd played the shot almost before I'd settled over the ball. It missed way left and time to try out the chipping game, this time with the pressure racked up a notch. I passed the test and got it on the green. It wasn't the time to be fancy. Two putts, a half and move on.

Things were going to get ugly. I was definitely thinking too much and the loose flowing swing from a few holes ago had been replaced with something too deliberate and controlled. I thinned another four iron tee shot at the 11th and for a moment it looked lie my luck was holding and it was "a good bad un" as it ran towards the green. However the ball forgot to stop once it got there and ejected itself out of the back. When I got there it was right on the edge of a lateral hazard, just outside the confines but in a filthy spot. I could only bumble it a few feet forward and my putt from off the green was woefully short. My putt for the half never had a chance and one back to the course and still a long way from home.

I had nailed a drive at the 12th yesterday and today wasn't quite as good but it was safe and playable. I took my 3 hybrid from 202 yards to try and get it close to the green but caught it perfectly and sent it to within twenty feet of the cup. Another win and status quo resumed. The 13th had been the scene of another lost ball and a defeat twenty four hours ago but I was determined it wasn't going left today. In fact, it was a fraction too far right but got a "Homer" and it kicked left when the slope should have dictated it going right. It was at the back of the green with a real Augusta like downhill, double breaking putt. The first effort was tentative and I left myself an ugly three feet. It didn't find the centre but made the drop and I'd escaped with another unexpected par and a half.

Pressure can do funny things. The driver had been resolute all day and had held up at the start of the inward run. Nothing felt different on the 14th tee and I thought I'd made a decent pass at it. The reality was different. A semi-topped effort that only just cleared the thick vegetation some hundred yards away. It was lying okay but I still had three hundred yards left. I opted to hit a six iron to try and leave a mid iron in. It was probably the best shot of the day, especially in the circumstances and put me in the fairway with only 152 yards left. The ball always releases at the front of this hole and I wanted to hit eight iron but wasn't sure it would make the trip so went with the seven. It might have been indecision or poor execution but I missed the green left - again. I took the putter as it was bare and nasty but under-cooked it to about nine feet. A soft loss was on the cards and I'd already started thinking about where I could make it up. I was stunned to see it drop, perfect weight. When it's your day, it's your day.

Four up on the day and four holes left. Even if I melted and lost every hole I'd still be +5 overall. I got another long and straight drive away at the 478 yard par five 15th and was in position A1+. No need for any heroics and a mid iron and wedge onto the green and two putts was sufficient. So why was I standing there with a five wood? In my mind I was swinging it well and sort of wanted to prove to myself that I was relaxed and that I could make a good shot at it and even if it didn't come off and get close to the green there wouldn't be too much left to mop up. This shot went right, and then a bit further right. A straight block that ended up close to the 16th tee. I never committed to the pitch and came up short. This time my chipping and putting couldn't save me and I'd meekly given a hole back from nowhere. Schoolboy error of the highest order.

The net result of all of this apart from denting the scorecard was to make me even more tense and agitated. I got a drive away at the tight 16th although it was a steered effort rather than a full bloodied swing but it stayed away from the out of bounds which was all I was worried about. I was 214 yards away and pulled the 3 hybrid to just get me down in the neighbourhood of the green. From deep within the memory bank, or perhaps more a testament to my teaching professional and all those range balls I'd hit I dug a perfect execution out and got the ball onto the front left edge. It left a forty footer downhill and what I thought was left to right putt. The ball went right to left and ended up at least seven feet away. Definitely one for the mis-read column. I missed the putt and had gifted a gilt edged chance to settle the nerves.

I managed to find another ugly mis-hit off the tee at the penultimate hole that was covered on gold. It was a low runner that chased all the way to the green. Fifteen feet with a big swing on it but a chance to steal a march. I thought I'd hit the putt well but it died a death and pulled up lame some four feet short. The flat stick had gone ice cold and I never threatened to convert for an unlikely win. Still another hole gone, another half.

By this time mother nature had taken an interest and there was a light rain shower falling as I teed it up at the last. I just wanted to get the tee shot away without the need to put a waterproof top on and to be honest was quite prepared to get drenched to do so. It was a decent effort, just right of the fairway. I followed it with a glorious hybrid to within fifty yards of the green. By now the old pulse rate was increasing and I was getting twitchy. I was undecided about a bump and run or a pitch in with a half swing. Both had their elements of risk at this juncture but I went with aerial route and it landed some ten feet away. Nearly there. I wasn't going to go birdie hunting and coaxed it down to the edge of the hole and tapped in for a par which was enough for a win.

There you have it. +4 on the day and +7 overall. My best golf in many months and the biggest thrill for me was not only holding it together for the second day running but actually going out and exceeding what I'd achieved yesterday. I rode my luck on both days, particularly on the front nine today and I'd definitely forgotten what it felt like to be in contention. There's that nervous energy, the racing mind and the tightening muscles to contend with. I really gave away three great opportunities at 15, 16 and 17 but held it together at the last.

My handicap will tumble which is all part of Homers Odyssey, my quest for single figures and silverware. It's now a waiting game until everyone finishes their two rounds, the scores are collated and we'll see what happens. Everyone will say they've left shots out there and I definitely did over the two days but I also drove very well, have started to scramble better and the putter for the most part has been rock solid. So much to take away that's good and positive and I can't wait for the results and my new handicap mark.

I need to build on this. The short game is still only a work in progress and needs to be firmed up some more. The technique is still not 100% trustworthy. I need to play in the practice bunker and develop a feel for different yardages and getting the ball out on different trajectories. I definitely need to invest some time with my eight iron, the nine and the pitching wedge and stop that silly miss left. Above all though I've got to enjoy the moment. Win or not I need to enjoy what I've achieved. Yes it was tough on the back nine but if you can't enjoy playing under those conditions you shouldn't really be entering competitions. I relished it and I am gagging to peg it up again in the next one and keep this run going. I've written on here before about being a streaky player and this may be one of those hot streaks. Time to ride the wave.