TRGA Las Vegas Classic wrap up…
I must say it sure was fun to play in this event again, and I think in some ways more fun this year because this was the third TRGA Pro event and not the
first, where things were a bit more stressful as far as just getting the event to go off as planned and educate everyone in the event about playing by
TRGA rules and not USGA rules. The response to playing off the TRGA book has been very positive, and I think it is meeting it’s objectives making golf more enjoyable, a more fair experience, and certainly does WONDERS to keep up the pace of play by eliminating the dreaded provisional ball rule which usually leads to long rounds on the golf course while playing competition.
Luke Lane won the event with good solid golf and it was a joy to watch as he shot a strong 33 on the front 9, positioning the ball around the course like the pro he is, and once he wrestled the lead away from Vic Wilk picking up 5 shots on the front 9, he had turned the tables from being 3 down to 2 up. Vic was not making the putts he did the first round that put him in the lead, and Brady Exber who is a fine player, just couldn’t get anything going to put any pressure on the guys. Vic did pick up a shot late in the back nine and was one back going into 17, which is a par 3 over water, and I think he made a mental error picking the wrong club. I hit first and knocked a nice one in there close, and Vic told me later he had noticed what I had hit, but didn’t think it was enough club based upon the yardage in his head… but stuck with the club, and then came up short of the green leaving a difficult chip shot that converted into a bogey. Had he gone with his instinct, he would have taken the club he knew would get him there, and then just make the appropriate swing.
How to use yardages, and incorporate them into your game on the course is certainly a topic I think we should discuss here at some point as I have some pretty strong feelings on the subject from what I have been witnessing lately with other players putting all their faith in trying to externally calculate a club selection using laser yardage scopes and so forth.
Since I don’t play a lot of competition these days, I spend most of my time talking about the golf swing, module work, equipment and so forth… so I think this is a chance to reflect a bit on the inner game and also upon competition in general.
As far as my own experience out there… I keep golf the same for any round that I play. I play the golf course. I think it’s hard to necessarily aim for a specific score to shoot in competition, because you never know what the opponent is going to do, or how they are going to play. There are a lot of different approaches to this I know…but I try to feel the round in the moment as “in the now” as possible, keeping a close eye on what is going on around me, and keeping a bit of flexibility to how I am going to play, or how aggressively I am going to play and so forth.
Things can change very quickly on a golf course… especially one like this week where you have to drive the ball as straight as an arrow, and position the ball into the greens below the hole, because the greens were very fast and very tricky.
Last year I brought my “A” game ball striking hitting 15 and 16 greens… but I putted very poorly making only one birdie in two days and shooting a pair of 73’s good enough for a 7 shot victory.
This year, I left my “A” game ballstriking somewhere out on the road between SF and Vegas, and just never was able to cultivate the kind of sensations within the body until late in the second round.
After a bogey, bogey finish in the first round and shooting 74 I knew I would have to play well the final round. My thought was to come out fairly aggressive which I did, going right at the pin on #1 and stuffing a 6 iron in there about 10 feet, and it looked like I had a chance to pick up two shots right on the first hole. I lipped out the putt however. The second I tried to cut in a 5 iron to a back right pin but hit the ball straight and skipped it into a back bunker. Hit a pretty little sand shot, but it just kept rolling past the hole much more than I thought, and missed the comeback putt. The next I drove the ball down the left side to try to open up the pin, but just turned it a bit too much and caught a fairway bunker. I hit a wonderful shot with a 6 iron right at the pin, but again it skipped just off the back, and I had to chip down a tier and didn’t hit a very good chip, leaving a 10 footer which I missed. The forth was a killer for me as I
hit a 3 iron off the tee, wanting to draw the ball down the left side to open the pin, again I over drew the shot, which seemed to be my nemesis all week,
and this time I just missed the fairway and had to draw a nine iron up over the right side of a tree to a back right pin. This time the ball did not draw, and found the water right of the green… so that meant double bogey. The next was a long par 3 which I took right at the stick but just pushed it a tad and it caught the top of the greenside bunker. It was a pretty good shot, and I hit a nice little sand shot to about 2 feet… then lipped out the putt… so I found myself 5 over par after 5 holes. Not the start I was looking for for sure.
I played the rest of the front nine nicely, parring out missing 3 makeable birdies.
Standing on the 10th… my instinct told me if I could shoot 32 on the back I might still have a chance, and things looked bright for a moment after I birdied #10
wedging one to about 6 feet. I birdied again on #14 with another wedge to about a foot, after hitting a mammoth drive over a corner or trees. Any hope probably ended on #15 with a bogey. I played the the last three nicely with makeable birdie runs from 20, 15 and 15 feet.
All it all it was good fun, as it always is when you are in any kind of contention. Even with rough start, I felt good I was able to keep focused and play even par coming in… and giving myself an opportunity to make a late charge if the putter decided to catch or fire rail off a birdie barrage on the back nine.
So much of playing good golf is simply not making big mistakes, or hitting a lot of bad golf shots. Even though I don’t feel I putted all that good, I made enough birdies to win the event. With par at 142 (a par 71). Making no mistakes, my five birdies would have put me at 137. I typically plan on 2 bogeys a round if I am going to win an event, so had I kept that pace I would have shot 141. Even 4 bogeys a round would have put me tied this year at 145.
Last year I had 5 bogeys, but only one birdie in two days. This year I had 5 birdies yet shot 4 strokes worse than last year. Simply put… too many poor golf shots.
I think this is why I like to focus more on ball striking, because if I can just putt decent… it’s easier to make birdies, and position the ball around the course to where you don’t make a lot of bogeys or worse either. I also find it a lot easier to troubleshoot my golf swing than my putting stroke and I think it’s hard to rely upon putting well every round.
It was a lot of fun, and it certainly was a lot more exciting this year than last year… even for me.
Winning a tournament is much like walking a tightrope. Sometimes you don’t have to do anything spectacular, just keep your balance, and don’t fall off into disaster. Luke no doubt played the best golf with a fine 71 on a tough golf course the last round. His front nine 33 gave him some cushion and that certainly made the task a bit easier than having to mount a big comeback coming down the stretch.
So that’s the wrap on this years event.
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