First off wanted to share a link for an outstanding event and cause. 8/11 at Andover Country Club is the Birdies 2 Benefit Challenge, where golf pros and players from all over Massachusetts will play 54 holes trying to rack up as many birdies as possible and raise money for Boston Children’s Hospital, The Special Olympics, and other Boston Charities. This event has a special place for me, I am hoping to tee it up for Team Andover again, the last time went pretty well for me. Donate to Team Andover or your home club here
Birdies 2 Benefit | Birdies 2 Benefit

We’ll start with the update I was hoping I didn’t have to share. I lost my first round match on Saturday. I was the low qualifier with a gritty 78 in pretty tough conditions tipped out with some wacky pins. I’m pleased with that and my putting practice really showed.

Saturday’s match I was up against a Good Player but earnestly someone I should’ve beat. I shot my highest round of the year with an 85. Lost the first hole after hitting my drive up against a tree and never led all day. Made some nice birdies to tie up the match a few times, but the driver never put me in places to succeed. I track my stats all year, for the season I have hit 71% of fairways and gained strokes on 80% of my drives. On Saturday I hit 4 total fairways with my driver. I birdied 3 of those 4 holes. Pretty frustrating, the rough was thick and I had 3 drives that left me with not option but to advance the ball 50 yards or so due to trees in my backswing. Played one ball all day (if you don’t count the one I chucked into the woods after missing a 4 footer on 10)

I am proud of how I finished out. I lost 14 after a pulled drive had me far out and I pulled my approach into the sand from 170 yards. Almost made a 40 footer for par and my opponent made a nice comebacker to win the hole and go 2 up. On 15 I hit my tee shot to a green side bunker, I had one foot out of the bunker and one foot by the ball, hit a good bunker shot and slid what I thought was a great putt down a hill and made the comebacker for bogey. My Opponent made a great 7 or 8 footer for par to put me dormie. My Dad came out to watch that hole and I said “I just don’t have it today, yet.” 16 I made a good par with a nice lag to win the hole. 17 my opponents drive rolled down the path to about 90 yards out. I was 155 out of the rough and had no choice but to try and flag an 8 iron. Pulled it to left side of the green, took a hot bounce into the hazard left. I thought my day was done, he came up short on his approach and ended up in a situation where he was going to have to go up and down for 5. I had to drop, and hit one of the best pressure shots of my life to 3 feet from the junk with no eyeline to the pin. He missed, I made my putt and we went to 18 1down. Hit my best drive of the day and stuffed a 9 iron to 10 feet. I had 2 putts to advance the match, and my putter had come alive, making everything inside of 15 feet after the 12th hole. Putt a great roll on it and onto the playoff. My boy Lucas got a sweet video from the patio.

Onto the playoff, I was feeling it. Pumped a drive, my opponent hit a great one but that meant I could hit my approach first. Smashed a 9 iron but might’ve hit it too good. I was trying to stay below the pin because it was front left, my ball spun down the fringe to about 15 yards. He hit a bad shot and a bad chip, so we were in a similar spot. I hit my chip good but it just shot forward on me to about 15 feet dead above the hole. He put himself 10 feet below. I hit what I thought was the best putt I’ve ever hit, just missed the hole and ran out to 8 feet. I think I was a little quick on the comebacker, he made his putt for 5 which I should have expected, and made a bad read on my comebacker, missing just right of the cup, and my tournament was over. That’s Golf.

Looking back, I was disappointed that I didn’t play my best round. I had a lot of momentum coming into the round, and I think I was a little too calm to be honest. I wasn’t nervous about my opponent, and didn’t take him lightly, but I played safe in a couple spots I should’ve went for the kill. There were a lot of lip outs but a lot of them were because I putt myself in grinder situations to make pars instead of easy two putts. I read Jon Sherman’s “Foundations of Winning Golf” and used a lot of those tips Friday and Saturday. I was able to get my heart rate down after highs and lows, but I just didn’t every get to the “Fuck You” Mode I have in previous years. My last 2 years I have won my first two matches before the 16th tee box in all 4 matches. I think I took that for granted and thought that was my median rather than my ceiling.

I’m not making excuses, I didn’t play well, and my opponent capitalized on my mistakes while limiting his own.

If I was going to make excuses they would be as follows

In other news, we got the new house set-up and thankfully my wife has zero interest in the basement, when we toured the place, I saw this basement and my eyes were the size of the Donut I should’ve gotten before my round Saturday. It was the perfect little man cave. Big enough room, a back storage room with a work bench, and we had a couch and a recliner with nowhere to go in our new place. I had a friend much handier than I come put the TV’s up in the house and the basement turned out exactly how I envisioned. Just need to clean up that desk on the wall and find a home for the black desk somewhere in the house. Gonna get some Flags from Courses I’ve played to put up on the wall and cover up some cords. I’m stoked.