Living the Dream: February 2011

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Future Schedule: Upcoming Tournaments

Here's a look into my upcoming tournaments:

March 4-6, 2011: Yulo Cup Member Guest at TCC (Fun Social Golf Tournament)
March 30-April 1, 2011: PGT Northwoods (Season Opener, Pro Tournament)
April 6-8, 2011: PGT Malarayat (Pro Tournament)
April 12-15, 2011: Philippine Amateur (72 hole stroke play for the first time)

April 17: Leaving for the U.S. Back to Naples, FL for 2 weeks baby!

Returning to the Philippines: May 3, 2011.

Team Cleaning of the Houses

As part of losing in a Ryder Cup style format on the week of Feb 14-18 against the girls, us boys had to get down and dirty to clean the two houses.

Everything from the backyard, the rooms, the driveway, gym, to the bathrooms.

Thorough as can be. It made for a good team bonding session. Props to Coach Cassius who oversaw the whole thing while taking this video.

Te

Mizuno Dream Cup Finals

February 17, 2011

Recall a few months back, November 5^th, 2010 to be exact, that I played in a one day event in Sherwood for the Mizuno Dream Cup pre-qualifier? Advancing through that stage with a top five finish earned me a spot in this Mizuno Dream Cup Finals.

The Mizuno Dream Cup final is a one-day event staged in the beautiful Orchard Golf Club – Palmer Course once the site of the Johnnie Walker Open back in 1995. My childhood stars like Ernie Els, Fred Couples, Greg Normal, Nick Price, all appeared in this star studded event, all of whom I got their autographs and some along with pictures.

Winning this leg of the Mizuno Dream Cup Finals will earn you a spot in an amateur tournament in Japan to be held in May. An all expense paid trip! What a deal! The atmosphere was serious and I was ready to go once I stepped up on that tee despite being bed ridden the previous day with a stomach virus.

It was an up and down round bogeys and birdies. Bogey on 2, Birdie on 6, Bogey on 9, Birdie on 10, Bogey on 11, Bogey on 13. 2 over through 13 and it was looking grim but I heard from the organizers that no one in particular was going low that day thanks to the fairly strong winds and the slippery greens. I knew I had to put on a charge in the end to have any chance at pulling it off.

Birdie on 14 and a birdie on the par 3 16^th after hitting a solid 5 iron into the wind from 190 yards to 15 feet. A sandy save on 17 and it was looking good. On 18, 3^rd shot from the fairway, 70 yards up the hill to the green on this par 5. Pin in the lower tier. What do I do? I’m jacked up and hit it passed the flagstick to the upper level! Oh no!!! The first putt is impossible to stop, rolls by 13 feet. Uphill par putt and it doesn’t go in. Bogey. 73 1 over.

Turns out that bogey cost me badly. The winning score was 72, by my good friend Justin Limjap. Chuck came in 3^rd with a 74. My best buddies and roomies: a 1,2,3 finish!

That feeling of adrenaline rush during the last few holes was a thrill. You win some you lose some but you get stronger after each experience.

Congrats again Justin! Make us proud in Japan!

Welcome to Orchard!

Birdie on 16 to get back to even par. Big putt at the time

Great Snapshot

Scores

Yeah Justin!

DHL Amateur 3rd and Final Rounds

Written: February 11, 2011

The final two rounds of the tournament didn’t go as planned. It was good learning experience nonetheless. That’s what they all say when things don’t go as planned right? Nah, but seriously, it was. Playing tournament golf is the best way to improve and accelerate the learning process. As I mentioned in my previous blogs, I stuck it out with my new grip through the whole week. If you told me I would end up at even par after 72 holes, I would have taken it at the beginning of the week.

As it turned out, I shot 72-76 in the final two rounds of competition. Four day scores of 73-67-72-76. One low round sure goes a long way huh? A lot went well for me during the week. Most notably, the putting. Consistent putting rounds in the mid 20’s really kept me in the game and allowed me to produce those scores despite the ball striking issues.

There’s a lot I could take away from this 8^th place finish:

I can hang in there even when all parts of my game isn’t there.
I am capable of turning in low rounds, low nine hole scores and getting hot in stretches.
I now relish playing in the final pairing (3^rd round)
I can stick with a long term goal and persevere through the modifications I’m currently making with my swing cognizant of the fact that things will improve greatly in the future as long as I stay patient.

Come the next morning, it’s back to the drawing board. Regroup, recharge, and get back at it! That’s the beauty and challenge of this sport.

Monday, February 21, 2011

DHL Amateur 2nd Round

Written: February 9, 2011

In golf, you always hope that today’s going to be your day. The day when your swing, your putting, your good fortune, and your mind work in harmony to produce the golf you know you’re capable of. In today’s 2^nd round of the DHL Amateur Open, today was that day for me! For the back nine at least.

I started off on the 10^th tee today at 8:30am. Slow round as both the men and women’s division were playing in one course. Over 100 players all in all. The first hole signaled some positive vibes today when I made an impossible sand save from a plugged lie, the ball hit the lip, popped straight up, settled 12 feet from the hole, and made the par. Although I proceeded to make a bogey on the following hole and follow it up later on with a 3-putt on the 18^th hole, my 9^th of the day, I know I was striking it well enough to somehow finish under par for the day. Outward nine holes of 1 over 37.

On the back nine beginning on hole 1 is where the turbo really started to kick in.

Hole 1: Perfect drive, perfect 2^nd shot to 3 feet and a birdie.

Hole 2: Dropped a birdie putt from 25 feet away.

Hole 4: Dropped a birdie putt from 30 feet away.

Hole 5: Made a par putt from 6 feet away in what looked like an impossible up and down

Hole 6: Dropped a birdie putt from 27 feet away.

Hole 7: Dropped a birdie putt from 24 feet away.

Hole 8: Nice pitch to knock it to 4 feet and made the birdie.

A career best 9 hole score in a tournament of 6-under 30! Nice way to clean up and shoot a 5-under 67. I kept telling myself mentally to keep going and adding on the birdies while the putter was hot. What helped was Monday’s practice round when I put together 5 birdies for a 31 back nine score. The feeling of going really low wasn’t something new, which helped keep me composed.

Tomorrow, I’ll be playing in the final pairing. 4 some with the leader at 9 under par (66-69). Clyde Mondilla at 5-under, Zanie Boy Gialon at 4-under and myself. It’s me against the course once again tomorrow. Let’s go!

DHL Amateur 1st Round

Written: February 8, 2011

Today was the first round of the DHL Amateur Open. The course lent itself to perfect scoring conditions. No wind, greens were smooth, the rough was dry and down and the fairways were firm making the course play short. Unfortunately, unlike the practice round, I couldn’t get any momentum going. I put together a 1 over 73 with bogeys on 1, 4, and 18 offset by only two birdies on 2 and 8.

Although I did have moments when I connected well with full swing shots, the right side continued to be my dominant miss when my hands get stuck behind my body in the follow through. Still in the process of working through these swing and grip changes. Each day, I’m getting more and more comfortable. Certainly, playing in competition speeds up that process.

Remember how I was talking about how much I savored that hot shower last night? Well today it wasn’t the case. For some electrical reason, our room’s water heater doesn’t work again! Haha. Then there are two new upgrades to our team house: Satellite T.V. in our living room! Problem now is that it’s in black and white. Again, a problem we’re trying to solve.

Here’s the next upgrade: Drum roll please… It’s the one that’s been long awaited… Coach Nes installed internet in the girls house! It works! While there’s no WiFi and it’s yet to reach our boys’ house, having internet is one big step!

Back to the DHL tournament, the leader is at 66. Fellow teammate Zanie Boy Gialon at 67. Good thing is that it’s a 4 day event. 3 days to go. We’ll see what we can do!

Saturday, February 5, 2011

PGT Canlubang YouTube Video

Highlights and Recap of the final leg of the PGT circuit for 2010. The PGT Canlubang event played on Nov 24-26, 2010 where I placed tied 5th overall and best amateur for the 2nd consecutive tournament.

Living the Dream