Written: November 11, 2011
Another challenging week in the books. It was a stern test of hanging in there mentally and through physical pains. The mental test being that I haven’t found momentum in my game over the past 7 weeks since returning to playing form since the bulging disc in the back healed up. The physical pain was something new. This time, the pain came from the left middle finger, which extended down to the center of my palm.
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| Fishing in Montecito |
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| Introducing Olga to the life in the house |
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| Cocah Nes, Marco, Chuck, and I bonding |
It was difficult to swing as the pain felt like needles stuck in the hand everytime I made contact with the ball. The driver swing was weak and same with the irons. At least for the irons, I could drop the club down and let the weight of the club make contact on the ball and the ball would go the same distance. With the driver, it required a lot more strength and since the left hand had barely a grip on the club, this wasn’t possible.
With drives that carried 220 yards and with constant pain lingering in the left hand, it was up to will power to carry on and to find a way to score. With two rounds in the books and a 4 over total (75-73), making the cut was a feat in itself.
For the final round, Olga and her cousin Maanne were supportive in coming out to watch the day’s action. With a bogey, birdie, birdie start and the ball striking looking as crisp as ever despite the intense pain, I felt that I not only could play through it, but could play through it shooting a good score. But things after that point went south. For whatever reason, the ball didn’t go the right spots and the little mistakes caused immediate bogeys and doubles. The final score for the day was a 6 over par 78 for the final round. A 10 over par total was good for 36th place.
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| Grabbing the hand and easing the pain |
I’m entirely grateful for Olga and Maanne to come out and support from the morning range session to the end of the round. Upon leaving Canlubang, we went to Paseo in Nuvali to grab a bite in a Japanese restaurant. Thanks to their company, it eased the disappointment of finishing the tournament in that fashion.
In the coming days, only one strategy is needed and that is to both reset and rest the physical pain that’s lingering and do the same with the mental state. Going 3 weeks in a row playing Caltagan, the Sabah Masters in Malaysia, then in Canlubang took a toll because of an inner battle against my own game through those golf rounds. Things ought to turn around for the better with less worry and going back to playing the game with enjoyment.
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