Day 52: Tierra Part Deux

So here we are again: Tierra Rejada. As if last week didn't beat me up enough...we meet again.

Prior to leaving, my gal asked me how I felt and I told her that I was uncertain - not a good way to approach a round. I was uncertain with my swing and I was uncertain about putting with my awesome new putter.
I was not used to swinging using a level shoulder turn, but wanted to pay attention to it today. I was obviously not used to my new putter, but looked forward to using it. I feel like if I practice for 15 minutes on the practice green, I should be able to get a good feel as to how the ball is going to roll.

The long and the short of it - I was +9 after the first 6 holes (2 lost balls - 3rd shot on #1 and 2nd shot on #3) and did not par a hole until the Par 3 Hole# 7. I actually made par on the next hole, too, but still did not feel comfortable. I finished the front 9 with a 47 (Par 37) - and it felt worse. I was a mess - mentally and physically. I could not find my swing and my timing was off. Every shot, I would swing differently and would see a different result. However, I did drop some putts and I really liked my new putter.

The back 9 was about the same - ugly - culminating with a shank on the short downhill Par 3 Hole# 17.
All told, the 18th hole was one of the most remarkable moments I have had on a golf course. We were playing a game called 'Wolf' - because I was the person with the least amount of skins, I got to be the Wolf and tee off first. There were a number of carry-overs making the 18th hole worth 19 skins.

The tee shot on 18 is blind and on a down slope. So if you keep your tee shot to the right, you will be safe and get a lot of roll. I hit my hybrid well, but had no idea where my second shot would be. My pal hit his shot OB right, so I did not pick him to be my partner. My other pal hit a less than optimal shot left which would leave him with an awkward 2nd shot, so I did not pick him to be my partner either. The last guy in our foresome went OB left so I went 'Lone Wolf' - which doubled the skins making bringing the total up to 38.
It turned out that I was sitting in the middle of the fairway 145 yards out. The only problem was that the pin was tucked back left over a pond with only a sliver of green to work with. It was a daunting shot not to mention the wind was blowing dead at us. I could have taken a more conservative approach and aimed to the right which would have not put me on the green, but would avoid the water. However, I thought that if I was going to make a great shot today - now was the time to do it - so I went for it.

Because of the wind, I figured that the hole was playing about 155-160. This distance is what I hit my 7-iron. I also figured that if I hit my 7-iron high up in the air and stiff, then the wind would just beat it down on the green, hopefully near the hole.

I stepped up to the ball and hit my most pure shot of the day. I hit it high and on the screws and was repeating to myself, 'beat it down, wind, beat it down'. The wind definitely beat it down and left me on the green about 20 feet from hole. My first putt went about 2 feet long and I made the come-backer to take the 38 skins.
After a long day on the course, the 18th hole left me feeling good. I had full confidence in my ability to hit that second shot and had full confidence in making the second putt for par (with my new putter). I actually thought that my third putt might drop for a birdie and would win the hole in incredible fashion - nonetheless, I took home all the money and learned a valuable lesson.

The lesson I learned was that you have to 'see' the shot and know 100% that you can hit it. I did that on Hole 18 and it resulted in a well-played hole. I need to do that before every shot.

As for the round, I shot a 94 - 47 on the front and 47 on the back. Other than the 18th hole, there was really not much to talk about. I hit 7 of 13 fairways (54%) and was on in regulation on only 5 of 18 holes (28%). I took 35 putts (1.96 average) but made some beauties.

I have a long way to go - especially after all of my indecision standing over the ball today.