Nov
01
2007

An Opportunity Lost

Posted by Double Eagle in My Progress

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My club puts out a newsletter every month. I think that’s a nice touch.

I just got this month’s letter and saw the results of the club championship that was held the day before I had surgery.

As it approached, I tried to decide whether to play in it or not based on a few things. First, I hadn’t been successful in getting enough full rounds to get an official handicap, since I’m usually a 9 hole player and had some injuries late in the season. Second, I wasn’t happy with where my game was at the time and figured “why bother”.

Fast forward to the newsletter and I see that the winning score was a 79 and the runner up shot 80.

That floored me a bit.

I know that high handicappers are much more prevalent in general, but surely there have to be few low handicap players around. I don’t know how many members the club has, but I can’t imagine there are no big-time players.

I don’t think weather was an issue. If I recall correctly, I played that afternoon and the weather was nice. (I just checked and it was 67 degrees and sunny that day)

One thought I have on the matter is the difficulty of the course. I find it to be quite challenging. People say the rough has hands that come out and take any ball that’s unfortunate enough to end up there.

It’s relatively short, but very narrow. Many holes are narrow AND have trouble on both sides. There are a lot of holes with out of bounds stakes (some bordering external property, but some internal to the course which I strongly disagree with). Every hole on the front nine has water that can come into play (some just in the form of wet drainage ditches, but hazards nonetheless - some being tagged “environmentally sensitive” that can’t be played from), but in some cases, it’s out of the way enough to be a non-factor, even for high handicappers.

Lately, I’ve been shooting in the 42 range for 9 holes. So, that puts me around 84 for 18 holes. Only 5 strokes out.

I feel like if I had been preparing for that tournament, instead of staying focused only on my long term goals, I could have spent several weeks working specifically on the things that would make the most difference in the near term. That would mean focusing most of my effort to shots within 100 yards. That would also mean more practice time (which would eventually wear me down, but it would be fine for a short burst).

I think I could have had a shot of winning outright, or at least being right in the mix.

I can’t stop wondering if there just weren’t any players capable of putting up a low number out there, or if the course is just that difficult.

I tend to always reflect back on myself and assume that if I don’t shoot a good score, then I’m not good enough. Maybe it’s just a very difficult course and I’m further along than I realize.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not a scratch golfer anywhere on the planet (yet). But I wonder how I’d do on an easier course.

I’m planning on hitting some balls Saturday, my first time back since surgery. If all goes well, I think I’ll hit my old stomping grounds on Sunday. That’s a course I know as well as anyone on Earth. I used to have no trouble shooting in the high 30’s there. Maybe I’ll surprise myself and meet my goal of getting back in the 30’s before the year is out.

I can tell you that next year, I won’t waste the opportunity of playing in the club championship. I need that tournament experience to see how I do when it counts. The experience of preparing for an event and playing with something on the line will be more valuable than any other part of my development.

The moral of the story is: I could spend the rest of my life preparing, but eventually I need to jump into the fire if I ever want to succeed.

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There are currently 9 responses to “An Opportunity Lost”

  1. 1

    Thecpa said:

    I enjoyed this post very much. Set your clock for 6:30 am and get out of bed when it goes off. Discipline will get you to your goals sooner. It all starts with the little things.

    Posted on November 1st, 2007 at 10:33 pm

  2. 2

    Double Eagle said:

    Glad you enjoyed it.

    Posted on November 2nd, 2007 at 7:19 am

  3. 3

    Mike Pedersen Golf said:

    Tournament play is SO different than normal play. The nerves are much higher and the easiest putts turn into knee-knockers :)

    Posted on November 2nd, 2007 at 8:23 am

  4. 4

    Double Eagle said:

    I can’t wait to experience that first hand. I’ve always liked the pressure that comes from sports. When I played hockey, I loved the butterflies before a game that would calm once the action started. I liked feeling the pressure and elevating myself to meet the challenge.

    Posted on November 2nd, 2007 at 1:38 pm

  5. 5

    Dave said:

    I have also seen unexpectedly high scores in tournaments, and I have all kinds of theories as to why this happens.

    I think the number one factor is that people play by the rules in tournaments, whereas they normally play by weekender-style casual rules. Most golfers will do some or all of the following: take mulligans, take gimmes, improve lies, ground clubs in hazards, take illegal drops, play balls from out of bounds, and not post scores that they aren’t happy with. Most of this stuff, gimmes for example, is so normal that people don’t realize their scores are effected by it. The end result is that when they have to putt everything out in a tournament, their scores go up a few strokes. Pressure is a bit of a factor too, and also I think tough pin placements tend to show up in club tournaments.

    At any rate, I find it all very interesting.

    And I think we should all play in every tournament we can. Life is short!

    Posted on November 2nd, 2007 at 4:37 pm

  6. 6

    Double Eagle said:

    No doubt those are all factors, Dave.

    Still, there are lots of good amateur players in the southern NJ area that can shoot scratch or better when it counts. Maybe we just don’t have any at my club or maybe they couldn’t make it to the tournament this year or maybe even the few that were in the field had off days.

    There are tons of possibilities.

    If the winning score was 70, I don’t think I would have blinked. Knowing that I could have maybe had a shot at this stage in my development eats at me, though.

    I definitely think you’re right about playing in every tournament that we can. Not only will it help me develop, but I think it’s really what I crave.

    Posted on November 2nd, 2007 at 5:50 pm

  7. 7

    Andrew said:

    I’m not a big golfer, but I couldn’t agree more about jumping into the fire. I think a lot of us get caught up in preparing and don’t just do things.

    I applaud your efforts. Good luck with the golf pro goal!

    Posted on November 2nd, 2007 at 9:15 pm

  8. 8

    Double Eagle said:

    Thanks, Andrew!

    Posted on November 2nd, 2007 at 10:03 pm

  9. 9

    TP Golf Online said:

    I would not dwell too much on the what if…

    Go out and play tournaments and get the experience. Find out how you react to the pressure you put on yourself. It is a learning experience. Over time you will learn to focus better and discover what your what your weaknesses are. strengthen your weaknesses and go out and play again.

    Posted on November 6th, 2007 at 5:34 am

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