Salt Lake City Amateur Round One Today – I’m Ready

Written by: Tony Korologos | Saturday, June 2nd, 2012
Categories: Golf • Hackers

I woke up about an hour before my alarm was set to go off. In fact, I’m still 10 minutes ahead of the alarm. I made sure I got to bed nice and early last night so I can be rested for round one of today’s Salt Lake City Amateur at one of my home courses, Bonneville. This is the biggest tournament of the year for me. This one is the one I want to perform well the most. I’m not lumping my club championship in though, a totally different deal. I’m sure I’ll post an update later stating how well I played and if I have time, write some highlights or even hole by hole. As has gone in years past, I’ll write more if I play well.

Last year I placed the highest I’ve ever placed at T10. I hope to top that this year.

The Plan

I’ve been practicing my rear end off this past few weeks to get ready for this one. My scores though, have been pretty bad and haven’t shown any results except one round where I shot a -4 68. My recent scores haven’t been close, but parts of my game have felt great at different times. My driving and putting is fairly solid and the irons and short game have been the weakness. If I can hit a fair share of greens my good putting will take care of my scores. If I miss greens, I need to depend on my short game to save pars. The short game has been tough and they grow the rough out very thick in this tournament. I’ve spent quite a bit of time working on technique for dealing with chipping from thick lies, so we will see if I can execute those shots when the time comes…and it will.

Strategy

This tournament is a gag fest. Many players flame out. The course is set up tough. They harden the greens and make them very fast. Being above any hole is death. The fairways are narrowed and the rough is grown in and very thick. In essence, they “U.S. Openize” the course. This is a two-day endurance test. I WILL make bogeys and maybe even a double or two. I’m going to stay relaxed and calm, regardless of those scores.

The key is to play conservative for most of the holes just trying to hit fairways and greens. I’ll be aiming for the fat part of most greens unless I have a complete green light special. There are a couple of holes I will play aggressively, like the 1st and 16th (par-5’s) which won’t penalize aggressive shots which aren’t perfect. Holes like #9, one of the toughest par-3’s in the state, require conservative play.

I’m Ready

I had a good practice session last night in the ball striking department. I worked though the whole bag, figured out a few issues I’ve been dealing with. I started finding the center of the club face, which is good. I also worked on my fairway and hybrid play, which has been good off the ground but strangely not off of the tee. It seems that I can almost hit both better without a tee. At the end of the session I hit a bunch of lob wedges, 40-50-60-70-80-90-100 yards.

Two days ago I spent a couple of hours practicing chipping. I’ll do some more this morning before the round begins.

As Rickie Fowler says, “Its GO TIME.”

Phil Mickelson’s withdrawal from the Memorial sparks TWO debates

Written by: Tony Korologos | Friday, June 1st, 2012
Categories: Boneheads • PGA Tour • Pro Golf

Yesterday Phil Mickelson (Lefty) shot a 79 at the Memorial. I watched his round and it was quite odd to see him so “off” his game. He was not even thinking about shots. He’d hit one and then walk up to the ball and hit it again. Even Bones his caddy would walk up, see him addressing the ball, and have to back off.

After the round was completed Lefty withdrew from the tournament citing mental fatigue. During the round Phil was paired with Bubba Watson and Rickie Fowler and there were huge galleries following them. At one point Phil had to stop his swing because of cell phone noises from the crowd. Remember, the PGA Tour recently made cell phones legal to posses in the gallery so long as they are set to silent mode. When you get that many people together someone is bound to forget to silence the phone or worse yet, will try to sneak photos.

“I can’t focus. I have to start again, every frickin’ shot.” ~Phil Mickelson on the 8th hole yesterday after some cell phone noises caused him to back off his shot and start his pre-shot routine again.

Bubba Watson was not immune to the distractions either, firing a first round 75. Today Bubba missed the cut.

“It was really tough today, the worst I’ve ever seen. Ever since they made the rule to let cellphones in it has been terrible. It takes your mind off the game.” ~Bubba Watson

No mention of the distractions of obnoxious and idiotic gallery members yelling “you da man!” and “get in the hole” after every shot. Personally I think that one is worse.

Debate #1

Debate #1, which is all over the media and social networks, is whether or not the PGA Tour should have allowed cell phones. They obviously did it because if they didn’t they’d lose a ton in ticket sales.

Part B of this debate is whether or not the Tour is policing the cell phone rules well enough, and whether or not the rules are clear to the volunteers and staff at each venue. Venues seem to enforce the rules differently.

Debate #2

Debate #2 regards Mickelson’s withdrawal itself. Players can’t cite mental fatigue for withdrawing from a tournament during play, but can use just about any reason following a round of play.

And some are making light of the withdrawal as Phil’s reasons for being mentally fatigued included a trip to Europe for his wife Amy’s 40th birthday.

Your Takes

What are your takes on these subjects? Chime in.

DVR Alert – Memorial Tournament TV Times And Questions

Written by: Tony Korologos | Thursday, May 31st, 2012
Categories: FedEx Cup • PGA Tour • Pro Golf • Tiger Woods

PGA Tour

Just about every big player in golf is in action this week on the PGA Tour. Tiger Woods, who opted to do a google+ chat instead of facing the media this week, is in the field for one.

Questions

Wonder which game Tiger will bring? Will he contend or miss the cut? Seems those are the two options. Also in the field this week are Phil Mickelson, Rory McIlory, Bubba Watson and Dustin Johnson. McIlroy has missed two cuts in a row. Will he find his game? And what about Bubba? He has taken about 1.5 months off after winning the Masters. Bomber Dustin Johnson is also returning after he injured himself the week of the Masters lifting a jetski. Doh!

I ran into Mike Weir on the driving range at one of my home courses last Monday. After his 2nd round 83 in the Byron Nelson I wonder where his game will be. Lots of missed cuts for Mike. Will he find it this week?

It should be an interesting and entertaining weekend.

Set Your DVR – PGA Tour TV Schedule

Thu, 5/31:

GOLF 3p – 6p ET

Fri, 6/1:

GOLF 3p – 6p ET

Sat, 6/2:

CBS 3p – 6p ET

Sun, 6/3:

CBS 2:30p – 6p ET

First Look: Pro-Advanced ReadyNet Golf Practice Net

Written by: Tony Korologos | Wednesday, May 30th, 2012
Categories: Golf Accessories

I’ve been waiting for this setup for a LONG time. No excuses now. I can hit balls in the back yard and when it is cold I can hit balls in the garage with my new ReadyNet from Pro-Advanced.

Pro-Advanced ReadyNet Golf Practice Net – click to expand

I’ve just finished my first session with the net in the back yard (pictured). No issues with balls flying out. I’m tempted to rig the thing to fail though so I can pound a driver into the neighbor lady’s back yard in hopes that it will shut up her yelping little dog which is constantly barking 24/7. A premium tour quality golf ball to the teeth might shut that little spastic ball of fur up… I digress… (more…)

First Look: Ashworth Cardiff Footwear

Written by: Tony Korologos | Wednesday, May 30th, 2012
Categories: Golf Apparel

Here’s a first look at the Cardiff golf footwear model from Ashworth. I’ve had my eyes on these babies for a while and I’m glad to be putting a pair (pictured) into play immediately for review here on Hooked On Golf Blog.