I just got back from the first two regular season tournaments of the Adams Golf Tour. I was very pleased with the high quality of the golf courses played, organization and the great atmosphere during both of the tournaments.
The first tournament was played in Alexandria, Louisiana, at Oakwing Golf Club. The course is only 7,000 yards which was relatively short compared to courses played in tournaments before. The greens had lot of undulations and were very hard to read. I started the tournament with a 72, even par, hitting 16 greens. I had only two birdies and the only two bogeys that I had were due to three-putts. I hit the ball great all day and had many great looks at birdies but could not take advantage of the good shots. The course had Bermuda grass greens and I had very hard time reading them.
After first round I was right at the projected cut line and was confident that I will shoot a better score the next day hitting the ball like I did day before. I started the second day with a birdie on 10th hole, my first hole of the day, and had no doubt that I will have a great round. Once again, I missed only two greens and did not make really any bad swings until I got to the par 4, 7th hole, 16th hole of the day for me. I was australian casinos one under at that time I felt confident I could finish strong. Unfortunately, I did not make my best swing on the tee which left me with a shot out of the right rough. After that I made two worst swings of the tournament. I hit two balls in a row in the water and running my chances to make the cut. It was really disappointing for me that I did not make it to the final days of the tournament because the course set up very well for me and I was hitting the ball as good as I ever have. I just could not make any putts. All birdies that I made were two putt birdies on par 5’s or tap-ins. I felt confident that I will do better next tournament since all parts of my game were in good shape. I just needed little more practice on the Bermuda greens and not playing the last two days of the tournament provided me with this opportunity.
The second tournament was played at the Louisiana National Golf Club in Lake Charles, Louisiana. The course was completely different from the OakWing Golf Club. The whole course was extremely firm making fairways play narrower and making it tough to stop the ball on the green. Actually, it was impossible to stop a ball on the downwind holes even with wedges. The course required lot of creativity and many different types of shots. I opened the tournament with a 77 on a very windy day which was not a very great score even considering the difficult conditions. Once again, my putting was not at its best. I had multiple three-putts, missed many short putts, and I did not make any putts for birdies. The second day I came out to the course convinced that I will finally putt well. I shot 69 in even tougher conditions while most of the field was struggling which propelled me up the leaderboard. I made the cut with a shot to spare and was committed to further move up during the last two rounds. The third day I played very well once again, I made few putts but mostly took advantage of the shorter par 5s on the course; I played them four under par. I finished the day at two under par further moving up the leader board. The last round my putting and short gave up on me on multiple holes. I made five birdies but made seven bogeys as well. The round of 74 put me in a tie for 28th with a total score of two over par for the tournament.
My next tournament appearance will be at the Firewheel at Garland, TX later in April followed by the Jamie Hilton’s Hillcrest Classic in Waco, TX.
