St. Patty's Meltdown

So the traditional first tournament of the season for the past few years here in Colorado has been the St. Patty's Meltdown up at Edora Park in Fort Collins. This year there was no melting snow so go figure.

I finished the tournament in 14th place in Advanced, which was good enough for last cash. I had a grand time and was mostly impressed by the fair but challenging layout, which was a super layout for the course.

Here is what I learned. The mental game is so important and it does not pay to ignore it. See in the first round I played quite well, that is until I got the best of myself and some unlucky bounces and took two 8's close to the end of the round. Yes, I took them on lnger holes. Yes, if I had simply made a 5 on each of them I would have been in second place. A bad or unfortunate tee shot forced me to want to make up for it on the next shot, both of which ended up going out of bounds. Then you are really set back and make more mistakes. But, as the tournament went along, the mental game got stronger and I started to feel better and better about my game.

There really is something to be said for tournamnet head. I think it consists of focus, confidence and pure silliness. Why silliness you ask? Well, let me tell you, if you can simply be silly it is a lot easier to forget about the last shot. You end up having a lot more fun during the round and in the end it matters less. This all helps me get to that goal I have of making sure I am having fun and when I am having fun I found that I play better. See, tournament head requires a degree of silliness and I am sure it will continue to develop the more I allow it to be there right along with the focus and confidence.

In the mean time it is back to practicing my putting as that was quite streaky during the tournamnet, mostly dependent on my confidence. I also need to figure out how to practice my upshots. Perhaps a visit to the local short nine hole course will prove beneficial.