Rollin up to Cali in style and on Fire

Wanted to let everyone know that I was picked as the individual to play in our next tournament in Palms Desert, California. Sorry I have not posted anything about the last tournament in Layton, Utah, but I have just not had the time of day to do anything but school work! HAHA

Anyways, we just arrived in California around 10:00 P.M. today after a nine hour drive through some mountains and a long desert. We took a long break in Primm, Nevada to practice so we were not coming into this tournament cold. After getting some grub, and stretching, we started the final leg of the trip to California. I fell right asleep in the van until the guys let me know that we were passing by a wildfire. Seeing that fire will leave a footprint in my head forever. Form far away it looked like a volcano was erupting over the horizon. Closer up the fire looked exactly like the scene in Lord of the Rings of Mordor. I have never seen anything like that ever. I was a great spectacle to see but disturbing to watch the mountain ablaze.

Well on a different note we will play our practice round tomorrow at 12 and will have the entire day to relax and practice. I cannot wait to play and get this tournament started!! I will keep everyone posted this week and will later do a write up on the tournament in Layton.

 

 

 

 

    

Leaving Colorado Springs on a High Note!!!

After having the time of this last week to look back on the Gene Miranda Invitational, in Colorado Springs, I have focused more on the positive things. If everyone does not know I ended up shooting 75,76,83 over the three rounds placing me in a tie for 93 of 108. This placing has shown me that the competition has improved and I need to stay focused throughout that tournament and not worry all my play on one hole. Even though I did not play all that great on the last day of the tournament I did have more birdies(4) then the first two round combined. My ball striking the entire week was great and it is still feeling great.



This last week back in Utah we had our second qualifying for the next tournament which is up in Layton, Utah about 1.5 hours north of Orem. I did not receive and exemption for the Gene Miranda so I had to fight my way back onto the top 5. We had the qualifying days, the first at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah. I was still not feeling 100% health wise but bared with it at shot a 75. The lower for that day was Noah Cook who shot 73 to receive the 3rd spot on the team. The second day was at Hobble Creek in Springville. I played and felt better on Thursday and shot an even par 36. I ad to birdie my last two holes to shot even but I fought back strong. Andrew was the low that day with an impressive 32 and took the 4th spot.

We had a team meeting on Friday to go over the team going to the tournament and coach picked me at the 5th guy. Overall in the qualifier I finished 3rd but Jeff and Dane were exempt and did not have to qualify even though they played.

We are leaving today at 9:30 to go play our practice round at 12. I have not played the course we are going to yet so today I am going to learn the course so I can play well on Monday and Tuesday.

Sorry I did not get this post up earlier, School has been taking over my life right now, but last week I got all caught up.
I will keep you posted about this weekend.

If anyone has any ideas of other things I could put onto this blog let me know by leaving a comment!!

Thanks

Pictures of Apartment & School

Leading the Pack to Colorado Springs

With a total of 3 under after playing 88 holes for the first tournaments qualifier, I have the privilege of being the number one guy for UVU. Getting back into the swing of things in Utah has been a great experience so far! The second half of the qualifying tournament allowed me to see how I will play under certain pressure situations. My main goal after the first three rounds was to come out of this leading the team to Colorado. I was able to accomplish this feat and will carry the same consistency to the first tournament of the year.

On Monday of this week we played Soldier Hollow which in on the way to Park City, Utah, where the Olympics where held back in 2002. I started out as a normal Utah afternoon, sunny with a little breeze. After the 14th hole the wind picked up and the rain came down like bullets!! Coach cut the 18 holes to 16 because of the rain and the possibility of lighting. I started the day with a birdie on the second hole and shot 35 on the front nine. I struggled on a few holes on the back and had two bogeys. I was striking the ball great and just missed two up and downs all day. I finished the day with a 4 shot lead.

Tuesday's round was held at Spanish Oaks back nine. The round started off great and I eagled #10 a medium length par 5. I then finished up the round with two birdies and two bogies to shot 34. I gained one more shot on the field leading by 5.

The final round of qualifying was a a course down south on the way to Price. Gladstan is somewhat of a very hilly course and has some tricky blind shot and narrow holes. I started the round great again and birdied my first hole. I had another birdie on the fourth hole and then I over drew my tee shot on 5 and put it in the water. I shot 1 under on the front-side. I was hitting the ball great and had many birdie chances the entire day but the putting was just a tad off. One birdie and one bogey on the backside to shot 71 and gain a final lead of 7 strokes over Jeff Holmes.

The big thing that Nick Nelson told me today, by text on our drive to Colorado, it does not matter what you shot in the qualifying now you have to use your great game playing to establish a leadership position on the team. In other words, use the momentum to play well in the tournament and help the other guys out when ever possible. Golf is an individual game but I will play so much better if I have a great team backing me up with good play as well.

Here are my overall stats for the qualifying:

71.25 scoring average and 32.25 putts per round. I played the par 5s at 11 under, par 4s at 8 over and the par 3s at even par.

I am very pleased with where my game is and where it is headed. I will keep everyone posted.

Thanks

Leader After Halftime!!

We started qualifying this last we for the first tournament on the year, which is back in Colorado Springs. My HOME!! We played a total of 45 holes this first week going 18-9-18. For the first round we played Hobble Creek. On the front nine I hit all 9 greens and shot 1 under par. On the back nine, I had a few hick up on some holes and shot 2 over par with three bogie's and one more birdie. I shot a 1 over par 72 and was leading my two strokes over Jeff Holmes, one of my roommates.

The second round we only played nine holes because coach wanted to take sometime with everyone individually and explain what he saw the day before. The one thing that he told me is that my tempo was just a shy fast. I went to the range for about 45 minutes before we played and worked everything out. The course we played was called Talons Cove, which is on the West side of the Utah Lake ( the opposite side of UVU, and it is about a 1 hour drive). Coach played in my group, that consisted of Paul, and Jeff. I shot a 1 under par round of 35 and unfortunately bogeyed the last hole. Joey, on of the new guys on the team shot an amazing 5 under 31 on those nine holes and lead me by one stroke.

The third round was played at Spanish Oaks, the course I shot 68 at last week. I started out playing great again and was 4 under par after my first 8 holes. On the second I chipped in from the bunker for eagle, and almost hole on on the next hole. We got to the ninth hole, a drivable par 4, and I hit driver and pushed my drive under a tree on the right-side. I ended up double bogeying that hole which took me back to 2 under-par for the round. I got it back to 4 under after the 15th hole by having birdies on 10 and 12. The 16th hole is one of the hardest holes I have played. ate second shot is down hill dogleg right, blind, and you can't miss it right or your ball is in the trees!! I hit a great tee shot down the right side, but I was still 190 yards from the green and had to hit over the trees on the right. I kind of push cut my ball and I did not fly far enough to get over the gunge so I took a double bogey on that hole as well. I ended up shooting a 1 under round of 71 and regained my lead by two strokes over Jeff.

Overall I think the week went well even though I had a few arrant shots. I have hit a total of 36 greens which is 80%, and I am averaging 32.67 putts around. This stats are the highest on the team. Coach and I discussed it and he is very pleased with how I am striking that ball and being able to control my ball flight much better then last year. He says I have greatly developed as a player. He especially happy with how my short game looks, he says in it " 1000x better."!!!

Here are the standings thus far:

Player. #1. #2. #3. Total

Nick. 72. 35. 71. -1

Jeff. 74. 34. 72. +1

Joey. 75. 31. 75. +2

Andrew. 76. 36. 72. +5

Cody. 77. 36. 72. +6

cut line

Paul. 74. 37. 76. +8

Dane. 79. 37. 72. +9

Thanks everyone for the great support that keeps me motivated!!

First Week is Over!!

The first week of official practice is now over, and it was a great warm up for next week’s qualifying. On Wednesday we played Glandstan Golf Course in Payson, which is about 30 minutes south of Orem. The course is tough, especially the back nine, because it is long and very hilly. So really you are never hitting from a flat line or hitting to a level green. I shot 75 which was 2nd low for the entire team that day. I played okay but not great, there were a few easy putts that I read too much break.

This was the first day I played after getting my knee checked by the athletic trainer. I did something to my knee last week and hyper extended it. So I played the rest of the week with it wrapped so I could not straighten my knee all the way which made walking and swing more comfortable. I feel much better now, since I had the weekend to rest it up.

Thursday was the last day of organized practice last week, and we played at Spanish Oaks Golf Course, which is located in the Spanish Fork Canyon right next to the big windmills!! What a sight. I played with Andrew, Noah and Jeff. Jeff and I took on Andrew and Noah and beat them on the front, and we tied the back nine. Personally I played one of my better rounds since being back in Utah. I shot a 68 and was very pleased.

On the front nine I shot a 5 under par 31. I had an Eagle, and 4 birdies. Unfortunately I three putted the 8th hole for a bogey. I was hitting the ball great and the putting was phenomenal only had 13 putts. I just could not miss putts; they were going in from 10 feet to 40 feet!! After the front nine, coach started playing with us on the back side. I was very excited of how I was playing and how the team as a whole was doing. As a team we shot 14 under par on the front side.

The back side is somewhat more difficult but not too bad. It has some tight tee shots, and a couple of risk reward holes. I kept playing the way I was on the front but on the last three holes, I could feel myself playing more timid. Coach told me that feeling is normal after playing so good for the entire round, and explained to me that after a few more rounds of shooting under par; I will have a better control of that feeling.

Next week we start qualifiers for the first tournament, which is back in Colorado Springs @ the Air Force Academy, Eisenhower Golf Course. My game feels great and I am ready for the qualifiers. I will keep everyone posted on how things are going throughout the week. If anyone would like the see the entire schedule, just click on the UVU Athletics Link on the top of the page.

First Week of UVU Golf

Hey everyone thanks a lot for taking the time to join my blog. I thought this would be an innovative way to keep everyone updated, rather than just sending out emails. I hope you enjoy this and even post comments.
I have been in Utah since August 19th and school just started last Wednesday. So far I think my classes will be challenging be doable at the same time. I am taking Calculus, Physics, and Engineering Statics on Campus, and my Public speaking class is online! I don’t know exactly how this concept of speaking online is going to work but I think its cool not having to go to class.
We just started official golf practice this week and playing 5 straight days of 18 holes. Coach is trying to get a feel for where everyone’s game is going into the season. We’re playing 5 different course and 2 of them we didn’t even get to play last year. Coach must have brown-nosed some of the course head pros to get us on!! HAHA
Yesterday we played Talons Cove, one of the courses I did not get to play last year, which is a links style layout with some drivable par 4s. I played alright for the first time seeing the course, shot a 78 having to get up and down for par many times. My short game and putting was good only having 28 putts. I scored 4th on the team but know I can do better and be one of the tops guys.
Today we played at one of our homes course Hobble Creek in Provo Canyon. This is one of the easier course we play it’s a par 71 and plays around 6800 yards. I played somewhat better today shooting even par: 2 over on the front, 2 under on the back. Putting was not that great and I had two 3 putts but added a no putt on the 17th hole to finish birdie-birdie. Finished 6th today because a lot f the guys played well too shot under par.
We are playing Soldier Hollow tomorrow which is on the way the Park City, host of the Olympics in 2002. I have not had the chance to play this course either but it is mandatory carts so all the guys are happy about that!!
Coach has been very adamant that the guys on the team develop good team relationships both on that off the golf course. He wants us to set wagers every time we play, so we always play team matches for drinks!! Drinks are hard to come by since we are all living on a college expenses!! So we play for a drink like it’s the biggest prize in the world. I enjoy this very much but so far I have lost 3 drinks and need to win the back. It good fun though.
Well we are going down to the hot tube to try and find some dates for this weekend’s comedy club trip. It’s a hypnotist and I am going to be a volunteer. We will see how that goes!!