Symetra Tour Event #2

Last week I played in the Florida's Natural Charity Classic in Winter Haven.  Unfortunately, this was my worst performance to date.  I shot 76-78 and missed the cut.  This was obviously a disappointment, but I did take some good things away from the week.

For starters, my driver was straight.  I was also accurate with my wedges.  The high scores were a result of short game troubles.  I consider my short game to be one of my strengths, so this was unusual for me.  I believe failure to adjust to the thick Bermuda grass was a lot of the problem.  Since I have at least four more events in Florida, I have plenty more opportunities to adapt to Bermuda and make it my friend over the next year.

The rest of the trip was really great.  My swing instructor, Paul Weyland, is affiliated with David Leadbetter, so he sent me to see some people at the Leadbetter Academy at Champion's Gate in Orlando.  I had a great lesson with an instructor there, and he has already helped me to improve my footwork.  I also saw the Leadbetter strength coach a couple times.  He identified my areas of weakness, gave me a great warm-up to do before each round, and showed me how to maintain mobility and stability throughout the long season. 

After missing the cut, I spent Sunday watching the PGA Tour at Bay Hill.  Some highlights from the day included witnessing Sergio climb 20 feet up in a tree to punch out (here is the Golf Channel video of the shot: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10jORLiU7Ak), and seeing Tiger and Rickie's first two holes.

I am now back in Arizona prepping for my next tournament, a Cactus Tour event next Monday through Wednesday.  This week I am all about short game, short game, short game!

I had an awesome host family for the week, Bob and Karen Williams. I couldn't have asked for a nicer couple.

I called this cute little fan the Tiger cub

Sergio in the tree

This is a picture I took of two Sandhill cranes on the golf course during the practice round