Back at it!

A week of practice and preparation for the upcoming Gateway event at Wigwam-Red has me feeling confident and excited for another tournament! Event #9 starts tomorrow and runs through Thursday after a two round cut. Not only will the following three events have their typical purses, but a Nationwide Tour event exemption on the line as well. A cumulative points race over the next three Gateway Tour events will determine the winner of the BMW Charity Pro/Am exemption later this summer. The past few days have been spent working on the things I believe will be the keys to getting into contention this week. The wedge game, as well as putting, will be put on display at this week's event on the relatively simple layout that Wigwam-Red offers. Capitalizing on the opportunities provided will set the leaders apart from the rest of the field. A pretty forgiving driving course, and with only a moderate length, will allow for an abundance of low scores I believe. I will look to stay in the present this week, and focus on one shot at a time. Breaking my round down into small pieces will simplify things, and ultimately allow me to free up and execute golf shots. I'll let my game plan and patience take over this week, letting the big picture elements fall into place. You can follow this week's scores at: http://gatewaytour.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/gway11/event/gway118/contest/1/leaderboard.htm All-American Tour Championship Recap: A tough first-round draw in the 64-man match play bracket found me facing off against Swedish professional Niklas Lemke. A battle would only begin to describe this match as neither player led by more than 1 up until the 16th hole. The back and forth match found me behind early after a 3-putt bogey at the first. After a couple near birdie misses for wins at 2 & 3, I finally got a couple putts to drop. The first came after a great 50 yard lob over a bunker to 6 feet, and the second a 2-putt birdie on the par-5 fifth. Those back to back birdies propelled me to a 1-up lead. Niklas quickly countered with a birdie of his own at #6 to square the match. After we both made pars at 7 & 8, I squandered a chance to take the lead on #9 heading to the back nine. Two good shots to the par-5 led to a three putt and a halve, which felt like a loss as we headed to the final 9 holes. A great save from the green side bunker for me at ten, only to be followed by a 25-foot birdie conversion from Niklas to go 1-up. The match would become pretty uneventful after that however, as both players continued to make pars. Neither of us could get our birdie opportunities to fall and take control of the match. A disappointing non up and down from just short of the green at the par-5 14th kept me at 1-down with only 4 to play. On the drivable 15th, Niklas hit it over the green into a tough position for an up and down. I hit one of my best shots of the day to the par-4 as it settled just 25 feet from the cup for eagle. My putt would run out of speed though as it came to rest a couple inches short in the center of the hole. Niklas just wouldn't give any ground as he rolled in his 15 footer for the halve and to remain 1-up. My putter would let me down again, as another three putt led to a loss at #16 and 2-down deficit with only two to play. Both of us parred the 17th, and Niklas walked away the winner of the match and onto the next round. That's all for now from "the tips", but until next time remember...."the most important shot is the one you are about to hit!" Bryce