I had originally planned on taking Karen to Las Vegas for our fourteenth wedding anniversary, but she started a new job that didn’t permit her to be away from work. 

I found an amazing deal on a flight to Houston and decide to play the last three events on the Adams Winter Tour in Houston.

It has definitely motivated me to get back to the gym and prepare to play some high caliber tournament golf. 

I’m feeling strong without any issues from my back. Jenny (www.grillsgolffitness.com) showed me some new core stability exercises and it has made a big difference in how often and how long I can practice. 

The swing changes that I have been implementing are starting to feel more comfortable. I am definitely seeing positive changes with ball flight. Trajectory is increasing with all clubs and the consistency at impact is also feeling better. 

Putting indoors using the Pelz Putting clips. Wish the weather would improve so that I could spend more time working on chipping and pitching. I’ve had a couple of sessions with bump and runs and some flop shots.  

The new takeaway is making the flop shots easier. The club head is sliding under the ball and the divot is shallowing out. 

I’m looking forward to playing some competitive golf and spending some quality time getting Devin (Carrey) ready for his 2^nd year on the Canadian Tour.

The weather has been an issue this entire trip. 

Devin and I played a practice round on Sunday 30^th at Cypresswood-Tradition and Monday 31^st at Kingwood-Forest in a golf shirt. A cold front moved through on Monday evening and dropped the daytime highs to just above freezing. Feels like I’m still in Coquitlam! 

I had planned to use Tuesday and Wednesday to sharpen my short game and maybe play 9-holes later in the afternoon. That plan has been shot. We’ve spent a couple of practice session indoors at Golfsmith, hitting balls into nets and putting on the carpet. Not what I was hoping for! 

The first tournament scheduled for Thursday February 3^rd and Friday February 4^th at Kingwood-Forest was canceled because the Adams Tour could get their van out of Dallas, due to the ice storms and freezing temperatures.

Devin and I played a couple more rounds this weekend at The Woodlands-Oaks and a practice round at Kingwood-Lakes. Temperatures are bearable but still chilly and breezy. 

I gained some confidence during Sunday’s round by starting  with three straight birdies, made two more birdies that were offset by a couple of bogey’s and finished at 69 (-3).

I played in full riot gear on both Monday and Tuesday at Cypresswood-Tradition, that included Under Armour, rain pants and jacket, a  toque and mitts. Riding in carts isn’t ideal in these conditions. I would much rather be walking, keeping my body and hands warm and be able to control my rhythm. 

Windy conditions and some slick greens made club and shot selection difficult. I short-sided myself too many times because of a couple of loose iron swings and this lead to several bogey’s.  

A great finish to Monday’s round. I finished birdie-par-birdie for 76 (+4). I’ve had flashed of brilliance during the round, but I can also feel that the swing changes aren’t ingrained yet.  

The lack of short game practice has ballooned my scores. During todays round of 79 (+7), I had nine up & down opportunities and converted only one. A combination of miss struck chips and pitches left the ball in very difficult positions to save par.

Statistically, I’m happy with some of my numbers. After six rounds, I’ve hit 72.62% of fairways and 69.44% of greens in regulation. The greens stat is a little misleading, because the average 1^st putt distance is 25+ feet. Again, I’m not getting close enough to have legitimate birdie chances (only 15 inside 30’).

Pitching, chipping, bunker play and putting are definitely where I’m losing the majority of shots and that’s killing the rounds momentum.

 Todays round at Cypresswood-Tradition magnifies this statement. After a bad start (+4 thru 5) I get a couple back with back-to-back birdies on # 6 and # 7. A slight miss hit on # 8 and I’m left with a basic 15-yard bump and run. It’s slightly uphill and into the grain. I gun if thirty feet by and I have to be tentative with the putt being downhill and down grain. A great par on # 9 and then another poor pitch to fourty feet on # 10 lead to another bogey. Just not sharp!

Another beautiful day in The Woodlands, not! Wet and cold again. We stayed indoors all day and didn’t touch a club. 

This downtime allowed me to reflect on the previous twelve days and I realize that the swing changes, lack of preparation and weather are affecting my attitude. It’s not where I would like it to be.  

But I have to be positive and get ready for tomorrow.

The skies cleared for Thursday’s first round at Kingwood-Lakes. After a par-birdie-par start, the old swing showed up and I hooked my tee shot on #4 into the green-side bunker and short-sided myself for the first bogey of the day, back to even par. Two solid pars on #5 & #6 and then a stretch of bogeys on 7-8-9 to finish the front nine at 39 (+3). 

The back nine on Thursday was more of the same, miss hitting approach shots, sloppy short game and not getting any flow to the round. On #18 with a 3-wood from 262 yards, I made another aggressive play, trying to finish the round with a birdie, and got “stuck”.  My approach shot clips a tree beside the green and kicks into the green-side water hazard. A pitch and two putt for a bogey 6 for 79 (+7). Not to my standards!!! 

Today, I felt my attitude change and it showed in all parts of my game. I continued to “feel” and “trust” the swing changes.

A couple of early loose swings lead to missed birdie opportunities on #1 & #2. The old swing showed up on the approach on #3 and I hooked a 7-iron into the front left bunker and make bogey. It was actually a good bogey as I gunned the par putt eight feet past and made the come-backer. 

Amazing how saving bogey gave me some positive feelings standing on the 4^th tee. I hit a solid hybrid from 216, into about a 10mph wind and two putted from thirty feet. 

A driver and three iron got me on the Par 5 5^th hole in two and I then holed a sixty-five foot putt for eagle.

Just missed a birdie on #6 and tapped in for par. A more conservative layup on #7 left a wedge approach, but I missed hit it and it ended up fourty feet below the hole.   I felt comfortable and confident over the putt and rolled it in the hole. 

Played #8 fabulously. With the flagstick tucked behind a bunker, I chose a conservative line into the middle of the green and cut an eight iron to fifteen feet. Hit another solid putt, but misjudged the grain and tapped in for par. Feeling good! 

I hit my target (150 yard pole) with a 3-wood off the tee on #9, another solid approach with an eight iron to twenty-five feet below the hole and holed the putt for birdie. Finished the front nine at (4-5-5-3-3-3-4-3-3=33) -3, the best nine holes of the trip. 

I’m just trying to keep this flow to the round going. I made an aggressive play off the 10^th tee, a reachable par 5, and had just over 200 yards remaining to the green. I made the decision to play aggressively (as I am +4 for the tournament) and cut a 3-iron over water and around a grove of trees, to a back right flagstick.  I am feeling positive over the ball but make less than perfect contact with the ball and it doesn’t clear the lake. I make a double bogey seven and move back to -2 on the day and +6 for the event (as it worked out, +2 finished tied for 12^th and cashed $300). 

I wasn’t upset with the process. I made a decision and I was comfortable with that choice. I have executed that shot many times, it just didn’t happen in this situation. 

I’m sure that I would have played up the fairway if the situation was different (inside or closer to the cut number). But, I’m satisfied with the choice and how committed I was. More work is needed to improve the execution, not the process!

The round got away from me later in the back nine, where two errant tee shots resulted in a chip-out bogey and another double bogey when I tried to hit a “hero” shot from the trees.

I’m glad I made the effort to travel to Houston and challenged myself.   I was not the outcome I was hoping for, but I haven’t stopped learning about myself and my game.  

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