2023 Western Amateur Aug 1-5
I travelled on a red eye flight from Vancouver to Chicago, landed at 5:30am got picked up from the airport went back to the house got changed and was straight into the contestant-am event at for the Western Am at the North Shore golf club. To be honest I’d felt better out on the golf course, however, it was a fun day with my amateur partners and I got a good look at the course.
It was a very typical course in the Northern parts of the US, very long thick rough with big stunning bent grass greens. It was going to be a challenging week but I was looking forward to it, this is one of the greatest amateur tournaments in the world and I was honored to be apart of it. I played 9 holes on the Monday as I was trying to rest up and get myself in a good headspace for the first round.
I teed off on number 10 in the first round and took too much club from the thick rough for my 2nd shot from 89m, flew it over the green and made a silly bogey to start the day. I then proceeded to hit my tee shot off No.11 way left and ended up losing my ball. I was walking back to the tee thinking I was going to be +3 thru 2 holes and in a big hole early. I tried to keep myself positive, hit a really good 2nd drive into the green side bunker and almost holed it for par, I tapped in for bogey and was +2 thru 2. 12 was a reachable par 5 but I drove it in the rough which forced a tough 2nd shot. I left it in a tough spot didn’t get it up & down and walked away with par. I made a few quality swings the next few holes which gave me some momentum. I had a tap in birdie on 14 and then 2 really good 2 putt pars on 16 & 18. I was +1 thru the back 9 which was the easier of the 2 9’s, I knew I needed some solid golf to get under par.
I started off well on No.1 with a solid drive, a lob wedge from 73m to 4ft and made the putt for birdie. No.2 was a 460m par 4, I hit a very poor drive to the right, hit a miraculous 2nd shot with a 7 iron from 200m to 20ft and 2 putted for par. I got away with one there. After a solid up & down on No.3 for par I hit a nice drive down the 450m par 4 4th hit an 8 iron from 152m to 5ft and made the birdie putt. -1 thru 13. I hit a good drive down 5, pitched it from the rough to 11ft and made that as well, I was at -2 thru 14 holes after being +2 thru 2, I was really proud of how I’d ground out this round but I was still looking for a couple more. I hit poor tee shots on 6 and 7 which resulted in pars. I made a good 2-putt par on the 208m par 3 8th. Unfortunately, I hit another poor tee shot on No.9 which resulted in a really tough approach shot. I miscued a little and ended up having to get up & down from 75m for par. I missed my 20ft par putt and made a bogey. Overall, -1 for my first round wasn’t bad after my start, I was happy with how I played.
I was determined to play well in round 2. I made a solid start on 1 with a good regulation par. On No.2 I hit a poor drive again and managed to get my 2nd shot up into a green side bunker, it was a long bunker shot that I have been struggling with and something I definitely need to work on. I bladed it over the green into an impossible position and took 3 to get down from there, a stupid double bogey. +2 thru 2, the rest of the front 9 was pretty solid, I wasn’t really out of position except for No. 8 where I made a bogey, I hit a miraculous 3rd shot on the par 5 7th and made a birdie there to turn in +2 on the round, +1 total. I knew the back 9 was easier so I was looking to make a few birdies.
I made a terrible mistake on No.10 getting too aggressive with my 2nd shot and hitting it over the green from 87m and ended up making a good bogey. I drove it to 25m away on No.11 into a difficult spot and managed to hole out for an eagle, the spark that I needed, even par total. I drove it in the rough on 12 again and had an awkward 2nd shot. I didn’t get my 3rd up & down and made par on the par 5. I made a good par on 13 and had an 8ft look for birdie on 14 which slide by. I hit a great drive on the par 5 15 but sent my 2nd shot from 205m left into a similar situation as I had on the 2nd, a long green side bunker shot. I semi-bladed this one as well into a really tough spot on the green. I ended up 3-putting from 20ft and took a bogey where I was looking at birdie. I then hit a quality tee shot into 16 and made the 6ft putt for birdie. I then drove it into the rough on 17 and protected too much from going long on my 2nd shot. I left it on the front edge, pitched it up to 9ft and then proceeded to 3 putt it from there for double, I was so angry with myself, I’d fought my way into a good spot and then threw it away with a silly lack of concentration. I made birdie up 18 but I knew I wasn’t making the cut, again.
I ended up missing the cut by 1, the Western is a brutal cut, only the Top 44 players and ties make the 3rd round. I played solid this week, I just need to work out a way to be more engaged and focused out there to try and minimize my mental errors, they cost me this week. I’ll get there.
That is it for me for the Elite Amateur Series. I want to thank everyone who helped give me this opportunity, I really enjoyed it and learned a lot.
My next event is first-stage of DP world tour Q-school in England the last week of this month. I’ll be practicing in Atlanta until then, getting my game ready.
