Monday, January 28, 2008

Practice Round

I made it to the tournament venue yesterday feeling significantly better. Today, I dodged rain showers and completed my practice round. The golf course is short with many fairway bunkers and water hazards. The typical Malaysian grass that comprises the fairways and rough is cowgrass/crabgrass. It is not a championship venue, but it is this championship's venue thus, I love it.

My strategy for day 1 is a somewhat modified version of the strategy I used for Asian Tour School where first stage was held on a long course that forced players to hit driver on every hole and second stage was a similar style venue to this tournament's. The mistakes I made in final stage Asian Tour Q-School were results of unsure, overly aggressive plays off the tee and the inability to make up for it in my short game saves. This week I will play more conservatively off the tee, placing the ball in the widest parts of the fairway and sacraficing a few yards in proximity to the green for a clean lie and angle to the hole. My putting has been very solid from inside 15 feet over the past two weeks and tomorrow, I know it's performance will begin the ascent toward peaking.

So that's where I am. My yardage book is marked, my strategies are specific and sound and I have ran the shots I will play tomorrow through my head multiple times. The prep work is done, what remains is most fun: turn my analytical side off and get the ball in the hole.

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