The Tournament Book

If a week long golf tournament were a book and every day was a separate chapter, most books would start off similarly: travel, arrival, accommodation acclimation, course study and preparation, practice, rest, etc. But if in some Virginia Woolf stream of consciousness format, the narrative may play out uniquely, as the psychological always provides new challenge.

This week I arrived hopeful yet fatigued: both bad mental characteristics. Hopeful is practical but -20 par requires more than optimism. Thus, my challenge over the past two days has been to mentally transform "hopeful yet fatigued" into "determined, energetic and fearless." This psychological metamorphosis would be the interesting introduction to the tournament novel. The belief system is the baseline from which all shots follow. Deepak Chopra wrote in his Golf For Enlightenment, "don't blame your ball because you've loaded it with hidden and conflicting intentions."

So with less than a day before my opening tee shot in the Times Colonist Open, my technique feels comfortable enough to produce low scores. The course is in amazing condition despite heavy rains in the past two days: greens are true and fast, rough is thick and high, fairways are cut short and narrow.

It's now a matter of continuing to work towards solidifying my week's belief system that exudes confidence and trust. Most players know rationally where their "zone" is and can describe it, but the difference between knowing and feeling, determines success. I must rediscover my zone and work to remain in its flow, leaving behind hopefulness for complete self belief; relinquishing the need to control and surrendering to my own conditioned ability to place the ball where I intend.

While the rest of the book is unwritten, I've prepared myself to succeed and believe the book's closing chapter will be exciting and fun.

Lakewood Junior Golf Program

Lakewood Junior Golf Program from Mark Baldwin on Vimeo.

An amazing New Orleans junior golf program! I feel fortunate to be a part of it.

ND Go Irish Post

A most recent Notre Dame fan blog featured a short post about my current status as a professional golfer. To visit the post, click here.

To my knowledge, there has never been a Notre Dame graduate play on the PGA Tour. I hope not only be the first to do so, but the first to win on the PGA Tour as well. Go Irish!

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre...or lack there of

There was no glamorous storyline, no treasure, no direction from John Huston, but "Bogey" was part of my experience at the base of the Sierra Madres. It was a bad week for me on the greens. A few wayward swings and poor putting left me missing the cut this week. I gave myself more great birdie looks early in the round, but never converted.

While these "MC" (missed cut) weeks are very disappointing, I refuse to dwell on negative results. This is just the beginning of the tour season and my goal is to win on the Canadian Tour and peak at the end of the year just in time for PGA Tour Q-School.

I will regroup and be ready to contend at the next event in Victoria, Canada in one month.

"Cause You Had a Bad Day..."

...The Daniel Powder song was the theme music to today's story. There isn't much I can say about today's round. I made two bad swings early playing aggressive approach shots that led to double bogies. After "steadying the ship" with two pars and a birdie, I made a poor driver swing and lost a ball on the 18th (my 9th). I spent the entire front nine trying to battle back, but the birdie attempts never came to rest in the bottom of the cup. It was a tough day and the only thing I can do to change my score of 78 today, is play the best golf of my life tomorrow. If I can play one of my all-time best rounds of golf and I get just a little help from the field, there is a chance I could play the weekend. If I can make this happen, tomorrow's theme will be Tina Turner's "Simply the Best."

Riviera Nayarit Classic

This week the Canadian Tour hosts the Riviera Nayarit Classic in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. The brand new, highly-anticipated Litibu Golf Course, will open just for this event. The Greg Norman design is amazing: 4 holes are set along the ocean with the 5th looking identical to the par 3, 7th at Pebble Beach. Every hole demands different shots and has tremendous character.

Some holes weave through the jungle and require players to shape their ball flights, and others bring gigantic contours into play around the fairways. The fairways are generous and the greens are large. Because the Mexican government offered the Canadian Tour this venue and Litibu has opened early, the course isn't quite tournament ready. While the fairways and bunkers are in spectacular shape and the views are heavenly, the greens are too new to cut short. The result is extreamly slow and inconsistent putting surfaces for the week. Because I putt best on tightly cut, speedy greens, my biggest challenge will be to remain patient and make sure every putt that does not drop in the cup, runs past the hole. This will give me the best chance to make solid strokes that result in made putts.

I have taken pictures of this amazingly beautiful golf course, but will not be able to upload them on the blog until I return home. (Be on the lookout over the next couple weeks)

My ball striking is consistently strong and my pitching has returned to a stellar level. I am going to enjoy the relaxing ocean walks, the challenges each hole present and the opportunity to play great golf in a top level event. Great things to come this week! I begin the quest for my first Canadian Tour win tomorrow at 2:30 pm.

Finals Round Paves Way for Fresh Start

Bad day. I began with two tough breaks. I was stymied up against two trees in my first three holes. This wasn't so much a result of bad swings as it was being unprepared for four rounds of competition in Mexican heat. I haven't played four competitive rounds consecutively since I last played in Asia in 2008. I just didn't prepare myself properly and was fatigued going into the final round.

While I finished the event at +2 and played my last 20 holes in +7, there were some good things that I can take away. Firstly, making the cut this week improves my tour ranking order, giving me entry into the first Canadian Tour event in Canada, the $250k Times Colonist Open in Victoria next month. Secondly, I made the cut in my first Canadian Tour event despite my game not being in top form. Thirdly, I was able to play four consecutive tournament rounds for the first time in over 18 months. This will help me be prepared for the coming tournament week.

Tomorrow morning I leave for Puerto Vallarta, Mexico for the second event on the tour schedule. While I am disappointed in my finish this week, I am going to use the positive characteristics of the week to help propel my coming week of competition.

My caddie Sergio said to me this morning, "Last two holes yesterday, very bad Senor." I responded, "We're moving on with today." On a bit larger scale, this event is over and it is time to get focused on the new opportunity the coming week presents.