Colorado Women's Open: Round 2

I felt so good all day. Had a nice, late tee time, love those. Eli caddied today so it was awesome to have him on the bag because he knows the quirks of Green Valley Ranch. We started off good, trying to get some pace and confidence built up on those greens. Made some clutch pars on #4 and #5. Nice little birdie on #7. Made the turn in -1. Always a good score out there.

Kept it steady until #14 when an errant drive forced a punch out and a tricky putt led to bogey. No big deal. Had a great 60' 2-putt on #15. 16, 17 and 18 didn't treat me too well. Wind was really kicking up on #16 and had a tough approach. Unfortunately, I didn't get up and down, but stayed positive. We got to the tee on #17 and the wind was slightly with us but not too much. I swung my 170 club and it should have been perfect but it hit the back of the green on the down slope and kicked into the hazard. Whatever. Stuff happens. Walked away with triple. Finished out with a solid par on #18 an walked off with a 76. It's funny how you can play 14 solid holes, then shoot more than the day before when I was scrambling all over the golf course.

I still hit it well but need to pick out better aiming spots tomorrow. Putting was so much better today. Really happy that it improved. Sometimes it's all mental or just lack of repetition. Thank god for practice!

Eli really helped on the bag. Really got me thinking through every variable. Sometimes one is left out and leads to a missed green or poorly placed but I felt like we did a really good job of that today. I did what I had to do in those first 14 holes, -1, and that was a huge confidence booster.

Really looking forward to tomorrow and having this all come together. :)

The Countdown Begins...

Well, I leave in only 4 short days! I will be heading down to Brownsville, Texas for the Historic Brownsville Open. If you don't know where Brownsville is, look on a map. It is located where the Gulf of Mexico, the country of Mexico and Texas meet. Oh boy. Needless to say, I have a long trek ahead of me but years of driving Denver to Memphis have seasoned me.

My practice the last couple weeks has been awesome. I really feel productive opposed to just being out there mindlessly hitting balls. For me, it has always been a struggle to keep a purpose and practice with consequence. I keep it interesting with little games or challenges for myself. That makes time fly by and before you know it the challenge is complete and it's time to go home! I went to see Eli about my putting alignment and feel really good about it now. Sometimes, it's easy to groove a bad habit and for a set of eyes watching intently on good technique helps tremendously! It definitely avoids hours of grooving that bad habit!

I will be gone for about a month playing in three tournaments. I am very excited to start playing and getting back into that atmosphere. It is something I crave when I practice and knowing the feeling of competing on a high level also helps make practice productive becuase you want to be prepared for those high-pressure events. I feel that I have succeeded in my preparation and I am ready.

What I am reading: The American Plague by Molly Caldwell Crosby
What I am listening to: Tusk - Fleetwood Mac

New Toys

I picked up my new Titleist AP2 irons yesterday from Hotstix [Robert] at the Colorado Golf Academy. They are fantastic. I hit them extremely well and fired a little 72 to welcome them to the bag. I didn't notice a ton of difference in the new grooves, especially out of the rough but it will be more noticeable in the wedges. Those won't come into play until May.

My new irons are 2* upright and my old ones were standard. The newbies are a tad lighter, and less stiff. My other irons had all different shaft frequencies and the 8, 9 irons were stiffer shafts than my 4, 5, 6 irons. Not good. They also have a .600 round grip opposed to the .580 [standard] for my little hands. Altogether it creates more feel and workability for my swing. It was noticeable yesterday, that's for sure.

What I am reading: The American Plague by Molly Caldwell Crosby

Heat Wave!

The last couple days have been out of this world in terms of weather. I played 18 at Green Valley Ranch on Wednesday afternoon and it felt like a warm summer evening. A little break from the arctic we have been enduring for the last couple months. There was a front that moved in and out this morning so I spent some time at the gym while it was chilly.

Wednesday I spent some time, and by some time, I mean some time at Colorado Golf Academy getting fit for some new conforming grooves! I got a full fit from Hot Stix. It was really fun and super informative thanks to the guru, Robert. I was finally open to the idea of a hybrid, I'm an iron girl myself, but not anymore! I am super excited to get my new sticks in my hands and start grinding with 'em. I'm ordering them hopefully next week! Titleist will definitely be loving my business seeing as I am using everything but their driver, including glove and ball. It is fantastic equipment and can't wait to start using it when I play.

Welp, off to go play and enjoy the sunshine!