2022 Massachusetts Open Qualifier | Recap
There's no place like home ...
I’ve played LeBaron Hills Country Club roughly four hundred billion times in my life. I’ve played it in heat, I’ve played it in cold, I’ve played it in rain, and I’ve most certainly played it in wind. I’ve seen that course in every kind of condition you can imagine, both in practice rounds and in competition.
The conditions we played it in this week at the Mass Open Qualifier were not the MOST treacherous it has ever played, but it was easily a top three most difficult competitive round I’ve had the pleasure of partaking in at my long time home course. We had gusty winds (peaking towards 30 or 35mph and coming far too frequently), slick greens due to little rain and barrage of wind over the past week, and rare inconsistent putting surfaces that just didn’t have the typical “trueness” you get at LeBaron in the summer time. Add in the fact the temperature topped out at 50 degrees for the day and it equaled a really hard day of golf.
Thankfully for me, these are the kind of days that I LOVE. I had been watching the weather all week hoping the Nor’easter that had hit the region so hard the previous weekend would stick around a bit longer to toughen the place up. I figured my experience playing these kinds of conditions would give me a better chance to be one of the top-12 and ties that get to move onto the Mass Open proper out in Longmeadow, Mass in early June.
I had failed to move past qualifying the last couple of times I attempted to play in the Mass Open (including missing by one shot nearly a decade ago at LeBaron) and I really wanted to prove to myself that I could handle the mental challenge of a one day qualifier.
Fast forward to five VERY long hours later and I’m sitting in my car, refreshing the leaderboard every two minutes knowing I’m right on the cut line and there are 12 guys who have a chance to knock me out. Realizing it would be another 30 minutes or so until we had final scores, I decided to head out (no playoffs for this tournament) and let the chips fall where they may as I headed back to the Cape to eat dinner with the family.
Halfway home and I get the call from my Mum (who had followed me around on the front nine, left to head home and help out my wife, and then must have sat next to her computer refreshing scores) to tell me the good news.
”Scores are final. Tied for twelfth. Is that good enough??”
YES!!!
I had managed to escape good rounds from anyone in the last four groups and ended up tied for 12th with my four over par, 76.
I looked at my Whoop heart rate data later that night and saw a spike at the time my mom called, followed by a massive drop off directly after, likely due to the relief that washed over me after finding out I had made it through. I know its just a state open qualifier, but this one meant a lot to me. It was validation that I could think my way around a course and manage my game in difficult conditions. It also gives me a chance to get more competitive reps in early in the year … and that was the biggest goal for 2022.
Alright, so we know the weather was sh*t, the scores were high (average score was nearly 82 and 8 players shot in the 90’s), and that I made it through on the number … but how did I get there?
The first hole at LeBaron has been my nemesis in the past. There is O.B. all the way down the left hand side of the driving area that sneaks up on you pretty quickly … and with the wind coming off the right, all it takes is a slightly nervous swing to start your day battling to make double. And with my penchant for slow starts, I was admittedly nervous despite a really good warm up session and good vibes from being at my former home course.
Thankfully, I overcame the nerves and piped one down the middle, leaving myself about 130 yards to a back hole location, just right of a little falloff that takes the ball down into an “avoid-at-all-costs” swale. I decided on pitching wedge and aimed well right of the hole, thinking worst case I’d tug it slightly and end up pretty tight to the pin. Good yardage, good lie, good thought process … HORRIBLE, nervy, quick swing. Skinny pull left and I was pin high in the swale of death. The exact place I knew I didn’t want to be.
At this point, I had a very brief moment of dread, thinking about how I started seven over through four holes in my previous tournament and wondering if I was going to f*ck things up again early in the round. When I got up to my ball and realized the only play to get it within 5 feet would have been a miraculous flop off a tight lie, I reset my expectations and told myself making 5 here would be good. I pitched 25 feet past the hole and the two putted for bogey, preventing a disaster and keeping myself alive on a day where I knew bogeys weren’t going to kill me.
On two, I hit a decent 3-wood off the tee that just ran out further into the dogleg than I would have liked, leaving me 180 yards to a back hole location tight to water on the right from an iffy lie. I considered laying up to about 100 yards, but took another look at the lie and realized it was doable to get it pin high and far enough left of the water where I could get up and down. I committed to a hard 6 iron at the left bunker and made my best swing of the day, hitting it to 25 feet with a decent look at birdie. A sense of relief and calm washed over after I saw the ball land safely in the middle of the green and I strode up to mark my ball with a renewed sense of confidence, two putted for par and moved on to the downwind Par 5 third hole.
Two good shots led to a two-putt birdie on three to get back to even. I hit what I thought was a great tee shot on four but flew right through the wind and left me 60 feet for birdie and resulted in a three putt bogey (misjudged the speed on the first putt back into the wind and left myself a ten footer). Two putt pars on five and six (both playing directly back into the wind) left me at one over heading into seven. At this point in the round, I was really happy with how I had held it together after the opening bogey and five very difficult holes to start the round. I was getting a feel for the wind and the speed of the greens and actually felt like I had some birdies in me despite the conditions.
My pulled tee shot on the seventh was a harbinger for what was to be a tough middle six hole stretch for me. After finding my ball in the left fescue on seven, I gauged out a wedge that flew about two yards farther than I hoped for and rolled off the back, leaving me a short chip from a lie forcing me to stand at a 45 degree angle and to grip down to the metal on my lob wedge. I hit a decent shot to 9 feet and then lost confidence in my read midway through my backstroke and missed the relatively simple putt off to the right. Bogey five there and I was two over.
On eight, a 150 yard par 3 with wind blowing in and off the left, I did my best to gauge the gusts but got hit by a nasty one that dropped my ball down into a bunker short left. I hit a great bunker shot, but the downslope I was forced to land on sent my ball rolling about twelve feet past. I hit what I thought was the best putt of the day, but just misread the slick downhill right to lefter and it settled five feet past the hole. I made the comebacker for second straight bogey.
Nine and ten are par 5s, both of which are pretty reachable, especially 10. I made par on nine (playing dead back into the wind … driver, 5 iron, wedge) and hit an awesome little 40 yard spinner into ten to about 6 feet and promptly missed the birdie putt. A weak shot into the par 3 eleventh (back into the wind) and a bad chip later, I had made another bogey and was four over. The middle six hole stretch ended on the 12th with a terrific tee shot, leaving me 52 yards to a relatively flat hole location. I hit another great pitch shot that rolled out to 8 feet and gave myself the best possible birdie look you could have on the hole. I hit another great putt that got pulled left just enough by a gust of wind and I settled for par. For those keeping score at home, that left me three over through my middle six holes and four over for the round after twelve.
At this point, I was thinking three over would probably be the number I needed to have a chance. I knew conditions were tough, but I also realized how many good players were in the field and the MGA had been fairly docile with how they set the course up due to the conditions. While waiting on the group ahead of us on the 13th tee, I tried to summon memories of my previous rounds at LeBaron where I finished strong. My thoughts came back to a 67 I shot here once where I birdied 13, 14, 15, and 18 to close out the round and shoot my lowest score to that point in my life. Sure, it was very different conditions, and just a practice round (and about 14 years ago), but it gave me some good vibes as I stepped onto the tee.
My tee shot on thirteen rolled out to 45 feet and I proceeded to drain the long putt for birdie. Then on fourteen I pounded my drive and hit a little knockdown wedge to just short of the green (front pin) and played the putter from off the green to perfection, knocking it in the hole and making the second of my back-to-back birdies. Back to two over as I stepped onto the tee on the par 5 fifteenth.
Standing on the tee, I got myself out of my process slightly and for the first time all day, thought about my score and how I was probably safely inside the cut at this point. I tried to brush that aside as I hit a safe, but slightly shaky tee ball into the left semi-rough (far away from the water down the right). Then in an effort to stay away from the water again, I pulled a six iron layup left into the trees. I pitched out, leaving myself a nine iron from 125 dead back into the wind … again coming up short left. I told myself that this up and down was probably the tournament for me and grinded over where I needed to land my chip shot. I hit my spot to the inch and the ball released out to four feet where I confidently knocked the putt in for the best bogey of the day. I was back to 3 over and still nervous, but proud that I hit a tough chip shot as well as I did when I really needed it.
Another shaky drive on sixteen left me 170 into the wind from the left rough. I flushed a seven iron to the back of the green and had what I thought was a relatively simple 40 footer for two putts and a par. I left my first putt well short (sixteen green at LeBaron ALWAYS plays slower … I’ve known that for years and I didn’t trust myself), and then misread the 10 footer I had for par. Bogey. Back to four over.
I love the seventeenth hole at LeBaron. I’m fairly certain I’ve never missed the fairway (slight exaggeration but my hit rate is probably up around 80%), and this round was no exception. I hit the best drive of the day and left myself about 110 yards to the hardest hole location on the course (back right over a bunker) with the wind gusting left to right. I hit a safe shot to 30 feet, not trying to mess with the steep drop off over the green, and hit my first putt about 5 feet past in an effort to get the ball over a nasty little tier directly short of the hole on my line. Now I had this tricky little 5 foot left to righter to keep my hopes alive … and I fuck*n nailed it. The perfect putt at the perfect time. It was one I’ve practiced a million times the last few months as part of the five foot drill my coach and I talk about all the time, and I just stepped up with total confidence that I would drill it.
My drive on the par four finishing hole was another beauty, leaving myself a sand wedge to a front left pin on an elevated green with wind blowing hard off the left. It was a clear birdie opportunity after the drive, but I let the nerves get the best of me and made another quick swing, leaving the ball out about 40 feet to the right, pin high. A good first putt over a swale left me four feet straight back up the hill and I knocked that in to cap off my 76.
All in all, I hit 7 fairways, 12 greens, and took 34 putts (made everything inside five feet, missed too many in the 10 foot range). Seven bogeys were offset by the three birdies. I managed to avoid any doubles (of which I had three in the previous tournament) which speaks to how well I managed my game despite the conditions.
The more I thought about the round afterwards, the more I realized that in conditions like that, you can throw away the technique of the golf swing or the specifics of your putting stroke … that stuff doesn’t matter. What matters is your ability to do whatever required to get the ball in the hole as quickly as possible. In my case, that meant hitting a couple of shots literally 30 feet off the ground from 150+ yards and running the ball up openings in front of the green to get anywhere near the hole. That meant playing for bogey, rather than double in a couple of places. My golf swing took on a completely different form on the holes I was heading into the wind, with my focus on just punching shots through the air. It wasn’t pretty, it wasn’t elegant, but I got the job done and that’s what mattered.
The other great learning experience from this round was the feeling I got on the fifteenth tee when I knew I was very much back in contention. The little rush of blood and the thoughts about qualifying creeping into my head were a nice reminder of what it feels like to “have a chance”. I’ll remember that feeling going forward and remind myself to slow myself down, both mentally and physically, because I know when I’m stressed, everything speeds up.
I now have a little break before my next tournament, a qualifier for the New England Amateur on June 2nd. That gives Dom and I plenty of time to keep working on the good stuff happening in my game right now and get some more rounds under my belt working on ingraining the newish parts of my swing under pressure on the course.
Strokes Gained Summary (not compared to the field in this particular tournament, but to how a touring pro would play the course) from the round below. Keep in mind I beat the field scoring average by almost six shots so this is perhaps not the best representation of my performance given the conditions, but interesting none-the-less!
And my stat-tracking scorecard from the round:
