(Aussie) Summer of Golf
Trying to do the next right thing ...
Happy New Year to both my readers huddled up by the fire back in the States and those melting alongside us here in Australia (and of course to my one reader in Mexico City where the weather is seemingly always perfect and I’m not sure why we all don’t live there).
Apologies for the delay in getting this latest post out. It’s been a busy holiday season, both with golf and family. And in all honestly, I had been hopeful to have a moment of glory that I could write about with positivity and optimism but it never really happened.
Since my last update, I went 0 for 4 in Monday qualifiers, including two misses at the biggest events of the year on the Aussie Tour (the Australian PGA and Open) as well as a particularly painful miss at the Gippsland Super 6 qualifier where I was firmly in position to get through before a disastrous triple-bogey on my 17th hole that had me shin deep in mud hitting a ball out of water at one point.
To summarize the season up to this point, I’ve played two official events on the Aussie Tour and missed cuts in both of them. I played four days at the Asian Tour Q-School and finished in the bottom half of the field. And I went 0 for 7 in Monday qualifying with two near misses and five rounds where I never really had a chance.
On the surface, not great. But when you probe deeper and look at the progress I made in my golf game between the PNG Open and the last qualifier , you’d be amazed at where I am today versus where I was in August.
A few things stand out dramatically:
First and perhaps most importantly, my body is in unbelievable golfing shape compared to when we first showed up in Australia. Between working out daily, playing more golf, putting an emphasis on mobility, and working with a terrific physio on a more regular basis, I feel like I have the foundation necessary to go out and play every day pain free (which hasn’t always been the case for me).
Second (and very much related to number one), I am starting to the hit the ball further thanks to my new body and some speed training I’ve been working through. I made the decision to actively work on speed after the WA PGA where I watched my competitors hit it 30 yards past me consistently and hold firm greens where I really struggled to keep them from bouncing over the backs. I’m on the path now to being at least an average length player on Tour rather than bottom of the barrel.
Third, I’m making birdies in bunches now. Something I’ve struggled with historically is making enough birdies to compete. I grew up playing in events where shooting a couple under was going to be enough and really all you needed to do was make a few birdies and avoid the mistakes. I was good at making lots of pars and getting lucky here or there in making a birdie or rare eagle. That doesn’t work quite as well out here where guys are going low every round … so I’ve changed my game a bit to be more aggressive with the aim of making more birdies. That change has worked and I’m consistently breaking par on a much higher percentage of holes. At the Gippsland event, I made four birdies and an eagle across the 18 holes. I’ve made three or more birdies in a nine hole stretch in events at least four times this year. And I’ve had multiple rounds at my home club here in Australia where I’ve made at least six birdies. Now clearly that hasn’t translated into success quite yet, but it’s a critical part of my improvement and hopefully a leading indicator of getting closer to where I’m trying to go (more on this in a minute).
Lastly, my short game is leaps and bounds better than where it was when I arrived in Australia. My putting has been rock solid on the shorter stuff and I’m starting to see way more long putts go in the hole. My chipping is fundamentally improved over what it was and now I’m getting better at executing increasingly more difficult shots on the course in pressure situations while nearly always pulling off the simple ones when it matters.
Sounds great Colin, but why the f*ck are you still shooting over par all the time when it matters?
Great question!
The very basic, mathematical answer is that I’m making more big numbers than I’ve ever made before in my golfing life. More double and triple bogeys. Sounds weird because I just finished telling you that I’m a much better golfer … but I do think there is a logical explanation here.
As I said above, I’ve gotten more aggressive in general (more drivers off tees, more shots hit directly at flags, etc.). I am taking on more risk over the course of eighteen holes than I would have historically in an effort to increase the amount of birdies and eagles I can make in order to compete with the guys I’m playing against. Simply put, I’m trying to raise my ceiling. Combine the need for going low with the confidence I have from being a more skilled player and you can see why I would have a tendency to take on more risk.
That has clearly paid off in some respect (I’ve increased my under par percentage dramatically) but there is an obvious flaw here that keeps rearing its ugly head. When I get the calculations wrong and I’m overly aggressive, I end up making big numbers that absolutely derail my rounds. A double or triple-bogey is not 2x or 3x as bad as a bogey … they are exponentially worse. If not on the scorecard, at least on the psyche. You can have Tiger Woods’ mental strength and still have a day ruined by an untimely double.
Now, while I’d like to chalk the big numbers up solely to poor course management, I’m pretty confident there is more going on there. Something I’ve spoken a bit about with Dom is the subconscious pressures I am carrying having moved my family across the world to pursue this dream and the fear of failure that presents. I’m pretty good at suppressing that feeling for the most part, but I can’t lie and say I never think about.
During a particularly dark qualifier for the VIC PGA where I made a double and triple-bogey in my first six holes, I was nearly in tears walking up the seventh fairway thinking about having failed at golf again and again over the course of the spring and what my family would think of me and my pursuit. Thankfully those perceived emotions I darkly ascribed to my family couldn’t be further from the truth and their support has been unwavering and perhaps even stronger than when we began. But those thoughts are still there and I am working hard to acknowledge they exist, talk about them, and then push them aside so I can perform my best. Good Great golf is not fearful golf.
So what is the plan to improve?
Easy, just do the next right thing (I stole this from Disney … my daughter is on a big Frozen kick right now … who said kid’s movies can’t be informative?) …
I am taking all of the right steps to be a better player and working really hard. My golf swing is improving. My fitness is improving. My experience levels have grown exponentially. I’m a million times more comfortable in my own golfing skin than when I arrived. My equipment is better. All signs point upwards.
That said, there is not element of my game that does not need work so here is where my focus is going to be as I ramp up for Aussie Q-School in April.
In no particular order …
Mid-range putting. My short putting is incredibly solid at this point. My lag putting has gotten much better. But I’m still not holing enough ten to twenty-footers and I’ll keep working hard on getting better here. By improving from this distance, it takes pressure off me to hit the ball so close and take on risk when pins are tucked near the edges of greens or close to hazards.
On-course strategy. Now that I’m making birdies, I need to stop making the big numbers. That means dialing back the risk-taking a bit and being more thoughtful about ensuring I’m hitting clubs off tees or into greens that will leave my worst shots in positions where I can still make par (or bogey at worst). If that means less birdies, I can live with that (to a certain extent) because my game is getting so much better and that natural improvement is going to lead to more birdies organically, even with a more risk-averse approach.
Distance. Swing harder, keep getting stronger. Pretty simple really … no need to elaborate.
Distance control with wedges and shorter irons. I’ve gotten a lot better here, but I’m still not good enough flighting different wedges different distances depending on the shot requirement. I still tend to hit wedges a bit harder than I’d like to which causes them to spin up the air and you lose a lot of control. I need to go out and trust myself to hit lower lofted clubs shorter distances in an effort to keep ball flight and spin under control. I know what needs to happen and I know I can hit the shots, but I just don’t trust myself in competition yet.
Mental strength. Play without fear. Play with confidence. Trusting that I’m good enough to come back after a tough hole or two (or three). This will take active work to improve and will be every bit as important as the improvement areas above.
What does the schedule look like for 2025?
This is the tricky part. Because of the way the Aussie Tour schedule works, I will have less qualifying opportunities over the next three months. They host some cool events in January but those are invite only and my performance thus far doesn’t merit any more invites frankly so unlikely to get into those.
My next chance will be early February at the VIC Open where I’ll have a chance to qualify for the event at 13th Beach. From there, I’ll play a qualifier in New Zealand and another back in Melbourne, but that’s really it until Aussie Tour Q-School in April.
Locally, I think I’ll be playing in a series of interclub matches called “Pennant” golf here in Australia where I’ll compete for my home club, Commonwealth Golf Club. That will be a good chance to get some competitive reps and stay sharp.
But the real north star is Aussie Tour Q-School the first week of April. The goal was always to come over and do everything I could to prepare for those two weeks in early April. Success at Q-School means much better status on the Tour in 2025/26 and sets me up for playing a full year of events without being forced to go the Monday qualifying route every week. Everything I play in prior to that two-stage event is a stepping stone to being ready to compete at Moonah Links.
I’ll keep busting my ‘you-know-whats’ to get better and be ready to go out there in April and play my best.
Hopefully I’ll have a bit of good news to share in February depending on how qualifying goes at the VIC Open. If not, I’ll make sure to share a progress update regardless so we don’t go two months without a post.
I hope everyone has an amazing start to the year and for those of you in the cold weather, hang in there … golf season is closer than you think!
Keep climbing y’all.
Your continued hard work and dedication to golf is inspirational. Big props for your can-do attitude!