Chapter Three - US Open Qualifier

Chapter Three – Now the real work begins – US Open Qualifier

For the couple of months after Turtle Bay, Angela and I kept in touch by email, phone and Facebook. For me work on the Aloha Team Classic – 2009 has begun and it is clear that this will be a tough year with the economy in the tank. For Angela the number of tournaments are limited in the first few months of the season and she is focused on preparing for a triathlon that she and her sister are doing in memory of their father who passed away a couple of years ago.

My golf game is progressing pretty well. Lessons with our head teaching pro at Kapalua Resort (Jerry King) are starting to pay off. I have also realized that my game improved during the couple of weeks directly following my week at Turtle Bay. My approach to the course is different and my thought process has a different focus. Now if I can only hit the ball as consistently as the girls do. The one key that I find myself focusing on is the smooth tempo they have when hitting the ball. I know we all think we are Tiger or Phil, but the reality is that as amateurs (especially older amateurs) our bodies just can’t do what the young guys do. The girls are a much better example. Likewise all the time spent at the practice green watching their putting stroke seems to have rubbed off as well.

Unfortunately as with anything, given enough time we forget what we have learned so in late April during a conversation with Angela I asked her about her schedule and whether she is ready to put up with me for another week or so. Turns out she was planning on going to Rockville, Maryland for the US Open Sectional Qualifier and then on to Mason, Ohio for a Futures event. We agreed to meet in Rockville and then travel on to Mason as well.

I did not fully understand a couple of elements to this plan. First Angela needed to go through the regional qualifier a couple of weeks before the sectional. She had no fear making it to the sectional so neither did I, as I needed to get my ticket prior to the regional taking place. Secondly, initially I did not realize that the sectional was 36 holes in one day. Well at least she agreed to bring her lighter carry bag versus the heavy staff bag.

I arrived at Rockville, Maryland on the Friday before the Monday qualifier so as to have a day or two to get over the 17 hour trip. (There is a price to be paid for living in paradise.) On Saturday I went to Woodmont Country Club and walked both courses that we would be playing on Monday so as to get familiar with the layout and to get some yardages.

I was not aware whether there would be yardage books available like we had at the tour events, so I felt it would be a good idea to get some of the info prior to the practice round we would play the next day. The Sky Caddie comes in real handy during the process. It was interesting to stand on the tee box for each hole and try to figure out how Angela would want to play each hole. She had played the courses previously so that was going to help a lot.




On Sunday I picked Angela up at the airport and we went straight to the course to play a practice round. We were paired with a couple of club members and took a cart so the day was really focused on getting yardages and planning how to attack the course. It turned out there were yardage books available. ( I wish I had known that the day before. ) Angela played a full practice round on the North course and then we drove around the South course to get the lay of the land while she hit selective shots. Turned out to be a long day so a quick dinner and early to bed since we are scheduled to play early in the morning.

Monday started out with a quick breakfast and then on to the course. We are scheduled to play with Michele Wie and Blair O’Neal (from Big Break) so it turns out that we have a small crowd following our group. Note to self and others, if you want to see some great golf, up front and close find out when the US Open qualifiers are and go out to watch. You get to walk with any of the players and you will see great golf being played.

Our first 18 holes were on the North course. Angela played well and finished 1 over for the round. Woodmont is a private country club with lots of trees and bunkers. The greens on the North course were rebuilt about a year ago so they are in pretty good shape. Most of the greens seem to slope from back to front. Most everyone I talked with seemed to indicate that the North was the harder of the two courses.

There were a couple of things to keep in mind during these two rounds. First of all 36 holes with no break to speak of is a lot of golf. Drink lots of water, stay patient and stay focused. I am not sure why, but the day was much more stressful than any of the days at Turtle Bay. Maybe it was knowing how important the Open is to all the players. This qualifier was played the day after the McDonalds LPGA Championship so most of the players at the qualifiers were LPGA players that had to qualify. (There is a set of criteria that makes a player exempt from qualifying, but most of those that play in the Open have to go through qualifying process.)

Angela and I fell into a familiar routine. Review the hole on the tee and note any special note worthy information about the hole. Positive thoughts are the key. As we approach each shot we each compute the distance to the front and to the pin and then compare our results. She determines the shot she wants to hit and then commits to it. Occasionally she will ask about what we hit during the practice round and whether I concur on her choice of club. This is where keeping notes about what club was hit and distances come into play. If there is anything special about the green we make note of it and then she plays the shot. Record the results, clean the club and move on to the next shot.

Angela is comfortable to be around on the course. She stays relaxed and loose by remaining herself. She chats with the other players while walking the fairways always returning to the task at hand when it is her turn to play. Walking along with her provides insight into what these players are thinking about during this long day. And there is also lots of time for the two of us to chat about things as well. Family, friends, trips are all fair game. Another good lesson for us all to consider is that four to five hours on the golf course is a long time and if you tried to stay singularly focused on golf for the entire time you would burn out. Multiply that by two for this Open qualifier and you would have a disaster.

The first 18 holes took a bit of extra time due to some rulings and slow play. It is interesting to watch how Angela handles it especially when the group is put on the clock. She stays focused on her play and does not try to change her style of play which is all ready quick. She reads putts before it is her turn and is always ready to play having made decisions while others are doing their own thing. My job is to keep up with her and be ready when she is ready to play. Slow play has always annoyed me so watching how Angela deals with it is helpful. She stays within herself, ready to play when it is her turn.

We finish the first 18 and have approximately 30 minutes before we go again. A few minutes spent on one of the practice greens which is the older style green and then a short break to get a quick sandwich. As noted above, the North’s greens were rebuilt a year ago but the South have yet to be changed, so they roll differently. Therefore we used the practice green that had not been rebuilt to prepare for the afternoon. No need to hit balls on the range. It feels really good to sit down for a couple of minutes.

The second round on the South course starts on the 10th tee. Unfortunately we did not play as well as hoped. It was a quicker round, but a few mishit shots and the score went up. The greens started to get dried out which meant they were firmer than in the morning. Combined with the length of the day and the stress of knowing that we were going to need to shoot a low score and the afternoon was tough.

We completed the round and then spent an hour or so at the score board to see how others had done. Everyone was focused on one number, that which would put you in the top 30 and ties. There were 30 spots in the Open that would be filled at this sectional and it turned out that one over par (145) was the magic number. We had needed to shoot even par or better in the afternoon round and we missed that by a few.

It was nice to see many of the players that had participated in the Aloha Team Classic the previous October in Maui. We had a chance to chat and wish everyone well going forward. The day came to an end when there were more than 30 players on the score board with scores lower than ours and we headed to the airport.

As I told Angela in the car, this one day had probably been the most stressful day on a golf course for me and I was not the one hitting the shots. Being able to share the day with Angela and seeing how well she deals with it made for a lot of fun. Knowing how important getting into the Open can be and having to play 36 holes in one day on two different courses made for an interesting day. I was glad to be able to be there and as I head to Chicago for the night I am looking forward to the next 5 days in Mason, Ohio. Now if United will only be on time. Well they were not and I did not get to my hotel in Chicago until 1:00am. No problem falling asleep. Flight to Cincinnati is at 9:45am.