University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Live From The Grand National
WEDNESDAY, MAY 31 - Well, it was a frustrating first round today. I was four over and shot a 76. I didn't hit it as well as I have been hitting it. Especially with the driver. I was five over after about six holes and then made five birdies and a couple bogeys and a double. I got it back to four and finished with a 76. So after a rather shaky start I was able to finish strong. But overall I was just really frustrated. I'm still in there. I just need a good round tomorrow to make the cut. I feel that anyone who makes the cut has a good chance to do well. The scores are not that low. As of right now about half the scores are in and they are a little higher than I thought they'd be.
It's been kind of breezy, but I had pretty good weather today. There was hardly any wind and it was about 80 degrees. I was great actually. The greens were firm and that was basically the tricky part for me. I didn't hit the fairway enough. I've been feeling really good lately, but today I would miss it a little and it would catch right on the edge of the bunker. Sometimes I'd get right on the edge of the rough and then I'd have a real funky shot to the green. That kind of stuff can add up real quick. It was kind of funny because I had a great warm-up session right before I teed off. I wouldn't say I was nervous either. I mean, usually the worse I'm playing the more nervous I get, but I've been playing great lately.
I practiced a little bit after my round. Now I'm just studying some business law right now. I have a final in that class that is worth 85% of my grade because I missed a few midterms while on trips. The final is like everything for me so I need to study. Tomorrow I have a late tee time. I tee off at 1:50 p.m. as opposed to my 7:00 a.m. start today. Today I played the back side first and tomorrow I'll play the front side first.
The mindset for tomorrow is just to go out and stick with what got me here. The way I'm kind of looking at it is that if you take four rounds in a row, you're not going to have four great rounds or four bad rounds. Hopefully today was my bad round and tomorrow can be my good round. I feel good enough about my game where I think it will be. But golf is a weird game. You can't predict it. I will say that there is no other time in my golf career than right now that I'd like to be in this position. I feel like I'm playing well.
TUESDAY, MAY 30 - Today we had two practice rounds and I thought I played well. I teed off today around 9:15 this morning and played until about 1:15. I was actually out there at 8:00 a.m. practicing so it was about a five-hour round. Then I went to lunch, studied for a little bit and then tonight I'll go out to dinner and probably try to get to bed a little early. I have the first tee time tomorrow and I think that's at 7:00 a.m. so I need to be well rested.
On Monday we had the East vs. West Challenge and that was a lot of fun. My partner and I were four down after about six or seven holes and then we ended up winning 3 and 2. We made six straight birdies. My parter was Ryan King from Fresno State. He played well. I think he made four birdies and I made three. We played terrible the first six holes. I think that was mainly because of the plane ride over and having to get adjusted to certain things. But we got the job done and got two points for the West team and I think the West beat the East 15 1/2 to 12.
The course we're on this week, The Grand National, I've played before during The Preview. It's really an awesome golf course and I enjoy playing it. It's playing a little longer than it was at The Preview. It's the same yardage, but the ball isn't playing quite as far. The fairways are softer as well. The greens are softer than before too. They're firm, but not too fast. They're probably about a nine on the step meter. You can't hit to a lot of the sections of the greens at all. At The Preview, I could hit to all parts of the greens, but the way the course is playing now, I'm going to have to play away from a lot of pins that I would normally go straight for.
I have a feeling that anything under par will probably be good enough to make the cut and into the final two rounds. The weather here isn't too different from L.A. It's about 82 degrees and a little humid. It's actually been a little breezy as well, but they say that's not normal. There is a little more wind that playing back at home, but it's not something that's too significant and will have a huge affect on my game.
It's a little weird being here by myself and not with the team. My coach his here so that part is the same, but the team isn't here so there isn't as much camaraderie and fun.