It is winter here, so you can imagine it is a little chilly, playing in layers and layers although it hasn't reached the crazy low temperatures that it did last year. Yesterday was actually a nice day and I even managed to take my jumper off for the second nine. I played really well yesterday and although I barely made a putt all day, my ball striking was good enough to get me through 16 holes in 2 under par. That is where things went a little downhill for me. I had only hit one bad shot all day, my first shot of the day to be honest, but this par 3 is where I chose to hit another poor shot, unfortunately it was a really poor one. I found some out of bounds and when my 3rd shot from the tee with my 2 iron missed the green also, I had a really tough up and down to try and make a double bogey. I didn't manage it and in fact I made a great putt for a triple bogey. Wow this game can be brutal, 4 and a half hours of grinding to get to this point for it all to be gone in the space of a 2 second golf swing. I was truly gutted, particularly given how crucial every shot is this week!! I somehow managed to par the last hole which was a miracle given my head space wasn't great and signed for a disappointing 1 over par 73 and was in a tie for 143rd after day 1. Not ideal….
The positive of yesterday was that I played very well all day and that was what we, my caddy Dave and I, were taking into the 2nd round. Nothing changed today, I played great golf from tee to green but once again struggled to convert any of my chances. I was hitting good putts but they were all just finding different ways to miss. In fact after 3 holes I said to Dave, "I think we need to change tactics, I am hitting it well so I think I need to try and hole some shots to save on putting. I think 2-3 holed shots between now and the end of the tournament would be a great outcome!" Not surprisingly I didn't hole any shots but did manage to hit one close on the 7th and make a 4 foot putt for the birdie. The big shock of the day came on the 11th when I had just over 100m to the pin back into the wind. I had a 9 iron to hit a little half shot into the green but at the last second I changed my mind and went to a pitching wedge. I flushed it straight at the hole and Dave says "Get in!" One bounce and in it went!! What a thrill, especially after we were talking about holing shots. So that is 1 of the 2-3 we were looking for, which leaves a couple more out there over the remaining days.