Last year it was awesome but this year the course seems to be better again. In saying that the greens are firmer than they were pre tournament last year and will certainly place a premium on where you git the ball on the greens. Not only are they hard but they have some serious speed about them too.
The great part about playing a course like Karrinyup is that you have to play well to score well. There is no hitting it wide, onto an adjacent fairway and "getting away with it", it just isn't possible here. I have been working very hard on my game this week after a fairly solid week last week at Mt Lawley.
This week has seen me play the course twice, on Monday and Tuesday and with somewhat mixed results. I played really well from tee to green both days, exceptionally to be honest. On Monday I hit a lot of greens and had a lot of birdie putts but found myself in the wrong spots on those greens and was left with some very difficult putts. I made a few three putts and basically left the course not feeling too confident. I went to the putting green and did a good session on my putting and in particular my speed control. Tuesday saw a similar quality on the ball striking front but this time my placement on the greens was better and my putting was also much improved. I actually had a putt on the 8th green to go 6 under par....some turn around from 24 hrs earlier. It was a good day on the course and equally as good on the range afterwards and the putting green after that.
So with all the work done, it is now a matter of getting stuck into the hard work and mental challenge of playing tournament golf. I am off early on day one which for me typically isn't a great thing but I plan on bucking the trend and starting well here this week.