Let’s start with some Denver golf math: on the final hole of the day, a 615 yard par-5, I was left with 246 yards to the green from the rough after my tee shot. My Callaway ball was perched on top of dry rough, and the wind was blowing 10 mph over my right shoulder. I wanted to land the ball three paces short of the green, 11 short of the flag (pin was eight yards from the front edge) at 235 yards. I took off 10 yards for the wind, another 10 for the potential flier lie, and 21 yards with the altitude of 5400 feet above sea level. I was trying to carry the shot 194 yards, trust it would fly 235 and roll out to 246. These are the types of unnerving calculations players made all day at the Colorado Open (I hit a 7-iron at the last and pushed it just short of green in the rough).
It’s late and the last thing I want to write about is a golfer who shot 1 over in the opening round of the Colorado Open, especially when that golfer is me. If given the choice, I’d write about someone else in my group who played well, or who was intriguing. But I’m short on options tonight: the two players in my group, both accomplished and talented pros, shot 1 and 2 over. It felt like gravity was working against us on the greens.
The leaders are 6 under and this is a four round tournament (for those who make the cut). If there is one positive thing about today’s round, it’s that I didn’t dig a hole too deep to climb out of. Speaking of holes, I hit two long bunker shots on my back nine that led to saves and kept the round from spinning out of control. In this game, more often than not, the putts don’t go in and the ball doesn’t bounce where you want it to. But might they tomorrow?
On my fifth hole of the day, I laid up on a short par-4, and hit a nearly perfect sand wedge from 114 yards. My ball never left the flag and hit the bottom of the stick, which was cut four paces from the steep edge of the green. My ball bounced off the green, down the slope and into a challenging lie in the rough. You can curse the golf gods for that – and believe me, I did – but the next time, maybe that shot goes in. On the right day, that same shot is a tap-in birdie. Is that day tomorrow?
I made a double bogey on the first hole of the day. Not exactly how you visualize the start of a tournament. Today felt more important than the qualifier. If I was as relaxed as Willie Nelson on 4/20 on the first hole of the Monday qualifier, I was Ozzy Osbourne snorting an entire line of ants by a swimming pool on the opening hole today (yes, he did that. RIP to the Prince of Darkness). Combine that high-strung feeling with choosing the wrong shot for my first approach of the day, to a green surrounded by a penalty area, and you get a disastrous start to the tournament.
What do you tell yourself after such whiplash? I was trying to keep my mind from racing ahead while breathing the panic away. I added the reassuring thought that if you have to make a double bogey, it’s best to do it on the opening hole; more time to come back.
Breathe in for a four count, hold for four, exhale for four. Repeat. Reset. Bring on Round 2.
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