2026 Pi Day

I was concerned about the lack or tournament preparation when I arrived at the course. I knew that the course wasn’t a difficult one, but not having the mental images for the different holes, or a game plan for the entire course, made me a little nervous. I distracted myself with the warm up and preparation of the camera and sound equipment. The last thing that I needed was to “get into my head” before the first round even started.

The player’s meeting was short and typical (except where the TD mentioned his appreciation that everyone dressed appropriately for the cold temperatures and stiff wind — while standing in front of the crowd wearing shorts!!) Having been slated to start on hole 3 (a hefty distance from tournament central), I jumped back into the car and drove to a closer parking lot, then headed for the starting hole.

My card consisted of myself (the lone MP60 participant), Chris (MA50 — also in a division of 1), and the entire MA60 division of Randy and Joe. Of course in the course of making introductions, getting the scoring apps ready, and general socializing, I neglected to check the camera. It was pointing in the wrong direction, so I missed videoing my first drive of the day — which was fine, since I hit the first available tree and only progressed about 80 feet up the fairway. I threw a very nice recovery approach and grabbed a par, then repeated the scenario on hole 4 by hitting an early tree, then making up for it with a great up-and-down par. I threw a pure forehand drive on hole 5 to the edge of circle 1…

…then proceeded to 3-putt my way to a bogey. As I made the quick trip to the tee pad of hole 6, I realized that my two missed putts were “under-committed.”

Time to adjust the mindset.

Hole 6 had this crazy 4-foot-wide double-mando 20 feet from the front of the tee pad. I threw a conservative forehand drive through the obstacle, but my approach gave me a long circle-2 putt which I missed, and earned myself another bogie. Hole 7 was a reachable par 4, and a well-placed second shot left me a 15 foot birdie putt (which I made), and let me shake off the last two bogeys. Hole 8 was another reachable par 4, but my second shot found a tree in circle 2, and I finished with and up-and-down par. I had my first wind “mis-read” on hole 9, having my drive turn in the wind and leaving me with 50 feet to a pin on an extremely sloped green. Playing the approach a bit too conservatively left me with a long circle 1 putt into a headwind, which I missed.

Hmm… 7 holes into the round — not even half way — and I already have three bogeys?! Time to step things up a bit!

Holes 10, 11, and 12 were all reachable, but I played conservatively to offset the ever-present wind. Hole 13 was a brutal uphill grind that was pretty much out of reach, and I missed my par putt from the edge of circle 2 to pick up bogey number 4. However, my mindset was right and I wasn’t letting my previous play affect what lay ahead. The next 4 holes all played to a par, with a shorter-than-it-should-have-been drive on hole 17 being the only real error of that set. I threw a beautiful drive through the woods on hole 18 to earn myself a birdie, but missing the temporary island on hole 1 (by less than 6”!!), negated that birdie with my fifth bogey of the round. I finished the round with a conservative play on hole 2 to grab a par and finish my round with a score of +3 (60).

I used the lunch break to eat and check the recording equipment (1st time with new, larger storage, so I wanted to make sure that everything was still working.)

The second rounds started off much like the first. Beginning on hole 3 with the exact same people on the card, I started the round with a pair of pars. Determined to correct to mistake from round 1, I put my forehand drive on hole 5 to within 20 feet, and sank the putt for a birdie. The double-mando on hole 6 forced another conservative drive (actually clipping one of the mando trees before passing through) and resulting in another bogey. (For the record, I had pretty much already decided that I would get a bogey on both hole 6 and hole 13, due to the layout of each.) My play on hole 7 wasn’t as clean as it had been in the first round, and I only managed a par; and a slightly errant second shot, a poor approach, and a two-putt resulted in a bogey on hole 8. I corrected the wind read on hole 9 and picked up and other birdie, but misplayed the wind on hole 10 and could only manage a bogey.

And just like the first round, I’m 7 holes into the round and already have 3 bogeys — and I’m pretty sure that I’m going to get another one on hole 13, since the upslope means that 2 “full-pull” drives won’t be enough for me to reach the pin.

Am I bothered by this?

Nope.

With the wind playing havoc with everyone’s drives, play actually benefits the players that scramble well — and scrambling is a big part of my game.

The rest of round two went pretty much the way the way that I expected; conservative drives to keep the wind from causing problems, accurate and precise approaches to minimize the need for long putts, and strong, confident putting. With the exception of the expected bogey on hole 13, the rest of the holes played to easy pars. The drive on the final hole (#2) actually landed withing 20 feet of the pin, granting me an easy birdie to erase that bogey on hole 13 and to pull my score for the round to +1 (58).

The final total was +4 (118), with the rounds being rated at 901 (round 1) and 914 (round 2). Not the 930 rating that I am chasing this year, but given the lack of preparation, I’m not terribly upset by those rounds. (The 930-rated rounds were as even par for round 1 and a 1-under par for round 2; )

I can honestly say that my conclusions for this tournament exactly mirror my conclusions for the last one, the 2026 Red Dead tournament at South Hills Park. Again, I’m pretty happy with the round. I kept my mistakes to a minimum, capitalized on the good shots that I made, and stayed withing my own game. I corrected the early “less-than-confident” putting mentality, didn’t try to “hero-shot” my way out of trouble, and played a solid, consistent tournament.