Coyote Howler

The Coyote Howler was my return to Coyote Hills (Carlisle, Pa) a couple of months after the Carlisle Ice Bowl where I journeyed into the MPO division for the first (and hopefully, the ONLY) time this year. I was hoping to continue my trend from my last two tournaments where I was averaging 20-30 points above my rating -- on a course that I knew pretty well, and had scored well on in the past. And since I was alone in my division, there was no real competitive pressure on my rounds other than my rating chase; it was me versus the course.

I arrived at the course a bit later than I normally intend, and wasn't able to fully warm up and dial in my drives, which would come into play at the beginning of round 1. Starting on the par 4 hole #6, I promptly left my forehand drive short and WAY right of my target, which put me behind cell tower obstruction and eliminated any chance of the relatively easy birdie on this soft par four. I then proceeded to tree-branch my way out-of-bounds (hole 7), hit the "first-available-right" for a 20-foot drive (hole 8), and hit the "first-available-right" again into an obstructed lie (hole 9) -- and build myself a "bogie/bogie/bogie" defecit after only 4 holes.

Time for an adjustment.

Making the necessary mental (targeting) change, I absolutely “pured” the next two drives -- and I was off to the races! 3 pars in a row (10, 11, and 12) followed by a bogie on the obnoxiously long hole 13, and a birdie on the obnoxiously difficult hole 14. The wheels started coming off on 15, with a double-bogie (shanked drive, obstructed approach, and a 3-putt from 40 feet) -- followed by another double-bogie on 16 (shanked drive, obstructed approach, and another 3-putt from 60 feet.) I refused to let my irritation get me out of my headspace, and played 17 conservatively to grab a much-needed par. Hole 18 was a bogie, but since that hole is more of a soft par 4 than a 3, I was good with that. Back up the hill to hole 1, I continued my conservative play, scoring pars on the next 4 holes. An unlucky tree kick on 5 lead to an impossible lie (I had to throw almost straight up to get out of the thicket that I was in!) and one final bogie.

The final tally was a +9 72, rated at 907. While I was mildly disappointed with the score, I was really only frustrated with holes 15 and 16, which accounted for 4 of the 9 extra strokes. The bogies on holes 7, 8, and 9 were from not leaving myself enough time to warm up properly, hole 13 is a long open hole which is hard for someone who lacks driving distance, hole 18 is just DANG tough, and hole 5 was just an unfortunate tree hit. I did miss some birdie putts (10, 17, 2, and 4), but made all of my par saves except for 8, 9, and 17.

After a fuel stop at the "Coyote Den" (with a couple of spicy sausages that I don't normally indulge in, but they were **GOOD**!!!) and a quick check in with home base, it was back out to see if I can grab a better score on the short layout during the second round.

Again starting on hole 6, I got off to a good start on 6 (par), 7 (birdie), and 8 (par), staying fairly conservative to give myself a running start at the round. Took a bogie on 9 by missing a short putt, then cruised through 3 more holes (10, 11, and 12) with boring pars. Hole 13 got me again -- another bogie from another missed putt, but then “pured” the drive on 14 on the way to an easy par. Hole 15 was another missed putt, but that one was for a birdie, so it didn't hurt as much. Shanked the drive on 16 -- again! -- and then scrambled for a bogie. I mentally kicked back into "conservative mode", and ground along through the next 6 holes with straight-forward, conservative pars. The final hole (5) saw me shank another drive, pulling it badly to the right -- but at this point, the body was tired, so the poor drive -- and the resulting bogie, was understandable.

I finished the second round with a +3 (61), rated at 911. While neither of my rounds today were quite at the level of the last two tournaments, they were still above my rating, and continue the steady improvement that I an trying to achieve before Worlds in July.

Positives:

Mental Game: The first-round disaster on holes 15 and 16 didn't throw the rest of the round into a spin. I kept my mental act together and went right back to playing within my own game without additional aggression OR additional conservatism. I stayed with the game plan, and it kept me from the mental "death-spiral."

Accuracy: The work that I have been putting in over the last several weeks to dial in my drive accuracy is paying off in major ways. Most of my drives were right on the line that I had intended, with the only deviations being when I didn't fully commit to the line or when I was running out of gas at the end of the round. And it's SO much easier to play this game from the fairways!!

Fitness Level: Even though I ran out of energy by the end of the tournament, I never really lost drive distance or accuracy because of tiredness. I avoided having a case of "sloppy feet", which can be dangerous on courses with less secure footing.

Negatives:

Putting: For some reason, I went back to my "floating putt" style, and the results were not good. I missed most of my 25-35 foot putts -- with most of them missing short and/or left. "Float" putts don't work for me... so why do I keep trying to use them?

Warmups: I know that I need at least an hour before round 1 to warm up and dial in my shots. When I get to the course and have less than that to prepare, then my first few holes suffer the consequences.

Game Plan: My two "disaster holes" (round 1, holes 15 and 16) were mainly caused by trying to keep up with the MPO youngsters on my card. I have a 60-year-old arm, not a 20-year-old arm, and when I forget that fact, my accuracy suffers greatly.

Next week in the Red Rose Roundup event at Herr Park in Millersville, Pa. This short, technical course has some holes that are conducive to my style of game, and others that are very NOT conducive. My challenge will be to capitalize where I can without losing too much where I can't.

Until then... I'll see you on the course!