Now it is a sprint

I beat Strub by a solid 7 strokes at Traditions, and now he is in a deep hole with only one course left. He'll try to put on a brave front and say that he is confident he can make up 7 strokes in one day, but the statistics are clear that rarely does anybody win by 8 or more in a single day. He really needs a little help here.

The thing working most against him is the fact that when one of us plays bad, the other one invariably plays almost (but no quite) as bad. At Hiawatha last week, I had one of the worst outings of the year, and he managed to have an awful round of his own. If I have another bad day at Conklin, expect him to have a bad day of his own. His best chance is if I have an average day, and he comes up with the round of his life.

The final round at Conklin is at least 2 weeks away, and we have a tune-up at Genegantslet tentatively scheduled for this week. Strub is still chasing 100, despite the fact that he has shown marked improvement throughout the summer in everything except his driving game. In fact, a common refrain last week at our shockingly bad outing was that for two guys that played so much this summer, we still scored (and played) awful. Genny is forgiving, and gives some opportunities to make up strokes if you start slow.

At the end of the day, this tune-up is about being ready for Conklin, whenever we get there. Strub has experimented with taking his long clubs off the table (presumably because I guaranteed I would beat him if I took that route), with hitting driver at every opportunity, with hitting other woods off the tee, and all manner of other bold strategies. Now he has a very limited amount of time to figure out what actually works and stick with it. No matter how you slice it, the constant loser's refrain of "it's a marathon, not a sprint" is no longer true- it's a close to a sprint to the finish as you could imagine.

Nah

Nah

Traditions

If yesterday's tournament was any indication, me and Strub are gonna have a rough day next Saturday when we go back to traditions. We both played absolutely awful, but alcohol may have been a factor. I am going to go out on a limb and say that in addition to being the youngest, we were also the drinkinest team out there. The team behind us was shocked that we finished even par. So was I.

Traditions preview

Unsure if this posted successfully the first time, I will repost

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Conklin Players Club will be the final event of the invitational, but one course I've looked forward to all summer is Traditions at the Glen.

When I started playing a few summers ago, Traditions was where I began (in fact, I wasn't cognizant of Ely). It's one of the classiest courses in the area, built around a resort and spa that's considered one of the premier places to stay for travelers.

Whereas most courses we've played this year will be one and done, Traditions will be the exception. Today is the BU Alumni Golf Classic, a tournament I played in last year with Jay Boulia, Nick Nunziato and Mike Boykin. For varied reasons, Boykin and Jay dropped out this year, so we'll field a foursome of me, Nunz, Alex and Mike Waffle.

This tournament was the highlight of my 2009, and I expect it will be the highlight of my 2010. Plenty of food and drinks, with a BBQ dinner to cap the night: this tournament is built for 24-year-old alpha males like us. Dan Polhamus does a great job organizing this tournament, and I technically was on the organizing committee this year (although my responsibilities have been minimal).

At the least, today gives me and Alex an opportunity to see the course and get a sense of how to take on one of the tier's nicest 18, which we will play again next Saturday afternoon. Having played here many times, I have to feel at least a little confident.

As for our chances today, they're about zero. I don't remember what number we posted last year; I only remember that we lost by 18 strokes. The winning team includes Jeff "Frosh" Wolniewicz, one of the best golfers in school history. His team must be the favorite going in again today. We'll see.

A Traditions preview

Conklin Players Club will be the final event of the invitational, but one course I've looked forward to all summer is Traditions at the Glen.

When I started playing a few summers ago, Traditions was where I began (in fact, I wasn't cognizant of Ely). It's one of the classiest courses in the area, built around a resort and spa that's considered one of the premier places to stay for travelers.

Whereas most courses we've played this year will be one and done, Traditions will be the exception. Today is the BU Alumni Golf Classic, a tournament I played in last year with Jay Boulia, Nick Nunziato and Mike Boykin. For varied reasons, Boykin and Jay dropped out this year, so we'll field a foursome of me, Nunz, Alex and Mike Waffle.

This tournament was the highlight of my 2009, and I expect it will be the highlight of my 2010. Plenty of food and drinks, with a BBQ dinner to cap the night: this tournament is built for 24-year-old alpha males like us. Dan Polhamus does a great job organizing this tournament, and I technically was on the organizing committee this year (although my responsibilities have been minimal).

At the least, today gives me and Alex an opportunity to see the course and get a sense of how to take on one of the tier's nicest 18, which we will play again next Saturday afternoon. Having played here many times, I have to feel at least a little confident.

As for our chances today, they're about zero. I don't remember what number we posted last year; I only remember that we lost by 18 strokes. The winning team includes Jeff "Frosh" Wolniewicz, one of the best golfers in school history. His team must be the favorite going in again today. We'll see.

Stonehedges

I played like garbage yesterday, plain and simple. I'm done making excuses about preparation and all that jazz: For the first six holes of the round, and on No. 9, I just could not strike the ball. Period.

I liked playing a course that required a bit of thinking. The course is tougher than most, not necessarily because of the terrain or hazards (no sand at all), but because the configuration requires creativity and ingenuity when planning shots.

I just couldn't execute what I wanted to do, plain and simple.

Honestly, I probably should've lost by even more than I did. As has become tradition, I played much better on the back nine, and Alex handed me a four-shot gift after hitting into a hazard, taking a drop in a tough spot, and then immediately hitting back into the hazard.

I also made some good putts, which I think bodes nicely for the stretch run here. Of course, neither of us have played Conklin -- which I hear is difficult -- but at Traditions, I am very familiar with the greens, which, for the most part, are not the most difficult we've seen.

What it comes down to is this: I need to take advantage of my knowledge of Traditions -- having played there dozens of times -- and regain a lead heading into the final course. When Alex can take his driver out of his hand and hit long iron off the tee, he's able to play pretty consistent golf. I need to have him taking chances with the driver for me to have a chance, and if he goes into Conklin with a lead, despite his nature as a choke artist, I'll be worried.

As he noted, technically, we are now tied for the entire season. However, when we started the competition, I proposed the idea of dropping our lowest scores. When that is taken into account, he is winning by five shots.

It'll be unfortunate if one of us wins with all scores accounted for, and the other wins with the lowest score dropped. At this point, it's a definite possibility.