Mesquite Am Day 3: Skins Game at Falcon Ridge, Am Registration and Opening Dinner

Day 3: Falcon Ridge Skins Game

Memorial Day 2013 arrives and Bryan and I grab a quick coffee and a light breakfast in the Casablanca coffee shop.  We head over to the local Walmart and purchase a couple of American Flags to decorate our cart with for the holiday.  We are playing in a practice round / skins game at Falcon Ridge, which will also be the host course of our first tournament round of the Mesquite Am the next day on Tuesday. 

This was our first time playing this course and we were paired up with a brother/brother team Greg and George.  With Bryan and I both having names with "B's", I dubbed us the BeeGees!  Here is a picture of the four of us at the 10th hole of Falcon Ridge.  

Falcon Ridge was featured as the host course on Golf Channel's Big Break Mesquite so you may have seen some of these holes before.  There are several with large elevation changes.  The Skins Game this year was the first of an annual charity event to celebrate the life of a multi year attendee of the Mesquite Amateur that passed away from cancer in November, Bruce King.  The event raised money for a scholarship in his name that will go to a local Mesquite high school student.  Bryan and I had little expectations for winning skins as neither of us make a lot of birdies and looked at the round as a chance to see the course.  We started on hole number 4.  Bryan hit a decent drive, but his approach faded just right of the green.  So what does he do, he proceeds to chip in for Bird!  What a great start!  I birdied, hole #5 a par 3, then birdied the difficult Par 4 6th hole, pictured below.

I hit a solid drive to wear the cart on the left is in the above photo, then hit a 9iron just right of the pin and made the 15 foot putt for bird.  We found out after the round that this birdie would end up winning a skin for me, and Bryan's birdie on Hole #4, our first of the round would win a skin for him.  What a great start to our week!  $$$$ money! This round was my best of the week.  Here is my score card:

Here are a few more images of Falcon Ridge:

#7 Par 5

#12 Par 5

 #15 Par 4

 #3 Par 3

After the Skins game we head back over to the Casablanca and register.  We receive a good amount of tourney swag.  A Mesquite Am golf shirt and hat.  A Mesquite Am glove and switchblade repair tool with Mequite Am ball markers.  We also received a $25 coupon good for merchandise in any of the tournament course pro shops during the week.  Golfer's love free stuff!

Later that evening we went to the welcome dinner for the event.  This featured a buffet style spread with salads, entrees and sides.  The dessert spread was even better!  Christian Anderson, the Tournament director gave a welcome address and went over tournament details.  It was a great start to the week.  Bryan and I hung out in the Casino for a while after dinner then called it an early night so we'd be ready for the opening round at Falcon Ridge the next morning.

Mesquite Am 2013 Day 1 & 2: Travel & Wolf Creek Golf Club

Day 1

Saturday, May 25th finally arrived. Time to head to Mesquite! This was a travel day with no golf on the docket.  I finished packing and drove over to pick up Bryan and then we head to the airport.  Our flight was supposed to leave at 1:50pm but the flight attendants for our plane were late arriving so we had a 45 minute delay.  I snoozed a bit on the flight, spent some time browsing the internet with the expensive in air WiFi ($14), and read a couple of golf mags. We finally arrive in Las Vegas!

We pick up the rental car, then drove up to Mesquite, Nevada and checked in to the Casablanca hotel and casino, which will be our home for the next 5 nights.  The Casablanca is an older property but its clean and very economical.  The room ran $80 for Sat night, then $60 a night for Sun - Thurs.  The total bill at check out was $425 with tax, which Bryan and I split.  We spent the evening checking out the hotel and the casino and called it an early night.  This was the view of the Casablanca sign from our hotel room.  

The town of Mesquite welcomes the Am with banners all over town!

Day 2

We got up early and I have a huge breakfast (pancakes, sausage, bacon, eggs, hashbrowns) for $3.99 in the Casablanca Cafe, then we head over to Wolf Creek Golf Club for a round.  I played this course last year and said then that it was tied as the most scenic course I've ever played. That still stands after a second playing.  Every single hole could be a signature hole at other courses.  The course was in fantastic shape.  The fairways were perfect and the greens were very nice.  You can check out my blog post from May 2012 to see several images from Wolf Creek http://seekingasingledigit.blogspot.com/2012/05/day-2-part-1-wolf-creek.html and here are a couple of photos from this trip.  This is the par 5 17th taken from just off the 16th green.

This was Bryan's first time playing Wolf Creek so it was real fun playing it with him.  I know the "wows" I heard him say on every tee box were exactly what I was saying last year.  I've heard some say the course is not "real golf" but I don't feel that way at all.  It's fair with reasonably large fairways.  There are several holes with big elevation changes, but several courses in the Mesquite area also have similar elevation changes.  They are just part of the local topography.  Our round cost $125.

I shot an 86 on the course in 2012, and this time a 92.  I struggled with my Driver some and hit some poor approach shots on others.  Here is my scorecard from the round.Note the high slop rating even from the seemingly short distance of 5,820 yards.  Again, lots of elevation on this course so it plays longer than the yardage.  Well worth playing if you ever get a chance.  Mesquite is just an hour and 15 minutes north east of Vegas.

Mesquite Amateur 2013: There and Back Again

It's been a year since I started this blog, which began as a way for me to preserve my own thoughts on attending the 2012 Mesquite Amateur golf tournament in Mesquite, Nevada   www.mesquiteamateur.com .  If you'd like to refresh your memory of how last year went for me, my blog posts start on this page:  http://seekingasingledigit.blogspot.com/2012/05/14-days-til-nevada.html   I'll be flying out to Vegas tomorrow, then driving up to Mesquite to compete in the 2013 edition of the tournament.  483 golfers are in the field this year, which is down a bit from the near 600 that participated last year.  There will be 30 golfers in my flight.  Prizes go to the top 10 in each flight. One difference this year is that my golf buddy and friend, Bryan, will be joining me!  We play in our golf league and a regular Sunday golf group together.  I'm excited about having someone to share the events with this year!  I'm playing in the Woods flight while Bryan is in the Mickelson flight.  This is so fitting because I'm a Tiger fan while he is a big Phil fan.

Tomorrow is a travel day for us as we fly out in the afternoon, arrive about 3:00pm then make the 1 hour and15 minute drive up to Mesquite.  We are playing 6 rounds of golf:  Sunday morning at Wolf Creek, Monday morning in a 140 person skins game at Falcon's Ridge, the tourney starts Tuesday at Falcon's Ridge, Wednesday we play at Oasis Canyons, then Thursday at Coyote Springs.  If either of us finish in the top 4 in our flights we'll play in the Friday Championship round at Casablanca.  Otherwise we'll play elsewhere in Mesquite or Vegas.

My game has been up and down over the last five months.  It started with a very rough putting stretch in late November through December.  I've since got that back in order but my game has been plagued by periods of poor ball striking.  Sometimes lasting for an entire round or just part of one.  Here is a look at my most recent rounds on my index.  Scores from 79 to 98 and all in between.  Just a bit inconsistent.  Hopefully the good golfer shows up.

This year the Mesquite Am is using the 12 month low index for golfer to cut down on sandbagging, so I'll be playing to an 8.4 index.  Personally I feel like this punishes the honest golfer whom keeps honest scores in his index year round.  We'll see how it works out in practice.  To me why not just watch for exceptional scores and adjust the index of those golfer retroactively to all rounds played in the tourney.  

We'll time to go wash up the clubs and finish packing.  Have started sorting and scripting this afternoon.  Here is a look at what I'll be wearing for the golf rounds.  Going to be bright as usual!  

The tourney is supposed to be placing a widget on the home page that will allow viewers to see how golfer are performing after each round, so if you'd like to follow along visit the Mesquite Am website starting Tuesday night.

Golfing with "The Dude", the Social Aspect of the Game

Golf can be an enjoyable solitary experience.  We all enjoy a late afternoon walking nine, all by our lonesome.  Peace, quiet, nature, solitude. Just the course and yourself.  However, I believe golf is best as a social game.  A good 18 with friends can rarely be topped.  Doesn't matter whether its a serious game for a big pot, or for who's buying at the 19th hole, or for no stakes at all.

In February of 2012 I was invited to join a regular weekly group at my golf club.  The cast of characters in this group is varied.  All types of personalities...from comedian to serious. At first my rounds with this group were all about the golf.  In just a short month though I was fitting right in. We really have a good time out there.  There have been times I've laughed to the point of tears.  We do play for a little dough each week but that's almost secondary to getting together and having a good time.

One of the guys I really enjoyed playing with recently had to drop his membership at our club.  The social aspect of golf can be summed up in what it was like to play golf with this guy...let's call him "The Dude".  He earns that name because of his voice and mannerisms.  Since the first day I met him he has reminded me of Jeff Bridges' character in the film "The Big Lebowski".  Anytime I mentioned the similarities to him he responded with the classic line "Yeah, well, you know, that's just, like, your opinion, man." without missing a beat.

"The Dude" has an all or nothing golf swing.  Lets just say he never gets cheated.  He swings with all his might, and it sometimes works!  "The Dude" might be from Alaska originally but 'm not sure.  I say Alaska because I think I only saw him wear pants once.  Every other time he was golfing, it was in shorts.  Even in weather in the 30's and 40's.  "The Dude" golfed in sandals too.  I don't think they were golf sandals either, just regular sandals.

"The Dude" always had a either a beer in hand or one nearby.  I've witnessed him consume amounts on the course that would drop a lesser man, yet he still golfed pretty well.  He was a story teller too.  I think the longest story I heard him tell lasted a full three holes.  From tee box on #12 to green on #14.  I heard many of his stories multiple times, but I never seemed to mind as they were always entertaining.

I have my own story to tell about "The Dude".  It was my last round of golf with him before his membership ended.  I brought with me that day a few cigars and a bottle of single malt Scotch.  "The Dude, another friend and myself, had a bit to drink during the round, but had more in the parking lot afterwards.  We stayed until darkness had fallen and the bottle was empty and we were the last one's there.  About that time we thought it would be a good idea to hit balls from our shag bags toward one of the practice greens....in almost complete darkness.  I drove over the next morning to see balls all over the place.  I really need to work on my 120 yard pitch black shot. That was a fun night.  I really do miss playing golf with "The Dude" on a regular basis.  I'm happy to say I'll be playing another round with him in early May.

To sum up, as much as I do enjoy the occasional solitary round, I think I'm going to try to play as many rounds as possible with other golfers...even if I don't know them prior to meeting on the first tee.  The next guy I meet may be just as enjoyable as playing a round of golf with "The Dude".  

My 2012 Golf Stats & Courses Played Review

I spent some time last night going over my golf stats for 2012.  It cemented my thinking that improving my short game is what I need to focus on for 2013.  I use a Skycaddie SGX while playing and I record my stats for FWY's hit and putts on it and then upload them after the round is done.  I have to input sand traps, and penalties after the upload.  It's a very handy way to keep track of whats going on in my game.

These are for roughly 103.5 rounds played.  There were one or two partial rounds in the data where I quit early due to weather.

Fairways: Best 100%, Worst 14.3%, Average 56%
GIR's: Best 77.8%, Worst 11.1%, Average 40%
Putts: Best 27, Worst 43, Average 34
Low Round: 77 (3 times)
High Round: 105 (was on New Years Day 2012, 1st round of the year)
1 Albatross
3 Eagles
75 Birdies
720 Pars
674 Bogies
393 dbl Bogey+
15 OB penalties
80 Penalty strokes - .12 per hole
Average score on Par 3's - 3.77
Average score on Par 4's - 4.84
Average score on Par 5's - 5.79
Only 21 sand saves
278 sand shots (does not differentiate between greenside and fairway bunkers)
Scramble Percentage - 19%

3 Putt Percentage - 14%
GHIN high 12.6
GHIN low 8.4
GHIN on Jan 1, 2012:  10.0
GHIN on Dec. 15, 2012: 9.5

Really need to get that Scramble Percentage higher and the 3 Putt Percentage lower!  Working through a couple of books right now that I think will help.  Dave Stockton's "Unconscious Putting", and Dave Pelz' "Short Game Bible".  (I only read books by guys named Dave!)

My sand play is really bad too.  A greenside bunker is an almost automatic double bogey.  

Here is my courses played list for 2012.  Number or rounds are listed for courses that I played more than once.  

Mirror Lake Golf Club: Lake Course - GA        43.5 rounds
Mirror Lake Golf Club: Mountain Course - GA  23 rounds
Chapel Hills Golf Club - GA                          10 rounds
The Frog Golf Club - GA                              4 rounds
Bentwater Golf Club - GA                            2 rounds
Sun City Peachtree - GA                             2 rounds
Braelinn Golf Club - GA                                2 rounds

Canongate 1: Roquemore course - GA            2 rounds

Kinderlou Forest - GA 

Bear's Best Atlanta - GA

Flat Creek Golf Club - GA 

The Links at Stono Ferry - SC
Las Vegas Paiute: Snow Mountain - NV
Wolf Creek Golf Course - NV
Palms Golf Club - NV
Casablanca Resort - NV 
The Chase at Coyote Springs - NV 
Wigwam Golf Club: Heritage "Red" - AZ 
Wigwam Golf Club: Patriot "Blue" - AZ 
Kierland Golf Club - AZ 
We-Ko-Pa Saguaro - AZ 
We-Ko-Pa Cholla - AZ
RTJ The Shoals: Fighting Joe - AL 

Thanks for reading!

Thanksgiving Week 2012, Rare Birdwatching!

Thanksgiving week 2012 - I had most of the week off from work so got in several rounds of golf.  By far the best week of great shots in my golf career.  Eagle, Eagle, Albatross all in one week! And even better, I had witnesses! Before the week started I had only had 4 lifetime Eagles, and all of those on par 4's.

A short description of each score.

Wednesday, 11.21.12.  Mirror Lake Golf Club - The Mountain Course #15, Par 4- Gold tees.

This hole plays downhill off the tee, than back uphill to the green.  After a solid drive I had exactly 150 yrds left to the back center pin placement.  I pulled a 6 iron to account for the uphill shot and hit a shot tracking right on target.  The ball bounced once, then I heard it loudly hit the pin.  I could not see the bottom of the flagstick from where I was at in the fairway due to the uphill slope so didn't know for sure that it had gone in for the Eagle 2 until I got to the green and looked into the hole.  Witnessed by my 17 year old son.

Thursday, 11.22.12 - Mirror Lake Golf Club - The Lake Course #7, Par 5 - Blue Tees

This par 5 is the definition of a risk reward hole.  The tee shot is very narrow but not very long.  There is OB right of the fairway and hazard left of the cart path.  From the blue tees a fairway wood or long iron is all that is needed. I take my 3 wood from the tee it hit to the right side of the fairway.  I have 210 to the middle pin and pull my 3 hybrid and put the ball on the front of the green.  The green has shelves on the front and back with a sloping area from each toward the water in the middle of the green.  My ball is just on the shelf and I have a 25ft down hill with about a 4 foot break.  I'm just trying to get the ball close for an easy shot at birdie but I hit a perfect putt and the ball drops for Eagle!  The first I've ever scored on a par 5. Witnessed by two golf buddies from my regular golf group, Sam and Larry.

Sunday, 11.25.12 - Mirror Lake Golf Club - The Lake Course #7 Par 5 - Blue Tees

The same hole as above.  I hit a better 3 wood this time around and was just 2 feet from the edge of the fairway to the left side of the landing area.  I had 206 yards to a back left pin.  I take my 3 hybrid again and am aiming for the front left of the green.  I hit a great shot but none of us see what happens to the ball after it lands as we are looking into the sun.  We all assume that its on the green.  We get up to the hole and my ball is nowhere to be found. I start looking in the trap long left assuming it went there.  My buddies start looking right in case the ball took the slope and headed to the water.  I don't see the ball in the trap so walk back and check the hole to see my yellow Bridgestone B330-RX sitting there.  Celebration ensues for the Albatross!  Witnessed by 3 buddies in my regular golf group, Bryan, Gary and Carlos!

My scores for the 3 rounds was about average for me with 85, 84, 82 respectively, but what a week of bird watching!

Goal progress: 4 months as a single digit!

Its been a while since I posted about my progress toward my goal of a single digit handicap.  I dropped below 10.0 on June 15th.  At the time I thought I would bounce up and down above and below the 10.0 line through the summer.  I surprised myself though and have played the best golf of my life.   I've stayed below 10.0 for 4 months now, and even got down to an 8.4.  The chart below shows my GHIN hdcp history for the last 6 months.

Well, where do I go from here?  My short term goal for the winter is of course to keep my index below 10.0.  That's going to be a easier said than done.  The cold weather and the wet course conditions that reduce roll out will be tough. I want to dedicate more work to my short game, putting and greenside bunker play.  These are my weakest areas and with improvement will contribute to achieving my short term goal.

I haven't even begun to think about long term goals.  The first one that comes to mind goes back to my childhood.  My dad was a very good golfer.  He took up the game late in life at age 38, which was about the time I was born.  He took to the game, fell in love and quickly improved.  He maintained a HDCP index between 4 and 7 throughout the years he taught me the game and until his early death at age 60, when I was just 21 years old.  It would be an honor for me to say that I played the game at his level, so I guess that's my next goal, get to "7".