This Tuesday, August 11th, I am playing in the USGA U.S. Mid-Amateur qualifier in Boise, Idaho. There are 77 players competing for three spots in the main event. This year, The Lido at Sand Valley in Wisconsin is hosting. A chance to play in a national championship at a championship venue at a renowned resort is a very special opportunity. This will be my third USGA qualifying round of the year, with one more in October for the USGA U.S. Amateur Four-Ball. With tournaments in full swing here in August, we are moving on to the second half of the season.
Preparation-wise, I played the Rosauers Invitational a few weeks ago in Spokane. Since then, I have played a couple of one-day Monday Pro-Ams for the Inland Empire PGA Chapter here in the Pacific Northwest, along with a couple of skins games. Those one-day events are good practice for an 18-hole qualifier, as they help keep the mindset going for when the lights are on for a USGA bid. You know you need to make birdies, but also have the balance of playing smart. It is the old adage of *playing your game.*
At this point in the season, I am keeping up with the drills from Chris Welch. This is more “maintenance” and instilling the fundamentals, compared to the off-season work, which focuses on deficiencies from the year before. I am still hitting some balls at the range in the evening, but it’s more about keeping the feel of what I have been doing and staying with my current swing thoughts. For example, tempo — a slower backswing than what I had earlier this season.
Around the greens, as always, I can never practice enough wedges and chipping. Putting-wise, I am doing some drills with the line down on the green, making sure I am over the ball enough and not slipping into tendencies like backing away from the ball.
Going into a qualifier, I like to make sure everything is “there” with my game without getting the feeling of revamping anything.
I just got my tee time this week, and a little dew sweeping will be happening on Tuesday at 7:40 a.m. Looking forward to this opportunity next week!
