First Major at Orange County National

I arrive at OCN to work on some technique my coach Terry Govern wants me to improve upon.  Mainly hitting the ball more with my right side and getting on top of the ball.  For me this is my first two day Major tournament, with approx 200 participates with about 40 in my flight.  Top 3 finishers automatically qualify for nationals in late September, so a lot on the line.
I started with my normal warmup routine, hitting a few chips and pitchs to get my body moving.  Then streched and went to the range.  Struggled a little with the new technique but when i hit it right, man the ball just explodes off the face of the club, so im encouraged.  and im moving the ball right to left again, which is always nice.  I have carried it over to my driver and picking up about 10 yards so far, more to come im sure.

Its cool to see all the Golf Channel Amtour banners and signage, there is even rumors that some folks from GC will be out there tomorrow, seeing how the office is literally down the street.

Anyway, i had a good practice session and can feel what Terry wants me to accomplish, and it really feels like a proper golf swing and my follow through is easier and more natural.  So now i have lots of practice to have it ingrained so i dont have to think about what im doing.  Need some work on putting to gain some consistency.

So as part of my preparation, i scheduled a practice round for the course i havent played, Pather Lakes.  I took a small notebook and the yardage book and headed out to first tee.  The purpose of the notebook and yardage book is really two fold.  First is to make notes and observations about each hole, what shots i hit, what club i used, so forth and so on.  The yardage book helps to know where and how far to hit the ball.  So combined i can fomulate a good game plan.  I was playing with some others from out of town and it amazed me they werent doing the same.  Like the attage says.."do what others are unwilling to achieve what others wont."

Practice round went well, i didnt keep score, no need really.  I would play a couple balls near the green to get a feel how they chipped and pitched, and would make several putts to see how the ball rolled.  But most importantly to see the makeup of the greens, where the ridges are and the collection points are.  If i had a caddie id make him do all that crap.  HAHAHA.

I feel very confident going into tomorrow.  Had a good dinner, getting to bed early and some well deserved rest.. 5:00am will come early tomorrow...then its GO TIME!!!!!