2007 Citizen Amateur

[PEI Golfing]

Hey everyone ease up on the guy !!

"There is a fine line between shooting 69 and 82" (Michelle Wie)
http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/colum...bob&id=2921910

Surely Michelle would agree that there is also a fine line between shooting 82 and 122............

[Thom Panikorn]

I had an OK day considering I only had 2-3hrs of sleep(82-tied for 80th). It was the first time I rode a cart in tournament golf because of lack of sleep. I started and finished badly. My new Taylormade TP black got hit once on the par5 10th hold(my first hole). I took doulble bogey there. The hilight of my round was an eagle on the short par4 13th hole. I holed out from 119 yards with my PW. As a group we were -3 on the hole. I finished bogey-double-bogey, three-putted the last hole from 20ft. That's my only three putts for the day. That's an achievement on it own for me there.
My driver let me down. Normally it's my best club in the bag.
As for those comments about shooting 100+ in this tornament, some of you may remember my report two years ago when I shot 100 there(and I was a 5 hdcp at Viuex Moulins). I had the shanking going with all my irons just before the tournament. Believe me it wasn't fun. I stopped playing in the tournament the last two years because of that.

This year I hope to make the first cut. I figure 80-81 at the Meads should get me in. We will see. Play well for all participants, AND remember IT'S JUST ANOTHER GAME!

TP

[marcf]

Thom Good job on the eagle, I had a birdie putt of 18 inches on the same hole. I personally had the worst day in tournament play, with 43 putts. DON'T ASK! I have stopped re-living the night mare.

Hey guys, the 122 score conversation is missing a key point. I saw that on the scoreboard and wondered "what the heck happened there?" I found out as my caddy and I were dropping my stuff off in my car. The player in question is a good young junior from what I was told. Shaking like a leaf the whole way round and a couple of bouts with the S***ks. His first "big" tournament with the men. When I was a junior, I remember how nervous I was in my first big event, so let's cut the kid some slack. The debate of weather or not he should be there, well, I think unless you are playing in the event, you should not have anything to say. Whomever said there are memebrs of this forum that shot high scores, you are right, as I saw one score of a friend from here, who has a low enough index to play in the Tunis and Amateur, and he had a terrible day. It can happen to anyone from us to PGA Tour pros, and it has.

Back to the actual important stuff, I want your cut score predictions. I am thinking 163 gets to Day 3. Historically it has been right around 160, but Rivermead is going to bite a lot of guys in the ass if they have never played it before. Think the scores at Stonebridge were high? Wait until the 16th of this month.

[jvincent]

The player in question is a good young junior from what I was told. Shaking like a leaf the whole way round and a couple of bouts with the S***ks. His first "big" tournament with the men. When I was a junior, I remember how nervous I was in my first big event, so let's cut the kid some slack.

I don't think anyone was trying to bash the player, I know I wasn't. I was strictly trying to comment on whether it was good for the field/his FCs to have that happen. Either way, it took a lot of guts for the kid to finish and post his score. I hope it doesn't shake his confidence going forward.

Back to the actual important stuff, I want your cut score predictions. I am thinking 163 gets to Day 3. Historically it has been right around 160, but Rivermead is going to bite a lot of guys in the ass if they have never played it before. Think the scores at Stonebridge were high? Wait until the 16th of this month.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say 164 makes the cut. That at least gives me a chance to shoot 78 (with my new putter!) and make the cut.

[mjf]

I'm going to go out on a limb and say 164 makes the cut. That at least gives me a chance to shoot 78 (with my new putter!) and make the cut.

164 sounds great to me... It means I can shoot 90 and still make the cut which, considering how I played today, seems like a very real possibility!

I'll say 162 though...

[3Jack]

Thanks for the info marcf... here's to the lad, hope he keeps his chin up and plays well in round two.

[stinger]

I'd say 160 to 162. I had my usual double double triple for an 84. I played in the afternoon and the wind was tricky. But it was my swing that let me down on those three holes... a slight slide and push or pull hook and was barely in the fescue ( a few feet) and lost my ball or was so buried that only a slash for a few feet advancement was possible. Tournament golf is a different beast.

[marcf]

No prob, but as I said, this is just what we heard, I haven't validated the facts yet. I don't really care, I have my own dilemma to take care of.

162 is sounding pretty good.

[upanddown]

anyone know when they release the tee-times for round 2 ?

[Thunder]

you can go to flagstick.com and click on the Citizen link.

[upanddown]

thanks al

[sparsons]

I'm caddying in the ladies Ottawa Citizen and was wondering what the cut line might be. Would it be top 72 and ties? Thanks,

[jvincent]

The ladies cut was also top 72. Results are here.

http://www.flagstick.com/ottawa_amat...ies_scores.htm

[hoolio]

The leader's putter must have been Hotte yesterday

[sparsons]

Thanks, my friend (player) made the cut

[Adska]

I 100% take my hat off to him. I think everyone of us here has played a horrible round of golf. For those of us who have played competitively, we should all know how easy it is for everything to go south. I've seen players with + indexes shoot in the 90's like it was their job.

In the citizen last year, I shot 72 in the first round, and capped off the tournament with a 90 at Talon. Golf is an interesting game... Big numbers happen, and they can happen very easily, for any number of reasons. Of the best players at our course a few years ago posted a 74 at Kanata, but hurt his back I believe on the first hole at Stonebridge. Instead of pulling out, he finished the entire round, regardless of the big number that was inevitable with that type of injury.

While obviously we all want to shoot the best scores we possibly can every time we tee it up, the nature of the game has not, does not, and will not ever allow that to happen. To expect anything else is to set ourselves up for disappointment.

Who would you rather play with in a tournament? Someone who shoots a ho-hum 85, but is the most respectful, charismatic fellow competitor... OR, someone who shoots 68 but throws golf clubs, has a terrible temper, and acts on a different plateau because of their ability? For me, this game is about so much more than score... I hope I never lose sight of that.

I'm currently doing my honours thesis which is examing the potential role that social anxiety plays on golf performance. It seems intuitive that concern about being evaluated by others would hinder performance, but there really isn't much golf-specific research out there. I hope I get some publishable results!

I would like to see nothing more than for the player who shot the high round to come out and light it up at Rivermead. He has nothing to be ashamed of, and should feel a tremendous sense of pride for being able to complete the round, sign the card, and face the apparent fallout. That's way more impressive to me than posting a middle of the pack round.

[jvincent]

The friend was a her.

I would like to see nothing more than for the player who shot the high round to come out and light it up at Rivermead. He has nothing to be ashamed of, and should feel a tremendous sense of pride for being able to complete the round, sign the card, and face the apparent fallout.

I'm paired with the guy who shot 122, not sure how they came up with that draw BTW, and I honestly hope he does well too. As you say, people will react very differently under pressure and there is no good way to predict it. Hopefully he's figured out how to handle his nerves.

Perhaps I should wear my pink shirt to lighten the mood.

[Indio]

I'm paired with the guy who shot 122

Tell th kid he has a lot of fans in the Ottawa Golf forum for the cajones he showed in finishing the round!

[Kilroy]

Tell th kid he has a lot of fans in the Ottawa Golf forum for the cajones he showed in finishing the round!

Yes please do.

[jvincent]

I'll wait until AFTER the round to tell him. I'd hate to put that thought in his head on the first tee.

[Indio]

I'll wait until AFTER the round to tell him. I'd hate to put that thought in his head on the first tee.

Good point! and by the way, good luck to you.... play well

[jvincent]

How come I'm always the first to post here?

My day was as follows:

The good: 11 pars.
The bad: No birdies. Again. Putted really well and nothing fell. Again.
The ugly: +14 on three holes with two 9's and an 8.
Final score: 91.

Shot a 49 on the front with one 9 (lost ball followed by bad play) and the 8 (hit lip in bunker #1, hit second bunker shot into greenside bunker into an impossible lie and left it in the bunker, eventually got out)

Bogied #10 and then reeled off 7 pars until 18. Made my worst swing of the day for my approach and dunked one. Put my pitch shot after the drop into the water (wasn't really concentrating) and then put the next one in the bunker. Two putt for a 9 and a 42.

So what have I learned? Avoid the big number. They are not your friend. Oh yeah, the occasional birdie helps too.

Had a blast though. Thanks again to Geoff for the good caddie job.

Scoring looked like it was going to be a little better than SB. There were a couple of 100s on the board and a few in the 90s.

WRT my FC, who shot the 122. He was an older gentleman who shot an 85 or 86 (can't remember) today without hitting a lot of fairways. He did in fact have the shanks for round one. He said it was so bad at one point that he thought about just hitting putter down the fairway.

[Kilroy]

He did in fact have the shanks for round one. He said it was so bad at one point that he thought about just hitting putter down the fairway.

Oh gawd. Not the shanks. If ever there comes to pass a way to rid golfers of this awful disease....

[PEI Golfing]

How come I'm always the first to post here?

My day was as follows:

The good: 11 pars.
The bad: No birdies. Again. Putted really well and nothing fell. Again.
The ugly: +14 on three holes with two 9's and an 8.
Final score: 91.

Shot a 49 on the front with one 9 (lost ball followed by bad play) and the 8 (hit lip in bunker #1, hit second bunker shot into greenside bunker into an impossible lie and left it in the bunker, eventually got out)

Bogied #10 and then reeled off 7 pars until 18. Made my worst swing of the day for my approach and dunked one. Put my pitch shot after the drop into the water (wasn't really concentrating) and then put the next one in the bunker. Two putt for a 9 and a 42.

So what have I learned? Avoid the big number. They are not your friend. Oh yeah, the occasional birdie helps too.

Had a blast though. Thanks again to Geoff for the good caddie job.

Scoring looked like it was going to be a little better than SB. There were a couple of 100s on the board and a few in the 90s.

WRT my FC, who shot the 122. He was an older gentleman who shot an 85 or 86 (can't remember) today without hitting a lot of fairways. He did in fact have the shanks for round one. He said it was so bad at one point that he thought about just hitting putter down the fairway.

Solid effort !! Throw out those three holes and your round looks very different.

Any idea what the cut number looks like.....?
What kind of numbers are the "top sharks" putting up today.......?

Any players out there having the round of their life?

[jvincent]

Solid effort !! Throw out those three holes and your round looks very different.

Any idea what the cut number looks like.....?
What kind of numbers are the "top sharks" putting up today.......?

Any players out there having the round of their life?

Yeah, such is life. And golf.

I took a look at the board after MJF's round and it was looking like somewhere around 164 was going to be the cut. The first round leaders were in the groups behind us and I didn't stick around since I'd been at that course since 6AM.

When I left there were 4 rounds under par. Best round at that point was M. E. Bussieres, who is a Rivermead member so not that surprising.

The course had dried out quite a bit since Saturday, which I didn't expect so scoring was better than I had thought it would be. It was also a perfect day weather wise. Although the wind was a little swirly it was never very strong.

[mjf]

Well... how do I summarize today's round??

The mind is a wonderful thing... It was my focus that helped me shoot a 74 in the first round at Stonebridge and it was my lack of focus during the middle of my round today that led to my EIGHTY-NINE.

As jvincent mentioned in the "Rules" forum, we had some controversy over a ruling in our group today. Come to think of it, the same guy had at least 3 rulings during the round none of which were advantageous to him... and he seemed to take it personally as though I was out to get him or something. Anyway, because of the events surrounding these rulings, I let my focus drift away from the task at hand. I was a combined +3 for the first 7 and last 3 holes, but 3 triples and two doubles in the middle 8 holes killed me.

I shouldn't have let the guy get to me, but it's not something I was prepared for. It's funny, one of the rulings the guy had led to him scoring a 10 on a par 3. I bet my final score would have been better if it had been ME that made the 10 there. I can handle having a blow-up hole, but not someone getting POed at me for protecting the rest of the field and making sure he plays by the rules. Hopefully this experience will prepare me should I run into a similar situation in the future.

Many thanks to jvincent for being my caddie. He did an excellent job and did his best to keep me focused.

I'm not sure if my 163 will be good enough to make the cut. It not, no biggie. If so, I guess I get a free round of golf at another nice private course.

MJF

[bNeill]

I saw a sign at Rivermead that said the cutoff was 163.

[PEI Golfing]

Flagstick has the Round 2 scores posted with 163 making the cut.

http://www.flagstick.com/ottawa_amateur.htm

[jvincent]

Well that was quick.

A quick cut and past into Excel give:

Round 1 scoring average: 81.4
Round 2 scoring average: 82.3

Oddly enough, the difference is almost exactly the difference in the course ratings, 0.9 vs 0.8.

[geronamo]

So what's worse? The single digit handicap who shot 122 and 85 or the one that shot 101 and 100?