Tournament: Irish Open at Killeen Castle, Dublin
Date: 3rd - 5th August 2012
It had been 5 weeks since Prague. I needed a few weeks to recover physically and mentally and also to iron out some swing issues. After my break from tournament golf, I was keen to get back on the Tour.
Hannah (my tour travel buddy) and I left for Holyhead to catch the ferry on Monday. It was about a 3 hour crossing to Dublin, thankfully we found ourselves a prime spot to watch the Olympics whilst tucking into our picnic, which quickly passed the time.
We eventually found our accommodation, which was one of 4 little bungalows on a farm. It had everything we needed, even our own raspberry bushes which we could help ourselves to.
Tuesday morning we headed to Killeen Castle to check out the course. A beautiful place and as you would expect, some fantastic facilities. It was quite a surreal feeling as we went round, a real buzz, to be able to walk the same fairways that Europe won the Solheim Cup was an honour and a treat.
The course had been set up almost exactly as they had the Solheim, so it was tough (6500yds). They had had a lot of rain too, (unusual for Ireland!) which meant that there was no run whatsoever, so it was playing particularly long.
Over the first couple of days during practice my 3 wood saw a lot of use, it was exhausting in fact! I knew that it was going to be a challenge and patience was going to be key.
On Thursday I started ok, it was only when I reached the 4th and 5th (which were tough holes) that things started to unravel. I wasn't hitting greens, making birdies hard to come by. I actually mentioned this to Guy (my local caddy) on the 14th at which point I chipped in! :) This was a little ray of light, which I could hopefully build on. An unfortunate double on the 17th but on a positive note I finished with a birdie on 18, holing a 20 footer.
I did my best to keep it together but unfortunately my confidence with my game wasn't there and it was very much an uphill struggle.
My second round couldn't have started much worse. I was teeing off the 10th, a long par 4 up the hill into wind. I still had 208yards left to go after a decent drive. I proceeded to make double. The 11th I followed with another double, caused by a wrong yardage, we were then put on the clock and by this point I was flustered. I couldn't see a way back, but battled to the end. Finishing with yet another double just about topped off my day.
I was hugely disappointed, having felt that I was making progress in the week leading upto the tournament, I felt very confused on the course. This game is hard enough at the best of times and I was just complicating things by over thinking.
I needed to have a change of plan for my next tournament, I needed a clearer mind.
Date: 3rd - 5th August 2012
It had been 5 weeks since Prague. I needed a few weeks to recover physically and mentally and also to iron out some swing issues. After my break from tournament golf, I was keen to get back on the Tour.
Hannah (my tour travel buddy) and I left for Holyhead to catch the ferry on Monday. It was about a 3 hour crossing to Dublin, thankfully we found ourselves a prime spot to watch the Olympics whilst tucking into our picnic, which quickly passed the time.
We eventually found our accommodation, which was one of 4 little bungalows on a farm. It had everything we needed, even our own raspberry bushes which we could help ourselves to.
Tuesday morning we headed to Killeen Castle to check out the course. A beautiful place and as you would expect, some fantastic facilities. It was quite a surreal feeling as we went round, a real buzz, to be able to walk the same fairways that Europe won the Solheim Cup was an honour and a treat.
The course had been set up almost exactly as they had the Solheim, so it was tough (6500yds). They had had a lot of rain too, (unusual for Ireland!) which meant that there was no run whatsoever, so it was playing particularly long.
Over the first couple of days during practice my 3 wood saw a lot of use, it was exhausting in fact! I knew that it was going to be a challenge and patience was going to be key.
On Thursday I started ok, it was only when I reached the 4th and 5th (which were tough holes) that things started to unravel. I wasn't hitting greens, making birdies hard to come by. I actually mentioned this to Guy (my local caddy) on the 14th at which point I chipped in! :) This was a little ray of light, which I could hopefully build on. An unfortunate double on the 17th but on a positive note I finished with a birdie on 18, holing a 20 footer.
I did my best to keep it together but unfortunately my confidence with my game wasn't there and it was very much an uphill struggle.
My second round couldn't have started much worse. I was teeing off the 10th, a long par 4 up the hill into wind. I still had 208yards left to go after a decent drive. I proceeded to make double. The 11th I followed with another double, caused by a wrong yardage, we were then put on the clock and by this point I was flustered. I couldn't see a way back, but battled to the end. Finishing with yet another double just about topped off my day.
I was hugely disappointed, having felt that I was making progress in the week leading upto the tournament, I felt very confused on the course. This game is hard enough at the best of times and I was just complicating things by over thinking.
I needed to have a change of plan for my next tournament, I needed a clearer mind.
RSS Feed
