The Amateur Championship, Royal Troon Golf Club,  June 18-23

If there is one tournament you want to win as an amateur, it’s the Amateur Championship.  The structure is as follows: 288 players at the start.  We play 2 rounds of stroke play and then the top 64 make the cut and are placed into a matchplay bracket, which we then play down to 32, 16… etc.  Pretty tight as 224 of 288 players will be flying home after only two rounds.  I have again arranged to practice with the German team for this event, which is great as I won’t be in Scotland for 10 days on my own.  7 others and myself will be sharing two swing coaches, a mental coach and a physical therapist for the week.  It’s good to be German… not even the American’s have this much service with their squad. 

The three days of practice were absolutely miserable.  Damn you Scotland.  Each day we had sub 50* weather, 30+ mph winds and of course rain, rain, rain.  As if Royal Troon wasn’t difficult enough.  We played one practice round in Western Gailes and not one player broke 80.    However, by some miracle, the heavens cleared just in time for round one.  Even though the wind continued, it was refreshing to wear fewer than 5 layers.

Round one: Royal Troon

Cheers to Martin Shaw for hooking me up with Andy Wright on my bag.  You are the man Andy!  

I began a bit nervy.   Believe me when I say, Troon heartlessly punishes the slightest imperfection… like a championship links course should.  I began bogey, bogey, par … and then something just clicked.  I stood over a 25 footer on the 4th and knew I would make it.  I followed with another birdie on the 225 yard par 3, 5^th and went on to birdie 8, 9, 10.  I’m -2 through 10 and rather pumped.  All the practice and time in the rain was paying off.  We walked to the nasty 11^th, where two groups were stalled at the tee because only “one of each two tee-balls have been put in play” today.  This is one of the most ridiculous golf holes I have ever come across. 

Royal Troon Hole 11:  Par 4, 490 yards Hcp 1.  The tee shot is blind as we must drive it over a giant bush.  It is important to trust your caddy here and pick a target in the distance while weighing in the prevailing winds.  You must carry it minimum 220 just to clear the shrubs, left are impenetrable thorn bushes and right you’ll find the railroad tracks (OB).  100 meters dead left is a hill with a spotter standing on top, holding a red and green flag .  You can guess what each represents. 

Link to ----> Royal Troon Hole 11

I hit my driver and Andy’s silence brings me an immediate chill.  I look over to the hill and the spotter lifts the red flag.  I was just a few yards left of my target and it wasn’t even a draw.  I re-tee and hit a similar shot and again look over to the hill; green flag.  Like I said, ridiculous.  Then I have a hybrid into a green where the o.b. posts are literally on the right edge and left looks just as ugly.  I make triple bogey and go back to +1, still a great score through 11 at Troon.  I gather myself with a clutch up and down par on 12 and refreshingly make two more birdies on 15 and 16.  An opening round of (-1) 70 at Troon with 7 birdies.  Sweeeeet.

Link to ----> Stroke Play Scorecard

The scores were surprisingly good, but then again these are the top amateurs in the world.  I’m in T-12 out of 288 and looking at the leaderboard, I estimated tomorrow’s cut to be +2… if not even +1. 

I did however make the day 1 leaderboard :)

Round Two: Gailes Glasgow links

I have an afternoon time and the wind is howling.  Gusts of 50mph… what is this, hurricane Andrew?  I grind my pars for a while but find a pot bunker on 7 and 10, both resulting in double bogeys.  I’m +5 thru 16, +4 for the tournament and expect the cut to be +1/+2.  I need to birdie 17 and 18 to have a chance at matchplay.  I have a 50 footer on 17 and leave it 8 feet short… great.  I guess that’s it.  I make the 8-footer despite being adrenaline deficient and hit a solid drive into the wind on the long 18^th.  I walk up to my ball to find it in a divot, the nasty kind of divot.  Andy gives me a rye smile and says, at least you didn’t make the 50-footer on 17, making positive of my bad luck.  I pull 4-iron from 208 and bang out a low stinger, which rolls more than flies.  It then keeps rolling… and rolling… somehow missing the greenside pot bunkers (cool), and ends 20 feet above the hole.  Walking to the green, some of Andy’s friends shout over to us “the scores today are silly high in this wind”.  Immediate adrenaline.  I spend a good 3 minutes reading and discussing my putt with Andy.  Downhill, 2.5 paces right to left… don’t leave it short.  It goes right in the heart.  (+4) 75… in the poker world we would call this “running good”.  And yes, I truly “ran good”, as I then waited 4 hours and watched the scores, only to find out +3 for the tournament put me in T62 because the last 3 groups could not bring in a round under 75.  Matchplay, here we go!!!

Matchplay round one opponent: Peter Valasek (Slovakia)

We are the very first match of the day.  7:00 am.   Once again I made the wonderful decision to visit the Red Lion last night with some locals for the England vs. Sweden match.  How much do the Scots dislike the English? … Let’s just say you wouldn’t make it very far down the street in a Three Lions jersey. Ibra had a game but the Limeys take it 3-2.

To golf.  I begin par bogey par and am 2-down thru 3.  I already see where this is heading… I bounce back by birdieing 8 and am gifted number 11; All Square.  Peter counters with birdies on 12 and pars 13; I’m 2 down, 3 to go.  I get lucky and drop a long one on 16 for birdie and we tie 17.  I feel like I’m playing a tour event with the all the advertisement and spectators lining the closing holes.  I go to 18 one down.  In the end, I have a 6-footer for par to win the hole… and it goes.  We both fire 73’s.  Extra holes.

I can tell Peter is nervous after losing his 2 up lead, so I play a conservative “fairways and greens” approach and will await his mistake.  We tie 19 and 20 with pars and on 21 Peter cannot up and down from a green bunker, leaving me with a comfortable 2 putt to win the match.  Round two – here we go.

Matchplay round two opponent: Daniel Young (England)

I have about an hour downtime for a quick lunch before we head out for the afternoon round two.  The wind has picked up a touch, but definitely mild conditions for Scotland.  Apparently two of the favorites: Daan Huizing and a French phenom (forgot his name) went busto in the first round.  Welcome to matchplay…

This match versus Daniel Young is one I won’t ever forget.  I was later quoted in the German paper saying, “This was the best golf I have ever played”.  Maybe a bit over-zealous, and I was definitely teased for this back home… but hey, not sure how else to describe it… we’re playing Troon here, not some neighborhood park course!!

I start by making back-to-back 20 footers for birdie on 1 and 2.  2-up.  We tie 3 with pars and tie 4 with birdie.  I birdie 5, 7, 8 and to add insult to injury, I hole a 75 footer from 10 yards off the green on 9.  I shoot 29 on the front and poor Daniel, with a solid -1, is 5 down.  He walks to the 10^th shaking his head, knowing the match is essentially over.  Had he played his -1 versus me in the morning, he would have been 3 up.  Daniel concedes my 5 footer on 10, which to me signals the white flag.  In the end I give a few back but take the match 3&2 after 16 holes.  What a day.  I’ve made round 3 of the British.  32 players remain, 20 of which are from the UK.  My friend Stephan Jaeger is the only other German to make it to the round of 32.  Booya!  Time to extend my hotel stay and rebook my flight.

I try to express my emotions of tournament golf best I can through this blog, and these last days I have had a few things on my mind, that in retrospect are the real reason I was still in this tournament; one thing wonderful, and something tragic.  Some emotions simply offset nervousness by providing perspective, as was the case this week.  Before I continue, I want to recognize my dear friend Helen, who I had on my mind nearly every shot today.  We talked last night after she unexpectedly lost her father.  Helen, I know you read this, so I’m going to add this photo for you.       

Round 3 opponent: Eduoard Espana (France)

Eduoard had a very intimidating image.  Sponsored out the wazoo and accompanied by a large following… but as I mentioned, not much can shake me today.  I come out of the gate hot again, birdieing 1, 3 and winning 4 with a par.  I’m 3 up through 4.  My confidence is sky high. 

The par 3, 5^th.  Playing into the wind, it’s 218 to the pin.  No less than a wood gets us there today, and I hit a bullet to the middle of the green.  A par here has a good chance to win the hole, and I could go 4 up… on a normal day.  Eduoard crushes my first theory by pulling a 4-iron and hits the shot of the tournament.  Never left the line of the pin.  His ball took one hop and he freaking jars it.  Hole in one.  Touché.  2-up.

We flipped a few holes and Eduoard then goes on to birdie the par 3, 8^th, and par 3, 14^th to square the match.  He played the par 3’s in 1, 2, 2.  My mind races “Well at least I can say I lost to a hole in one… nope, get that thought out of your head, stat… stay in perspective, enjoy the moment.”

We both have 6 footers on 17.  I make, Eduoard misses.  I'm 1-up going to 18.  I then put my second shot 5-iron to 10 feet on the last, and Eduoard can’t find the green in 3.  I didn’t even have to pull a putter.  The match is conceded 2-up thru 18.  All of a sudden I’m the last German standing and am into the 4^th round, with only 4 players remaining between Augusta and me. 

Round 4 opponent: Jacobo Pastor (Spain)

The sweet 16 of the British Am… how exciting.  Jacobo was also the last Spaniard standing and had his entire national team along for the ride today.  Surprisingly, the Spanish possy applauded and cheered my shots as much as his, emitting a warm atmosphere in a rather important match.  This match could not have been more even.  We drove the ball identical distances and made absolutely zero course-management mistakes.  Once in a while he would hole a putt, and vice versa.  I was 1-dn through 5, 1-up through 9, 1-dn through 13, and again 1-up through 16.  I miss a 10 footer on 17 to tie the hole and we go to 18, fairly, all square.  We are left with tricky 5 footers on 18 for par, but both take care of business.  Extra holes again.

 The round of 16 matches have been broadcasted on the UK sports network Sky, and us going extra holes had the camera crews all up in a tizzy, frantically relocating from 18 to catch us on hole one.  Very enjoyable. 

On 19, we both hit the green.  I’m about 4 meters out and Jaco is about 6.  He misses his and I have a chance to win the match.  I hit a really good putt that loses speed and grazes the hole on the low side.  I look over at Andy and he gives me a silent “Wow”.  Yes, it was one of those putts.  On 20, again we both hit fairway and green.  I’m about 10 meters and Jaco is out 5 meters.  I put it close for a conceded par and with camera’s rolling, Jacobo throws a big fist pump as he holes for birdie.  Good game. 

Honestly, I wasn’t the least bit upset.  I smiled and congratulated Jacobo, who, very simply put, beat me today.  In the end I took T9 for losing in the round of 16.  No Augusta this year, but a lasting memory and a plethora of world ranking points.  My 6 am flight is booked and I’m SO ready to get home to my friends in Munich.

My next event isn’t until July 19-22, where I will play the German International Championship.  See you then!