Thanks for noticing Keith. Yes, I'm excited and exhausted as I've just finished four days in a row of competitive golf - the first three at Spyglass and today at Pasatiempo. I've been looking forward to this four day stretch for a long time and it's really cool to end it on a high note. Who knows when I'll ever get to play two better courses back to back, and Spyglass is on my very short list of favorite places.
Today gets me into sectional qualifying at Lake Merced, another place I have a lot of affection for. I really wanted today because sectional qualifying and the Open itself are both in my very own city. I suppose that qualifies as once in a lifetime, maybe twice.
Almost 7 hours later I'm still unwinding from a 5-for-2 playoff on #1 at Pasatiempo. To say I was quite anxious would be a solid understatement. Luckily, for me at least, none of the other guys played the hole well. I hit the green on my second shot and I was the only guy within 40 yards of the green in two shots; two guys had lost balls left and another made double bogey from #9 fairway. But I'm proud of making a solid 4 on that hole into the wind and under those circumstances.
I have to admit being a liiiiiitle less amazed by Pasatiempo than I expected? Maybe it's because I only walked it yesterday (when the hole locations were already marked) and played it today, so I only ever considered one set of hole locations. But I guess I wasn't expecting so many shots that, while not necessarily easy, were somewhat obvious in terms of how to play them: the teeshots on 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 11, 12, and 17 in particular. I expected more strategy and angles. As well, the second shots on 4, 7, 12, and 17 in particular seemed kind of reduced because those holes play so much shorter now than when they were designed, at least for tournament players. For example, the pin on 17 today was +20 (on 47 out of 54) on the right side. With a 7 iron that would have been terrifying. With a wedge it just didn't feel like a big deal. I also felt like the narrowness of 6 and 7 detracted significantly from the front 9.
That said, 16 is an unbelievable hole and the green on 18 is pretty unreal as well. There's barely a pinnable spot on there.
As a minor side note, the Cal Mid-Am was more in name only and not official. It's always nice to win though.
And as a total side note, I spent 90 minutes with Mac O'Grady yesterday, which was...memorable.
