UR-Golf Blog Entry #8: A Game Called Golf.

My Apology Letter

I will preface the beginning of this post by saying I made a very immature decision by skipping Monday’s post. For those of you who don’t know, I am a Division III college golfer at Wittenberg University. This last Sunday and Monday, we were fortunate enough to play in a tournament at Forest Creek Golf Club in Pinehurst, North Carolina. The golf course was exquisite. Pure greens. Pure facilities. Pure amenities. I will definitely be doing a course review on it in the future. Anyways, I played poorly on Sunday, and was so upset that I couldn’t muster up the strength to write about more golf. Don’t worry… There is a lesson in all of this.

My resume is pretty solid for a young amateur golfer. In college, I finished First Team-All Conference, competed and finished inside the top 30 in a National Championship, and had good finishes in state amateur events. Last Summer, I got my handicap down to +3.5, so I have some experience. Unfortunately, none of these accolades matter when playing in a tournament. In our first round at Forest Creek, I shot 88. My worst score since middle school. It was one of those days that I just had nothing. NOTHING! It all started on my 8th hole when I plugged in a green-side bunker and made a double bogey. That was just the calm before the storm. My 9th hole, which was the 18th hole, a par 5, I go driver, 3-wood… whoops… plugged in the lip of another bunker. 7 shots later, I came out with a 10.

Long story short, I tried my hardest to make pars and not get down on myself, but I got a couple other bad breaks and bad swings, all adding up to a +16, 88. That’s not how this story ends. I went to bed that night, not defeated, but oddly excited for the next day. I don’t know if it was because I possibly couldn’t have played worse, or if I just felt like I was going to get some redemption. Either way, the Sun still rose the next day. To put my round on Monday into words, it felt a lot easier to shoot 73 than it did to shoot 88.

Was I a little embarrassed after the first round? Yeah. But I knew that I was a good player, and this was a moment that I could either choose to be upset and feel sorry for myself, or I could shake it off, put the boots back on, and play again tomorrow. I learned that the ladder is a much better feeling than the former.

In conclusion, I am sorry for letting my own golf game determine whether or not I am going to go through with my goals, and I won’t let it happen again.

Players Championship Picks

I am going to copy and paste one of my picks from last week, and pick the 2021 Players Champion, Justin Thomas. Justin Thomas is still playing well, coming off of a T-36, and having three top-10 finishes, I think he is a lock for a top 10 finish (+190).

Runner-up finisher in 2024, Wyndham Clark (+6000). I think he’s coming into this tournament with a chip on his shoulder after lipping out on the 18th hole to finish one back of Scottie. He’s off to a slow start in the 2025 season, but the course sets up well for his game.

A player nobody has really been talking about, but has all of the talent in the world is Tommy Fleetwood (+3000). Tommy has played well in all of the elevated events so far this season, and his game fits the mold for a Players Champion.