Xerox Classic
I was only a few hours north of last week's tournament in another beautiful area. Rochester, NY is only about an hour east of Niagra Falls and about 5 hours west of New York City. Irondiquot CC is an old style country club that has huge trees that have been around forever and every fairway is sloped, so off the tee you have to work the ball into each slope to hold the fairway. The course is next door to Oak Hill CC. For those of you who don't know what course that is, there have been multiple major championships held there over the past 30 or 40 years. So it was neat to be in an area with such history around it. Again, I hit the ball well and struggled on the greens. I feel that I am making progress because I have now switched to a belly-putter and am really starting to roll it well. Next week I am headed south to West Virginia. I will keep you updated a little sooner next time. Sorry for the delay of the past few.
MattHansen on 08.22.07 @ 03:20 PM PST [link]
Northeast Pennsylvania Classic
Well, I had a very interesting start to the week because it took me about 18 hrs to travel across the country to Scranton, PA. (and no I didn't drive) I guess that I have had a really smooth year of travel, so I was due for some delays. Once I finally got there, it was absolutely beautiful. As I have said before, the Northeast has so many trees and mountains that are as green as ever. I love to play golf in this area because it seems like all the golf courses are carved out of the mountains and trees. I think the trend of the week was delays because I was supposed to tee off at 1:00pm for my second round but didn't go until 7:00pm and only played four holes that night. The area got a bunch of rain and basically flooded the course. I struck the ball beautifully all week but really struggled with my putting. I know that this sounds really repetitive, but I truely am working on it to get better. I will tell you all this though...WHEN I start putting like I know that I can, I am going to win!
MattHansen on 08.22.07 @ 03:06 PM PST [link]
Price Cutter Charity Championship
Springfield, MO was definately the hottest place that I have played this year. This was a fun golf course for me because it was set up for someone who can hit the ball a long way. I played well all week. I think that I finished at 11 under par but only played the par fives at even par. I have been working on my strategy for the par 5's because I feel like those should be one of the strongest parts of my game. I wish that I have more to tell you about Springfield but there really wasn't anymore to do there except play golf.
MattHansen on 08.22.07 @ 02:51 PM PST [link]
Childrens Hospital Invitational
The Scarlet Course at Ohio State is a great golf course. In 2002, we played NCAA Nationals at this course. I remembered how tough it was then and it was actually tougher this time around. Jack Nicklaus had just come in about a year ago and re-designed the greens and added a bunch of bunkers. The only problem they had with the course was that the greens were not developed enough, so they didn't roll very true. The Columbus area hadn't had any rain since late April, so the course was playing firm and fast. I played okay but unfortunately didn't make the cut. There was something neat that I got to go do though. There is a Jack Nicklaus museum in Columbus that I went through. If you are ever in the area, I highly recomend that you go and check it out. There is so much stuff inside from his past.
MattHansen on 08.22.07 @ 02:29 PM PST [link]
Legend Financial Group Classic
We were in the Clevend, OH area this week and it was smokin hot! It seems like you can never get used to the thick humidity when the temperatures are in the upper 90's. This was another fun golf course because it had a lot of character to it. I had something happen this tournament that has never happened to me before. On Thursday I played a solid round and shot 66. Then as the second round progressed on Friday, I was playing well but wasn't getting anything out of it. I had made a couple of bogeys in the middle of the back nine and I had to par the last two holes to make the cut on the number. I made par on 17 and hit a good drive on 18 but then hit my second shot into the hazard right of the fairway. So I needed to knock it in there close to make par. I ended up flying my shot right over the pin and it bounced into the stands. I got relief and had about a 15 foot chip for par. This was one of those situations that I really tryed to imagine the shot going into the hole and as soon as I hit it, I knew it was going in. This was first time I have ever chipped in to make the cut. It actually ended up being boost of confidence that helped me play pretty well on the weekend.
MattHansen on 08.22.07 @ 02:15 PM PST [link]
Peak n Peak Classic
This tournament was held in a beautiful area just outside of Erie, PA. The resort is a ski resort during the winter and golf resort during the summer. It is nice to play older golf courses like this one because of the character that the course has. It was basically carved out of the trees and meandered throughout the mountains. The area in the northeast is so green and beautiful. This was another week that I put myself into a great position going into the weekend with a great round on Friday. The fact that I have continued to put myself into these positions so many times this year, I really believe that I am going to have a break through anytime.
MattHansen on 08.22.07 @ 01:53 PM PST [link]
