Andrew Jensen’s Weblog

Well, Friday’s round didn’t go as I had expected.  I still played very well in the windy afternoon conditions.  I made two bad swings and they resulted in double bogeys and I had a lapse in concentration and 4 putted for a triple bogey.  This resulted in a 78 and another missed cut.

The other fifteen holes were great.  I hit many great shots, some of the best I have hit in recent memory.  The highlight was a 5 iron from 205y up hill into the wind, out of a divot.  I hit the 5 iron to 4 inches.  I was 4 inches from a double eagle!!(yes, I made the tap in eagle)

Last week I successfully ignored the scoreboard for both days, and never let a potential cut number creep into my head.  This was a big victory for me considering the cut number has been haunting me every event thus far.  This mental victory will help me a great deal in finishing out the season with solid play.

The two rounds in Saskatoon were the best I have struck a ball all year.  Which is great considering I said the same thing about my rounds in Calgary.

I am finally very excited to play golf again.  I am so excited because both my self confidence and swing confidence are rising daily.  I know that when I finally get it together for a round it will be a flood of good play that follows.

I am now in Edmonton preparing for the Telus Edmonton Open.  I am optimistic that this will be the week that it comes together and I get into the mix for the weekend.  I say this because the way this tour has been panning out.  If you make the cut even on the number you are no more than 8 strokes behind, and that is not too large a task that two great rounds can’t overcome.

It really is great having this optimism about golf again.  It really fell off in May and it has taken well over a month to get back to being confident and positive again.  I have learned just how important it is to stay positive and ignore all the negativity that I have brought on myself.

I realize that I have a large task ahead of me to keep my playing privileges for next year, but I love the challenge.  I had a large task in getting my card last fall, and hopefully this similar adversity will bring the best out of my game like it did last year.

Here’s to the great few months ahead…

Today went well, I hit the ball the best I have all year.

Unfortunately, my putter was cold again.  The upside is the fact that I stroked great putts but the ball kept catching the edges of the hole and not dropping.

All of this came together for an even par 72.

I don’t know where I stand and don’t plan on finding out until after tomorrow’s round.

Here’s to the putts dropping tomorrow…

It has been some time since my last post.  I apologize for the delay of this post.  I took advantage of being with a great friend in Calgary and took in some much needed socializing with a familiar face over the weekend.

I did miss the cut last week in Calgary, but I believe a breakthrough took place.  For the first time this year, I put together two rounds back to back of solid ball striking, the most solid to date.  Unfortunately, an ice cold putter wouldn’t allow my scores to drop.

I played great on Friday.  I went into the round trying to play well and gain more confidence for the next event.  I hit the most fairways and greens I have all year.  I made 5 birdies and an eagle.  I did a great job to offset those however.  5 bogeys and a double hurt.  4 of the 5 bogeys were 3 putts, which stings even more.  I struggled all week on the slower paced greens and it certainly was the reason for the missed cut.

With the weekend off, we went to Banff on Saturday and played the breathtaking Banff Springs course and took in all the beauty.  It was a great consolation for the missed cut.  Check out the photos here to see what we experienced.

I traveled yesterday and now find myself in downtown Saskatoon, and it is very nice here.  We are here for the Saskatchewan Open.  The course is a great one.  It reminds me of Whistling Straits where Vijay won his last PGA Championship.  It is long and very links inspired.  If the wind blows(as it should in Saskatchewan) the course will be very challenging and I’m sure the scores will represent that.  I fell in love with the greens right away.  I hope this ignites my putter to really come through for me this week.

I feel very good this week.  I am trying a new approach to the scoring this week.  I will not look at the scores online at all.  It will be difficult for me, but I am determined not to.  I feel that if I have no idea where I stand in relation to the lead or the cut line I will relax a little more and just play golf.

Follow my rounds at cantour.com

Yesterday’s round was the first round in a few months where I can say that I hit it very well tee to green.

That being said, to say I struggled on the greens would be a huge understatement.  The greens are a little slow this week and I really had a hard time with my pace.  All of my putts would die out right at the hole, not reaching the hole with a pace good enough to hold a line and drop.

I hit the most greens I have since California, and I hit a few fringes as well.  When I missed a green I couldn’t make the par save to save my life, a far cry from the par savers I made the last two weeks.  When I hit the greens, my birdie efforts were barely that.

It was a little unfortunate given the conditions we are playing this week.  The course is giving up lots of birdies, and posting 2 over the first day is a relatively awful start.  I am not discouraged though.  I am very confident that I can give myself 14+ birdie putts today, and I have worked on the putting and feel that I do have a handle on the greens.  If I stick to a conservative plan to hit as many greens as possible, I feel that I can shoot the low score that will get me into the weekend.

It is very strange feeling this confidence again, it has been a long time since I actually believed that I could play well.

I intend to play well today an give myself the best chance at playing on the weekend for the first time this year.

Follow my round at cantour.com

I find myself in Calgary this week.  I am here for the ATB Financial Classic.  This week will be a fun one for sure.  I am staying with a good friend of mine who lives out here and he will also be carrying the bag for me this week.

I am finally regaining the much needed confidence in my game again.  I have put in lots of work in correcting the move I was making, and the ball is finally doing what I am expecting it to do.  This is a great feeling and it allows me to feel confident about the event this week.

This week is a softer field than usual, with many players playing in the Nationwide event or at British Open qualifying.  Hopefully I can turn this into a good week for myself and get a good start on the summer push to maintain my card for next year.

Getting out here to Calgary was originally very exciting with the anticipation of seeing the Rockies first hand.  All of that excitement disappeared 2 hours into my drive.  I picked up something off the road and blew a tire in the middle of nowhere between Surrey and Kamloops.

This misfortune made my day very long and took my mind off the scenery and kept it strongly focused on whether or not my spare was handling the road well.

I was very relieved to get into Calgary after many hours on the road and slept like a log that night.  I am getting a new tire and hoping that this is the end of my misfortune on the Trans Canada.

I play at 8:20 on Thursday, and 1:20 on Friday.  Follow all the scores at cantour.com

Well this week had the same outcome as weeks past: missed cut.

In spite of not playing on the weekend, I did have a very good week.  Wednesday’s practice session under my Dad’s watchful eye hit the problem of my erratic play on the head.  I hit hundreds of balls trying to ingrain the proper move and trying to eliminate the mistake I was making.

I was very happy after that session. I knew that I was a work in progress and that it could have been great this week or a battle to make the right move under pressure and not fall back to the old mistake.

Thursday’s round started okay, I hit it a bit better than recent rounds and scrambled myself around par.  The back nine was not as kind.  My bad habit snuck back in and I started hitting it very poorly.  I limped in for my first round 79.

With the cut pretty far off, my game plan for Friday was to trust the new move and just hit the centre of the green, in an effort to re-gain confidence that I can hit greens and make birdies.

It went relatively well.  I hit more fairways and greens than I have in recent memory.  The round was very promising, a solid 67-68 was in the cards but 3 birdie chances on the back nine just slipped by the hole, and then two late bogeys on 16 and 18 put my round back over par at 73.

I have lots of good to take away from this event.  I also have a lot of time to put in on the range to really allow myself to trust my swing.

Most importantly, my head is much stronger than it was in Mexico.  I have learned a lot every week out here, and am doing a good job at putting it to work in the following events.

I am very optimistic about next week in Calgary and the rest of the season.

I have a home event this week.

Well, home away from home.  I am staying at my place in Surrey for the event this week.  Hopefully this will bring good vibes to the course.

I have been working hard since Friday’s round and have put a new driver in play for this week.  Hopefully I can translate all of this into some more confidence and solid play.

Follow all the action at www.cantour.com

More disappointment ensued this week in Victoria.  After an even par 70 in the first round, I was in good shape heading into Friday.  I was confident that I would play well and really get myself into contention.

Thursday’s round was solid, even with the birdie putts touching every part of the hole except the bottom.  I took it in stride and was confident they would drop on Friday.

Friday’s round started well getting to 1 under through six holes.  Then the 7th hole bit me and handed me a triple bogey 8.  The conditions didn’t let up as the wind continued to blow and the greens firmed up a lot.  My game was exposed and nothing good happened.  I limped in and missed yet another cut.

It was disappointing but I have many positives to take into next week’s event in Vancouver.  I feel solid about most of my game, I still have to sharpen up the tee ball and when I do things will turn around fast.

My thought process and confidence was better this week after the work put in over the break since Mexico.  I am still putting great and getting more confident with my swing each day.

I will work hard this week until Thursday’s first round.  I am optimistic that next week I will finally put together a few solid rounds back to back and have a good tournament.

I’m in Victoria, BC this week for the Times Colonist Open being help at Uplands GC.

It will be a fun week this week.  It will be my first event in Canada so I will finally see what it is like to play in front of decent sized galleries.  I am staying with my brother this week and will have him carrying the bag.  On top of that, my dad is flying out here to watch me play.  I am optimistic that this will all come together and allow me to be very relaxed and comfortable out on the course this week.

Finding that comfortable feeling on the course has been lacking so far this season, so hopefully in will be a welcome change this week that will bring good golf.

I am also helping out in the junior clinic on Monday night.  Even though my play hasn’t been great, I am so excited to give back to the junior golfers of the surrounding community out here in Victoria.

I feel good about my game and my thoughts heading into this event.  I will see the course on Tuesday and get a good feel for it by Thursday’s round.

I’ll keep you posted on how things go this week

This is the teaching that I have re-discovered from the pages of “The Game Before The Game” by Pia Nilsson and Lynn Marriott.  This is a great book teaching the Vision 54 method of approaching the game of golf.

This method is what freed me up last year and allowed me to break into more of my potential as a player.  In recent weeks I have been avoiding the teachings that got me to this place, and it has certainly showed in both my play and my head space.

I have been spending a lot of time re-reading the books and then applying the methods to my practice and thinking.

Good? Better? How?

To me this looks like:

What was good in Mexico?

What could have been better in Mexico?

How can I maintain the good and improve on what was lacking?

Sure there can be many things that could be better, but it is important to zero in on one or two things that can be the most improvable and then work on those.  I am working very hard on my focus.  Working on focus is a difficult thing that requires a lot of discipline.  My practice sessions are very focused ones where I am picking a focus and trying everything to stick to it.  It is very easy to start focusing on many things on the range and really allowing your mind to wander.

For Example:
Today’s practice was focused on my tempo on the range and maintaining my great feel on the putting green.

Because I am not striking it great, it’s easy to worry about technique and get lost in a see of thoughts.  I practiced without my iPod and really controlled my thoughts.  Every time my focus would veer off onto the swing mechanics I shook it off and just focused on the tempo.  I am hoping this discipline will help me keep my thoughts in order on the course.

It is very easy to let my mind wander and think about the cut, my backers, my future, my relationships with companies, etc..  I am hoping that I will be string enough in the coming tournaments to shake it off and focus on the one playing focus for the day: fairways and greens.