andrew scott jensen

I’m writing this blog from a Starbucks in Orlando today.  My travels over the past 3 days have brought me from Bradenton to Palm City to West Palm to Vero Beach and now finally to the Orlando area.   I will be back in my own bed in Bradenton late tonight.

Yesterday’s pre qualifier did not go exactly as expected.  I shot 75 and missed out on advancing to the Monday qualifier by 5 shots.  That being said, it was a great experience and I learned a lot from it.

I learned a lot about how I have matured as a player.  After making an early double on the 5th hole, I remained very patient and gave myself many, many birdie chances over the rest of the round.  I was very strong mentally, proof that all of the hard work I have been putting into my thought process and pre and post shot routines is making good ground in competition.

Tee to green I was excellent, with the exception of 3 poor swings.  This was the most consistent I can remember me playing in competition.  I hit almost every fairway and almost every green.  I was hitting it long and straight and close to the hole, giving myself  a lot of good looks at birdies. Unfortunately, once I got on the greens I was very poor to say the least.  I made one putt outside 4 feet, a 15 footer for birdie on the 8th hole.  That was it.  I had many looks inside 15 feet but never converted any of them.  I just kept going and tried to hit it closer.

Much to my chagrin, that didn’t solve the problem of a cold putter.  A good summary of the round on the greens was my 16th and 17th holes.  I was 3 over on the 16th tee, thinking that I needed to at least birdie in to have some kind of chance.  On 16 I hit it to about 4 feet and missed it.  On 17 I hit it to about 6 feet and missed it.  I was quite disappointed after the round because I had such high hopes and left it all out on the greens.

That being said, a 70 was in my bag yesterday.  It is now time for me to look back on that round and see where the 5 strokes were lost.  One swing cost me 2, maybe even 3 strokes.  I hit a 3 iron into the water for my second shot to the par 5 5th, leading to a double bogey 7.  This was a possible 4 turned into a 7.  The two putts on 16 and 17 can equate for the other 2 strokes.   The 70 was there, just some rookie mistakes were made.

I have to work very hard on my putting.  My technique needs improving, but more importantly my thought process needs the most improving.  I need to find a way to simplify it mentally and then trust it.  I need to get back to the way I putted as a junior, with no fear or hesitation of what could happen next.   Just see the hole and get the ball in it.  Its very simple but very hard to apply and trust.

The experience of this event was great.  Getting to stay over in Palm City with some familiar faces from Ottawa was great.  Also, having Rick caddy for me in the practice round and actual event was a lot of fun.  We had a great time both rounds and he was a great help in keeping me patient and focused.  Thanks Rick.

After the round I drove up to Vero Beach and met with Dave, one of the pros from the Hunt Club.  We played his course down here; John’s Island.  It was one of the best tracks in Florida I have ever seen.  It was nice playing 36 holes yesterday and seeing more familiar faces from back home.

I am now in Orlando to work with Dave my swing coach from back home.  I am very excited to put in some work and have another set of eyes looking over my swing.  I am also excited to see if we can figure anything out on the greens.  If we can work on getting my ball in the hole more often.

I am sure that after a few more days of reflection I will have learned even more about what happened with my first event as a pro.  So you can expect more from my end on the experience yesterday brought.  Until then I am off to enjoy a bit of Orlando and to work hard in preparation for next weeks PODS Championship pre qualifier.

Here’s to taking this experience and using it to go one step ahead next week…