A Lesson for all Tournament Players

[Kevin Shields]

I dont want sympathy or anything. This is therapy for me before I go beat the living hell out of a tree in my backyard but also I believe it can serve as a lesson for all tournament players.

Today was a local qualifier for the US Open. I chose Stonewall in West Virginia because its an unbelievable course that separates the men from the boys real fast. Several good players were there as well.

I played the front nine in 33 with a missed 2 foot birdie and a horse shoe lip out on #9. 9fairways 9 greens. #10 is a par 3 where over is dead. Feeling over confident I ran thru the yardage too quickly and only got the number to the pin 168. Flushed 7 over the green and into the native rough...lucky to make a 4. I realized later I had 158 to the front...mental error.

When I play really well I can challange the right side of a hole when there is trouble right. #11 has hazard all down the right side. I got a little late and it leaked into the hazard. Still feeling confident I went for the pin off a side hill lie after the drop and leaked it into the hazard again...triple bogey 7. 2 hour lightning delay to stew around and find out there were a few even pars and a couple 1 unders out there.

Here's where the lesson is learned...... I made up my mind that I needed 2 birdies coming in to qualify. #12 didnt get up and down greenside for a birdie on a par 5 and stoned an 8 iron on 13 and missed the 5 footer. Got overly aggressive with a wedge and over shot a green, chipped down and not thinking i could afford another bogey jammed a down hill 4 footer and 3 putted. Now thinking i needed all birdies i spun out birdies on 15 and 18 for a 75. Thinking no chance I decided to focus on the positives of the round and that there was only 2 bad holes and I was 5 lip outs away from 70 even with a triple. I later learned that 74 played off to advance. Physically friggin sick.

The lesson I learned is its sometimes dangerous to have tunnel vision on a target score. Its also bad to be over confident and run the your routine progressions too fast. Had I somehow known that 73 wouldve advanced during the rain delay it wouldve totally changed my mindset. To a fault im the kind of player who cant stand having a wart on a flawless round. Sometimes to me its a 66 or nothing attitude. I saw early that this round had 65 or 66 written on it and the hiccups made the thought process change. Rookie error. A qualifier its a different deal, do whatever it takes to get through.

Thanks for letting me vent..to whomever was bored enough to read this. I pity this tree im going to kill.

 

[Lifter]

It's only a game. There are a lot of us (like me) who would kill to be able to shoot 75 in a U.S. Open qualifier. Those setups are tough.

 

[ekennedy]

Shake it off, bud.

I often remind myself that my competition is not the PGA Tour. When you play in the US Open (and you will) then your margin for error is much less. Qualifiers, not so much. When you are one of the favorites, there's no need to press. Good players always instinctively know what a good score is on a given day, especially on tough golf courses. You are too good a player to listen to other peoples rounds, especially those in progress. Shoot your ho-hum even par round and go home...let everyone else change THEIR games.

 

[Kevin Shields]

Yeah but I cant stand turning in 72 when it was 3 under at one point...character flaw. BTW, great course if you get down there ever.

 

[Tball88]

Kevin, first of all congrats for having the guts to give it a shot. I'm sure you're disappointed, but you're doing something that most of us only dream about. Sounds like you were just a couple of mental mistakes away from going really low. We talk so much about swing, but man is course management important.

Good luck next time around.

 

[oldpro]

Yeah but I cant stand turning in 72 when it was 3 under at one point...character flaw. BTW, great course if you get down there ever.

No character flaw at all...you just need more experience and that was some...log it in the memory banks, you'll do better next time.
Challenging the water in a qualifier was the only real mistake. The iron over the green was from rushing getting the yardage. I doubt you'll do either anytime soon. I'm an aggressive player who made every mistake you made and then some, you just learn from them.
Good luck in the future.

 

[Kevin Shields]

No character flaw at all...you just need more experience and that was some...log it in the memory banks, you'll do better next time.
Challenging the water in a qualifier was the only real mistake. The iron over the green was from rushing getting the yardage. I doubt you'll do either anytime soon. I'm an aggressive player who made every mistake you made and then some, you just learn from them.
Good luck in the future.

Haha..thanks. Problem is I have all the experience in the world. Just a lapse and hopefully it made for a decent read and maybe some other tourney players will think about their approaches to game planning.

 

[holeout]

I feel for ya bro. We've all been there.

One thing my dad has nailed into me from day one is that if you're playing well, don't worry about everyone else. If you play well your score will hold up just fine.

The "perfect round" syndrome is not uncommon. I was 6 under through 10 in a tournament, and shot 70. After the round I felt like breaking something, putting it back together, and then breaking it again. Then setting it on fire.

 

[Virtuoso]

Great post Kev. A lot for each us to learn from.

And I am feeling your pain. A few years ago I lost in a playoff in a local US Open qualifier. The round was eerily similar, including a rushed yardage to a back pin on a par 3 where long was death. Flushed it to death.

7 man playoff for 6 spots--just keep a pulse. Plugged it in the lip of a bunker with a 9 iron on the first playoff hole when all I had to do was gouge it to the center of the green. Lost on 3rd playoff hole.

A few years before that, US Amateur qual, similar circumstances, 1st alternate.

We'll learn one of these days.

 

[birdie_man]

Rough Kevin..

Sometimes when you smash something it can make you feel better. (a release of sorts) Be selective & mind your knuckles! Ahhhhhh..done it.

"One shot at a time" is a pretty good benchmark/catch-all. (same w "one day at a time") More task/process-oriented?

Can be pretty tough to manage all this stuff & find a good balance.

Truly we behave as we think. (conscious & non-conscious)

Shite..sometimes a little "luck" is nice too. Missed it by one shot? That is pretty damn close man.

 

[otto6457]

hey Kevin

Nothing I can say will make you feel much better......I know how disappointed you are. It's hard to swallow this game sometimes and that's coming from the poster boy of failed qualifiers.

You may get something out of a conversation I had about a month ago with a total stranger in a golf store. He struck up a conversation with me after a couple of the salesmen in the store were asking me if I was coming back to golf. He asked me why I quit. I went into my usual long winded explanation of how I was burned out and how disappointed I was after missing yet another state mid-am qualifier. Without missing a beat he looked me in the eye and told me that what's worse than missing the cut is not playing.

That sort of hit home.

Good luck man......you know you have the game.

 

[birdie_man]

Btw someone said it's not necessarily a char flaw. (or whatever) I.e. a reason to think there is something innate in you that is bad, putting you at a disadvantage, inferior even, or whatever.

Makes sense to me.

Maybe there are tendencies, & then maybe even a tendency to overdo or not use those (innate) tendencies. (the latter would be learned skills, habits)

Then again, maybe (aside from physical ability & interests) there are people just more suited to cage fighting, glass eating (or something) than something as precise as tournament golf. (though top level glass eating competitions are notoriously mentally taxing)

Don't know, but food for anyone's thought.

Woulda been cool to see you in the US Open.

 

[Robbohank]

To a fault im the kind of player who cant stand having a wart on a flawless round. Sometimes to me its a 66 or nothing attitude. I saw early that this round had 65 or 66 written on it and the hiccups made the thought process change. Rookie error. A qualifier its a different deal, do whatever it takes to get through.

Thanks for letting me vent..to whomever was bored enough to read this. I pity this tree im going to kill.

Kevin - that's a tough one, but as you say you gotta look at the positives and there seem to be plenty!

Take it for what it's worth but I have a good friend of mine who turns into an extreme perfectionist on the golf course..... and it IS to a fault. He can shoot 68 and bitch the whole way around. Great guy but tough to play with. He made it thru stage 1 Open qualifying a few years ago and was paired with Justin Leonard at 2nd stage. He was actually beating Justin but they had a rain delay between rounds and his back tightened up and WD'd. This guy had so much talent but couldn't stay out of his own way with his perfectionist attitude and to this day he won't admit that he's that way on the course. Total waste of talent. Not that that's you, just another input.

As an aside, I bogeyed the last 2 holes of my state mid-am qualifier last year to shoot 77. I was playing with the eventual medalist and another guy that beat me by 2. I finished, signed my card, looked at the scoreboard and saw that I was in 11th place for 12 spots. I forgot that they had double tee times so I thought there were a bunch of players still on the course and I "referenced" my position off of the other 2 guys I played with so I left and went back to work thinking I was out of it. Got home that evening only to find out that I was in a 7 for 4 playoff. Needless to say I ended up 3rd alternate.

 

[footwedge]

What I got out of reading this, is stay in the present, focus on the process, it's like you jumped ahead to achieve a pre-conceived outcome and had expectations of a certain score, basically got ahead of yourself and got out of your regular routine trying to achieve a certain outcome that was pre-determined. Lesson learned, your physically prepared but at your level mental prep is equally important.JMO.

 

[mjstrong]

My advice Kevin, would be to play again, quickly. Enter the next tournament you can and play strongly again. You were hitting it well and now have a new and improved thought process. You might win it.

 

[wulsy]

All decent players have been there, where you are now Kevin. I gave the game up for three years between ages 18 and 21 because it just made me feel sick to the core when I did something like that.

My worst ever feeling of sickness came when I was a boy of 16 and was told if I made the cut in a national strokeplay tournament I would be selected for the national team. I did something similar to you: tried to force a score that I didn't even need. Then when I thought all was lost I threw the towel in playing the last hole and shanked by 2nd OB to double bogey. I missed the cut by a shot. I was a broken man/boy. Horrible feeling in your gut that just makes you want to either destroy something or jack it all in. Self loathing follows.....

You know what? In hindsight it's all just a game. Don't define yourself by you success or failure on the course. Enjoy the game and enjoy life. Shit happens and to err is human. Move on and enjoy your next tournament, you next flushed drive, your next meal, your next movie, your next sexual encounter, etc etc.

Just my 2.

 

[Frans@France]

No advice from me Kevin, just a Thank you for sharing.

I do however hope that that tree is your own because in some countries when damaging a tree you have to pay for a replacment (same age, same height)

 

[Kevin Shields]

Thanks for the responses guys. Didnt sleep all that well...haha. Believe me, my life is centered enough that I dont define myself by my golf. However, the Open qualifier has had a love hate relationship with me. Ive medaled and made it to the sectional 5 times. Was 2nd (to Chad Campbell) in a 16 for 1 spot into the Open. But the flip side is (if ive remembered correctly) ive either lost in a playoff or missed by one 6 times. But this one was the worst. I feel like I shot 42 on the back and only missed 2 shots. 19 putts without a poor stroke. Seems like it wasnt meant to be but I thought this was the year to make it.

Still have the PGA I guess....Hershey can t come soon enough.

 

[mgranato]

Brutal, Shields. I can't think of anyone who plays tournament golf who hasn't gone through something similar. I've played some dogs of a game in basketball in front of a lot of people and never felt like destroying "stuff" like I have from playing a round of golf in front of 2 other guys. Mentally naked is not a fun feeling.

On a technical note, are you sure you're keeping your head down?

 

[Matt 4-L]

I feel your pain, I can live with putting a bad swing on a shot and getting a bad result but nothing burns me more than hitting a shot pure but ending up with a bad result because of a mental error, let it torment you long enough to not make the same mistake twice then move on.