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January 2003
8 January, Asian PGA Tour School, Stage 1, Malaysia, 1st
Round, 69 (-3)
Played really solid and holed out well without making anything. I birdied
1,4,11 and 17 and bogeyed the 3rd. I hit 12 of 14 fairways and 15 of 18
greens, so if I can keep that up I will be in good shape. The course is
a good layout with grainy greens and very thick Bermuda rough which is
very tough. It was a little bit cooler today which helped, but the humidity
is very high. Yesterday was too hot and I drank over 10 bottles of water
on the course! Hopefully it will still be cool tomorrow or I'll turn into
a camel! David.
9 January, Asian PGA Tour School, Stage 1, Malaysia, 2nd Round, 73
(+1)
Very mixed bag today and I got off to a poor start with a bogey at the
first. However a chip in for a birdie at 6 got me going and I birdied
8 and 9 to be out in 2-under. Despite birdieing 16, a couple of slack
iron shots and an average pitch cost me three shots in the last five holes
with bogeys at 14, 17 and 18. At the last I was a bit unlucky when I got
a flier from the middle of the fairway which flew 20 yards over the green!
I putted solid again and am in good shape, so hopefully another sub-70
round should put me in a good position to qualify. David
10 January, Asian PGA Tour School, Stage 1, Malaysia, 3rd Round, 75
(+3)
Not great but I was 6 over after 11 so it is not disastrous. It all went
wrong early doors when I trebled the 2nd after going out of bounds with
my drive. I then bogeyed 6, birdied 9 and bogeyed 10 and 11 to be 6 over.
However I got it going again with four birdies in the last 7, countered
by another bogey at 17. I was hitting a lot of my tee shots right on the
front 9 and my short game was poor so I could not scramble for par. I
am tied 10th with one round to go, so if I can shoot a steady round I
will make the top-29 and get through to the next stage of the tour school.
Hopefully my commitment will be better tomorrow and I will get the score
I need to advance. David
11 January, Asian PGA Tour School, Stage 1, Malaysia, 4th Round, 73
(+1)
I was a bit tight early on and made a bad bogey at the 1st and followed
it up with 3 putts from 3 feet on the 2nd and a double bogey at 5. However
I pulled things together and made birdies at 3, 11, 13 and 16 to come
home in two under par. I was very solid on the back nine and it was pleasing
to steady the ship and make a good score from a potential shocker. That
left me in a tie for 11th and easily qualified me for the final qualifying
which starts next Wednesday. A good start to the season and hopefully
I can keep striking the ball well and cut out the mistakes next week.
David.
15 January, Asian PGA Tour School, Final Qualifying, 1st Round, 71
(-1)
Played really solid today despite the greens being really horrible. I
am struggling a bit with the type of grass and my pitching was poor as
a I was 2 over after 10. However my putting was good today, despite the
greens and I managed to play the last eight in 3-under to shoot a sub
par round, so I am quite happy. I need to be in the top 80 after two rounds
to make the cut and then the top 40 finishers will get their cards. The
good thing is that I have not shot myself out of contention in the first
round, so hopefully I can take the form from the back nine into tomorrow.
David
16 January, Asian PGA Tour School, Final Qualifying, 2nd Round, 72
(Level)
In a bit of a rush this evening to get out for dinner, so just to say
I shot level par today and made the cut (+2) safely at tied 43rd. Playing
the back nine first I bogeyed 1,13,14 and doubled 5. However there were
plenty of birdies too at 2,3,6,8 and 16. I played pretty good but any
mistake seemed to be magnified. I missed from 4ft for birdie at 7 and
10 and from about 18 inches on 9. I had it going for a whilearound the
turn, but then lost my momentum with my double bogey on 5, which was a
bit unlucky. I pushed a 2-iron off the tee a tad and hit the cart path
and careered off into a bush 50 yards away. My short game still not good
enough so I am going to have to put some work in on that. Hopefully I
can shoot into the 60s tomorrow so I can give myself some breathing space
for Sunday. Got to go, David.
17 January, Asian PGA Tour School, Final Qualifying, 2nd Round, 70
(-2)
Nearly in the 60s, but not quite. I played okay but my game was not quite
sharp enough. I bogeyed 3 and 8 and birdied 6, 9, 11 and 16. My chipping
was better but my wedge play was poor and I putted OK but did not make
anything. My birdie putts at 11 and 16 were gimmies and the other two
were easy putts from 4ft. My only really loose shot was tee shot on 3
a shortish par 5 where I hit it into the water - a six there is really
two shots gone. Played really solid on the back nine but just could not
take advantage of the birdie chances. A decent round tomorrow and I should
be fine for the top-40. David
18 January, Asian PGA Tour School, Final Qualifying, 4th Round, 73
(+1)
Played well and could not score any worse. I hit 16 greens in regulation,
but 35 putts was way too many. I was 2-under par after 4 holes and in
control, but then bogeyed 5, 8 and 14, the last of which was a miss from
a foot. My short game was horrible and the longest putt I holed was 2
feet. I made pars at all the par-5s having been on the front fringe in
two. The greens were not good and I missed from 3 feet at 16, five feet
at 17 and lipped out at 11,14,15 and 18. It should have and could have
been a very low round, but as it was, 73 sees me fail to get a Tour card
by two shots. Not happy. I am heading home now and will let you know my
plans once I get back and have a chance to revise my schedule. Thanks
for your support. David
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