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July 2003
3 July, Volvo Finnish Open, Finland, 1st Round 70 (-2)
Played really solid today but could not get the ball to drop. Hit a lot
of good putts but none seemed to want to go in the hole. Made two really
bad mistakes during my round. Both cost me bogey's on the 5th and 16th,
which are 2 of the shortest par 4's on the course. I plugged a 30 yard
pitch into a bunker for the first bogey and then hooked a driver into
a hazard when I should have taken iron from the tee for the other bogey.
Hit 16 greens but had 32 putts, which is too many though. Birdied 3 out
of the 4 par 5's with another birdie coming on the par 4 14th. Solid round
but still not converting with the putter. Another very low scoring day
on the Challenge Tour. David
4 July, Volvo Finnish Open, Finland, 2nd round 72 (Level)
Played pretty good today but again the putter wasn't working. Missed the
world with it all day and to make matters worse my normally reliable short
game went south as well. I hit some horrific pitches including hitting
a 40 yard pitch out of bounds! Don't know where it came from but it wasn't
pretty. Birdied the par 5 4th again along with the 15th and 18th holes.
But a bad bogey at the first, my 10th, along with the double bogey I made
at the 16th with the pitch from hell left me at level par for the day.
Mid 60's should have been on the cards if my putting and pitching was
half decent. Very frustrating. Looks like, with the low scores, that I
might just miss out on making the cut. Looks as if it will be around 3
or 4 under. David
10 July, Open des Volcans Challenge de France, 1st Round 68 (-3)
Shot 3 under par today. Played well apart from a couple of dumb shots.
Seem to be having these in every round I play at the moment but luckily
they didn't cost me too much this time around. Changed putter this week
and putted well. It's a lot heavier but seems to be working. After a birdie
on my opening hole the 10th I dropped back to level par with a bad bogey
on the 16th. Got right back under par when I reeled off 3 birdies in a
row around the turn. Gave one back at the long par 4 3rd hole but birdied
the par 5 6th to get back to 3 under for the day. I only hit 2 drivers
all day and mostly hit my 3 wood from the tee and hit it very well. The
fairways are very firm so the ball is running along way. Pleased with
my discipline today and hopefully I can carry this momentum into tomorrow.
David.
11 July, Open des Volcans Challenge de France, 2nd Round 70(-1)
Got off to a good start today with a birdie on the 3rd. A bit of redemption
after making bogey on the same hole yesterday. Birdied the par 5 6th for
the second day running to get to 2 under. As I keep seem to be doing at
the moment though, I gave both shots back with two soft bogeys on 7 and
9 to finish the front side. On the back nine I struggled most of the way
in and didn't hit a lot of greens but I hung in there and made some good
par putts to keep my score going. I then made a great birdie on seventeen
to get my score back under par. A safe par at the last leaves me on 4
under for the tournament and in pretty good shape for the weekend. Hopefully
I can keep it going. David
12 July, Open des Volcans Challenge de France, 3rd Round 64 (-7)
I got going early with the putter today. I had a six foot par putt on
the first which I drilled into the middle of the cup and that kind of
set me off. I made birdies at 2, from 40 feet at 3, 4 and from 30 feet
at 5, chipped in at 7 for par and then chipped again at 9 for birdie to
turn at five under. Coming back I birdied 11 and the par-5 16th for 64
and the lowest round of my pro career. I made the birdies I should have
made on the front nine as well as getting a few bonuses and then I played
really well on the back nine but just didn’t make the putts. But, when
you’re already five or six under, it can be quite hard to keep that going.
I am tied for the lead going into the final round, so hopefully I can
keep the putter warm overnight and shoot a low enough number for the win
tomorrow. David
13 July, Open des Volcans Challenge de France, 4th Round 70 (-1)
Played really solid again today, until the last. I made three birdies
going out at 2, 5 and 7, which was one better than my playing partner
Ivo Giner and I extended my lead to two with another birdie at 14. I then
made a bad bogey at 15, my first for 45 holes and Ivo birdied, so we were
back level with three to go. We both made birdies at the par-5 16th, parred
17 and were level going down the last. I hit a big pull left, which was
not the place to go and that was the tournament. Ivo parred the last and
my 7, was as academic as it gets, but still gave me second place. I am
gutted about the last hole, but I have to look at all the positives from
the week. Apart from the second nine on Friday I played very solid and
chipped and putted well, and finally everything came together in a big
tournament. My finish gets me into next week's event in Austria, plus
my E13,880 cheque gets me into the top 45 on the rankings, which is important
for the Grand Final event. I am staying over here and will be getting
home to tomorrow, by which time I am sure I'll be pleased with my week's
work. David
17 July, Kitzbühel Golf Alpin Open, 1st Round 70 (-1)
Shot 1 under par today but not very happy. Did not play that well but
was cruising until last four. Birdied 3 in a row from the third then got
to 4 under with a birdie on the 13th. Things were going very well. The
last four holes are a bit funky compared to the rest which is fairly easy.
This is where it started to go a bit wrong. I hit some wrong clubs and
some bad shots over these closing holes. These cost me bogeys on the 15th,
where I was a bit unlucky, 16 and 18. Not playing a practice round hurt
me on last four but still I shouldn't have been as bad. Off to get a bit
of Lunch then practice. David
18 July, Kitzbühel Golf Alpin Open, 2nd Round 70 (-1)
Played OK today but made a couple of bad swings the cost me three shots.
Great start with a birdie at the first but gave it straight back with
a bogey on the second. Showed a lot of guts to bounce right back with
another birdie at the third. Pared the next few holes where I had some
good birdie chances but could not get the ball to drop. Then came the
long par 3 7th where I somehow made a double bogey 5. Birdied the 10th
to get back to level for the day. was chasing it from there as I knew
I needed a few more birdies to make the cut. Was unable to convert any
of my chances and only birdied the par 5 15th. Disappointing week after
last weeks confidence boosting performance. Still I had 2 rounds under
par so I'm going in the right direction. David
24 July, Golf Padova Terme Euganee International Open, Italy, 1st Round
-3 thru 14
Starting from the 10th, I made a solid start with birdies at all
the par-5s I played. Fours at 14 and 17, 1 and 4 were offset by a bogey
five at the second before thunderstorms hit the course and play was abandoned
when I was on the 6th. Trust it to rain for the first time in 3 months
when we arrive in town! The course is playing very easy as a leading score
of -9 shows. It will be an early start tomorrow as we have to be in position
by 7.30am and then it will be a quick turnaround as I am one of the first
off in round 2. Hopefully if I can finish well tomorrow and then get a
mid-60s round in, it will set me up for the weekend. David
25 July, Golf Padova Terme Euganee International Open, Italy, 1st Round
69 (-3), 2nd Round 65 (-7)
I probably played better yesterday, but I putted much better today. 24
putts in round 2 compared to 33 in round one. After parring the last four
this morning to finish round 1, I got off to a great start in round 2
with birdies at 1,2,4,7 and 9 to be out in 30. Made a couple of errors
at 10 and 11 to drop 2 shots, but birdies at 13, 15, 17 and 18 saw me
round in 65 and I should be in the top 10 at the end of the day. I have
played the par-5s well all week and am 8-under for them so far. Hopefully
tomorrow I can hit it like Thursday and putt like today! David
26 July, Golf Padova Terme Euganee International Open, 3rd Round, 66
(-6)
Despite a bogey six at the 1st it was a pretty good day. I didn't drop
any more shots and birdied 2,4,7 and 8 to be out in 33, then matched that
coming home with birdies at 13,14 and 17. I didn't rally play that well,
but my short game was good. I holed out well without making anything over
10 feet. I am tied 6th, five off the lead, so I am going to need a low
sixties round and hope the others mess up to have a chance of winning,
but stranger things have happened - ask Ben Curtis! David
27 July, Golf Padova Terme Euganee International Open, 4th Round, 72
(Level)
Got off to a good start again with a birdie at the first, but things just
did not happen after that. I bogeyed the 5 and doubled the 6th and any
chance I had of winning had really gone. I dug in and played the next
8 in 3-under to get back into red figures, but a stupid bogey 6 at 17
dropped me back to level par. With everyone else around shooting 68 at
worst, 72 really dropped me back down the leaderboard into 20th place
and cost me a couple of thousand euro. Still at least I was challenging
again and I am looking forward to the next event. David
31 July, Talma Finnish Challenge, 1st Round 70 (-2)
Played pretty well today apart from a bogey 6 at the first where I took
four to get down from 50 yards short of the green. I managed to birdie
the other par-5 on the front nine at 8 to turn in level and then made
back to back birdies at 13 and 14 to post 2-under. The greens are truly
awful and I made nothing and missed a lot of good chances, but they're
the same for everyone. I am in a big group of players at tied 37th so
I will need a sub-70 round tomorrow to ensure I am around for the weekend.
I am off for a quiet night as I am starting from the 10th at 8.40am tomorrow.
Bye for now, David
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