Practice Round:
No matter how prepared you think you are to get out there you’re probably not. Restroom, drinks, snacks ….. Oh yes, batteries for the GPS ……. not a good time to find out you need them on the first tee box.
The fear and adrenaline of a regional tournament, Rob’s first regional tournament – and its just a practice round. But the lesson is clear : be at the tee box early, be prepared.
We need to sort Rob’s backswing out – he relies almost totally on arm strength. It goes pretty far because he is a pretty strong guy, but once he learns to get his arms up, core rotating, and tempo solid, his driving should be awesome. We are not there yet.
There are bugs everywhere. Apparently the trick is to keep moving around but I swear a few have already disappeared far into my ear canal. The coastal air is thick and the course low-lying and pretty.
Round finished and the boys are messing around on the practice putting green while we have a drink on the patio. Max cannot contain himself: “Square up the putter. Everything is being pushed right!”
Ha ha – one of those dads !!!
Actual Tournament notes:
The boys’ tee times were conveniently scheduled for Max to caddy for both which was, truth be told, a bit of a relief for me. I would like a few more local tours under my belt before having to deal with the added stress of Regional tournaments ! If Rob had asked I would have definitely been on his bag but as Max was available he jumped at the chance of the daddy caddy and Max’s years of experience as opposed to mom’s carefully color coded outfit and cheerful disposition ! Of course it was an added bonus for me not to have to get up at 6 am this morning to prepare Rob for his 7:50 am first tee of the day !
These tournaments are not the most relaxing things in spite of the beautiful surroundings and interesting, cool locations – with the emotional toll junior golf takes on the parents and the travel considerations. Given the scheduling of the 11 year olds tee times (and fortunately the fact that Bear is, after the first round, among the leading groups of the pack) it was a late tee off and we will only leave for the 5.5 hour drive home around 7:30 pm tonight !!
Max’s thoughts on the weekend :
Both boys played a regional USKids event at Jekyll island over the weekend. Regional events attract many of the best players from across the U.S. and are very competitive. Although Rob technically has not qualified for the event he was granted a sibling entry based on Bear playing in the older age group. Given Rob has only played in 4 other tournaments (all local) the regional level is very advanced for him but still good experience and good to see how some of the best players in the age group play, something to strive for. Rob ended up 16 over on day 1 and 15 over on day 2. Definite improving as day 2 included 4 shots due to OB drives.
Regionals or other “bigger” tournaments are also good for players and caddies to learn to manage the game and process in higher pressure situations and more intense competition. A big part is to plan timing to get in practice (but not too long), getting to tee 15 min before tee time, food, drinks (LOTS of water), bug spray, sunblock, spare batteries for range finders etc… Definitely worth having a push cart just for food, drinks, umbrella (for both sun and rain). We also chose a cart with a seat that is very convenient for juniors to be able to sit down and rest the feet.
It is also very rewarding to see the kids making friends with other boys from all over the U.S. (and other countries), that they begin to see at other tournaments and grow up with in the world of junior golfing. It is also a great chance to spend time as a family, travel and see parts of the U.S. that you would not otherwise have chosen to visit. Jekyll island has a very Southern feel to it and is home to the beautiful Driftwood beach that the boys loved exploring.