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US Amateur Qualifier

Dan McClellan

Dan McClellan

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On July 31, I'm playing in a qualifier for the US Amateur. I'd like to start a thread that I can use to record some of the things I'm doing to prepare and hopefully get some feedback and encouragement. The qualifier is at the Jack Niklaus-designed Painted Valley, at Promontory Ranch Club, just outside of Park City, Utah. The course will play to 7,674 that day and we play two rounds. I tee off at 8:39 am and 2:09 pm.

I just started playing golf again this season about six weeks ago. In high school I was a scratch golfer, but after one semester in college I pretty much stopped playing golf. For over ten years I played maybe two or three times a year. In July of 2010 I finished up a master's degree in the UK and my family and I traveled around a bit, spending part of our time in St Andrews. It happened to be the week before the Open, and my brother paid for us to play golf three of those days. The Old Course was off limits, but we played the Eden Course and the New Course (see some of our shenanigans here and here). By the end of that week I had been bitten by the golf bug again. I didn't have the chance to play much after getting back to the states, but last year I joined a local club and got to play for a few months. We moved in May and I've just started playing again this year. I thought I would focus on improving my game and get involved in some competitive rounds to gauge how well I do and see if I should commit to pursuing this more seriously.

I'm currently reading Tomasi's book The 30-Second Golf Swing, which has helped a lot with my concentration and course management. I recently read Pelz's book Short Game Bible, which was also quite helpful. If anyone knows of any other books that they have found helpful, I'd love to hear about them. My swing is kinda homemade, but it's worked for me. After the qualifier at the end of the month I'll be spending some time trying to smooth out the rough edges. My biggest problems right now are that my hips tend to move toward the ball in my downswing, and I sometimes tend toward casting, which causes me to come over the top. The cut it produces is not difficult to manage, but I get quite a bit more distance when I hit the draw. I'll post my scorecard and discuss my rounds after each one. I'll play tomorrow, so I'll have something to post tomorrow evening. Hopefully this thread keeps me motivated and inspired!
 
Wow, that is awesome. Good luck man. Can't wait to hear how it goes.
 
Pretty cool! Good luck Dan and we're glad you chose THP to share your thoughts and progress.
 
Good luck Dan, great to have you back and posting again also.
 
Good luck Dan! Keep us posted on your progress!
 
Best of luck to you Dan!
 
Good luck in your qualifier.

Every Shot Must Have A Purpose or Play Your Best Golf Now are good books too. It's really helpful to get a handle on the mental side and keep you in the game. They're written by Pia Nilsson & Lynn Marriot. Play Your Best Golf Now outlines the essentials of Vision 54. It sure helped Na Yeon Choi today, coming back from the triple bogey on 10.
 
Good luck.
 
Good luck in your journey, excited to hear more.
 
Thats pretty cool, I am looking forward to your updates.
 
Wow, that's great! Best of luck to you. I look forward to your updates. Again, good luck.
 
Good luck Dan.
 
Good luck & we'll all be able to say we knew when.
 
Best of luck Dan, looking forward to hearing how it goes!
 
Looking forward to following this. Also looking forward to you comments on the qualifiers itself.

~Rock
 
Dan you are the man getting ready to qualify for a major tourney like this, after only six weeks back in the saddle. I commend you for your positive thinking and good luck in this exciting journey :clapp:
 
Dan....good luck....we're all pulling for you !
 
I appreciate the kind words, everybody. I went and played today and it was incredibly frustrating. I had to play all by myself, which I have found is bad for my game. I tend to move too quickly and to dwell on the mistakes. I started off on the first hole with a nice drive and a nice approach, and then three-putted. The next hole I managed to two-putt for par, but then I three-putted again on the third hole. I was on the wrong tier of a par 3 and my putt came just short of cresting the hill and then rolled back to about five feet further from the hole than my original spot. After that I started mis-hitting clubs and got pretty upset with myself. I just couldn't make good contact. I was blocking shots and duck-hooking shots all over the place. I noticed an annoying trend with my driver. I wasn't hitting the sweet spot, and it felt as if the contact was taking place at a surface behind the face of the club. The shots were thin and tended to fade, and the contact sensation was just aggravating.

Around the middle of the back nine I finally pured my driver and had that sensation of direct control over the trajectory of the ball. The sensation alone put me in a better mood, and although I bogeyed the hole I was able to relax a bit. I parred the next two holes and managed to put my third shot on hole 15 (par 5) within two feet. I finally got a birdie. The next hole was a 159-yard par 3. I hit a nice and relaxed 8i that had a slight draw on it and landed just to the right of the pin. From where I was standing it looked like the ball dropped into the hole right as it hit the flagstick. After dropping my club and celebrating my hole-in-one I looked up and noticed I could still see the ball. It turns out the ball slid right behind the flagstick and under the shadow of the flag, making it vanish from my viewpoint. I had a one-foot birdie putt, which I made. The next hole I hit a great drive and put my 60º wedge to three feet (and made the putt). The last hole I managed to hit another great drive--I was locked into the senstation from the previous drives and it was just effortless to reproduce the swing path. I put my 9i to about 18 inches and dropped my fourth birdie in a row. I ended up with a five-over 77. Not a good score, but I ended the round in an incredible groove. I simply could not miss with my approaches. I need to find a way to get into that groove on the range and then bring it to the first hole. Perhaps taking more time with each shot and alternating clubs after each shot would simulate the flow of the round more closely. I think I get comfortable with my swing on the range because the feel of the good swings stay with me better during the ten to fifteen seconds between shots than during the five to ten minutes out on the course. I definitely have a lot of work to do before the 31st, but I'm looking forward to it. Here's the scorecard:

7%3A9%3A12.png
 
Dan, sounds like a rough day for what you expect of yourself but very nice finish and something to build off of going into your next practice round.
 
I think it's great that you are entering this competition. I've read the same 30 Second Swing book which was loaned to me by my instructor. It's a good one. I like any of the Bob Rotella books for the mental game. I think my favorite is probably Your 15th Club. Zen Golf is also a good book. Wish you the best Dan!
 
Good luck Dan. See the start today was tough from the word go. Hope the last four carry over tomorrow.
 
Good stuff, Dan. I have a similar thread up here at THP, a log of my journey back into the game and more specifically the competitive side of the game. Ironically enough, I also took some years (5) off while only playing 2-3 times a year, max, during college. My qualifiers will be starting next year, as I am using this year to get my game back in line.

Best of luck to you, dude. USGA qualifiers are a great time and a really fun experience. I wish you the best.
 
Thanks for the book recommendations and the encouragement. I should probably take a lot more time to get ready before entering tournaments like this, but I'm anxious to get back into competitive rounds. I hit the range today. I worked on my swing plane with my irons and woods and I spent a good bit of time working on chipping. I have found that I have to focus on getting a full shoulder turn to get my plane oriented properly. If I don't, it's hard for me to get the club all the way around to the target at the top of my swing and I come over the top, pulling or slicing the ball. Here's an example of not getting the full turn (7i):



Toward the end of the session I had the swing back on plane. I think I just need a lot more reps with the proper focus. I'm playing in a local tournament next week in preparation for the qualifier. I'll keep everyone up to date.
 
Looks like a pretty simple and repeatable swing, man. I like that...very Kuchar-esque.

Good luck in the upcoming local.
 
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