Graham DeLaet Blog - British Open Qualifier

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Graham DeLaet Blog Entry # 3

Yesterday I played in the North American qualifier for the British Open at Gleneagles Country Club in Plano, TX. I shot 68, 68 (-6) and missed by four strokes. I ended up 25th out of a field of 78. I played pretty well. I made 12 birdies and an eagle during the 36 hole day. I made some nice up and downs and also rolled the ball quite well. The greens were absolutely perfect. Probably rolling around 11 on the stimp and extremely smooth. Unfortunately, I hit 5 balls in the water during the tournament that resulted in 6 penalty strokes. It's pretty difficult to compete with, let alone, beat some of the top players in the world with that many penalty strokes.

I had it going early, as I was 5 under through my first 11 holes and that was with 2 water balls. I may have gotten a little ahead of myself. I began thinking about the British Open, instead of the shot at hand. I finished poorly that round for a 68. I started out the second round in opposite fashion. I was over par early, but kept trying to make birdies to give myself a chance. Sometimes you feel like you may be out of it, but you never know when you may run off 5, 6, 7, 8 birdies in a row. I finished fairly strong, shooting -3 on my finishing 9, but it was not enough.

I was fortunate to get paired with 20 time PGA Tour winner, Davis Love III. He was a very nice guy. I learned a lot playing with him. He was extremely patient and his demeanor was impeccable. He had some nice words to say to me after the round.

Next up for me is Sectional Qualifying for the US Open on June 8 in Columbus, OH. It is also a 36 hole qualifier.

Take care,
Graham