Back from Georgia...I feel a little like the citizens of Atlanta after General Sherman burned the city during the war of Yankee aggression. The theme continues concerning my play, with fairly good ball striking and poor scoring, particularly my putting. I played 2 tournaments in the greater Atlanta area, the first being at Chateau Elan I shot 82-77-74, good for a middle of the pack finish. I had a few terrible breaks the first day, and one on the second day that cost me a quadruple bogey on the 2nd hole. I played better the final day, and that carried over to the pro-am we played the day after the tournament when I shot 73 with 2 late 3 putts.

Leaving Chateau Elan and headed for Heron Bay, (about 30 miles south of Atlanta towards Macon) I was filled with confidence and ready to play well. I hit it solid during my practice round, but I did notice the greens were somewhat quick and a little inconsistent (some were super fast and others just quick) I made a nice up-n-down on the first hole from the greenside bunker, and felt good. I turned 2 over and putted horrible on the back. I started the back with a 4 putt on 10 and 3 putts on 11 and 13. I had just hit the first 4 greens on the back and was 4 over on those holes...unbelievable. It seemed that I was always above the hole on the fastest greens, and could not get it close with my first putt. My mechanics are off a little, and I will be working hard next week to fix that. I shot 77-74-79 at the event, again somewhere in the middle of the field. I missed only 7 fairways all week and averaged 13 greens hit per round. Certainly good enough to score well. I had ten 3 putts and a 4 putt which kills everything.

You can't dwell on poor play, but you must look at it with a critical eye and learn from it. I need better pace on my longer putts, and not try to make everything...particularly down hill, down grain putts. I also need to work on my putts between 6-8 feet. I missed many of those, mostly second putts for par after hitting a green. On the positive side, I played the par 5's better (3 under for the week) and with the exception of a few sloppy shots, kept the ball in play.

Putting is both a combination of confidence and mechanics, and I need a shot of both right now. I believe I am close to putting it together, and I am upbeat about things despite my scores. My next tournament is in Pinehurst next week, and I played well there last year, finishing 10th with scores of 70-69-70. Sometimes going back to a place you played well is just what the Doctor ordered. More after Whispering Woods.

Spring is here, and hopefully my game will be coming around as well. I played in 2 CPGT events the past 2 weeks, with mixed results. I played well for one of the 2 days each tournament, and did some things that are encouraging. I was semi in contention in each event after the first round of these 2 day tournaments, and faltered on the final day. The most recent one at Regent Park in Charlotte I shot 71-77. I played really well the first day, particularly the front nine where I shot 32 with 2 bogeys. I was not very good after that, and finished well back of the winning score of 141. I have been in the arena a few times recently after one round, and I will break through one of these days and play to my potential.

I am trying to stay in the present, stick to my routine and just play, but somehow I get the ball in difficult spots that make it impossible to make pars. I have been putting better, and my work there is paying off. I am also seeing some improvement in my short game, and while my stats are only slightly better in that area, I am hitting it closer on par 5's and my birdie conversion percentage is better.

I will be making some adjustments in my schedule, due to one of the mini-tours I joined folding before playing any events. "The Senior Tour" never got off the ground, and I was planning on playing in 8-10 events there. It is disappointing, but there are plenty of Sunbelt and Tarheel events to play in to give me a full schedule.

Next week I am off to the Atlanta area to play in Sunbelt events at Chateau Elan and a new course south of Atlanta. I plan on playing well and continuing the build momentum. I have some confidence working, and need to finish the deal and put together a few complete tournaments. More after Atlanta...