My Professional Debut

I teed it up as a professional this past weekend for the first time in my career. I played in a Pepsi Tour event January 18th and 19th at Metropolitan Golf Links in Oakland, California and took second place with rounds of 69, 72=141(-3). It was such a great experience and one which I will reflect on for a long time.
As much as I wanted to just tee it up and think of it as another round of golf, it was hard to ignore the fact that once I hit that first tee shot, there was no turning back. I was playing with my own money for the first time and there was a lot more on the line now. Ironically enough, I was more nervous the days leading up to the tournament, including the morning of that first round, than I was once I got out on the course. I was afraid I would have trouble that front 9 adjusting to the new arena, but was pleasantly surprised how relaxed I was once I teed up my ball on the first hole. Once I teed up my ball on the first hole and began my pre-shot routine, I became very relaxed and confident and knew I was in the right place, doing the right thing with my life.
The tournament was filled with many highs and lows. I started off my professional career by holing out from 48 yards on the very first hole for eagle! I followed that with a few more birdies and one bogie to shoot 32(-4) on my front 9. I was hitting it great but wasn't comfortable with my chipping and putting as a result of some unfortunate equipment problems. My putter head came lose the previous week and did not feel the same after re-setting it. And my new lob wedge had not arrived so I was stuck using my old one that was not spinning anymore. I hit it great the rest of that first round but could not find the bottom of the cup with my putter if my life depended on it. I threw away many scoring opportunities and turned in a 69. If someone had told me going into that round that I would shoot 69 in my first round as a professional, I would have taken it in a second. However, once I was on the course and 4 under par early, 69 was disappointing. Still, I was in good position and only 1 back of the leader J.T. Kohut. J.T. is a very talented and decorated player who won the Pepsi Tour order of merit in 2008, doubling the season earnings of the 2nd place player. He has played in numerous PGA Tour events so I was excited to be right there with him after the first round, but knew I would have to bring it in the final round.
I had a great warm up session before the final round and was surprised to get on the course and not see the same results I had seen on the practice tee warming up. I struggled early with my ball striking and the poor putting continued. J.T. was running away with the title as he was 5 under par on his round through 10 holes and I was 4 over par. I regrouped on the 11th tee and focused on finishing strong in hopes of beating out Issac Weintraub for 2nd place. It was a small field which resulted in a small payout. 2nd place would recieve a $450 check while 3rd place would walk away with nothing. I made some not-so-pretty pars on 11, 12, and 13 but was still 1 shot behind Issac. I focused on slowing down my tempo and started hitting better golf shots down the stretch. I finished birdie, par, eagle, birdie, par to climb my way back into 2nd place, 3 shots clear of Issac, posting an even par round of 72. I signed my scorecard and took home my first paycheck as a professional golfer.
Clearly the tournament was filled with peaks and valleys, but overall it was a great success and a very positive start to my professional career. How many people can tell the story that they holed out from the fairway for eagle on their first hole as a professional?