Alta Sierra & Morgan Creek

This past weekend I played at Alta Sierra Country Club and Morgan Creek Country Club. I fired 70 (-2) at Alta Sierra and 74 (+2) at Morgan Creek. I hit 16 greens in regulation at Alta Sierra which resulted in a bogey free round. Although I hit a lot of fairways and a lot of greens, I didn't hit many close shots. I played solid but nothing that had me too excited. I made a poor par on the par 5 18th hole to lose by 1 to Stan Matthews who finished birdie, birdie. It was a very tough 2nd place finish to swallow as I walked away with $400 while Stan walked away with $1250 (my entry, skins, and low gross entry added up to $325). The course was short in yardage on the scorecard but lined with out of bounds throughout much of the course and many of the holes took driver out of your hands. I hit 2 drivers the entire round! Ironically the 74 the next day left me much happier. Although I finished 4th and lost money on the day, I hit a lot of good shots, and made a lot of good birdies on a very challenging golf course. I had not played this course before and my playing partners said the direction of the wind made it play as hard as they had seen it play. I made 2 quick double bogeys with some bonehead chipping and putting and had a hazard ball on a par 5. I made another bogey on my 10th hole from 77 yards out in the fairway on a par 5. I was 5 over par thru 10 holes and just disgusted at the lack of focus and the number of shots I had thrown away. I buckled down and made 4 birdies coming in but still had a sloppy 3 putt from 20 feet on my 16th hole. I look back and realize I need to get focused from the get-go and stop throwing away shots. The level of competition is too high to be throwing away strokes. Overall, I look back and see a lot of good things in my game and some easy-to-fix weaknesses. I feel very confident and prepared for my upcoming events.