Slaley Hall – The Break 90 Classic
Hi everyone,
I played at Slaley Hall from the 13th to the 15th of August on the Priestman course in the Break 90 Classic. It was a nice golf course and considering I had heard the other course was better I very much enjoyed it, it was in good condition and presented a good test of golf. The practice rounds were extremely windy and we only played 9 holes the first day and then 15 the second day due to this.
The first round of the tournament was very blustery, I was out in the second last group and when one of our players pulled out after 2 holes due to a sore back it meant we were in line for a very slow round. The afternoon group the first day got the much harder of the weather both days. I played very well in the tough conditions and had a good start, I birdied the second and the fourth to be 2 under par after 7. I hit a poor shot on the par 5 8th hole which cost me a bogey 6 and meant I was one under par for the front 9. The 10th hole was very long and after hitting driver, 3 wood, 8 iron, I managed to hole a 15 foot putt for a birdie to get back to 2 under par. I was controlling my ball flight very well and using all my experience of playing in the wind to help me round the course. I unfortunately double bogeyed the 14th hole due to a bad drive, we had stood on the tee for 15 minutes and I had stiffened up a bit and just didn’t turn my body properly on the swing. I managed to have a 2 putt birdie on 16 and then holed a good putt for par on 18 for a round of 1 under par 71.
The second round I was out in the morning and there were a few showers in the air. I started very well and birdied my opening 2 holes after starting on the par 5 tenth hole. I made some pars on the next few but then bogeyed 16 and 18 to be level par for the front 9. My drive on 16 found a burn across the hole and then a 3 putt from long distance on 18 meant my good start was undone. I made a bit of a mess on the 2nd hole and made a good bogey in the end, and then I showed how much my mental game has improved and hit a 5 iron to 5 feet on the par 3 third before holing it for a birdie. I made a good birdie on the sixth hole after controlling the spin on my second shot perfectly to 12 feet and knocking it in. I hit a lot of fairways towards the end but unfortunately I missed my final one and made a closing bogey for a round of level par 72 and a two round total of 1 under par 143 leaving me in tied 40th place.
The final round I was out very early and played very solidly for all the round, again I just didn’t quite hit it as close to the holes as I would have liked. I had good 2 putt pars on the first 3 holes before rolling in a 25 footer for birdie on the 4th. I then hit a lot of fairways and greens and just missed for a few birdies to have me out in one under par 35. I got to the 10th hole and the heavens opened, I hit a good approach shot which due to the extra water spun 55 feet away from the flag and left me with a very tricky uphill putt for birdie, I left it short and missed the next one so I was back to level. I did exactly the same thing at the next hole due to the fact the green had started to flood. We then stood for 20 minutes before putting on the 12th while the greens staff got some of the water off a few of the greens that had flooded. I ended up parring the last 7 holes and had a round of 73 and a 3 round total of level par which meant I finished tied 42nd.
I am definitely playing much better and mentally improving all the time and I feel like some very low rounds are just around the corner.
