Dundonald Links 12th Green

Today was nice to shoot 72 (even par), I put the ball where I wanted most of the day and made the putts when I hit it close. 4 birdies mixed with 4 bogey's won't be enough I'm thinking to make it through to the final round. The tee's had been moved forward from the back each day which meant the scoring should get better for everyone. The wind was very helpful today making some of the very difficult holes more attainable. In the end learning proper links golf takes time, too little too late for me.

Click here for a link to the Official Scores

Today my score was 77 (+5). I started better shooting even par for the back 9 where I played pretty decent. I'm just having trouble with holes 1-5. Not particularly hard holes, just that if you try and force anything you tend to get punished. So tomorrow I will try a few different club choices from the tee's. Since I haven't started so well I will most likely have to shoot a sub par round tomorrow to continue playing for the final round. There is a 3 round cut which will be 7 shots outside the current top 20 after 3 rounds.

Click here for a link to the Official Scores

Round 1 European Tour School: 81 (+9) It was a tough start for me today. Course was playing tough and was a grind all day. Being 8 over through 11 holes made it hard. Scores are still to be published, but out of the 84 players in the field I'm guessing I will be around 70th. Most likely 21st place and ties will get through to 2nd Stage. At this stage 3 guys have broken par. I hit a number of good shots today and holed a few key putts at the end of days play, and even found 3 birdies in my round which are usually quite hard to come across on this course. Will need to be much more efficient with my approach shots tomorrow morning. First off at 8am off the 10th tee.

12th Hole Tee Shot.

I had my first look at Dundonald Links today. Its a well conditioned course, which is nice. Quite a strategic course off the tee where there are a lot of purposely placed bunkers or gors bushes. It also had a few long par 4's with a course rating of just over 76 and its a par 72. I play again tomorrow with my friend Doogal Holloway. I will have to play better as he took the money off me today. The start on Tuesday.

What can I say, I have had a beautiful day to welcome me to Scotland. After an 8 hour drive from Cambridge today its nice to finally arrive and settle in to my accommodation (The Portland Arms Above). The room has just been done up so I'm all set. I start on Tuesday (England Time) and finish Friday. I will try and get photos at Dundonald Links tomorrow. As far as what is required this week, the top 25 percent of the field which is 90 go through to 2nd stage in November.

If you would like to see the location of where I am playing this week click here