Cody Gribble relives opening-round 64 at NCAA East Regional
May 20, 2010
I haven't had a round like that in a little while, and it felt really good. I was relaxed all day, and I knew I never had a chance to shoot a high number today. It was nice and relaxing. I made good shots and good decisions, just played smart golf all around. At the first hole, I hit a pretty good wedge and then made the putt. At No. 2, I hit a good tee shot and a good wedge. I've been working on staying in the present and not worrying about holes ahead of me or shots behind me. I just want to work on the next shot and put my best effort into every shot in front of me. I had a lot of confidence and hit the ball well. I putted very well today, and that helped. The greens here are huge and undulating. You need to put yourself in the right position on the green, and making a few of those putts sure doesn't hurt. This course (The Course at Yale) reminds me of the course I played at the Sunnehanna Amateur in Pennsylvania. The greens weren't as big there, but they were bigger than most, and more undulating. I could see the resemblance to that course at Sunnehanna with the types of greens I saw today. At No. 6, I hit a decent shot into the middle of the green and made a 25 or 30-foot putt. It was there that I realized that I really had it together today. No. 4 was where I had my only real chance to make a bogey, but I made a 12-footer for par. That started to escalate my confidence in the putter. They were still a few putts out there that could have fallen for birdies. At No. 10, I had a 15-footer that that sat on the lip of the hole, and same thing at No. 11. At No. 15, I left my putt short. I didn't want to do anything stupid out there, just wanted to go for the pins that were accessible I knew I was capable of having a round like this one, but it gave me a good feeling to do it at a course like this one. It gives me some confidence for the next two rounds. Usually when I have a good round, I have a bunch of birdies but I'll also have a few bogeys. I did not have any bogeys today. It was as easy-going as it has been in a while.
Going forward, this will be a great round to look back on and think about how I did it. I've been trying to be patient. I want to let the course come to me rather than force shots. I wouldn't say the course suits me any better than other courses. I know I can play on any course, and it just clicked today. |
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