Well on 4th Sept 2013 I earned another minor victory at Merion. Entered the Week 36 9 hole unlimited, and carded a Bird at 10, and back to back Birds at 12 and 13 for a bogey free -3 31. I had to get extremely lucky to get it though, because on 17 I missed right and landed in the weeds on the edge of the bunker. I chunked my Pitch shot natch and was still off the green and shooting for Par. But I pulled the pin and played a chip shot, and miraculously she drained right in the middle of the cup.
http://www.wgt.com/replay.aspx?ID=65016058-7002-48a7-a56d-a22f0156ab70
The Merion New Pins Challenge is a whole different story however, and it continues to beat me like I stole something. A starter putter on Tournament greens is a recipe for disaster, and when you throw in the fact that my average distance to the hole on the tougher holes is a good 30 feet or more, it turns in to outright epic failure. Even the holes that shouldn't be that difficult - like the short uphill par 4, I think its 7 or 8 -- are giving me so much trouble because of the slope of the greens. My experience with this game thus far is that on certain holes any putt outside of 2 feet is literally unmakable because there is so much break, but hopefully with better equipment and more more practice this will finally start to change. There have been multiple rounds where I have rage quit because I was so sick and tired of carding a 4 putt (or worse) on 5 or 8. Only good thing about this challenge is I can earn the tournament XP boost (if I actually finish the round that is) without having to worry about shooting a good round and lowering my average.