WUC Summary

My journey to the Philippines was definitely the longest one I've ever taken. The more than one day travel time started with a drive to Chicago (5 hours) where I flew to Tokyo (13 hours) and then Manila (5 hours) from where we finally caught a ride to Lubao (3 hours). The World University Championships were held at the Pradera Verde Golf & Country Club. The event was massive and we were treated like celebrities. After two days of practice rounds and getting used to the hot and humid weather, it was time for the opening ceremony. The tournament itself did not quite go as planned as I struggled with my wedge game on the first day. This led to a disappointing day one score of 74 on a day that I played well. The following day my game was just as good except for three shots that ended up in the water hazard and cost me dearly. A round of 75 was the outcome. Day three was a struggle from the start. After almost losing a ball on the first hole and being forced to chip out into the fairway leading to a double, another double bogey followed on the second after being my ball plugged in the bunker with off the tee. The rest of the front nine was an up and down while my game started to turn for the better. However, one more hiccup was to come on the eleventh hole when I plugged in yet another bunker (the fifth time of the round!). Finishing the round with a birdie on 18 to shoot 79 was little consolation, but still my game felt close to being able to shoot a good round. The last day my game was on point as I made the turn in 2-under while still leaving some good birdie chances out there. On the back nine 4 bogeys and 2 birdies meant the round ended with an even par 72. While my long game and wedges were better than the first three days my putter stayed cold throughout the last round. I finished the tournament T25.

Overall it was a great experience to be able to play in Asia for the first time and in such a great event. Getting used to the heat and humidity as well as the twelve hour time difference were some challenges that I feel I dealt with fairly well. The difficulty was in bringing a consistent game over the 4-day tournament. As this was my first tournament of the year I felt a little rusty but am positive with the majority of the week. I posted three individual nine hole stretches at 34 (2-under) and some more good stretches of holes in between. I'm looking forward to the next few months of tournament golf and being able to contend for national and international titles and getting ready for the European Tour Q-School! Thank you for all the support!

-PW