A frustrating 76 with course there for taking
Editor’s note: James Driscoll of Brookline is playing in his first British Open, and writing about his experience this week for the Globe.
TURNBERRY, Scotland - Well, a 6-over-par 76 without a birdie in benign conditions. I always try to be positive after my rounds, but there wasn’t much I can say I did very well yesterday. I struggled to feel comfortable with my swing all day and couldn’t get a putt to drop. It’s one thing to mishit shots in the same direction - I can usually manage that miss and play for it, to a certain extent - but when I start missing fairways to the left and right, I start to feel helpless. It’s frustrating because the course was there for the taking and I felt good about my preparation going into the round. Sometimes, it just doesn’t work out.
On the bright side, it was nice to have my parents and my brother John walking the course and enjoying the atmosphere with me. They flew in Wednesday and are staying in the town of Troon, which is about 25 miles down the road. My good friend Ryan Chamberlain and his fiancee, Erica Barr, came out to watch as well. They are bouncing around Europe for about 10 days and managed to sneak in a few days in Scotland. Hopefully, they will have something to cheer about today.
After the round, I went to the range for about 30 minutes and then to the practice putting green for about 20. I am optimistic about the second round. If the weather stays the same the cut will fall at around 2 over par. The wind is supposed to pick up quite a bit, so it may go to 3 or 4 over, depending on how bad it gets. Fortunately, my tee time is at 6:52 a.m. local time, so the greens will be perfect and hopefully the wind will get worse toward the end of the day. Regardless of the weather, I need to clean up my act and play a solid round. Last night was going to be a quiet night of room service and an early bed time. I’ll join my parents, John, and hopefully Ryan and Erica for a fun dinner.
