Climbing the Ladder: Rizzo's Career

Re: Climbing the Ladder: Rizzo's Career

Postby Rizzo » Thu Oct 04, 2018 4:23 pm

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In my first round of the weekend I played a pretty good round - shooting just five over par - for my first time ever stepping foot on Pacific Ocean Links. It was a beautiful course but being in Oregon we battled the rain all day. I think the weather helped my performance as it kept the greens slow and the distance on everyone's shots shorter than normal. Mother Nature: the ultimate equalizer! The highlight of the round came when I chipped in from 34 yards out for birdie on the 12th hole! It was my first chip in as a professional and a moment I'll never forget!

At the end of the first round I was tied for 33rd and looking like I had a chance to play the weekend with another respectable round tomorrow.

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Unfortunately, it just wasn't meant to be for me this weekend. The rain was replaced with some strong wind currents ripping through the course and I struggled mightily with it. I didn't have any hole where I just blew up but I consistently had the "blues" on my score card. With no rain, I saw that these greens were built for one thing and one thing only: speed! Man, did they play fast and furious. It was tough to get a read on some of the breaks as well but to find the right touch was even more difficult.

The tournament ended very anti-climatically with Spaniard Breno Ferreira finishing six-under and taking home the $112,500 purse for the tournament champion. He finished three shots ahead of American Jeremy Daniels as he was never challenged down the stretch. With only five golfers under par for the tournament it is clear to me that Pacific Ocean Links proves to be a much, much more difficult course than Wolverine Golf Course. Regardless, I'd love to find my way to some nice weather because playing in Michigan and Oregon in January and February is not what I signed up for!
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Re: Climbing the Ladder: Rizzo's Career

Postby Rizzo » Thu Oct 04, 2018 4:32 pm

February 9, 2019 - Back to the drawing board this week as I prepare for the 4th tournament of my career: Club Colombia Championship being played at Florida Bay golf course in Miami. This will hopefully heat up my career in more ways than one! I decided to get in two training sessions - on Monday & Wednesday - with a rest day between the two sessions to try to work on a few things. Luckily, I was able to score a gold XP star! While none of my skills are advanced enough to need a gold star, one skill could use a silver star: putting. I exchanged my gold star for $8,000 in cash and one silver star. I immediately used the silver star to upgrade my putting rating from 55 to 56. Baby steps, but we are showing improvement. Off to Florida to see if I can finally make a cut!
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Re: Climbing the Ladder: Rizzo's Career

Postby Rizzo » Thu Oct 04, 2018 4:36 pm

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Club Colombia Championship
Web.com Tour Event
February 9-12, 2019
Florida Bay in Miami, FL


Cup Points for Winner: 0
World Points for Winner: 35
Purse: $700,000
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Re: Climbing the Ladder: Rizzo's Career

Postby Rizzo » Sun Oct 07, 2018 6:30 am

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To say that this was a complete disaster of a round would be the understatement of the year. I mean we were talking a meltdown from hole #2 on in this one. After just six holes of play I was seven over par and just losing it mentally. My recovery shots were horrendous, I got down on myself and started spraying the ball all over the course. Some relief came on the par 3 8th hole when I was able to chip in from 17 yards off the green for a birdie. On the par 4 9th hole, I had my first career back-to-back holes with birdies and now just 5-over after nine. Could I make a run on the back nine?!? Absolutely not. On the 10th hole I put my drive in the drink and ended the hole with a double bogey. Then when I got to the par 3 12th hole, I put my first two drives into the water again. It was by far my worst hole as a professional as it took my 8 strokes to finish the par 3. I finished the round as a +17 and there was no doubt I was dead last in the tournament.

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The second round was simulated in the interest of time because there was no chance at making the cut. I finished the round with four bogeys and a birdie to go just 3-over par but still finished the tournament in dead last. The cut line was at a -1. Imagine me playing under par golf for two straight rounds at this point? No, me neither. The winner of the tournament - American Jacob Murray - bested a fellow American Bryan Baker by one stroke. Murray finished the weekend at -14, one ahead of Baker's -13, and took home $126,000 in prize money. Imagine how many training sessions he can do with that?!?
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Re: Climbing the Ladder: Rizzo's Career

Postby Rizzo » Sun Oct 07, 2018 6:34 am

February 13, 2019 - I need to find a way to increase my skills and I've decided to tinker with the cost of my training budget once again. I drop it down to the lowest number possible - $500 per session - in hopes that more training sessions leads to more XP stars. I'm thinking that the higher the budget, the higher level of star you may earn? If that's so, I don't need the higher stars because I need lower stars to be able to upgrade skills. Hopefully we can get a little momentum going here.

After three training sessions this week I was able to earn three copper stars! I already had one that I was holding on to so it was great to be able to actually earn some things. Well, the problem is that none of my skills are low enough that copper stars will help me so at this point it is bronze-or-bust when it comes to XP stars. A $1,500 investment on the week earned me $1,500 profit after I sold all four copper stars for $4,000. I'm not going to bump training up to $1,000 per session to see if that will increase the level of star I earn.
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Re: Climbing the Ladder: Rizzo's Career

Postby Rizzo » Sun Oct 07, 2018 6:45 am

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El Bosque Mexico Championship
Web.com Tour Event
March 9-12, 2019
Carmel Bay in Pebble Beach, CA


Cup Points for Winner: 0
World Points for Winner: 30
Purse: $650,000
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Re: Climbing the Ladder: Rizzo's Career

Postby Rizzo » Sun Oct 07, 2018 3:38 pm

I forgot to grab screenshots for my rounds but let's just say it was more of the same. I shot a 6-over 77 on Thursday. It wasn't a horrible round by any stretch of the imagination but there were definitely a few strokes I left on the course that day. If I read a couple breaks differently and gauged speed a bit better I could have flirted with an even round. Friday was much worse as I came out and shot an 85, good for +14 on the round and +20 on the tournament. I must have started the round with six consecutive bogies. Between inconsistent approach shots, chips around the green and the ever-awful three-putts, I was making a mess of this round however possible.

The winner of the tournament is a name you may have heard before: Paul Pierce. No, not the one of NBA fame but he is American. His -9 for the week was five shots better than 2nd place and was the proud winner of $117,000 for his four-day efforts. I can't wait until I get one of them big checks to myself...
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Re: Climbing the Ladder: Rizzo's Career

Postby Rizzo » Mon Oct 08, 2018 7:16 am

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Chitimacha Lousiana Open
Web.com Tour Event
March 23-26, 2019
Florida Bay in Miami, FL


Cup Points for Winner: 0
World Points for Winner: 25
Purse: $550,000
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Re: Climbing the Ladder: Rizzo's Career

Postby Rizzo » Wed Oct 10, 2018 4:39 pm

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To open the tournament I played my best professional round, shooting an even par 72 at Florida Bay! Not bad considering that just two tournaments ago and the first time I stepped foot on that course I shot 17-over par. I opened the round with two birdies and played consistent the whole round through. A couple hiccups here and there but I avoided blowups and made some great recovery shots throughout the round. I was tied for 70th out of 151 golfers after the first round and had a little pep in my step heading into Friday.

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On Friday, I didn't play nearly as well as I did in my first round but had a pretty solid outing (for my standards). I started the round three-over after just three holes and had a bad feeling about how this round would go. Luckily I was able to calm down and get myself mentally back into the round and fix things. I was six over par after 11 holes. Then I played a near-flawless final seven holes, shooting one-under the rest of the way and ending the round with a 77.

I finished the opening two rounds at +5.Unfortunately, the cut line was at +1 and had missed it by just four strokes. It's a tough pill to swallow but progress was certainly made. Sweden's own Max Gergman took home the tournament title as he shot a -16 over the four rounds of golf and secured $99,000 in winnings.
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Re: Climbing the Ladder: Rizzo's Career

Postby Rizzo » Thu Oct 11, 2018 4:03 pm

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Savannah Golf Championship
Web.com Tour Event
March 30-April 2, 2019
Farmingdale Municipal in Farmingdale, NY


Cup Points for Winner: 0
World Points for Winner: 25
Purse: $550,000
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