T-133 is OK by me

Now that the 2008 MGA Mid-Amateur is over and Adam Dooley has defended his title, I have put most of the negatives behind me (one quad, one triple, no birdies), and am quite pleased to think of the positives. So please, pardon my indulgence as I put my happy thoughts into cyberspace. To wit:

1. The final full-field results show that with a two-day score of 167, I finished +24, 11 strokes out of the cut line. Last year, with a score of 175 on much tougher layouts (Deacon's Lodge and The Classic at Madden's), I finished (if I recall correctly), 14 strokes from making the cut. So I improved on both fronts.

2. The final course stats revealed I did fairly well amongst 224 players who are better than me according to their handicap indexes. Day one stats at Edina CC showed me just over 3 strokes higher than average. I blame my triple-bogey seven on number two, one of only two "others" (scores higher than double bogey) posted on day one.

Day two stats show that my score of 81 at Braemar was about 1.7 strokes higher than average, and I blame my eight on the par four 13th (the only "other" posted on that hole day two).

3. From an original field of 240, trimmed to 236 by Monday, then down to 218 thanks to no-shows, then again to 184 after post-round-one withdrawals, my T-133rd placing actually sits quite well. I don't recall where I finished in the field last year, but I seem to recall it was around 150th.

4. Two rounds, no lost balls. In fact, that makes 3 1/2 rounds of no lost balls for me. Sure helps with the budget.

Ever since my final match in high school golf in 1983, a tournament of 10 teams or so at Hastings Country Club, in which I finished dead last at 100, the only player to not break 100, I've had a thing about just trying not to finish last.

While I fully plan on raising my personal bar next year, for now, 133rd out of 240, or 236, or 218, or 184, isn't that bad. Heck, that's better than I finished in law school, where I also set the personal goal of not finishing last. (Although I would have accepted last. You know the old joke about what you call a guy who finishes last at Med School...)

Next year's State Mid Am is at the Minnesota Valley CC in Bloomington, MN, another course at which I have yet to play, and another site yet to be determined. Here's hoping for a top-130 finish and less than 10 strokes from making the cut (but I'll still put in for a vacation day for day three, just in case...).