Southern California's No. 1 Source for Golf
STROKE OF THE DAY |
"Everyone has his own choking level, a level at which he fails to play his normal golf. As you get more experienced, your choking level rises." |
-Johnny Miller |
SITE
SEARCH
GOLF
CALENDAR
People
|
||||
|
It’s not easy to play well after a career round. That’s when expectations run high. It’s when disaster lurks. It almost cost Guy Livesay the Anaheim City Championship. After opening the tournament with a course-record 62 at Dad Miller Golf Course, Livesay found himself four shots in front of the field. Forty-five minutes into the second day at Anaheim Hills, his lead was gone. “My nightmare was being realized three holes into the round,” the 44-year-old La Habra resident said. “I doubled the first hole and my opponent birdied. There’s three shots right there. Then I bogeyed the third hole.” What’s a Guy to do? “I started focusing on fairways and greens,” he said. “I tried to eliminate the mistakes. I knew I still had to execute.” And that’s just what it took for Livesay to regain his composure and go on to win the tournament, held April 23-24, by six strokes over Mike Rowe with rounds of 62-73. “I was real proud about hanging in there and coming back after such an ugly start,” Livesay said. “I knew it would be difficult to play a respectable round after the 62. I just tried to stay in the moment and focus my attention on the shot at hand.” Livesay is no stranger to winning big events, having captured the Southern California Pub Links Golf Association Champion of Champions twice in the late ’90s. He also is no stranger to low rounds. He once shot 8 under par at La Mirada Golf Course and fired a 65 two years ago in the Chino Classic at El Prado. His 62 on the par-71 Dad Miller course beat the old record by two strokes. “I started the tournament with no expectations,” said Livesay, a plus-2 handicapper. “I birdied two of the first three holes. Then I just got into a rhythm. I wasn’t thinking about anything but getting the ball close. And the putts started going in.” A self-described “weekend warrior,” Livesay was introduced to the game by both his father and grandfather and learned to play on the courses and driving ranges in Whittier and La Habra. These days, as a sales manager for AmeriPride, a uniform supply service company, he plays when he can. “I get out for 18 holes once a week,” he said. “But I do swing a club at home a lot. And I hit balls in the evening.” And every so often, fire the round of a lifetime and bring home a trophy. n |
||||
RSS Subscribe
Digg This Article
