Blog 117, 5/11/11 - Holdridge Surprises Himself at Bellingham GCC

JoeHoldridge
Joe Holdridge
Joe Holdridge, owner of Joe's Professional Golf Lab and Indoor Golf Center on Hannigan Rd, won the Bellingham Golf and Country Club stop of the 2011 Western Washington Chapter PGA Pro-Member Series last Thursday shooting a brilliant six-under 66 to beat Sudden Valley's Tyler Wong and Broadmoor GC's (Seattle) Tim Feenstra by a stroke.
Following the win, Holdridge told BellinghamGolfer he had played no more than three rounds since October and had no inkling he had a 66 in him. "I really didn't see it coming," he said. "Although I had played so little competitive golf I had been working on my swing, putting and chipping in the Golf Lab and that helped me for sure. I tried to go into every shot with no big expectations, make the best swing I know, and trust what I was doing. Fortunately, everything worked out well."
The former Pebble Beach professional adds he was in the zone from his very first hole, the 10th, where he hit a driver followed by an 8-iron to ten feet. He holed the birdie putt and never really looked back. "I won a couple of pro-ams last year with rounds in the upper 60's," says Holdridge. "But I've shot 66 in competition only half a dozen times or so."
Despite the performance, Holdridge doesn't see himself playing any more competitive golf than usual this year. "I'm just too busy with lessons, club-fittings and club-building at the Golf Lab, as well as becoming the new head professional over at Birch Bay Village Golf Course. I love to play competitively, but my time is very limited, and I can't get out as much as I'd like."
Unlike Holdridge, Wong will be playing all the section majors in 2011 including next week's Washington Open at Glendale CC in Bellevue. The Western alum and one of the section's finest prospects, was six-under playing his 16th hole, the 7th, but horse-shoed an eagle chip (he did make the birdie putt, however) then double-bogeyed the Par 3 8th to drop back to five-under, where he finished. "I'd been working on my ball-striking a lot during the winter and it showed on my scorecard at last," he says. "But it could have been even lower."
Wong, an assistant to Brian Kruhlak at Sudden Valley, finished tied for 32nd at Glendale last year but, following his 67 at Bellingham, is looking forward to possibly contending this time around. "Glendale really fits my eye for some reason," he says. "I'm pretty excited!"

 

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