Golf

By JOE BUIE
Staff Writer

Matt Loving needed a pep talk.

He needed help reading the greens.

At times, Loving could have used a hug from his pregnant wife.

Finally, Loving just had to remember who he was — the defending Texas State Open champion — on the way to an opening-round 72 Thursday at The Cascades Golf Club.

“It crossed my mind a couple of times,” said Loving, of his only professional victory. “I made a couple of bogeys in a row and it kind of ticked me off and I reminded myself, ‘You won this last year, play hard, go defend your title!’

“I started thinking about how much fun it was last year and obviously I want to be in that situation again come Sunday. I know I can shoot low out here.”

It was a mentally draining day for the 29-year-old, who gave himself few birdie chances and shot 2 over.

Loving shot 1 over on the treacherous front nine and then failed to take advantage of the more forgiving back side — a far cry from last year’s opening-round 62.

Loving got off to an alarming start Thursday morning with three bogeys in his first seven holes. He finally made his first birdie at the par-5 No. 8, then another at the par-3 ninth.

He missed the green at the par-3 No. 13 and made his fourth bogey, then three-putted for bogey at No. 14, a reachable par-5 that usually plays as one of the easier holes on the course.

The longest putt Loving made all day — about 12 feet — was for birdie at No. 18. He finished with 32 putts, way too many.

“I missed a lot of putts,” Loving said. “I just didn’t have a good feel for the speed and when you don’t have a good feel for the speed, you can’t be aggressive. I played a lot more break than I normally do and I just couldn’t run at birdie putts.

“It just wore me out by the end of the day. I got tired of reading putts.”

The encouraging part for Loving was that he didn’t shoot himself out of the tournament on the first day.

“It doesn’t look like the scores are too low,” Loving said. “I think the course is playing hard. I don’t know if it’s the wind direction or something (else). I’m not hitting the ball as well as I was last year.”

Loving hit only seven of 12 fairways and was in trouble off the tee at Nos. 6, 7 and 10.

“That’s terrible,” he said. “If you only hit seven fairways out here, you’re going to have a tough time getting it close to the hole to have birdie putts.”

Moments after turning in his scorecard, Loving went to the driving range to work on his swing. Then he went over to the practice green for a chipping and putting session. Maybe that will make up for Wednesday’s shortened practice round.

“I left the course early (Wednesday),” Loving said. “I was just hot and I was tired. I didn’t putt as long as I wanted to and I knew I didn’t have a good feel for the speed of the greens when I started the day, but I figured I’d be all right.”

Defending champ Matt Loving carded a 2-over 72 in the opening-round of the Texas State Open at The Cascades Golf Club.
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