How do I back up last week's 74? Early signs were not good as the forecast called for rain and my hook has returned off the first two tees. But the weather and my game was to take a turn for the better.

I patched together a 40 on the front nine with a closing birdie on the par 5 ninth. After a thinned greenside bunker shot led to a triple on 10 and having dumped my tee shot in another bunker on 11, things seemed to be unraveling. But I saved par out of the bunker and ripped my next tee shot down the tight 12th fairway resulting in a par and felt my swing returning.

The shot of the week came on the next hole, athe 450 yd par 4 13th, playing mostly uphill. I hit my drive well but left so my line to the green was obscured by several tall trees. The green was too far to play over or under, so my only chance was to curve my approach around. I set up for a big hook, aiming some 30 yards right of the green. I smacked it. Just like I envisioned, the ball drew right around the trees and took a big hop on the front of the green rolling all the way to the back 20 ft from the pin. My playing partners watching behind me both said, "Wow." The putt: Draino.

I had three birdies the rest of the way, including "nobody-birdies-17" and 18. I finished the back nine at 34 despite my triple on 10. That makes 74 this week.

And that's one way to back up last week.

Coming off a week where I scored "Don't Ask Me What I Shot" at my Golf Channel Amateur Tour outing, I felt I had a lot to prove to myself. Skills and ability in question, I stepped to the first tee at Dyker Beach aiming to regain my focus and confidence.

This was the first informal event for Urban Golf NYC, my weplay golf group; I used weplay scheduling and blogging to organize everything but the tee time. The day was soggy and cool for late April, but the wind was down and the grass returning to life after the long winter. Dyker is not a long course, but the greens can be difficult to read and the challenging par threes can easily derail a good round. The air was heavy so a lot of shots were coming up short without the expected carry.

After a few solid but unexceptional holes, I hit the center of the green at the long par 4 3rd and rolled in a 25 footer for birdie and a boost of confidence to go with it. Despite this encouraging start, I only hit 5 greens on the day, so the theme was all about getting up and down. Trouble at Dyker is left and right, so I was ok in coming up short on most greens. With the pressure on my short game, I responded by getting up and down 9 out of 13 times -- a pretty good percentage at this point of the season. With only 26 putts on the day and surviving the diabolic closing trio at even par, I shot a 74, beating my previous Dyker best by one stroke.

The shot of the week, fittingly a short game highlight, came on hole ten, a shortish par 4. After a clunky drive and another short approach, I left myself a twenty yard uphill pitch to a short side pin. My lob wedge skipped on the first bounce and rolled straight into the pin and fell for a birdie three. Leave the putter in the bag!

The 1st Annual UGN was a lot of fun, but I'm looking to get more participation for the next time around.

Golf can be a humbling brute and I have taken a humble uppercut to the noggin. Humble pie anyone?

I entered a tournament this weekend aiming to be competitive with the best players there. Instead, I struggled with my confidence and my swing. Two words: duck hook. I'll hit a bad shot occasionally but I can usually right the wrong on the next shot. Not this time. One poor shot led to another. I played one of my worst rounds of golf in years. It got so bad, I caught myself apologizing to my playing partners as if my dog was barking too loud and I was powerless to control it. If I were playing basketball, my stat sheet would be filled with bricks and turnovers. I won't post my score but you can take my word for it -- I can do a lot better.

So, my shot of the week isn't a golf swing, but a promise to myself to shake this one off, remain confident, and try my best next time I'm fortunate enough to be out on a golf course.

Finally, I've been to the Masters. The Opening Day of Golf. A sports Mecca. Every golfer dreams of playing at Augusta National. Getting tickets to the tournament is hard enough: the tournament badge wait list has been closed since 1973. Good fortune landed us tickets to this Monday's practice round and I couldn't pass up them up. I followed some of my favorites, like Tiger, Geoff Oglivy, KJ Choi, Camilo Villegas...

The shot of the week came from Bubba Watson. Playing on his own, he arrived at Golden Bell, the famous par 3 12th on Amen Corner. Famous for his ability to work the ball, the lefty lined up his second tee shot some 40 yards left of the pin and hit a soaring, sharply curving left-to-right draw that landed in the center of the shallow green and rolled right to the cup. As the ball changed direction as if on tracks, the collective gasp of the crowd said it all. A nice addition came from a spectator behind me, "Now THAT'S entertainment!" Way to go, Bubba.

Yesterday, I teed it up at Dyker Beach in the Bay Ridge area of Brooklyn. Although the sun was shining, the 20 mph winds out of the east made it a difficult day to score. I shot 83, leaving room for improvement before the handicap season starts next week.

The shot of the week came on #6, a short par 5 playing about 480 yards. The elevated tee box lets you cut the corner with a well struck driver over some trees and a fairway bunker in the right elbow of the dogleg. I found my second shot in prime position with about 210 yards left back up another hill to the flag was in the back right corner of the green. I struck a soaring 5 iron right at the pin. It found the center of the green setting up a chance for eagle. I left the green with my only birdie on a challenging day at the course.

I am the man.