Jon Gomez is a teaching golf professional and the New Player Development Director at River Ridge Golf Course in Oxnard. As a way to experience the challenges that new players face in learning the game, Gomez has decided to try to teach himself to play left- handed.

He has agreed to write regular updates for the Star's golf Web site about his progress and struggles.

Fourth installment: The practice round

I played my practice round at Victoria Lakes to prepare for my 18 hole left handed game. I was only going to play 9 holes but because I missed one week of practice and the course wasn't very busy I went ahead and played 18 holes.

First, the good news. I was able to play through 2 groups and felt like I was playing at a reasonable pace, but when I was done I actually played 18 holes (with a cart) in 2 hours and 20 minutes. Pretty darn good for someone taking a practice swing before each shot and shooting such a high score.

The other piece of good news is that I actually played really well on my first nine! I shot 46 with 2 pars (both par 3's) and didn't lose a ball. The excitement of making my first pars and bogeys was exactly what I remembered from when I was a kid.

I haven't been that pleased or happy with my game in a long time! It reminds me that if I work at anything I can have success!

Now the bad news.

Against better judgement I played a second nine, and looked like a totally different golfer. I made two 9's, and a 14 (took 5 shots to get out of a bunker) and shot 63 for a total of 109.

After the joy of the first nine, I must admit it was a little frustrating to shoot so much higher on the back nine. But I tried to keep plugging along and keep a good attitude. After reviewing my round, I have come to the realization that the goal I set for myself of breaking 90 is going to be much more difficult than I originally thought. I am going to have to play almost flawless golf to do it.

Let me explain. When I strike the ball well (only about 30 percent of the time) I hit the ball these distances- wedge 50 yards, 6 iron 120 yards, 5 wood 150 yards, driver 170 yards. That means I can't reach any of the par 4's or 5's in regulation. I am trying to get near 4 pars in three shots, and 5 pars in four, and the I have to be really good with my short game to make a bogey. If at any time during a long hole I miss hit a shot or get in to trouble (rough, water, sand) my score gets a lot higher.

I have to use my imagination much more playing left handed because I have to play a lot of running shots and try and play around hazards. It is a little weird for me to have an 80-yard shot that I have to aim away from the hole, and just try to run it on the green because I'm afraid of trying to fly a bunker or lake.

I will play my official round in two weeks, and hope to at least hit some quality shots that give me a chance to reach my goal.

If I play bad, at least I will take away good thoughts from this experience and had a lot of fun with the process.