Shingle Creek Wrap-Up w/ Update

Things have been going non-stop since last week so I apologize for not having a blog up after this past tournament. I ended up withdrawing after the first round because of how bad it went, and from there I've either been on the road or in the hospital. Erika's grandmother's health has been steadily declining so we've all been trying to spend as much time with her in the hospital as we can. The doctor's gave her 3 weeks at most, but it could be any day now. All we can do is pray that she's in God's hands.

Golf has kind of taken a backseat right now. I talked earlier about how I was beginning to struggle with my swing and unfortunately I wasn't able to correct it in time to perform well in any of the last couple tournaments. I would like to think that the fact that we were playing in 40 degree temperatures and winds gusting up to 30mph had something to do with the problem, but I can't blame everything on the weather. That's something I've always struggled with in the past, so I'm going to have to come up with a solution if I want to make any money during the winter months.

When I left Orlando, I drove straight to Cut Off and spent the last few days there with Erika's family. I'm back in New Orleans now just trying to catch up with things at the house, and then I'll probably be heading back down the bayou here soon. I'm hoping to get some practice in this afternoon just because I'm starting to have withdrawals from not hitting balls in so long. Typically, when I play my worst is when I really want to practice the most. I can't stand knowing that I'm not hitting the ball well right now and all I want to do is fix it.

I would imagine the rest of the month will be spent in and out of the hospital dealing with Erika's grandmother.....as it should. I'll do my best to squeeze in some practice time when I can, but that won't be my top priority until she passes. In the back of my mind, I'm considering going back to Houston in mid-January for a couple events, but that is still up in the air right now. I'll try and have some updates throughout the holidays and hopefully some good news to go along with it. Merry Christmas!!!!

Hooter's Tour - Orange Tree - Second Round & Update

It's been a crazy last couple of days. Erika's grandmother was rushed to the hospital earlier this week, and by Tuesday night we had decided it was best that I fly home to see her. She hadn't been doing well lately so it wasn't a huge surprise, but its now become serious enough where I needed to make sure I got to see her one last time. Over the last 4 years I've become really close with Erika's family so I'm glad I was able to make it home for a few days to show my support.

I'm now sitting in the airport in New Orleans waiting for my flight back to Orlando. Now that I've got a little time, I'll try and remember what I can about my second round at Orange Tree. To be honest, I've tried to forget this whole tournament all together. Erika warned me about playing courses with that much out-of-bounds, but I didn't listen. I guess coming off the way I had been playing I felt like I could play anywhere.

The entire second round can be summed up by explaining how the very first hole went. I started out hitting a perfect drive right down the middle of the fairway. The 10th hole is the short par-5 and I was left with 218yards for my second shot. Knowing that I needed to shoot a low score and after hitting a good drive, I didn't think twice about going for it. I pulled out my 4-iron and proceeded to hook two straight out-of-bounds left of the green. I don't know why, I don't know how but for whatever reason that same swing I was struggling with the first round came right back. I walked off the green with a quadruple bogey (9). Let me tell you, the only way I was able to keep going was to decide to just have fun, not try really and just play golf. I think I hit 4 more OB for the day but managed to finish 18 with a smile on my face.

Obviously, that is not how I plan on playing anytime soon and that type of golf will end my career in a hurry. But, I think it was necessary to just get passed that course and give myself the best chance at maintaining a high level of confidence going into next week. I should have a good weekend to get back on track and ready to play come Monday. I don't think I'm going to play a practice round for this tournament since I've played this course before and that stategy seemed to work last time. This way I can work out the kinks and when I tee it up Monday I can just play golf.
'

Hooter's Tour - Orange Tree - First Round

Today's Score: 80

For the first time in my golfing career, I began a tournament hitting my tee shot out-of-bounds on the first two holes of the day. The first hole was a nervous, timid swing with a driver that finished just a couple inches OB, and the second hole was a similar swing except this time a hard duck hook left ended up well out-of-bounds. I did manage to save bogey on #2 so after two holes I was +3 over par. I was able to steady to the ship for a minute after making three solid pars in a row, but on the 6th hole, I again found the out-of-bounds off the tee for the third time in six holes. Again, my ball was no more than an inch from being in bounds. +5 over thru 6. I hit another poor tee shot on the par-3 7th which left a near impossible up-and-down and lead to another bogey. On #8, I hit what I thought was a good second shot right at the flag only to come up short of the green in the bunker, on the downslope and up against the back lip. Double-bogey and now I'm +8 thru 8 holes. Finally, on #9, I hit two pretty good shots to get on the front of the green in two, but basically 4-putted from 70ft and made another double-bogey to finish the front nine in +10 over (46). Easily, the worst nine holes I've played in God knows how long. You can imagine how hard it was to get fired up for the back.

Well, the 10th hole is a short par-5 and after hitting a great 3-iron for my second into the green, I was left with 5ft for eagle. Not wanting to get too aggressive, I tapped in for birdie... :) .....I still can't believe I left that putt short. I made two more birdies on #13 and #15 to go -3 under on the back nine as if the front nine never happened and I was just out there playing like I have been. The 16th hole is a long par-5 into the wind and I was able to get a good look for another birdie from about 6ft. Unable to convert there, I remained -3 under. The 17th is 180 yard par-3 over water, and another solid tee shot left me 10ft passed the cup for birdie. I made a poor stroke there and missed left all the way. The 18th hole is a narrow par-4 with water right and OB left playing straight downwind. My second shot jumped as soon as I hit it and finished all the way in the back of the green. Since the pin was up front, I had another 60 footer for birdie. This time I hit a good first putt and left a 3ft tap in for par......except I missed it and made bogey to finish -2 under for the back nine and 12 strokes lower than what I shot on the front.

As I teed off #10, I realized what I had been doing differently in my swing than what I've been doing this past month. It was simply a timing issue on my downswing that made all the difference in the world. Over these last couple of days, I had been noticing some shots that I wasn't hitting before but for the majority of my practice sessions things were pretty much normal. During the practice round, however, my swing was a little more off than usual and then for the front nine yesterday everything just fell apart. And with the narrowness of the course and out-of-bounds left and right, it just made the issues I was having that much worse.

I feel better about today's round knowing what I was doing wrong, and hopefully I will be able to just pick up where I left off. Fortunately, the scores are higher this week due to the course and weather conditions so there is still an outside chance of making the cut. I'll need about a -4 under round today which now I know is out there cause I could of shot that on the back nine alone yesterday. The tee times for today have already been postponed due to the frost this morning, so I begin my day at 1:20 off #10. Here goes nothing!

Hooter's Tour - Orange Tree - Preview

This week's tournament is being played at Orange Tree Golf Club here in Orlando and just around the corner from my parents house. I went out there yesterday to get a little practice in and again today to play my practice round. This is a course I've never played before, but knew I had to see it once before the tournament because of everything I've heard. Everyone I've talked to has said the same thing....."hit it straight!" After today's round, I found out why.

First of all, on EVERY SINGLE HOLE, there is out-of-bounds on at least one side if not both. And on the holes with just one side lined with OB, the other side has water. It is easily the tightest course I have every played. Not only is there out-of-bounds everywhere, but it's literally in the rough just outside the fairways. Most courses you'll see the OB up near the houses, but not here. They've got these stakes almost in the fairway. I should of taken a picture cause it's pretty comical.

The good news is you don't have to hit driver on a lot of the holes, but they've strategically positioned trees around dog legs that make you have to hit shots far enough to have a look at the greens. With the weather expected to turn very cold and windy, hitting irons off the tee might leave some long shots into the greens (which are not very big). The greens are in great condition, but again the over-seeding that is going on this time of year has caused them to be full of grass, a little slow, and very spongy. The overall condition of the course is very good and that alone will make it a much more enjoyable experience.

I'm a little nervous going into this tournament. Compared to last week, this course requires a lot of ball control and a patient game plan. And, there just is no room to make a mistake. I'm going to have to stay focused all day and not let up on any shot. With the temperatures not expected to get up the 50's all three days, it should make this week that much more interesting. My tee time tomorrow is 8:40 off #1.

Hooter's Tour - Metro West - Second Round

Today's Score: 76

Well, I went 35 holes without a 3-putt and on my very last hole today I 3-putted from 10ft for birdie. Not that it would of made any difference, but the fact that it came on the last hole from that close left a really bad taste in my mouth.

The day turned out to be better than expected in terms of the weather. The front that passed through last night brought in some colder temperatures and high winds, but not to the extremes they had predicted. I'd say on front nine the wind was gusting into the low 20's, but calmed down significantly towards the end of the day. As I started the round, I knew I needed to make birdies, but had to be patient because of the weather. I tried to attack the par-5 4th, but hit a really poor pitch shot from just in front of the green and came away with par. The next hole was playing straight downwind and after killing my drive I was 20yrds from the green looking at another good chance for birdie. This time, I hit what I thought was a good pitch shot but the ball hit and rolled out about 15ft passed the flag. Another par. The next hole we turned right back into the wind, and the knock-down shot I attempted to play into the green got swallowed up and finished short left of the green. Another failed up-and-down and a bogey 5. From there, it was the par-5 7th where I really began to get frustrated. Still playing into the wind, I hit two great shots to get pin high in two just off the green. It was as easy of a chip shot you could ask for and once again I didn't get it up-and-down. I guess after watching so many putts come to an abrupt stop after feeling like you just killed it, I continued to anticipate my chips reacting the same way. But for whatever reason, they all would hit and roll out and I just didn't leave myself close enough putts to convert the up-and-downs. So, I pared in for a +1 over 37.

The back was much of the same except I really began to struggle with my distance control. The wind began to swirl as it was dying down and many times I was left posing on a shot I thought was good only to watch it come up short of the green or fall well past the flag. Two more failed up-and-downs on the first 4 holes of the back nine and I was now +3 over for the day. I knew I needed to get to at least even par for the tournament if not under par if I wanted any chance of making the cut, which meant I needed to birdie just about every hole coming in. I gave myself three pretty good looks, but being late in the day and after 100 players walking all over the greens, they were nearly impossible to putt on. There were footprints everywhere and it seemed every putt I hit looked like that game plinko on the Price is Right. Without trying to divert all the blame away from myself, I'd like to believe this was the cause of the 3-putt I had on the last hole where the 1ft tap in coming back for par broke 3 times and never touched the hole.

So, I'm pretty disappointed in the outcome of this week. This course fit my game and I'm playing well enough to shoot good scores. I'm a little surprised that my short game was once again below average, but at the same time, I should of hit a few more greens in regulation. I had my opportunities throughout both rounds to get things going, and just wasn't able to capitalize. The good news is my confidence is as high as ever when it comes to my swing and I feel like I can play anywhere. I just need to tighten up the short game and everything else will take care of itself. I've got the next few days off before playing a practice round for the next event on Saturday and then the first round beginning on Monday.

Hooter's Tour - Metro West - First Round

Today's Score: 75

If you would of asked me what I thought I was going to shoot after the first few holes I would of said 68 at worst. The round began as good as I could of hoped for. I had a good look for birdie on #10 from about 8ft that came up just short. On #11, I made a solid putt from about 15ft for birdie and I felt like I was picking up where I had left off. From there, I played the next three holes well and remained -1 under thru 14. The 15th hole is a long par-3 over water and I hit my first poor shot of the day. I hit a good chip to about 5ft but was unable to get it up-and-down. On the very next hole I pushed my tee shot off to the right and finished about 6inches out-of-bounds. Fortunately, I was able to save bogey after making another good putt. Then on 18, I hit a drive perfect down the middle and left myself 118yrds to the pin. It was a downwind shot over water and I just gave it too much not wanting to come up short and ended up in the back bunker. Bogey 5 and I turned at +2 over. Pretty underachieving front nine because I hit a lot of quality shots and felt comfortable.

On the back, I continued to hit good shots. The wind started to pick up which made some of the holes play trickier than normal but nothing too serious. On #5, I made a careless bogey after not getting up-and-down from a very easy spot. It was the second putt I missed inside 5ft. I came back with a good birdie on the par-5 7th after hitting the green in two. But then on 9, I hit my third poor drive of the day and got blocked out from the green. I managed to get my second shot up around the green and then gave myself a putt to save par from 4ft but again was unable to convert. I hit a good putt but it broke out of the hole and I didn't expect it to move that much from that close.

So, all in all, it wasn't that bad of a round except for a few wayward drives and a few missed putts in close. I really do feel as good about my game as I have in a long time so I've just got to focus a little more tomorrow and clean up those few mistakes. The weather is supposed to turn bad so we'll see what the day offers. My tee time is 12:33 off #1.

Hooter's Tour - Metro West Preview

After todays practice round, here's my preview of the course. Even though I played here about 10 years ago, I had a hard time remembering any of the holes. The one thing I knew going into the round was that this was a pretty wide open course. Good news is the course is even more open than I thought which really fits my game. There are couple holes on the back nine where I hit 2-iron off the tee because it was playing dead downwind, but every other hole is a driver. The course is guarded by water on a lot of the holes, but there is still plenty of room. Surprisingly, there are some subtle hills and slight elevation changes which add character to the tee shots. But overall, putting the ball in play shouldn't be a problem.

The greens, however, are the exact opposite than the fairways. They are slightly deeper than they are wide, but neither would be considered big. Also, they are heavily guarded by bunkers. In terms of putting, it was hard to get a feel for the speed because they over-seeded their greens and it looked like they haven't cut them since. In other words, they were extremely slow. Plenty of grass and relatively smooth.......but slooooowwwww. In fact, the whole place was a little on the hairy side but that's normal for a course if they plan on mowing everything down real low before the start of a tournament. At least let's hope that's the plan.

I'm feeling good about this week. I played well again today from tee to green. This course suits my game and there are plenty of birdie opportunities out there. We'll see if the putter shows up tomorrow early as my tee time is 8:18 off #10.

Holiday Update

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Erika and I really enjoyed spending time with both our families this week as my parents made the trip up from Orlando to visit us for the holiday. Unfortunately, my sister who lives in Houston, was unable to join us as she had surgery to remove her kidney stones just three days ago. She's doing better but we continue to pray for her to get back to full strength real soon. I hope everyone was able to enjoy Thanksgiving with their loved ones as well.

Now, let's talk some golf. Things have been going well during this break I've had between tournaments. I certainly don't want to become comfortable with where I'm at with my game, but I am happy to see that my swing is holding up and I've continued to have great practice sessions and rounds. Specifically, the round I played on Wednesday with my dad and brother-in-law at the TPC of Louisiana where I made 6 birdies from the tips en route to a 69 was maybe my best round this month. Granted, there wasn't near the pressure of playing in a tournament, but the TPC is still a very long, challenging course especially in the wind so I'm pleased with how that round turned out.

Putting is still a work in progress as I expect it to be for some time. I've been tinkering with a bunch of new things just to see if anything feels good. So far, only a couple tips have stood out which is really all I was trying to accomplish by trying so many different things. My dad helped provide a couple ideas that I've added to my list so we'll see what works the best going forward. And for now, I plan on still using the same putter.

Sunday, Erika and I will be on the road heading to Orlando for three weeks. I've entered three Hooter's Tour Winter Series events in a row all around the Orlando area and with 15 minutes of my parents house. We'll be staying with them while we're there like we did last year. The plan is to get there sometime Sunday night, play a practice round Monday and then the first round begins Tuesday. I'll have a preview of the course Monday night.

Houston National Open - Second Round

Score: 80

As you can see, I haven't exactly been in a hurry to get this post up about my second round in this last tournament. There isn't really a whole lot I'm looking forward to writing about. The day began much like the start of my first round. Well executed shots that set up good looks for birdie. A 6 footer on #1 missed just left and a 3-putt par again on the par-5 2nd except this time I was only 20ft for eagle. I will admit that even though I had only played two holes, I had about used up all my patience for the day. I knew I needed to shoot a good score and missing those great opportunities early in the round had my blood boiling to say the least. My second 3-putt came just two holes later on the par-4 4th and that was pretty much the last straw. There's only so much a person can take and it was clear that this event, on this course on these greens was just not working for me. I continued to hit good shots (in fact, overall I played even better than the day before) but my focus was just not there. Any confidence that I had gained from the previous tournament quickly disappeared.

I'm not quite sure exactly what was so different between the way I putted from the 2nd tournament to the 3rd one. The greens were not as good, but still good enough to make putts. I really don't have the answers. I'm thinking that it may be time for a change in putters. Sometimes, just going to a different looking putter helps for one reason or another. I like the new things I've been working on with the way I'm reading greens and the speed at which I'm trying to roll my putts. It's certainly clear that I must get to where I'm averaging under 30 putts a round.

Here's the way it broke down from this series of 3 tournaments:

Hearthstone Classic - Avg. Putts per Round = 32.5 Avg. Score = 76
Cypress Lakes Open - Avg. Putts per Round = 29 Avg. Score = 70
Houston National Open - Avg. Putts per Round = 33 Avg. Score = 79

Just making those few extra putts per round does wonders for confidence and momentum that it's the one key factor to lower scores. So that's what I'll keep working on and keep working and keep working on until the day I can sit here and write about how they should make the hole smaller cause it's just not fair anymore.

As far as my next event goes, it looks like Erika and I will be heading to Orlando for 3 tournaments in December. I'm off through Thanksgiving and then we plan on leaving that weekend. I hope everyone is doing well. Hopefully by my next update I'll talking about how I found this new magical putter that can't miss.....wouldn't that be nice!

Houston National Open - First Round

Today's Score: 78

Sorry I wasn't able to post a preview of this course yesterday. I did decide to play a practice round and went from there straight to my sisters house. Last night, Erika and I got together with some of my family here in Houston and didn't get home until almost 10. So, I didn't have time to write anything when I got back, but it was great to see my family while we were in town.

Here's the report from today:

I started out the round really strong. I had (3) birdie putts inside of 10ft on the first three holes, but unfortunately wasn't able to convert any of them. One of them was actually a 3-putt par after hitting the 600yrd par-5 2nd in two. I was a little frustrated, but still playing well. On the 5th hole, I hit my tee shot out-of-bounds which was a combination of poor course management and a poor swing. All the room in the world to the left off the tee and I tried to cut to much off the corner and ended up pushing my drive into the backyard of someone's house. That lead to a double-bogey and I quickly moved to +2 over. The next hole was the second par-5 on the front side, and after two great shots I was pin high in two and able to get up-and-down for a birdie. Three par's to finish the side and I turned at +1 over (37). Not terrible...nothing great.

On the 11th hole, everything changed. It's a par-4, slight dog-leg right with out-of-bounds left and water right. The hole was playing about 420yrds into a left-to-right wind. I decided to hit my 3-wood just to get something in the fairway and hit arguably the worst shot of the day. After attempting to aim down the left side, I blocked my tee shot pretty far right and ended up going in the water. Now, without going to far in depth about the rules, in this situation I should of been able to drop my ball up near the piece of land where my ball last crossed the hazard. However, my playing partners disagreed with where I thought my ball last crossed and after a 10 minute discussion I was outnumbered and forced to basically re-tee. So, instead of being able to drop from about 190yrds out and looking to make bogey at worst, I made triple. Things were not the same after that hole. I was never really able to shake that off. I couldn't help but think of all the times in my life where I've been on the other end of that type of situation and always given the benefit of the doubt to the player because they are ultimately the one who with the best view and they have to live with the decision they choose. I've never been one to try and cheat, and in my heart I know where my ball crossed and should of been able to take the drop up further.

But, that's golf. It was my fault for even hitting it in the water in the first place. The other thing that factored in to the rest of the round was that my group was put on the clock for the remaining 7 holes and basically just added to the drama. To say the least, it wasn't pretty. I did hit 2-iron, 3-wood to 15ft for eagle on #18 but came away with birdie to finish at +6 over (78).

It wasn't exactly the easiest day for golf. The course isn't in that great of shape to start with. Almost every fairway is soaking wet even though it's only rained once here in the last 2 weeks. Half the bunkers around the course are under repair and the greens are average at best. I've posted a picture above to give you some idea as to how the course looks. It's a picture of the 8th green which pretty much sums up the type of golf course this is.

I guess that's enough complaining for one day. I hate to write posts like this, but what happened on #11 is still bothering me. What can you do. I need a low round tomorrow. The forecast is for rain and wind so maybe a 68 will get me back in the top 10. We'll see what happens.

Cypress Lakes Open - Round 2

Today's Score: 70

Another good day. I hit a lot of solid shots, continued to make a few putts and was able to shoot another good score. Unfortunately, I still managed to leave a few strokes out there but I'm definitely pleased with how this tournament turned out. I'm starting to realize more and more about what it takes to shoot certain scores. The difference between shooting 75 and shooting 70 is clearly putting. Keeping the ball in play certainly helps, but in general I've noticed that every time I shoot a 70 I'll usually have less than 30 putts in the round. Now the difference between shooting 70 and shooting 67 is walking off the 18th green and being able to say that you didn't leave a single shot out on the course. That means taking advantage of opportunities when you get the chance, not throwing away strokes from poor decisions, getting up-and-down when you're supposed to and of course making putts.

As I look back over the last two days, I feel like if I would of done all those things I just mentioned I could of been about 5 strokes lower. I know that this is getting a little picky and I should be happy that I finally made a check, but I also believe in continuing to push myself and setting higher goals. My game is finally coming around and I expect to shoot lower scores as I move forward.

Tomorrow is supposed to be my practice round day for the next event, but I'm still not sure what I'm going to do. I'm usually not very superstitious, but I did feel awfully good on this last golf course without playing a practice round. I'll probably head out there in the morning and go from there. The next event starts Thursday.


Finish: T6

Cypress Lakes Open

Normally, I'd be posting a preview on the golf course after my practice round but instead I'm going to just go ahead and tell you how the first round went. Why? Well, that's because for the first time in my life I messed up the dates of a golf tournament. I thought the first round started Tuesday, but in actually began today. It all came to light yesterday afternoon as we were driving back to Houston from Baton Rouge. I called the pro shop to make a tee time for a practice round the next day and the guy tells me that the tournament started that day. I was quite confused at first, but the guy sure sounded confident and after Erika confirmed it on her phone I knew I was in a bit of a pickle. It was 3:00 on Sunday afternoon, about 2 hours away from Houston and there was no way I was going to get there in time to play a practice round. We pulled into the golf course at about 5:15 which was just enough to find the place and steal a scorecard off one of the empty golf carts. That was going to be my study guide for the night.

So, this morning I decided to get out to the course a little earlier than usual to have more time to get used to the greens. My warm-up session went great and as it approached my tee time, I felt confident that it was going to be a good day even without knowing the course.

The first few holes were a little rough. I hit driver off #1 cause everyone else did and it ended up costing me a bogey. It's a short hole and driver brings the only trouble on the hole into play. I know better for tomorrow. On #2,3 & 4 I made three great par saving putts that really set the pace for the rest of the round. From the 5th hole on, I was finally able to settle down and played the remaining 14 holes -3 under par. Final Score: 70 and currently in a tie for 7th place.

It was another solid ball striking day overall, but most importantly, I finally made some putts. This time I got the 28 total putts that I set as a goal last week and I was able to shoot under par.....amazing. Just more proof that putting is the most important part of the game. It also helps when you're putting on perfect greens like the ones we saw today. These greens might go down as one of my all-time favorites. The smoothness and speed just fit my eye and I felt like I could see the line all day.

I don't know if I've ever felt more comfortable on a course I've never seen before than this one. In my opinion, it's a really good layout. The condition of the course is perfect and the greens couldn't be any better. With all that said, I feel good going into tomorrow's round. Now that I know where to go on every hole, I should be able to clean up a few of the mistakes I made today and shoot an ever better score tomorrow. My tee time is 10:10 off #1.

Hearthstone Classic - Round Two

Today's Score: 77

Same old same old. Nothing changed. You could basically lay yesterday's round on top of today's and they would look almost identical. My putting was still not there (31 total), I made a a couple bad mental errors and one poor swing that lead to a shot out-of-bounds. But the main thing that stands out from these last two rounds is how much my short game (chipping & pitching in particular) has fallen off. I've concentrated so much of my time lately on my swing and putting that I've neglected the one area that's been the most consistent all year. In two rounds, I got up-and-down a total of 4 out of 12 times from around the green. Today alone, I failed to even get the ball on the green three times. One of which was a complete blade across the green. As I go back over my round, aside from the one poor tee shot I hit out-of-bounds, all the strokes I gave away today were from not getting the ball up-and-down around the greens. And its not like they were that hard of shots to begin with. So that's definitely something I've got to clean up before next week.

Again though, I was pleased with the way I hit the ball today. I started out strong and was executing shots the way I wanted to. If I would of had a short game, I could of turned in even par at worst. On the back nine, there were a few shaky moments, but still solid for the most part. It got tough there towards the end trying to focus on every shot after I continuously missed putts and did everything possible to throw away strokes. By the 18th hole, the frustration level was pretty much max'd out.

I learned a lot from this first event. I'm definitely on the right track with my swing. I've developed a nice soft draw with every club in the bag and can go to that shot whenever I need it. From tee to green, I've got a new level of confidence which feels great. Clearly, there is still work to be done on my putting and I'll continue to work on it until I get it fixed. I'm not as concerned with my chipping as I am with my putting, but it's definitely something that I need to go back and look at before the next tournament. I'm sure it's nothing that a few hundred practice shots around the green can't fix.

Erika and I are back in Baton Rouge, LA for the weekend. We drove over as soon as we finished the round this afternoon. It was just impossible to be within 4 hrs of Tiger Stadium on a weekend where LSU plays Alabama at home to think that we wouldn't drive back over for the game. If anyone knows us at all, we'd of walked from Houston if we had to. It'll be a quick stay as we'll be back on the road Sunday to get back to Houston for the start of the second Winter Series event which begins Tuesday. That's it for now. GEAUX TIGERS!!!

Hearthstone Classic - Round 1

Today's Score: 75

Well, I don't think my putting can get any worse so I'll say that after today it stayed the same. 34 putts in all, 2 putts missed inside 3ft and one 3-putt. Other than that, it was a very good round of golf. The weather wasn't quite like yesterday; it didn't rain but instead the winds picked up to well over 20mph with constant gusts over 30. It was something else and a completely different course than the one I played yesterday. On the second hole of the day, I teed off with a 3-iron as opposed to the 2-iron I hit yesterday and my ball ended up 20 yards further and just a step away from going in the water. That was pretty much how the entire day went. Most of my notes were useless and I had to eyeball what looked like the right club at that time.

But overall, I couldn't be more pleased with how the swing changes that I've been working on for months now are finally starting to pay off. I don't think I missed a single tee shot all day which was even more impressive for me considering the windy conditions and tight layout of the golf course. I felt confident with the driver even though I only had to hit it like 4 times. There were a few instances where a good shot turned out worse than it should of just because of how strong the winds were blowing, but I guess that's to be expected on a day like today. If I could of just cleaned up the little mistakes I made on the greens I'd be looking at an even par round of golf which would be good enough for 2nd place right now. Instead, I'm +4 over and in a tie for 12th.

The forecast for tomorrow is expected to be even colder but with less wind. My plan is to continue to focus on the things I'm working on with my putting and hope that things improve. I've set a goal of 28 putts tomorrow and if I do that, I know a good score will come out of it and put me right where I need to be. My tee time tomorrow is 8:40 off #1.

Hearthstone Classic Preview

I want to say this is probably the third time in my life where I've pulled up to a golf course I thought I was seeing for the first time and realized that I'd played there before. As I drove into the parking lot today, the driving range looked all too familiar and then it hit me...the one Adam's Tour Winter Series (then the Tight Lies Tour) I played in in 2006 was at this golf course. I couldn't recall any of the holes right away, but every time I stood on the tee, it would slowly come back to me. By the time I finished, I felt like I'd played the course a hundred times before and felt comfortable with the game plan for this week.

The weather today was certainly not the greatest. The temperature never got out of the 50's, there was a constant mist in the air the entire round and the wind was blowing a steady 20mph. Exactly the type of conditions that can make a 6,700 yard course play more like 7,000+. I feel like I hit a 3-iron at some point on every hole. Whether it was teeing off on a short par-4, a second shot into a par-5 or a tee shot into one of the 5 par-3's over 200 yards, the long irons got a workout today. Now, I know a lot of that was due to the weather today, but the forecast for the next two days is basically the same so in my mind, controlling the long irons is the key to success this week. None of the holes would be considered long, but every hole has out-of-bounds, water or both and keeping the ball in play is priority #1. Priority #2 - Putting! The greens are in good shape, but most of them are big so lag putting and 5-footers will be important.

The final field size for this tournament is 29 guys so that's about what I expected for the first winter event of the year. My tee time tomorrow is 9:00 off #1. I'm excited to get back into competition again. Here's to the beginning of a great winter series.

The Winter Series has begun!

November is here, and in the world of mini-tour golf, that marks the beginning of Winter Series tournaments. The Adam's Tour is running a series of (3) 2-day events over the course of 14 days in each month from November to February. There's no cut in these tournaments so everybody plays both days and the top 30% of the field gets paid. For me, this setup is a perfect platform to play in at this time. Because of the lack of tournaments available to play in the last couple of months, I've spent a lot of time working on my swing and more recently my putting. These quick 2-day deals will be a good place to measure my game.

So, with that being said, Erika and I drove over to Houston this morning for the first series of events which begins on Thursday. This week's tournament is at Hearthstone Country Club. Tomorrow, I'll be heading out there to play a practice round and then I'll have an update on the course to follow. That's it for now....more to come tomorrow.

Putting Update

So, I wanted to post an update on what I've done so far in terms of improving my putting. This past Saturday, I attended a clinic at Money Hill Golf Club taught by Rob Noel (a well known teacher in Louisiana and one of only 6 certified AimPoint instructors). The clinic was based on a relatively new green-reading theory called AimPoint. In a nutshell, this theory was developed a little over a year ago and has since been adopted by the PGA Tour and many of its players. If you ever watch golf on t.v. you'll notice that quite often the announcers will put up a blue line on the screen to indicate where the player needs to start the ball in order to make the putt. Well, the way they come up with that blue line is all based on this AimPoint technology and has become the most accurate concept out there when it comes to reading greens. In the two hours I was there, I have to say that I learned quite a lot. It was a lot of information, but I felt like I already had a better idea of how to read putts when I left. It's going to take some time to really learn the whole concept, but after seeing some immediate results, I'm excited about what's to come. There is a Level 2 clinic that is taught by the same guy which I hope to attend by the end of the month.

Aside from the clinic, I received a couple good pieces of advice from my dad and a family friend. My dad told me to start playing my putts to fall in the front of the cup rather than banging them in the back. So far so good....and it just so happens that the AimPoint theory is based on a slower speed as well so both of those go together nicely. It's clear to me now that when it comes to putting, speed is the most important thing. Well, that and confidence. On top of the advice from my dad, a family friend suggested I read a book called "Putt to Win" by Dave Stockton (one of the best putters in the world). I ordered the book off Amazon and just got it in the other day so I haven't read very much yet, but I'm sure only good information will come out of it.

Those three steps are what I've done up to this point and have since just practice every day as much as possible. As I mentioned earlier, I'm hoping to get back to Money Hill for the Level 2 clinic and I might also squeeze in a putter fitting as well. I think by the time I play in my next tournament I will definitely be a putter. Speaking of tournaments, after looking at my options for the winter months, I've decided to start out with a couple Adam's Tour Winter Series events in Houston. They're two-day tournaments and scheduled close together to help cut down on traveling costs. The first one starts Nov. 3 so Erika and I will be heading to Texas in a couple weeks. December and January are still up in the air and will be based on how these first few in Houston go. Florida could be an option in there, but I've got time before I have to make any decisions.

That's it for now. Hope everyone is doing well. The weather down here is absolutely perfect right now so it's making my practice sessions much more enjoyable. I'm hoping this winter won't be as cold as last year, but Erika said she heard it was going to be worse. Not what I wanted to hear....

Adam's Tour - Tour Championship (Meridian, MS) - Second Round

Score: 73

I had the round I was looking for, but just lacked the ability to get anything out of it. Once again, putting was to blame....however in spurts, it was actually the reason I had a chance to make the cut. For every one step forward, I found a way to take three steps back. In fact, there are so many holes in my feet I'm surprised I was able to walk all 18 holes.

I started out the day (on #10) with a great drive, solid second shot and a made putt from 15ft for birdie on the first hole. Good start. The 11th hole is a 205yrd par-3 where I nearly recorded my second hole-in-one ever. I hit a perfect 5-iron that landed just short of the pin and lipped out over the back edge. Unfortunately, I was unable to convert the 5 footer for birdie. On #12, I hit my second shot into the par-5 short right of the green which was really the only place to get up-and-down from. The only drawback was that I was in the bunker and had about 25yrds to the pin. An awkward distance, but I was feeling confident and decided to try and pull off the perfect shot. I came close, but needed another foot and now my ball was plugged in the lip of the bunker. Three strokes later and I was in for a bogey (6). Rather than playing the safe shot which would of been towards the middle of the green I went for kill and it cost me. Looking back on it now, it was the third hole of the day and should of went with the higher percentage play. On the par-3 13th, a front pin location meant the only way to make par of better was to be underneath the hole. Looking at a 182yrd shot slightly uphill and into the wind, I decided to hit a 6-iron and ended up long in the back of the green. Immediately, I knew what I was going to face. From 50ft, the best I could do was putt the ball 2ft off the green. Another bogey. So in the first four holes, I hadn't really missed a shot and I was +1 over. On #13, I came back with a great putt from 12ft for birdie. Back to even. My second shot into #14 hit the pin on the fly and luckily stayed on the green. It was somewhat unlucky at the same time because it might of ended up closer to the hole, but I'll take the 15 footer I was left with for birdie. I hit a good putt but just missed. Another par on the following hole and I remained at even with two to play on the first nine. I finished out with almost identical 3-putts from less than 20ft on holes #17 & #18. They were not difficult putts...I guess I just temporarily left the planet. Seriously though, the real problem was that I was trying to make them both not realizing how fast they were and that I needed to protect a little bit. So after all that work on the first nine holes, all I had to show for it was a +2 over (38).

I fought right back on the front with a well played first hole and near miss for birdie. On #2, I was able to convert the birdie putt from 8ft and again on #3. In just three holes, I was right back where I started. Still well within reach of making the cut, I knew that I just needed to stick to my game plan, keep hitting good shots and find a few more birdies. On the par-4 4th hole, I hit my first poor shot of the day. My tee shot found the right rough, but I was still left with a shot to the green. Again, with the location of the pin, it was a situation where I knew I could not afford to be long. I elected to hit a punch-cut 8-iron from 170yards that came out hot and ended up exactly where I was trying not to go. The best I could do was barely keep the ball on the front of the green and a good 2-putt later I was in for bogey. Back to +1 over. The 6th hole is a quirky par-5, but after two great shots I was right in front of the green and this time I was able to get up-and-down for the birdie. Back to even. At this point, we noticed the sign on the back of the officials cart said that cut was at +3 over. I was currently at +5. Not to panic, I was playing well and had three holes left to make two birdies. On the par-3 7th, I hit a good one to about 10ft behind the hole. Maybe a good shot, but being above the hole meant all I could do was tap my putt and this time I came up 2ft short. You could say I protected on that one. Still a par. The next hole, I hit two great shots and left myself with about 5ft for birdie except again I was above the hole. Not my fault really....the pin was only on 4ft so there really wasn't any room to be short. Another cautious stroke.....another near miss. I was down to my last hole and needed a 2. It was a par-4 so that meant eagle and the only way I felt like I could do that was to get as close to the green as possible. It was a relatively short hole so 3-wood would of put me within 100 yards. I tried to get too cute with my tee shot and instead of drawing it around the corner I hit a baby fade that went through the fairway and out-of-bounds. Double-bogey (6) and a final score of +2 over (73).

So there it is. I literally missed two shots all day and came away with nothing. It's extremely frustrating because these are the rounds where I feel like a PGA Tour player would of shot 66 at worst. But, I found a way to shoot 73. Even though I made some putts today, it was still the area of my game left to blame at the end of the day. The two 3-putts I finished with on the first nine really cost me in the end. And I think that the mentality of trying to make every putt is something that I really need to work on in the future.

I'm very pleased with the progress I've made with my swing over the last month or so. All the lessons, hours of practice and thousands of balls are paying off. There's just one piece of the puzzle missing and it's a pretty big piece. PUTTING! The ability to read greens, adjust to the speed from one course to the next and find some consistency week in and week out is going to determine how far I'm able to go. Just as I approached the situation of getting help with my swing back in April, I'm going to use trying to improve my putting going forward. It may be a change in grip, change of putter or just a change philosophy....whatever it takes it what I'll do.

It's getting to be that time of year where the amount of golf tournaments becomes limited. I'm in the process of looking ahead and trying to plan out a schedule for the winter months. More importantly though is figuring out where to start on making improvements with my putting. As I do my research, I'll be sure to pass along the information.

Aside from golf, Erika is starting to get back to full health again. She actually came up to Meridian for a couple days to be with me and was able to walk around all 18 holes yesterday. It was great to have her out there with me again. It's been a long almost two weeks and I just want to thank everyone for all the emails and phone calls. We're so lucky to have such wonderful support from all our family and friends. Thanks for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers and I'll be sure to keep everyone updated as we move forward.

Adam's Tour - Tour Championship (Meridian, MS) - First Round

Today's Score: 76

Not exactly the start I was looking for, but I feel like I played better than what my score shows. Once again, my putting let me down and I wasn't able to get anything out of my round. I started out the way I wanted to. Four well executed holes lead to four straight pars. On the 5th hole, I missed the green slightly to the right from 150yards out and was unable to get up-and-down. First bogey of the day. The next hole is a relatively short par-5, but the tee shot doesn't allow enough room to hit driver so I hit 2-iron just to put the ball in play. Well, it was easily the worst swing I made all day because I blocked my tee shot pretty far right making the rest of the hole play much tougher than it should. I had a clear punch shot that would of put me back in play to hit the green in three, but my ball came to rest on top of a pine cone stem and the punch shot I attempted to play popped straight up and went maybe a total of 15yards. Now I'm in the fairway bunker that was right in front of me with basically the same punch shot. This time I executed the shot like I wanted to but my ball ran through the fairway just enough to reach the rough on the other side. I had 138yds left for my 4th shot but a poor lie lead to that shot coming up short right in the greenside bunker. Three more shots and I as in for a double-bogey (7). I closed out the front nine with 3 more pars and turned at +3 over (38). So basically if I could of hit the green with a 9-iron and the fairway with a 2-iron I feel like at worst I make the turn at even par. But, I didn't and now I'm +3 over.

On the back, I had my first 3-putt of the day right away on the 10th hole. It was a semi long putt, but still should of been able to convert the 4 footer for par. I almost got that stroke back on the very next hole when a chip shot hung on the lip just short. Solid par on the #12 and a great 5-iron into the par-3 13th. Unfortunately, with the firmness of the greens my ball came to rest just off the edge but close enough to make the option of putting a no-brainer. Well, little did I know that my ball would take flight just at the edge where the fringe and green meet and cause my birdie attempt to come up 10ft short. 3-putt #2 and another bogey. I found my first birdie of the day on the par-5 14th after hitting a wedge to about 5ft. But again, I gave it right back after my third 3-putt of the day on the very next hole. It was a tough 2-putt, but I left myself a simple right-edge 5 footer for par that I'd like to think I could make with my eyes closed. Not today. I was unable to get up-and-down for birdie on the par-5 16th and missed two routine uphill right-to-left 10 footers on #17 and #18 for birdie as well.

Sounds like a broken record, but I feel like I'm at least hitting solid putts. When I look up, the majority of the time I'm putting the ball on the line I want. Problem is, it's the wrong line. The greens are in absolutely perfect condition so there's no blame to be put there. It's all on me. Apart of me is holding back a little because of how fast the greens are, but I think that's only normal. When you're not used to the speed it's easy to want to protect a little bit and not get too aggressive. Ironically, all the 3-putts I had were after I ran the first putt by....but all the short putts I missed were mostly due to a lack of speed. Fun game huh!

A good round tomorrow will get me through to the weekend. I feel like I'm swinging well enough to shoot a good score, but the only way to get there is to hole a few putts. What the heck, I got nothing to lose so I might as well fight off the nerves as much as possible and somehow make the ball go in. If anyone's got a tip as to how to do that let me know. My tee time tomorrow is 12:00 off #10.

Adam's Tour - Tour Championship (Meridian, MS) - Preview

I'm in Meridian, MS this week for the Adam's Tour Championship which is the final event of the regular season. The course we're playing this week is Northwood Country Club located just north of town. I drove up yesterday afternoon and was able to get in a full practice round. Today, there was a pro-am in the morning so for most of the day I worked on my short game and then played nine holes late this afternoon. After two days, here is my preview on the course.

My initial thought is this is a course I could play everyday year round. It's in excellent condition, well designed and just enough hills and elevation to keep things interesting. The scorecard says this course totals just over 6,300 yards from the back tees, but it seems to play longer. Many holes shape right-to-left or vice versa so it's advantageous to be able to work the ball off the tee. This course requires you to be able to hit just about every shot which is one of the main reasons I think I like it so much. It's one of those places where you get to use every club in your bag and allows you to be creative when playing shots.

If there is ever a course where the person with the best short game will win it's this one. Northwood just re-did all their greens so they're all extremely hard and fast. Add in the fact that they're small and undulating and you can see why putting and chipping will be key to shooting a good score. My game plan is to play smart off the tee...not get too greedy by hitting driver everywhere....and keep the ball below the hole no matter what when approaching the green. I feel good about my game right now so I've actually got some real confidence going into this tournament. Most of that is due to how I played last week during the Viking Classic qualifier so hopefully I can build off that and have even better success this week.

My tee time tomorrow is 8:00 off #1.

Viking Classic Qualifier

First off, I want to bring everyone up to date on what's been going on lately. From the day I started this blog, I've tried to keep it mostly about golf and my journey along the way. On occasion, I might find the need to mention something about my personal life if I feel like it's something I think everyone should know. One thing I forgot to mention back in August was that Erika and I found out that she was pregnant with our first child which was due to be born in April of next year. However, Monday when I made the usual phone call to her after my round she told me that she had gone to the doctor that morning and he said she had a miscarriage. She was experiencing some of the typical symptoms related to having a miscarriage the day before and the doctor then confirmed that we had lost the baby. These last few days have been tough for the both of us, as well as our families, in dealing with this situation. Erika's been in a lot of pain lately, but hopefully she'll be back to normal soon. God works in mysterious ways and I guess this was his way of saying it just wasn't the right time. I think I'm going to leave it at that for right now in terms of what I want to put on this site. Everyone should have my email address if there is anything you'd like to know or talk about so please feel free to contact me at anytime. It's proonthegeaux@yahoo.com for those that don't have it.


On to Monday's round. The day started off much like Friday's. I was swinging well, hitting fairways and playing smart. #3 is a drivable par-4 playing downwind and I was able to find the green off the tee. From there, I was able to get a long putt to fall as I converted the 30 footer for eagle. -2 under thru 3 holes. On the 5th hole, I hit a wedge just past the pin trying to get it to spin back towards the hole but instead it skipped past about 25ft. If you can believe it, I made that one as well to go -3 under thru 6.

The 7th hole is where everything changed. It's a par-5, out-of-bounds left...water right, but reachable in two except that day is way playing into the wind. I decided that since I was playing/scoring well, I wasn't going to try and get there in two so I went ahead and hit a 2-iron off the tee just to put it in play. It wasn't the best tee shot I've ever hit, but it got the job done. From there, I laid up with a 6-iron but again not the greatest of shots. I had 150yards over water for my third shot, which was a little more than I wanted, but I was in the middle of the fairway and felt that I could at least get a putt at birdie. As I went through my pre-shot routine, I tested the wind and decided that it was blowing more across than straight into me. Believing that the wind wasn't hurting as much, I felt more comfortable hitting a hard 9-iron than choking down on an 8. Unfortunately, I should of gone with the 8. I made a good swing and had the ball heading straight toward the pin but came up well short in water. Bad mistake because now my drop area was still 100yards out and again over water. This time, I went with the longer club and from the moment I hit it all I could do was watch as my ball sailed over the green. I wasn't going to be short. Now I'm plugged in the back bunker with a shot that's downhill, downwind, down-grain and that same water is just past the pin. My only shot was to play out sideways which left me about 40ft for double-bogey. Well, three putts later I was in for a 9. The 9-iron cost me 9 strokes and I quickly went from -3 under to +1 over. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot. I walked off the green in disbelief and had to dig deep to hit the tee shot off the next hole because it was a par-3 playing 220yards over water with that same wind. (Either cross or into, I'm still not sure which way it was blowing)

Thankfully, I was able to regroup and finish out the rest of the round on a positive note. I had one more 3-putt on the back nine, but came back with 2 more birdies to finish the day at +1 over (73). It was nice to play two competitive rounds in a row hitting the ball well and finding the fairway off the tee. I finally had some confidence in my driver which was key because there was either out-of-bounds or water on every hole. On top of that, I actually saw a few putts go in on Monday which was a big reason I was in contention there starting out. If it weren't for one mental mistake I might be playing in my first PGA Tour event. -5 under ended up qualifying and who knows what would of happened if I could of just made par on the 7th hole. Looking back now, I had to make sure I made my mistake long if anything on that third shot. At worst, I probably would of made bogey and still been right in it. But, to lose 4 shots to par on one hole is hard to come back from. Especially after starting out so strong and feeling like I had a legitimate shot at qualifying. That's twice now where one shot has cost me a serious chance at getting in my first PGA tournament. The 12th hole during the Zurich qualifier I hit my second shot short in the water and made double-bogey to miss by two. What are you gonna do.

I believe everything happens for a reason though. I'm not quite sure that I was ready to qualify for a PGA event. Physically maybe, but not mentally. I've still got a lot of work to do in that department, but experiences like this only help in getting me prepared for the day I actually do make it to the next level. For the next week, I'm going to continue to groove the things that were working for me this weekend in order to get ready for my final Adam's Tour event next week in Meridian, MS. I'm heading out Monday morning and should get in two practice rounds before the tournament begins on Wednesday. Erika won't be traveling with me for obvious reasons, and if things somehow get worse with her health then there's a good chance I might drop out. I ask that everyone please keep her in your thoughts and prayers that she's back to full strength real soon. Thanks again to everyone for your continued love and support.

Quick Note

Sorry for not having a post up yet on Monday's qualifying round. A lot has happened in the last couple of days and I haven't had the time. I'll explain more when I'm able to get a full blog up hopefully within the next day or so.

Viking Classic Qualifier

This past friday, I went through the pre-qualifying stage for the PGA Tour's Viking Classic. I shot -1 under (71) which was good enough to get me through to the qualifying round tomorrow. I'm pleased with the way I played on Friday because it was the first time in a while where I finally drove the ball in play for an entire round. I feel like I actually only missed one shot all day. I hit every green on the front, but missed two on the back. Still, 16 of 18 greens isn't too bad. The one problem I'm still having is making putts. I had three 3-putts and missed five inside of 8ft for the day. 32 putts in all.

Tomorrow, there will be about 45 people playing for 4 spots. After playing a practice round today and seeing where they're going to set up the pins tomorrow, I could see a 67 qualifying. There are birdies out there if I can get some putts to fall. Seems like I've been saying that a lot lately. Now that I'm gaining confidence back in swing, hopefully I'll be able to make some putts. My tee time tomorrow is 9:00.

Q-School - Round 4

Score: 77

I'm just now getting to this post. After Friday's round, I dropped my dad off at the airport and drove to Houston. I got in kind of late and then was on the road at 7am heading to Baton Rouge for the football game last night. I finally made it back home around lunchtime today.

As you may have assumed by now, I did not make it through the pre-qualifying stage of q-school this year. I needed to shoot 68 to get in and I ended up shooting 77. Again, I started out with a birdie on the first hole but any momentum was lost after following that up with 4 bogey's in a row. I was able to finish out the front side with two more birdies and made the turn at +1 over.

At this point, there was still a chance, I just needed to attack every hole. A double-bogey on #11, however, made my job even harder for the remaining holes. I birdied #12 & 13 to regain hope, but a missed fairway on #14 lead to another bogey. I proceeded to bogey the last three holes of the day and finished at +5 over (77).

I've had some time to think about what happened and here's what I've come up with. I think after playing so well in the practice rounds I had a false sense of security going into the first round. Primarily, the fact that I was driving the ball well in the practice rounds caused me to have a totally different outlook on the golf course. I was hitting fairways with the driver which lead to shorter irons into the greens and the ability to hit the par-5's in two. However, once it was game time there were nerves and pressure to deal with and now all of a sudden I'm steering the ball off the tee and struggling to make par's. Having missed only 1 or 2 shots in two practice rounds, I honestly didn't give much thought to all the trouble that lined every hole. The shrub, cactus and rock mine field was nearly impossible to play from and the most important part of the course to avoid if trying to shoot a good score. By the final round, my dad and I came to the conclusion that I probably could of hit 2-iron off every hole and shot better than what I did. Granted, I did hit some bad shots with the 2-iron as well, I certainly found the fairway more often with that club than I did any other.

The other thing is not only was I playing well during the practice rounds, but the people that I got paired with were as well. After seeing 6 or so people (myself included) go around the course making birdies and making the course seem relatively easy, we got the sense that everyone was going to be playing well that week. We felt as though the scores would be low and that it was going to take anywhere from +2 to +5 over to make the cut. As we know now, that was certainly not the case. The course was playing tough if you weren't hitting fairways, and then add in the pressure and nerves of the q-school atmosphere and you have a cut number of +13...almost three times higher than what we projected.

When it's all said and done though, the bottom line is I just didn't take care of business. I never found that confidence I had during the practice rounds and struggled with almost every aspect of my game throughout all four rounds. My putting was non-existent on the greens which I take full responsibility for. It's not easy practicing on flat greens that roll at about a 8 and then play on huge, undulating greens that roll at a 11 or 12 even. My speed for most of the week was relatively good but we never could read a putt. Even the short ones. But that's part of the game, and if I expect to be a professional golfer then I'm going to have to learn how to adapt to different greens around the country.

I'm really disappointed at the outcome of this week. I practiced extremely hard going into this tournament and felt good about my game when I left for San Antonio. It's a tough pill to swallow, but I guess there's not much else to do except suck it up and move on. I signed up to try and qualify for the Viking Classic in Jackson, MS which begins this coming Friday. I'll be heading up there Thursday to play a practice round and the one-day qualifier begins Friday. More on that to come.

Q-School - Round 3

Today's Score: 78

You ever experience deja vu? Well, the way I keep playing this golf course seems awfully familiar. Check out these numbers compared to the first two rounds.

Fairways in Regulation - 6/14
Greens in Regulation - 10/14
Putts - 33

Nothing's changed. I'm still struggling with confidence off the tee. Sometimes I'll hit a good shot and find the fairway and other times I'll miss it bad left or right and have no shot. And the bad shots aren't necessarily biased to a certain club. I've hit it in the briar patch with anything from a driver to a 3-iron. But one hole later, I've hit those same clubs perfect right down the middle. There's just no consistency....or is it that there is no confidence which is why there is no consistency. It's like that old saying, "which comes first the chicken or the egg?"

I feel like LSU quarterback Jordan Jefferson. He's a good guy, smart, practices hard, has a will to learn and always strives to be a better player. Yet, come game time, he continues to make the same mistakes and has hard time handling the pressure on the big stage. That's the only way I know how to describe what's going on. I came here feeling good about my game, played two great practice rounds and woke up Tuesday morning ready to go. Unfortunately, every moment since has been a struggle to say the least. I wish I knew why.

I did make my first putt since making a 7 footer for birdie on #1 during the first round. This one came on the last hole today from about 12 ft for par. Huge! Between my dad and I, we figured out that we were wrong 5 times today in our reads on the greens. That's a lot for one round. Putts that look straight break across the hole, and putts that look that they're gonna fall off the world stay straight. These greens can make you look really silly sometimes. In fact, after three rounds playing with 6 different people, I've yet to see someone make a putt longer than 15ft. And that's being a little generous. So, I guess I can't feel quite as bad but still it would be nice to see the ball go in the hole once in a while when you really need it to.

One more round tomorrow. It's going to take a great score to make it through and I'm hoping there's one out there for me. All I can do it keep doing what I've been doing. Try my best and see what happens!

Q-School - Round 2

Today's Score: 77

Well there wasn't too much of a difference between yesterday's round and today's. Yesterday, I started out making birdie on #1 and today I made eagle on #2. Yesterday, I made my first poor swing of the day on #6 and things came apart after that. Today, the first bad swing came on #5 and from there it was a struggle to get to the clubhouse. Here's a few statistical comparisons from rounds 1 & 2.

Round 1
- Fairways in Regulation (4/14)
- Greens in Regulation (10/18)
- Total Putts (34)

Round 2
- Fairways in Regulation (6/14)
- Greens in Regulation (11/18)
- Total Putts (34)

The goal for today was to hit more fairways and I did that. Unfortunately, I went from 4 to 6 which is still way too low. I figured out that I'm -4 under on the 10 holes in which I hit the fairway in the first two rounds. I've still yet to make a putt, but I feel that I can at least post a decent score if I can start by keeping the ball in play off the tee.

That's pretty much it for now. With the scores as high as they are, there's still a reasonable chance to make it through to the next round. They're taking 40 spots and ties and right now I'm in T58. I need to keep my rounds around par for the next two days and I should be fine. If I can hit a few more fairways and get a few more putts to drop that should be well within reach. Tomorrow's tee time is 8:55.

Q-School - Round 2

Q-School - Round 1

Today's Score: 78

What started out as a promising round, slowly fell apart one stroke at a time as the day progressed. Right out of the gate I was on my way after a big drive, good wedge shot and a putt made from about 6 feet for birdie. The next hole I just missed from about 7 feet for my second birdie in a row. I played the next three holes solidly as well and I was -1 under through 5. It was on the par-5 6th tee where things started to get a little shaky. After about a 20 minute wait on the tee, I pulled my drive left in the trees. I was able to pitch out and get my third shot on the green, but unfortunately I had my first 3-putt of the day from about 40 feet. I closed out the front nine by bogeying #8 and #9.

On the 10th hole, I hit a wedge from 60 yards that hit just past the flag that, instead of spinning, hit and released hard over the green. There was no shot long and I was on my way to a third straight bogey. Two more missed par putts on #14 and #15 followed by a poor drive on #18 and I finished the day at +6 over (78).

I guess I was spoiled by how well I played during the two practice rounds. Everything seemed to be working and for two days I cruised around the course without too much trouble. After the first round of competition, I found myself falling back into old habits and not trusting all the things I had worked on. My driver seemed to vanish after the first few holes which made all the approach shots into the greens that much more difficult. At the same time my driver fell off, I failed to make a single putt. Between my dad and I, we seemed to be misreading everything just enough to miss over the edge too many times. Today was a round that should of been around +2 over but without getting any putts to fall it became +6 over.

It's frustrating trying so hard and ending up with a 78. To make matters worse it took 6 1/2 hours to play, which is by far the longest round I've ever played in my entire life. The good news is I've got three more rounds to get back in it and even still I'm not that far out. The course is playing tough and the scores are higher than normal. The biggest key tomorrow is getting back into the zone where I can make the swings that I've been working on. I've got to the hit more fairways first and from there I know everything else will take care of itself. My tee time tomorrow is 11:15.

Practice Round #2

After two practice rounds, all the assessments from yesterday stand true after today. I hit a few different clubs off some of the tees to get a different feel for some of the holes. I also played from some other tee boxes because I would expect the South Texas PGA to mix it up a little bit in terms of how they set the course up. Other than that, it was really just a matter of gaining more confidence on the greens. The majority of my practice time today was spent trying to get more of a feel for the speed of the greens. If I can continue to hit the driver well and play out of the fairways I'll be able to position the ball well enough on the greens to have birdie opportunities instead of having to lag putt all day long. Today was another solid day hitting the ball. My swing feels good and I have more confidence in my game than I have in a long time.

I was still fighting this head cold today so again I was limited in the amount of practice I was able to put in this afternoon. Fortunately I feel good enough about where my game is at right now which has allowed me to get some extra rest. My tee time tomorrow is 11:35. Perfect tee time to get a good night sleep tonight and hopefully be back to full strength tomorrow. I can't tell you how ready I am to get back out there competing again.

Practice Round #2

First Impressions

Tell me this doesn't look like New Orleans....lol. Who knew San Antonio had this much elevation. I guess if you'd been here before you'd know, but this is my first time. I took the picture with my phone and it didn't really do it justice, but from numerous locations throughout the course it seemed like you could see for miles. There's two courses here at the TPC of San Antonio, one of which is called Canyons which is the one we're playing. As soon as you step on the first tee you can see how it got it's name. I wasn't sure what to think before playing, but after today's practice round I'm very impressed.


Off the tee, the course sets up very fair. Pretty wide fairways which is nice to see after struggling with the driver for so long. A few holes are shaped a little tighter, but nothing too severe. There's only water on one hole, but every hole is lined with shrubs, cactus and rocks just off the fairways. Areas where a ball if findable but certainly not where you want to be. If I was a snake I know where I'd be...any one of these holes out at the TPC would be just fine. Fortunately, after hours of practice and a few really productive lessons this past month I'm confident in saying that things seem to be heading back in the right direction. I know it was just a practice round, but today was probably the best round I've played in almost 3 months. Primarily, I hit a lot of great drives. I still had two that were a little sloppy, but the rest were really good. It's been a long time since I've played out of that many fairways in one round. On top of that, my irons were just as solid.

The key this week is going to be controlling the ball around the greens. They're big, undulating and fast so it's going to be important to position the ball on the correct side of the hole. The good news is they're in excellent condition so if I can read the putts right I should be able to make a few. Unfortunately, I've been battling a little head cold the last couple of days and wasn't feeling up to a second practice session this afternoon. It would of been nice to spend a little more time on the greens, but I'm hoping the extra bit of rest will help get rid of whatever I've got.

Tomorrow, I'm planning on playing another practice round in the morning and then work on the short game in the afternoon. I've got my dad here with me this week caddying so that's going to be a big help. We've made a good team in the past so I'm hoping that continues again this week. I'll have a follow-up tomorrow night after my second practice round.

Down To The Wire

After suffering a minor heart-attack in Atlanta this past weekend watching the LSU football game, I'm back home and about fully recovered. We had a great trip which included a lesson with Tom Ness & Brian Manzella on Friday afternoon, a round at East Lake Golf Club Saturday morning and then the game Saturday night. We accomplished a lot in just 48 hours.

The lesson I had on Friday afternoon was probably the most productive one I've had so far. Brian Manzella, the teacher I've been working with here in New Orleans, drove to Atlanta for the football game and was nice enough to help out with my lesson that afternoon. So I had both Tom and Brian there going back and forth trying to put the last few pieces of the puzzle (my swing) together. I was very fortunate to have the two of them there and when I left I felt as though I could finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. The advice they gave me is going to be a big help while a big challenge at the same time. They're corrections that must be made and going to require a lot of hard work. But I guess that comes with anything you want in life.

On Saturday morning, Erika's dad, brother and I all teed off at East Lake Golf Club. For those that have been around golf, know that this course is one of the greats in the country and a true piece of history. It's also home of the Tour Championship which is going to be played there next weekend. Everything was absolutely perfect and a real treat to have the opportunity to play.

I'm not going to comment on the game except for the fact that I was unable to watch the last 2 minutes. I'm glad we won but they've got a lot of work to do....kinda of like myself.

I'll be heading to San Antonio, TX this Saturday to get ready for the first round of PGA Tour Q-School. Since I was late signing up and due to the amount of entries, I was placed at the overflow site which is being held at the TPC of San Antonio. It's a brand new course that just opened up in January so I've never played it before. I'm hoping that's the case for most of the people that will be there. I should arrive in time to practice Saturday afternoon and then get in two full practice rounds on Sunday and Monday. The first round begins Tuesday and goes until Friday. I'll have an analysis of the golf course once I get there this weekend. Hope all is well.

A Week Later....

Well, it's been just over a week since our Atlanta trip and here's the report so far. The minor change in my grip has been the easiest of all the corrections up to this point. In just a couple days, the new grip began to feel natural to me and is no longer a conscious thought. The second easiest transition so far has been the slight adjustment in my setup. Again, within a few days I was feeling comfortable with the changes. The two biggest changes (1) my takeaway and (2) the transition from the top of the backswing to impact have been the primary focus of every practice session since I've been home. Thanks in part to the drills I was given and the thousands of golf balls I've hit in the last week, I'm happy to report there's progress being made. I wouldn't say it's second nature just yet, but everyday seems to be better than one before.

I have managed to fit in a couple rounds in between the endless hours on the driving range. One being at the newly renovated University Club in Baton Rouge (a 7,700 yard par-72 course) and the other at Audubon Golf Course in New Orleans (a 4,200 yard par-62 course). The round I played at the UC was tough to say the least. It's easily the longest course I've ever played so even on my best day it would of been difficult. I think it was a little too early amidst the swing changes to expect any ground-breaking scores. Fortunately, the round at Audubon took place the very next day and yielded much better results. While Audubon is a full 3,500 yards shorter than the UC, it still felt good to make 6 birdies on the round and hit a lot of quality shots.

Tournament Update:

After multiple conservations with the family, I went ahead and registered for the 2010 PGA Tour Q-School. For a while there it seemed in question, but I think the swing advice I've received lately has been a big help and I'm confident that in a months time I'll be ready. I've elected to go back to Dallas for q-school, which is where I went last year, so hopefully I'll get my first choice. I should know within the next few days. If that site is already full, my next choice is Port St. Lucie, Florida so there's a chance I could end up there.

In the meantime, everyday will continue to be filled with more practice and playing trying to groove the swing changes. I'm getting together with Brian here at English Turn tomorrow to review everything I've been working on. He and Tom have been in contact lately so now everyone's on the same page with what I need to be working on in my swing. When we go to Atlanta Labor Day weekend for the LSU game, I plan on working with Tom that Friday afternoon to get another quick look. That's it for now. More to come next week.

Back from Atlanta

We're back home now from Atlanta so I wanted to post a recap on how the trip went. We got into Atlanta around 1:00 and by the time we got our bags, rented a car and drove nearly an hour north from the airport I arrived at Alpharetta Athletic Club at 3:00 in time to start my lesson. We began by going over a brief history of my golfing career and what ultimately lead me to being there in the first place. I explained the struggles I'd been having lately and he was quickly interested in seeing me hit some balls. For a good two and a half hours we worked together trying identify the main areas of my swing that needed work. It was nice having the ability to look at my swing from multiple angles in slow motion because it caused the flaws in my swing to really stand out. I'd say that there were 4 issues that we both felt needed improvement. For those that understand the golf swing here they are:


(1) Grip: My grip was too weak which was causing a lot of the shots I was missing to
to the right. Tom suggested that I turn my left hand over more to the right (stronger) just slightly which put my grip in a more neutral position.
(2) Setup: I need to center my weight more in my address position and put my head back a little and not cocked forward like it was.
(3) Backswing: For those that have played golf with me know that my backswing is short...no big secret there. Because its short, I tend to not make a big enough shoulder turn which affects my rhythm and tempo and can get really jerky under pressure. Tom gave me a good drill to work on that really helps with this problem.
(4) Impact: We noticed that when I would hit my driver, my left heel was jumping
about 2" inches off the ground right before impact. I didn't do this with any other club, but definitely another cause of hitting shots to the right...especially with my driver. Tom explained a better way to use my pivot on the downswing to help alleviate this problem and it seemed to work pretty well.


On Saturday, we got together again around 10:00 for a follow-up lesson. This time, we basically worked on the same things we had talked about the day before. We took some more video and introduced a couple new drills to work on going forward. We called it a day around lunch time, and from there I went next door to meet with the person in charge of club fitting. The facility we worked out of was a brand new building built just off to the side of the driving range. It had two hitting bays that could be opened up to the range; one for Tom to teach out of and the other to do club fittings. I was interested in demoing a few drivers and the guy there was more than willing to help. He did have a lot going on so what we did was pretty informal and more or less just me seeing what clubs felt the best. I tried one type of driver in about 10 different shafts and came up with a combination that might be a possibility in the future. It was a good experience and if I get back to Atlanta soon, I hope to set up an appointment with him again to do a more in depth fitting.

Once I was done with both the lesson and fitting, I drove about another 20 minutes north to a course called Hawk's Ridge. Tom had set me up out there and said that if I decided to go I wouldn't be let down. He was right. This place was one of the nicest golf courses I have ever played. It looked a lot like Augusta (even though nothing compares to Augusta) with all the tall pine trees lining the fairways, elevation changes on every hole, large bunkers and perfectly sculpted greens. It was an absolute treat to play and even Erika, who rode around in the cart with me, was impressed. I played 18 holes in just over 2 hours and only had to pass up one group for the entire round. It's like we had the place to ourselves.

Overall, it was a very informative trip and I'm glad I went. Any time you can get a second opinion from someone knowledgeable about the game it can't hurt. Everything we talked about I've seen, done or heard before so it wasn't like he was throwing a bunch of new ideas at me. But over time, you forget things and a trip like this becomes valuable to help put the pieces back together. When we left Atlanta, Tom said he would be more than willing to help again in the future and I hope the opportunity to go back comes sooner rather than later. Right now, my plans are to practice every day, all day and really try to groove these changes. I feel good about what's to come and I'm excited to get back to where I need to be. I'm gonna do everything I can to come out of this better than before. Hope everyone is doing well!

What's New

There's been quite a lot going on since returning home from being on the road. When I wasn't practicing, I've been spending the majority of my time trying to figure out where to go for help with my game. I feel like I know every teacher within a 500 mile radius of New Orleans and what they're all about. Something that I never thought I'd need to know, but now I'm glad that I've added this information to the memory bank in case I'm ever in this situation again in the future. After 10 days of doing research, sending out emails and talking with family & friends I've decided to seek the help of Tom Ness. Here's a quick description of his background:

Tom Ness is ranked as one of the Top 50 Greatest Golf Teachers in the United States by Golf Digest, and One of the top 100 Golf Teachers by GOLFMagazine. He has authored numerous articles for Golf Digest including cover stories How to Upgrade Your Impact and Slam the Door on Your Slice. He is also featured in selected titles of the Golf Digest Learning Library video series, such as Putting for Profit, How to Hit It Longer, and Straighter and Getting Started Right. An exceptional golf teacher, Tom began his golf career under the tutelage of Davis Love, Jr., and Bob Toski. He has taught numerous players from each of golf’s major tours and has participated in golf schools all over the world.

One of the biggest factors in making this decision was the fact that he came highly recommended by Brian Manzella (my current teacher). When I approached Brian about this situation, he was very understanding and was all for the thought of seeking a second opinion about my swing. He was confident that Tom would be a good fit. The idea was trying to find someone different enough to hopefully be able to pick up on things in my swing that may have been overlooked in the past, but yet not someone who would potentially try and drastically change my swing. As we approach September, the beginning of PGA Tour Q-School, I think it's best to try and find a solution to my swinging woes by changing as little as possible. I'm hopeful that Tom will provide that solution.

The other deciding factors were proximity and availability. Atlanta is relatively easy to get to considering there are approximately 8-10 direct flights from N.O. to ATL everyday, and Tom was available right away. So, tomorrow Erika and I are flying to Atlanta in the morning because my first lesson is tentatively scheduled for 2:00 Friday afternoon. From there, we're going to discuss a time for a follow-up lesson on Saturday and then Erika and I will be flying back Sunday morning.

There is also a high-tech fitting center at the same location that Tom teaches at, so I'm going to try and fit that in as well. My driver has been absolutely killing me lately so it might be time to try something new. That's it for now. I'll have another update when I get back from Atlanta. Hopefully nothing but good news.

Hooter's Tour - Michelob Ultra Classic (Auburn, AL) - First Round

Today's Score: 84

Well today pretty much summed up how this slump I'm in has been going. I thought that I had found something over the weekend that was going to help, but the bottom line is I've got so many thoughts running through my head right now I'm in no condition to be playing competitive golf. It's like I'm caught between the swing changes I've been working on and what I was doing before working with Brian. I simply can't get the ball in play off the tee, and on this course, that makes it nearly impossible to shoot a good score. With everything that is going on a this time, I've decided to withdraw from the tournament this week and not play in the second round tomorrow. Shooting 84 today pretty much kills any chance of making the cut and I think it's best to begin my break from tournaments now. Between having a late tee time tomorrow and the thought of playing again in 100+F degree weather in the hopes of grinding out a decent round, I think it's better that we just get on the road early and head home.

Without having too many details at this time to report, what I do know is I plan on taking the entire month of August off. The idea is to get back on track with my swing which includes seeking any and every bit of help I can find whether it comes from Brian or someone I haven't yet worked with. Basically starting tomorrow I'll be putting together some sort of schedule for the next month which will be based around figuring out a way to get better. I need more consistency in my game and I'm going to do whatever it takes to get there. So that's it for now. I appreciate everybody who's stuck with me through all of this. There's nothing I want more than to be successful in this endeavor and there's now way I could ever get there without everyone's support. So thank yall once again and I promise when I make my comeback in September it will be only good news from then on. Take care!

Hooter's Tour - Michelob Ultra Classic (Auburn, AL) - Preview

This week I'm playing in a Hooter's Tour event in Auburn, AL. The course we are playing is the Auburn University Golf Course. After playing two and a half practice rounds, here's my take on the course. Overall, it's pretty long in terms of yardage. There is a lot of elevation changes on just about every hole. The majority of the tee shots play somewhat downhill and then back up the hill to the green. On a handful of holes, its sort of a blind shot off the tee so picking out good targets during these practice rounds was crucial. I wouldn't call this course tight because the size of the fairways is very fair, but there isn't much rough and just past that is thick/heavy woods. Some are marked hazards and others are not. That means hitting a drive into an unmarked area is basically like hitting it out-of-bounds because there's a very good chance you're not going to find it. Not only that, the edges of the fairways are sloped towards the woods so a slight miss off the tee could end up kicking hard into the trees. For me, this is what I have to really focus on this week because if anything, that's the part of my game that is the most inconsistent. I plan on hitting a few 3-woods and 2-irons for placement purposes just to make sure I keep it in the fairway. The greens aren't the greatest either. For the second week in a row the greens are rolling quite slow and are very grainy. I feel like I can't hit the uphill putts hard enough and downhill is still a question mark because some roll slower than you would think and others will roll out.

As far as my swing goes, whatever I was doing this past weekend has been hit or miss since. Pretty much the story of my playing career and something I plan on taking the next step towards fixing during the month of August. In the last few days I've hit the ball great at times and poorly the next. Inconsistent would be the best way to put it so it's hard to say what I expect out of this week. My game plan is just to go out there and play...pick a target and swing at it and whatever happens happens. My tee time tomorrow is 8:12 off #1.

Adam's Tour - Orr Hyudai Classic (Texarkana, TX) - Second Round

Score: 78

After missing the cut yesterday, Erika and I decided to make the drive back home and that has put me a little behind in getting this post up. I'm going to save yall the agony of having to read another blog describing every hole and how nothing seemed to go my way. Since I've already had 24hrs to go over every shot in my head, my goal is to move on and start preparing for next week. I guess in this business you've got to have a short memory to some aspect because after a bad month, a bad week or even a bad shot all that matters is the next shot or the next tournament and taking care of what needs to be done in order to be ready. So here is a somewhat shortened replay of yesterday's round.

The best shot of the day came on the second shot of the day as my approach into #1 hit the pin on the fly only to ricochet backwards 25ft from the flag. Par. On the very short, nearly drivable par-4 2nd, I decided to play safe by teeing off with a 5-iron only to hit the worst shot of the day as it went well right of the fairway and kicked into a very wooded area. Unmarked by any hazard stakes, I was unable to locate my ball and forced to re-tee. Double Bogey. On the 3rd hole, I hit another iron off the tee and ended up to the right again except this time I was right behind a tree. Forced to pitch out, I made bogey (5). Good birdie on the 4th hole and back to +2 over. The choke-down three-quarter lob wedge I hit for second shot into #6 from 100yards flew over the green and left a very difficult up-and-down. Bogey and back to +3 over. Still playing aggressive, I hit driver on #8 and the dreaded straight ball wound up behind yet another tree. Another bogey and now I'm +4 over. Again with the "attack mode" mindset, I hit driver on #9 only to go straight through the fairway out-of-bounds. Another double-bogey and I shoot +6 over on the front.

So here's a situation as a professional golfer that you really want to avoid finding yourself in. You're +8 over par for a golf tournament, you've got 9 holes left to make the cut and you've basically got to birdie every hole on the back nine. Quite the task but for me its enough of a challenge to make it even worth trying. When I walked off the last hole, I could say that I at least gave myself a chance for birdie on every hole except one. Every birdie attempt was within 20ft, but I just couldn't get a putt to fall. The greens were hard to judge this week as slow and grainy as they were rolling. The one hole that I didn't have a birdie putt was the one I made bogey on and that was just because a slight miss off the tee found one of the worst lies I've seen in the rough in a long time. Whatever troubles I was having on the front side seemed to disappear, and I finished with 8 pars and a bogey.

I'm back in New Orleans for the first time in nearly 3 weeks. It feels good to be home, but it's not going to be for long since Erika and I will be leaving early Monday morning for next week's Hooter's Tour event in Auburn, AL. It will be tournament number four in a row and I think you can expect a little break to follow once we finish up there. I'm pleased to report that this afternoon's practice session reached a level I haven't seen since early April around the time I was qualifying for the Zurich Classic. My swing felt solid and I had complete control over the ball. Why all of a sudden things decided to come together once again I don't know, but I'm certainly not complaining. Hopefully I can groove this feel over the weekend and carry it forward into next week's event. I'll have more on that and a update on this renewed swing thought in the days to follow.

Adam's Tour - Orr Hyudai Classic (Texarkana, TX) - First Round

Today's Score: 73

Here's how to take a pretty standard -1 under par round and turn it into a +2 over (73). You begin by bogeying the first hole because you've focused so much on where not to hit it that you end up hitting it there anyways. There being right of the pin in the rough with no green to work with. For the record, I did hit a really good putt to save par but it lipped out. Next, on possibly the widest fairway of the entire golf course with enough room left to fit Tiger Stadium, you go ahead and hit it right. You'll notice there are a few trees to your right as well as some pretty thick rough...not the place you want to be for your second shot. Any decent drive in the fairway would leave nothing more than a 75 yard flip wedge, but right means you've got to hit a 9-iron under, over and around a series of trees. There's bogey number 2. After giving yourself a pep-talk that would only be considered appropriate for your conscience to hear, the next two holes surrender back-to-back birdies and things seem to be returning to normal. So why on the last hole of the first side do you decide to 3-putt from 17ft? Oh that's right, you've got to throw away some strokes otherwise you might shoot under par.

On to the back nine. Two solid wedge shots (nothing fancy) end up 15ft from the hole on #1 and #2, but both birdie attempts just miss. From #3 to #8, you might have a good up-and-down, pose on a couple wedges only to end up 15ft past the flag and miss a few more good looks at birdie. But, that's just the way my story goes....maybe your version is a little different. Basically, 8 straight pars on the back side and now your teeing off the last hole stuck at +1 over par. Another short hole is #9, out-of-bounds right, trees to the left. If you're like me, you'll hit the 2-iron to play somewhat safe. It takes away the chances of going OB and will leave less than 150yards for the second shot. I pulled my tee shot ever so slightly into the left rough, punch hacked a 9-iron that landed and rolled over the green, and then failed to get up-and-down. That's how I made my bogey, but I'm sure there are many other ways.

So there it is. What could of been a routine -1 or -2 under par round turned into +2 over par without breaking a sweat. Simply put, I've got to find a way to just clean up my rounds. I'm throwing too many strokes away too often. Tomorrow my goal is to stay aggressive throughout the round. I still find myself struggling to just "let it go" so to speak and swing freely. Hopefully I can dial in my wedges a little better as well and make a few birdies that way. I still feel like this course offers a lot of opportunities to make birdies so I've just got to take advantage when I get my chances. My tee time tomorrow is 8:00 off #1.