October Updates

Hello everyone. I know I've probably lost the few readers I had since I haven't posted anything in such a long time. As you have already probably assumed, I have not been playing much competitive golf at all lately. And trying to figure out what I'm going to do with my life as pretty much taken up all my time over the last couple of months.

I still manage to practice from time to time, but not nearly as much as I used to. I've started to turn my attention to working on the projects that seem to be the most likely going forward. A few ideas that came up never panned out, others have been put on the side for the time being, and a couple more have seemed to separate themselves from the pack. In particular, working with my dad and uncle in the trucking business seems like a very realistic option in the near future. My uncle has started to expand his business into Louisiana so there's a chance that I could play a part in helping grow the business in this area.

The other idea that is starting to get some steam is still in the dark for right now. It's a project that I got involved in with my friend Adam, and I can tell you that it involves "golf event management technology." So far, all our early meetings have been going extremely well. As things keep moving, I will disclose more information. Our projections as of right now are to have the software available by the end of the month, at which time, I will release all the latest information on this blog. However, this new product will also include a blog which will most likely replace this one.

But for now, I will try to keep posting shorter updates as to not make everyone read a novel once a month. Hope everyone is well. I'm happy to say that Erika is doing great so far with the baby and it looks like he/she might be arriving a little earlier than expected. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Scotland Recap.....and a few updates!

Well, we made it back across the pond safe and sound. That was by far the best trip I've ever been on in my entire life and absolutely a dream come true. Everything about it was 10 times better than I thought it would be. Scotland, to me, was a perfect example as to why golf is the greatest sport in the world. It was like a completely different game over there and in no other sport does the game change that drastically from one venue to the next. In fact, it was so different, it was almost like playing a whole new game.....golf 2.0.

We started our trip in Turnberry where we stayed at the hotel there for the first three nights. For our first round we played Turnberry (the Ailsa course) which is the one they use for the British Open. Talk about being thrown into the fire. This course had it all, from blind shots, to elevation changes, all the gorse and thick rough, plus a little rain and wind coming off the sea. It was incredible. The next day we played Royal Troon, which for me, felt like the hardest course of them all. Maybe it's because I wasn't hitting my driver all that straight which made it nearly impossible to score well. I think I shot 80, but unlike shooting 80 over here in the states, my 80 at Troon didn't really feel so bad. On Tuesday morning, we packed up our stuff and drove to Prestwick. For me, this was the most unique and intriguing golf course of them all. Everyone over in Scotland says you're either going to hate it or love it and I definitely fell in the "loved it" category. As one of the oldest courses in the world, it gives you a true idea of how golf was originally played. It gave me such a greater respect for the game, I could have played that course a million times and never gotten tired of it.

After finishing Prestwick, we drove 3 hours across Scotland to St. Andrews where we stayed for the remainder of our trip. On Wednesday, we played Carnoustie. We were fortunate to get our round in the week before they began playing the Women's British Open there so the course was in excellent condition. Holes 16, 17 & 18 might be the toughest three finishing holes on any golf course. It was another round for me where I shot 80 and felt like I played pretty well. It's just that there was such a greater penalty for missing a shot that it didn't take much to make bogey......or worse. Our next round, we opted to go a little off the traditional map of links golf, and played Rosemount (The Blairgowrie Course). It was set about an 1hr and a half inland and when we walked up to the first tee it no longer looked like we were in Scotland. Every hole was lined with trees and there was actually one hole that had a lake on it.....definitely something you'd never see along the coast. It was still a great course and I think everyone enjoyed switching things up for a day.

And finally, on our last day of golf, we played two incredible courses....St. Andrew's in the morning and Kingsbarns in the afternoon. Without a doubt, St. Andrew's was my favorite course out of the whole trip. And maybe that had a lot to do with the fact that St. Andrew's had all the history, but it was still just an amazing place. It was hard a lot of the time to focus on playing golf because the whole time I kept saying to myself, "am I really playing St. Andrew's right now?" I had to keep pinching myself just so I could focus on hitting a good shot. I'll never forget the birdie I made on the 18th hole to shoot 72, my best round of the trip. For our second round of the day, we drove about 5 miles north and played Kingsbarns. It was not apart of our original itinerary, but once we all saw the course, we knew we had to play it before we left. So, at 4:00pm, we teed off and didn't walk off the 18th green until 9:15pm. The locals call it the Pebble Beach of Scotland and let me tell you......it's probably better. I've never been to Pebble Beach, but I can't imagine it being better than this. It was easily the most scenic and had the most beauty out of all the courses we played and that alone made it as enjoyable as anything I've ever played in my life. I think I broke my camera I was taking so many pictures.

So, that was our trip. It was a once in a lifetime experience and I'll never forget it. If anything, it makes me want to work even harder for the chance to go back again someday. Now that I've been back for a week, things have started to return to normal and I've pretty much come back down to earth. I've been trying to practice like usual and started to plan out my schedule the rest of this year. I do have some exciting news to pass along to those that haven't already heard......Erika and I are expecting our first child on Feb. 5th of next year. We've passed the first danger zone (the first trimester) so hopefully things will continue to go smoothly from here on out. Although I know that's rarely the case. Erika's feeling much better now that a lot of the sickness has passed, so we just keep praying for a healthy pregnancy.

Having a baby obviously changes things going forward. I don't really know how much more golf I will be playing since it becomes imperative now that we can support ourselves and a baby financially. I have signed up for one more Hooter's Tour event next week, but after that, I'm really not sure what will follow. There have been some new project developments on the side that I could be involved in, so we'll see if anything happens there. It looks like the month of August will be a good determining factor as to which direction my career heads going forward. All we can do is pray about it and see where the good Lord takes us. Hope everyone is doing and I'll have some updates next week from my tournament.

The Night Before Scotland....

Well, tomorrow I'll be heading to Scotland for 7 days of nothing but golf, golf and more golf. Our flight leaves New Orleans at 1:15pm and stops in Philadelphia before leaving for Glasgow at 9:00pm. We're scheduled to arrive at roughly 7:00am on Sunday morning and then head straight to Turnberry to play our first round. I can't explain how excited I am for this opportunity as this has always been a dream of mine since I was a little kid. The forecast over there is for rainy/cool conditions which I guess is to be expected this time of year. If anything, it will just add to the whole experience.

I'm going to try and take as many pictures as I can and share them through this blog when I get back. Wish me luck.....

Summer Update

Hello everyone. It's been a while since my last post and that's mainly because I haven't been playing in any tournaments. I was supposed to be leaving Monday for my next event, but I got a call Wednesday for the Tour Director letting me know they had postponed the tournament until October. I was pretty disappointed in the news because I had scheduled my plans around that event. There were other tournaments these last few weeks that I opted not to play in because I wanted to work on some things and prepare for what was supposed to be this tournament in Monroe, LA. I've looked at trying to find something else to play in, but there aren't any other options for that week.

And then the following week, I'm not able to play in anything because I'm going to Scotland on Saturday, July 16th. My father-in-law is taking me and my two brother-in-laws over for a week to play some of the best courses Scotland has to offer. It's a once in a lifetime trip, and I'm so thankful to have this opportunity. I think every golfers dream is to play one day at the place where it all began (St. Andrews) which is where we'll be playing our last round before flying back. I can't express how excited I am to go over there, and I'll be sure to take lots of pictures to post when I get back.

So, with all this going on, it looks like it'll be August before I play in another tournament. I know the time off will probably be a good thing, and I can tell already that there are areas of my game that seem to be improving. My putting, for one, has probably improved the most. I've adjusted my routine and my grip and it's already shown better results over the rounds I've played lately. Also, I got my new clubs in that I ordered and have spent a lot of time getting used to the changes there. I'm pleased so far with the way they've preformed and I look forward to working more and more with them going forward.

This weekend, I'll be in Grand Isle with my family celebrating the holiday. I hope everyone is doing well and have a Happy 4th of July.

Adam's Tour - Beaumont Open - First & Second Round

First Round Score: 78

The first round was a whole lot of the same thing I've been experiencing lately. I hit the ball pretty well throughout the round. My driver was working well for me off the tee, my irons weren't really helping or hurting, but my short game was horrific. Because I was hitting the ball well off the tee, I set myself up for a lot of wedges into the greens. Unfortunately, it was one of the worst displays of a wedge game you've ever seen. I repeatedly missed the green from 60, 70, 80 yards out. It's not that I wasn't hitting them solid, it was just my distance control. I felt like I was back in high-school when I couldn't hit the green with a wedge to save my life. It was extremely frustrating to say the least and consequently the reason why I scored so poorly. Instead of taking advantage of the short yardage situations by giving myself good chances for birdies, I was actually making bogies.......from 70 yards out!!! Then on top of that, my chipping and pitching as well as my putting were just as bad. You put all that together and a 78 is about what I deserved.

Second Round Score: 73

Today was so aggravating, I'm surprised I haven't thrown my putter in the lake by now. I hit the ball better again, my wedge game was more under control than the day before, but I continued to miss putt after putt after putt. If it wasn't a tap in, it wasn't going in. I was even par with two holes to play and I finished with a 3-putt bogey on #17 and a missed par putt from 4ft on #18. I bet everybody that reads this blog (all 5 of you) probably thinks by now that I enjoy putting bad. I mean, it's been a year and a half now and nothings changed. Trust me when I tell you, I practice my putting all the time and actually putt decently when I'm at home. But once I tee it up in a tournament, the ball just doesn't go in the hole. Period.

If there is anything positive that I can take away from this event, it's that I drove the ball well for both rounds. I put myself in scoring position many times, but my short game really let me down. I'm not surprised that my putting was as bad as it was, I'm just fed up with the fact that all the practice that I'm doing isn't paying off. It's all lead to a point in my career where it's time to start thinking about a plan B. Sometimes, things just aren't meant to be.

I've ordered a new set of clubs to help correct the problems I'm having with my old ones. I think I made a post about how far off my clubs are now for my swing so hopefully these new ones will give me a better chance at hitting the ball with the center of the club face. I plan on working with them for the rest of the month, as well as trying any and every last thing I can think of to improve my putting, before playing in what could be my last tournament for......I don't know how long. There's another Adam's Tour event in Monroe, LA at the beginning of July that I will prepare for and if I'm still writing posts like this one after that tournaments over, it might be the last post overall. Erika and I will be heading back to New Orleans tomorrow, so I'll have some updates throughout the rest of the month and let yall know how things are going. Thanks to everyone who's kept up with me through this site for all this time now. I know I sound like a broken record, but I really do hope this is the last blog with bad news and nothing but positive news from here on out.

Adam's Tour - Beaumont Open - Preview

This week I'm back in Texas again for another Adam's Tour event. This time I'm in Beaumont playing the Beaumont Country Club. I played in this tournament last year, so I'm pretty familiar with the course. We drove back over from Baton Rouge on Monday and I was able to get in 9 holes of a practice round. There was a really bad storm which came through about mid-afternoon that basically wiped out the rest of the day. Today, I was back out there finishing up my practice round by playing the back nine.

After two days and a year under my belt, I feel like I've got a good idea about how to play this golf course. I've changed my game plan from last year a little bit by hitting driver on a few holes where I hit 3-wood before and deciding to lay up on one of the par-5's I would of attacked in the past. This is one of those old style golf courses where the holes run parallel to each other, so there are many instances where it's better to take driver and get it as close to the green as possible. I'd say every hole has it's trouble spots, but it's usually just on one side of the hole. If I can make my mistakes on the right sides where there's room to miss, then I should be able to set myself up for a lot of wedges.

The rough is up in spots (like last week) which will make it tougher to control distances on approach shots and spin the ball around the greens. Let's just say I'm going to try and avoid those areas as much as possible. Overall, I feel better than I did at this time last week the night before the first round, so I'm hoping with a little fortune I'll be able to put together a solid performance. Then again, putting is always a major factor in how I score, so hopefully we'll see some improvement this week.

My tee time tomorrow is 9:10 off #10.

Adam's Tour - Bay Oaks Championship - Rounds 1 & 2

Scores: 82-78

The first round began like a nightmare. I had gone through a good warm-up session before the round started, and proceeded to hit my first tee shot off #1 in the woods. It was basically like hitting it out-of-bounds because we never found that ball and eventually lead to a triple-bogey (7). I don't care who you are, you can not start rounds with triple bogey's and play well. It seems like some of these last few rounds I've played, I've started out just shooting myself in both feet on the first hole. It makes it nearly impossible to get anything going after that happens. I followed that up with a double-bogey on the second hole and a bogey on the third, so I was +6 over par through 3 holes.

There were some solid shots periodically throughout the rest of the day, but I never felt like I had control of the round. On days like that, it seems like nothing ever goes your way. Even when I felt like I hit a good shot, it didn't end up that way. I finished with a double-bogey on #18, after hitting a good second into the green, which pretty much summed up how the day went.

During round two, I had one goal in mind. I wanted to execute every shot with as little thought as possible. Meaning, after I had calculated my yardage and planned my shot, I was going to just walk up to the ball and hit it. And that was exactly what I did on every shot from tee to green...even my putts. On the front nine, I actually played pretty well. I had one 3-putt that lead to a bogey and one poor iron shot that lead to a triple-bogey. I know that's still unacceptable, but overall I felt better than I did during round one.

The second nine holes were much of the same. I executed a lot of shots like I wanted, gave myself multiple good looks at birdie, but nothing seemed to be falling. I did make a couple good putts to save par, but I missed three putts inside of 3ft. So, I don't really know what to think about my new strategy on the greens. I can't afford to miss any putts that close, let alone three in one round. Again, on my final hole of the day, it was another bad break that lead to a double-bogey. Just wasn't meant to be.

Erika and I came back to Baton Rouge last night to save some money on hotels and give me a place to practice over the weekend. I've got another Adam's Tour event next week in Beaumont, TX so we'll probably head over that way on Monday to get ready. Hopefully, I'll have a little better luck on this next one.

Adam's Tour - Bay Oaks Championship - Preview

Well, we made it back from Vegas safe and sound, and now Erika and I are in Clear Lake, Texas. This week, I'm playing in an Adam's Tour event here just outside of Houston at Bay Oaks Country Club. We arrived in town yesterday afternoon which gave me enough time to play 9 holes and get a feel for the course. Today, I was able to play the back nine and then get in some work on the driving range and putting green.

After 18 holes, I have to say that this is a very fair golf course. It's not long by any means, but has just enough character to make you pay attention on every shot. The golf course doesn't have anything really "special", but instead, it's got 18 solid golf holes. Every hole is playable, and with a well-placed tee shot, there are birdies to be made. I liked how every par-5 was reachable in two, and the par-3's were at good yardages to attack if necessary. There are some out-of-bounds and water throughout the course, but it's not nearly as tight as some others I've played in the past. I'd say this courses' toughest defense is the rough. They've grown it up around the greens which will make for some tough up-and-downs. The good news is the greens are in good shape so I'm hoping the putts will start fall.

Tomorrow's tee time is 9:10 off #1. This would be the perfect round to start this summer off right.

U.S. Open Qualifier

Score: 78

Not the round I was hoping that's for sure. I started out missing a 3 footer for par on #1, missing a 10 footer for birdie on #2, and 3-putting for par on #3 after hitting the par-5 in two. So, instead of being -1 or -2 under after three holes, I was +1 over. It was a familiar scenario to the way I've started a lot of rounds in the past. From a ball striking stand point, I hit the ball pretty well all day. There was definitely a noticeable difference with my irons after making the changes on Sunday. I was also very pleased with the way I hit my driver throughout the whole day.

The main story of the day was the 36 putts I had. It was easily the worst putting round I've had since getting my new putter a couple months ago. The greens were in excellent condition and lightning fast, but usually those are the kind that I like. At the end of the round, I had been shut out from making any birdies...never a good sign.

There were two instances in the last few holes where I was left with plugged lies in the bunker, and because of that, I made two doubles to finish the round. So, even though the score was bad it was merely an issue of putting and a couple bad breaks that caused all the trouble. After seeing that -1 under made it through, I really wish I could of made one of those first few putts starting out because I feel like it would of set a totally different tone for the rest of the day. But, they didn't and so it's back to work again.

This week I'll be practicing and playing as usual before leaving town this Sunday. My in-laws have set up a family trip to Las Vegas so I'll be there for most of next week. It's my first time to Vegas so I'm really looking forward to the trip. Rounds at Shadow Creek and Cascata are on the agenda so, for me, that's what I'm excited about the most. This trip couldn't come at a better time, because when we get back, I've got 4 tournaments in the next 5 weeks. June will be a busy month to say the least.

U.S. Open Qualifier - Preview

Tomorrow I'll be playing in the U.S. Open Qualifier at Money Hill Golf & Country Club. On Friday, I went over and played my practice round which went pretty well. This was the first time I've played out there since I winning the Louisiana State Amateur there in 2005. It brought back great memories, and I began to remember how much I liked that golf course. Each hole is different and the little elevation there is designed into the course makes it even more interesting. I'm really looking forward to playing tomorrow.

Today, I made a another big change in my game by adjusting the lie angle of all my irons by 3* degree's. Yesterday, while working with Brian on the range, we finally discovered what had been causing me so much trouble over the last year almost. My clubs are too flat and that has contributed significantly to the fact that I struggle with missing shots to the right. So, today I drove over to Slidell, LA to see James Leitz. He's the top club-fitter in Louisiana so he confirmed what Brian and I saw on film yesterday. Even though he moved all my irons 3* degree's more upright, it's still not what they need to be. To move them that much would risk breaking the clubs. But, I worked with them this afternoon and definitely noticed a difference. I think it will only help until I'm able to order a new set and customize them exactly how they need to be.

My tee time tomorrow is 8:00am off #1. I got the very first tee time so Erika and I have any early morning ahead of us. It takes about 1 hr and 20 minutes to get there so we'll be on the road at about 5:30. I'm feeling a good round coming....

May Update

Wow. I didn't realize how long it has been since my last post. Time has just really passed me by. Here's a recap on what's been going on since I got back from Georgia.

After playing in the Hooter's Tour event in Georgia, I came back to New Orleans and began preparing for the PGA Tour Zurich Qualifier. For me, it was a two-step process having to go through the pre-qualifer on the Friday before the actual tournament and then the qualifier the following Monday. In the pre-qualifier, I shot 71 which was good enough to get me through to Monday. It was a pretty solid round under windy conditions. Hopefully, one of these days when I make 6 birdies in a round I'll be able to shoot better than -1 under, but I was pleased to shoot under par and get through the first round. On Monday, it was a fight against the golfing god's from the very beginning.

[Before going any further, I want to rewind to the week leading up to the pre-qualifier. During this time, I decided to make a pretty significant change. After almost two years of playing the Bridgestone golf ball, I went back to the Titleist Pro-V1. It's the kind of ball I played before switching to Bridgestone so I didn't think it would be that big of a change. Well, making the switch has brought back some critical distance off the tee that I was losing with the other golf ball. I've hit more drives over 340 yards in the last two weeks than I've ever hit in my entire life. It's changed my game for the better and I look forward to continuing to work with it and getting used to new found distance]

So, back to Monday's round. On the very first hole, I hit driver (which is the same club I've hit off that tee the other 30 times I've played this golf course) except this time it went 30 yards further than normal. It ended up going through the fairway stopping a foot short of going into the water. The next shot I hit was with one shoeless foot in the lake and proceeded to make a triple bogey (7). Now, in a one-day qualifier with 70 guys competing for 4 spots, there just isn't any room to be making triple bogies....let alone on the first hole of the day.

Needless to say, I didn't qualify for the Zurich which was more than disappointing. That's probably the one tournament every year that I prepare the most for so Monday's round was very upsetting. Hopefully, I'll have another chance again next year.

I was able to spend a few days at the actual Zurich Classic here in New Orleans and it was good to watch some of the guys on tour play. I feel like I learned a lot and found some things that I need to work on. At the same time, however, it's refreshing to see them go through some of the same struggles that I go through. It let's me know that there's still hope.

This week, I played in an Adam's Tour event in Baton Rouge, LA at Santa Maria Golf Course. I wish I was writing about how my third round went right now, but unfortunately I didn't make the cut this week. I shot 75-78 which was not nearly good enough. I went overboard with some of the things that I had been working on in my swing and it was just plain bad. Luckily, I was able to figure out the problem the day before the tournament started but it was too late. I hit some good shots during both rounds, but if I had a shot that I wasn't comfortable hitting, I wasn't able to to trust what I knew I needed to do. One of the many vicious cycles to this crazy game. How to work on things to improve your game without overdoing it?

Now, I'm back home in New Orleans going through my usual practice routines. I've got the first stage of U.S. Open qualifying coming up next Monday at Money Hill Country Club. Hopefully this will be the start of getting things back on track. Hope everyone is doing well and I'll have more on the qualifier as the time gets near.

Hooter's Tour - Albany, GA - Second Round

Score: 72

Since I didn't walk off the last hole yesterday until 8:10pm, I wasn't able to get anything posted about the round. In two days, it took almost exactly 12 hours to play 36 holes of golf. Easily the longest two rounds of golf I've ever played in my entire life. I honestly didn't think there was any way we were going to finish yesterday's round, but I'm glad we did.

Here's the recap:

It was a lot more windy the second round than it was the first, so overall the course played a little tougher. For me, it was still do or die because the cut was going to be under par and I needed birdies.....lots of them. On the front nine, I let a few good opportunities slip away but was still able to turn in -2 under par.

On #1 (my tenth hole), I had about a 12 footer for eagle that just missed on the high side. I tapped in for birdie and was -3 under for the day (even for the tournament). At this point, I was comfortable with where I was at but I knew I needed to make as many birdies as possible coming in. In the back of my mind, I was thinking the cut would be -4 under so that meant I had 8 holes left to find at least four birdies.

On #2, I hit a very poor wedge shot into the green and squandered a good birdie opportunity. Then, the next hole was where I really hurt my chances by three putting for bogey. The first putt was a pretty long, but I still should of made the 3 footer coming back for par. From then on in, I just wasn't able to get anything going. I was still hitting good shots, but the putts weren't falling. Finally, on the second to last hole, I lost focus on the tee and hit the one bad shot of the day that turned into a lost ball and lead to a double bogey (6). By the time we got to our final hole, it was nearly dark and I just missed from about 6ft for birdie. Not that it would of mattered, but it would of made me feel better had it gone in.

So, what was actually a very solid round of golf, wasn't really reflected by the score. This week was probably the best tee game I've had in a year. My driver, 3-wood and 2-iron were all working for me which was a good feeling. I was in position to attack almost every hole which allowed me to be aggressive in a good way. Unfortunately, it was my wedge game and putting that really let me down. Out of 17 shots hit with a wedge over two rounds (PW, SW or LW) only 15 of them were inside of 15ft. That's not very good. And for two rounds, I had 34 & 35 putts respectively with two 3-putts.

It seems like there's always one part of my game that fails to be up to speed with the rest of my game on any given week, so it'll be nice when the time finally comes where I can put together a complete round. The good news is these stats make it very clear as to what I need to work on going forward. I've got until next Friday to get that part of my game back in shape since that is the day I'll be playing in the pre-qualifier for the Zurich Classic here in New Orleans.

Hooter's Tour - Albany, GA - First Round

Score: 75

Well, my game plan wasn't to make double-bogey on the first hole, but that's exactly what happened. I guess I wanted to make it as hard as possible on myself to shoot a decent score. The good news is, I actually played a really solid round of golf from that point on. Unfortunately, having 35 putts didn't allow me to take advantage of all the good shots I hit, and consequently, I felt like I was in a holding pattern all day. Just couldn't get any momentum going. It's disappointing to say the least coming off three tournaments last month where I putted so well. The different grass on these greens combined with all the undulation made it very difficult for me to read putts correctly and get the speed down. Not the combination you want when trying to make birdies. I missed 3 putts inside 8ft on three of my last four holes of the day that could of helped me salvage this round.

Now, it looks like I'm going to need to dig deep for tomorrow cause the cut will certainly be under par....probably -3. But, judging by today's 6 hour long round and my 2:27pm tee time tomorrow, we're probably not going to find out for sure until Saturday....which is when I'm going to have to finish up my second round. That's it for now. Hopefully I can get the putter going tomorrow and crawl my way back into this thing. Stay tuned.....

Hooter's Tour - Albany, GA - Preview

This week I'm playing in a Hooter's Tour event in Albany, GA. It's the first Hooter's Tour event of the year for me so I'm excited to get out there. The competition is a little higher and the purse is a little bigger so I'm looking forward to stepping up my game.

I was able to get in two practice rounds so far, both yesterday and today. My take on it after playing it twice is that it's very fair. It seems like there is room on every tee shot and approach shot to "miss". Not that I'm trying to miss shots, but it provides a certain level of comfort knowing that I don't have to hit a perfect shot every time. There is trouble in spots throughout the course, but they're more of a risk-reward type situations. Meaning, you can avoid the trouble relatively easily by not challenging every hole so I guess I'm going to have to pick and choose my spots on where I want to be aggressive.

In terms of the greens, I think they're going to be the deciding factor this week. The greens are big, undulating, and tricky. I've seen downhill putts that looked lightning fast but were actually slow and uphill putts that I thought were slow and ran them well past the hole. It's hard to find the grain which makes judging the speed kind of difficult. But, I'm hoping that after two days of practicing and playing out here has helped me hone in my speed control and I'll be able to make some putts.

I feel like I've got a good game plan for this week. My swing feels pretty good so I'm hoping that will help set me up for a lot of birdie opportunities. We'll see what happens. My tee time tomorrow is 9:27 off #1.

Well I'll be playing in Georgia soon, but...

it won't be at Augusta National. Next week I'll be playing in my first tournament for April in Albany, GA. It's a Hooter's Tour event being held at Stonebridge Country Club just outside of town. Our plans are to drive over Monday and get ready for a couple practice rounds Tuesday and Wednesday.

Lately, I've been at home going through my daily routine of working out, playing and practicing. I've worked with Brian a few times over the last couple of weeks trying to continue to push my game to the next level. Each session helps to unveil things that need to be adjusted and in doing so I feel like my game is on track to take that next step. I've played some very solid rounds since I've been home while executing shots that I haven't been able to in the past. I'm confident in what I've been working on so now it's just a matter of doing it when it counts.

I still feel good with my new putter which gets me even more excited about playing in this upcoming event. I've got three more days to really groove everything and iron out any last kinks before hitting the road. Once we make it to Georgia, I'll have a preview of the course before the tournament begins.

Adam's Tour Southwest Louisiana Open (Lake Charles, LA) - Second Round

Score: 82

It just wasn't going to happen. I'd reached the end of what I was able to milk out of the broken swing I was left to play with. Looking back, I wish I would of stayed a little more patient starting out in the second round. I knew I was going to have to shoot under par, but I just didn't know how much. After birdieing the first hole, I thought there was going to be a chance to put something together. However, it seemed like I was just shy of having enough control over my ball to squeeze out more than 1 good shot for every 5 taken. Once I made my first bogey, I felt like I had to birdie every hole.

From there on in, I was giving three or four shots back after every time I made a birdie. It was a combination of a slightly too aggressive game plan and not hitting it well enough to execute that game plan. And by the end of the round, I was hitting driver everywhere just trying to force a miracle.....it just wasn't meant to be.

We drove back to New Orleans this morning, and I've already had a "looksy" from Brian out here at English Turn. After 10 minutes, we had diagnosed the problem and I left the range today feeling better than ever. If only I knew a week ago what I know now, I might be writing this blog about how I am in contention to win tomorrow instead of sitting here at home two days earlier than I'd like to be.

But, I'm taking this situation and only looking forward. I've been saying throughout these last two weeks how if I could get my swing back to match my putting, I could find myself seriously competing in one of these next few tournaments. Still, it was nice to see some balls go in the hole and for once say that my putter actually helped me instead of the opposite. Now that it feels like I'm headed in a direction to finally put all the pieces of the puzzle together, who knows what could happen. I do know that the PGA Tour Zurich Qualifier is just around the corner and something tells me this could be the year. It's time to take my game to the next level and set higher expectations. At least that's what I think.

There are few things I might look into playing between now and the Qualifier, but so far that's the only thing written in stone. I'll definitely be home for at least a week before anything potentially comes up, so that means there will be a lot of practicing and playing in the near future. Thanks to everyone who continues to follow and support me in this journey to the PGA Tour. All the best!

Adam's Tour Southwest Louisiana Open (Lake Charles, LA) - First Round

Score: 76

I spoke to soon. Today was again a struggle with my swing and this time I wasn't able to save the round. I guess in a way I did a little cause it felt like my score could of been higher. I did have two 3-putts which should of been avoided, but it was all in all a bad day.

I started my round on the back nine and was never able to get anything going. Every hole I felt like I was fighting for pars, so there were no birdies to be found. This course is a lot more penal off the tee for errant shots and needless to say that was the biggest issue for me on the day. However, when I made the turn, I still felt like there was a chance I could get a few strokes back because the front nine is the easier side.

Unfortunately, it was more of the same except I was able to avoid making bogey's for the most part. There were some better shots there on the front side, but nothing that sparked the beginning of anything consistent. When I did find myself with a birdie putt, it seemed like I was always in that 25ft range and was never able to get one to fall. I did finally avoid getting shut out on the day by making birdie on the par-5 8th, but gave it right back with a 3-putt on the 9th (my last hole of the day).

After shooting 76, I'm certainly not out of range of making the cut, but I'm going to need something under par tomorrow. The course is playing pretty tough and the greens are hard and fast. I would think that if I can get back to +2 over that should be good. Hopefully, some of the things I was working on this afternoon after my round will be the start of better ball striking to come. My tee time tomorrow is 1:00 off #1.

Adam's Tour Southwest Louisiana Open (Lake Charles, LA) - Preview

We're here in Lake Charles, LA getting ready for the start of the next Adam's Tour event. The course we're playing is called The National Golf Club of Louisiana. This is one of the tournaments that I played last year, so I'm hoping that having a few rounds under my belt will help me this week.

Yesterday was the designated "practice round" day, and since I was in Lafayette, I wasn't able to play. Then today, the tour had their pro-am which took up the course almost the entire day. So, I was not able to get in a practice round before tomorrow and instead took a cart out late this evening and just road around. After seeing all the holes again, I feel like I've got a good game plan for the week and not playing a practice round shouldn't have any affect on how I play.

I was able to spend a few hours practicing this afternoon and I'm hoping that I may have figured out something that has been causing some of the struggles I've been having with my swing. Hopefully, I'm not speaking to soon, but I was pleased with the way I was hitting towards the end of my practice session. Also, the greens are in great shape so I expect my putting to only get better.

The winds are supposed to be up throughout the rest of this tournament. They're expecting gusts around 30mph which should make the course play pretty interesting. I'm off early tomorrow (8:30) so maybe I'll be able to get in 9 holes before the wind starts really blowing. Hope all is well with everyone!!

Nationwide Tour - (Lafayette, LA) - Monday Qualifier

Score: 69

Today was the Monday Qualifier for the Nationwide Tour event in Lafayette, LA. Since you can see my score, you can tell that I played pretty well. Unfortunately, it looks like I'm going to miss a playoff by 1 stroke. There are about 90 guys for 7 spots and 68 is in as of right now. There are still people out there playing that teed off in the afternoon, but the winds are picking up and I doubt the number goes much lower. At the end of the day, it may take 67 but either way I'll be on the outside looking in.

It's frustrating that for the second time, one hole is going to cost me a chance at playing in a major tournament. Last year, I made double-bogey on the 12th hole at the PGA Tour Zurich Classic qualifier to miss by a shot and this time I made double-bogey on the 12th hole of a Nationwide Tour qualifier to miss by a shot.

The day started off pretty well. I missed a few good looks at birdie on holes #2, #3 and #5. Then, I 3-putted the par-5 6th from about 15ft. The two footer I had coming back for par went down in the hole and back out right at me. But from there, I strung together 5 straight birdies. The putter was hot to say the least. However, the 12th hole was the one road block of the day. It's a difficult hole, about 420yards into the wind with water and out-of-bounds surrounding the fairway. I pulled my drive just a hair and the wind made it turn over just a yard to far and ended up in the water. From there it was a struggle and four shots later I was in for a double-bogey 6.

That put me back at -2 under for the day and I knew that wasn't going to be good enough. I managed to birdie the par-5 14th and then gave myself good chances from about 12ft and closer on holes #15, #17 and #18. Unfortunately, I just wasn't able to get any of them to fall and finished the day at -3 under par (69).

Overall, it was still a good day and anytime I can post a number in the 60's I'll be happy. I've just got to find a way to clean up my rounds in these one day qualifiers and then I might find myself teeing it up with the big boys some day. Once we realized I wasn't going to make, Erika and I drove over to Lake Charles, LA to get ready for the next Adam's Tour event which starts Wednesday.

Adam's Tour - Coca Cola Classic - Final Round

Score: 73

Well, today was much the same as the previous three. It was again a battle with my swing trying to find some consistency. The day started out promising as I played the first three holes well executing every shot and just nearly missing a couple good looks at birdie. From there, things started to get a little shaky. I ended up making four bogeys on my first nine holes by way of some wayward shots and a three-putt on the 9th hole.

As I made the turn, I kept telling myself that I had been making birdies throughout this tournament and today was going to be no different. In my mind, all I was thinking was that I was going to make 5 birdies on the back side. After birdieing the first three holes, I was on a mission to birdie every hole. Another birdie on #5, and I was one shy of my goal. Unfortunately, I made two careless mistakes on holes #6 and #7 giving back a couple bogeys before birdieing the 18th hole to make number five. I was very proud of the way I fought back and remained positive after a poor front nine.

Overall, it was a successful week. I was able to get the most out of my rounds with the cards that I was dealt. It was certainly not my best ball striking week, but definitely one of the better putting tournaments I've had in a very long time. With the 73 today, I finished at -2 under for the tournament and in a tie for 35th place. Its a start, but there's still plenty of work to do before I'm able to put myself in position to really compete.

I'm now in Lafayette getting ready to play a practice round tomorrow. Monday is the qualifier for the Nationwide Tour event here in town. There are about 90 guys for 7 spots so I'll need to tighten my game up if I want to make it through. More to come on that soon.

Adam's Tour - Coca Cola Classic - Second & Third Rounds

Its hard getting a blog posted without having the internet and use of my laptop so here is a summary from yesterday and today. Yesterday was certainly better than the first. I was driving the ball better and finding the fairway more often. Because of that, I was able to attack more pins and wound up with 5 birdies for the day and a score of 70. It was good enough to make the cut by a shot. After two rounds, I felt like my putter had allowed me to get the most out of my rounds as possible. Not something I've ever been able to say before. In fact, after holing about a 30 footer on #18 for birdie, one of my playing partners uttered the words "man that was someputting" which was definitely the first time someone has ever said that about me. I couldn't help but smile.

Today, I was back fighting my swing again and really struggled to put the ball in positions to make birdies. Every now and then I would hit a good shot but it wasn't enough to get anything going. Finally, by the 14th hole I started feeling a little more in control and was able to reel off birdies on three of the last four holes for a second consecutive round of 70.

I'm definitely pleased to be where I'm at right now all things considered. For once, my swing has been costing me shots whereas my putting is helping me save shots. There's no telling what could happen if I put together a complete round here one of these days. I'll have one more shot tomorrow to really move up the leaderboard and finish this tournament off properly. I guess we'll just have to see what happens tomorrow.

Adam's Tour - Coca Cola Classic - First Round

Score: 73

Sorry I wasn't able to get a preview up before the tournament started. The internet is not working at our hotel so I'm having to write this using my phone. Therefore, I'm going to keep this short and sweet because its not easy typing on this thing. Like I mentioned this past week, this is a course that I've played about 10 times before so I felt like I had a good game plan going into this event.

My swing today resembled what has been going on for about the last week or so now. I'll hit one shot good and then the next one bad. The confidence that I was feeling all last month has dropped off a bit. So basically when I had to hit a shot that I was a little uncomfortable with I often struggled. Ironically, it was my putting that actually allowed me to shoot 73 cause it could of been about 5 shots higher. So from that perspective, I've got some good thoughts to build off of.

The course is playing very fair. Conditions are perfect. I need to find the fairway a lot more often tomorrow and eliminate the unecessary bogies. Hopefully I can find the swing that was working so well not too long ago and put together a good round. Tomorrow's tee time is 8.20 off #1.

Gearin Up!

As we prepare to hit the road Monday, I wanted to share some last minute thoughts before we leave. Now that Mardi Gras is behind us, things have started to get back to normal. I've tried to fit in as much practice as possible in between all the parades and bad weather. Not that I was at all the parades, or any for that matter, but just living in New Orleans makes you feel the affects of Mardi Gras.

First off, I'm happy to say that my putting is getting better. If any of the rounds I've played lately are any indication then there is a light at the end of the tunnel. The new putter I've been working with seems to be giving me a better feel for the greens and more speed control. I'm finally starting to make some putts outside of 10ft and the 4 and 5 footers for par. I'm confident that the changes I've made will be very helpful going forward.

My swing has been as good as ever, and I think I can finally start to use the word "consistent" when describing my ball striking. I've got a good pattern going with my shots and I'm hitting it more solid than I ever have before. There was a tiny slump earlier in the week where I was struggling a bit. I was slipping back into some old habits, but after two solid days of practice yesterday and today, I'm back on track.

Monday, we leave for Alexandria, LA which is the location of my next tournament. It's the first Adam's Tour event of the year and so far it seems like it's going to be a full and exciting event. They've got practice rounds scheduled for Monday and late-afternoon Tuesday. The first round starts Wednesday. That's it for now. I'll have another update Tuesday night before the tournament. 'Til then......

Bobby Grace

Now that I've got some time, I wanted to update everyone on what's been going on during this break between tournaments. My main goal was to work on my putting and do anything necessary to make improvements. As it turns out, not only have I come across some new techniques but a brand new putter to go with it.

Last Monday, I flew to Orlando and drove over to St. Petersburg, Florida with my dad. He had arranged a meeting with Bobby Grace, a well known putter manufacturer from the early 90's and one of the more successful men in the industry today. Bobby said he was willing to have me in for a personal fitting in hopes of finding me something that would help get me back on track. After about two hours of going through all sorts of putter combination's, I left with two putters to take home and work with. One was very similar to what I had been using, but had his new technology added to it. The other was a little different, but had more things added to it that were custom fit for my stroke.

It's been a week now that I've had to try out my new toys, and I'm happy to report that things seem to be getting better. I've decided to go with the putter that was fit more for my stroke as it appears to be working the best. This past Friday, I had my first round of less than 30 putts and consequently shot 67 because of it. Before, I had struggled with speed control on the greens which lead to a lot of the poor putting rounds and now that part of my game is improving. There's still a lot of work to be done, but just changing up the look of my putter has helped me find some much needed confidence going forward.

I've still got just over two weeks before my next event, so there will be plenty of time between now and then to really work with the new putter. As of now, my only plans are to stay around New Orleans and play as much golf as possible. I'm really confident with my swing, so getting my putter up to speed will continue to be my main focus. I'll have another update in about a week with hopefully nothing but good news. Hope all is well!!!

Adam's Tour - Winter Series (Kingwood - Lakes) - Second Round

Score: 74

Yesterday was a long day. Our tee times were pushed back another 1 hr with an ice delay so we didn't get started until 11:50. After finishing up around 4:15, Erika and I grabbed a bite to eat and drove straight back to New Orleans. We got in about 10:30 last night which is why I wasn't able to put anything up about the round. So here it is:

Overall, this was probably the best round of the week. Not just score wise, but just in terms of executing shots from tee to green the whole day. Putting, on the other hand, was still terrible. I made 4 bogey's and 2 birdies during the round with 3 of those 4 bogey's coming from 3-putts. One of them came on the last hole like I did in the first round, and man I can't tell you how furious it made me. You'd think I would of learned after doing it the first day, but noooooooooo.

This last tournament would of been a really good opportunity for me to have a nice finish. I played really well both days, but just wasn't able to capitalize on the greens. I threw away 4 strokes in 3-putts over two days, and then didn't convert another handful of birdie attempts within 10ft. This is like a broken record, huh?

So, now that we're back home, I've got to do some serious thinking about how I'm going to become a better putter. Otherwise, all this progress I'm making with my swing isn't going to do me any good. I've got a couple ideas in my head so I'll keep yall updated on what I decide. I've got some time now before the regular season starts up March 16th in Alexandria, LA. Until then, I've got some much needed improvement to make on the greens. Hope everyone is doing well.

Adam's Tour - Winter Series (Kingwood - Lakes) - First Round

Score: 75

Even though the tour had pushed back tee times in anticipation of an ice delay this morning, it wasn't long enough. At 11:00 is was still below freezing, so there was an extra two hour delay added to our original tee time. It was quite a morning.

I have to admit that it certainly would of helped to have played a practice round yesterday even though I didn't play all that bad. I was thinking this course was going to be like all the others we've played since they've all been pretty similar so far. However, this was by far the tightest golf course we've seen yet and for that reason, it was a little difficult figuring out where to hit it off the tee. Consequently, I only hit like 6 out of 13 fairways. I struggled with the driver early missing shots to the left and it cost me two early bogey's. After about #7, I was able to straighten it out and then hit some good tee shots coming in.

The round was really quite boring now that I think about it. I made 3 bogey's and 15 pars. No birdies. There were a couple good chances in there somewhere, but I wasn't able to convert any birdie putts today. I did make a couple good ones to save par, which was definitely a positive, but the birdie putts just didn't fall.

Easily the most disappointing part of the day was the 18th hole. It's a short par-5, but it's shaped hard right to left with water and trees all down the left and more tree's lining the right side. You have to hit a hard draw off the tee to set up a shot into the green and then the second shot is still over trees from about 250. Anyways, I hit a 3-wood to about 18ft for eagle and 3-putted. I was so mad when I walked off that green, it took a while to calm down.

The 75 today isn't all that bad considering I hadn't played the course before and it was absolutely freezing today. I'm hoping now that I've seen the course I'll have a little more confidence in what I'm doing. Then again, it's the same old story. If I can get the putts to fall, anything can happen. My tee time tomorrow is 10:50 off #1.

Brrrrrr

So no golf today. I woke up to a rainy 44 degree's that lasted all the way until about 3 this afternoon. The temperature quickly dropped into the 30's and we're currently sitting at about 28 degree's right now and it's not quite dark yet. According to the local news, the wind chill is in the teens. I wanted to get some practice in today, but I figured I was better off working out of my hotel room.

I talked to some guys this past week about the course we're playing tomorrow and they all said it was pretty straight forward. Hopefully, that means I'll be able to show up tomorrow and feel my way around the course without ever seeing it before. Hey, the last time I didn't play a practice round it worked out pretty well so at least I've got that going for me.....which is nice.

I went out and bought me a couple more propane fillers for my heater that I picked up before leaving home last week. Thanks to my father in law, this baby's going to come in handy tomorrow.

They've pushed back the tee times tomorrow morning because we're expecting a hard freeze tonight. It should be above freezing come 10:00...we'll see. My tee time is 11:10 off #1.

Adam's Tour - Winter Series (Cypresswood Open) - Second Round

Score: 80

Different day....same result. The only difference is this time I had 38 putts which was even worse than yesterday. Most of my stats from tee to green, however, were pretty similar. I hit 9/14 fairways and 12/18 greens. I don't think I was more than few yards off the fairway when I did miss so that's a good feeling going forward. I'm very happy with how I'm driving the ball since that has plagued me under pressure in the past. I'd say I probably hit about 3 poor shots in all today which is still not too bad. After missing so many putts, I'd say the lack of momentum for two straight days played a part in a couple of those loose swings.

I only made one poor decision today and it came on the 2nd hole where I tried to hit a hard wedge into the green and ended up spinning it off the front. Luckily, it didn't cost me a stroke as I found my one up-and-down of the day. One wouldn't be bad if that was the only opportunity I had, except today I had 9 chances and so 1 for 9 is quite pathetic. This was mostly due to the poor putting because I hit a lot of good chip shots.

Overall, I'm very pleased with how my swing held up in this event. I'm incredibly disappointed in how my putting did not hold up in this event. I could sit here and speculate on a whole bunch of different reasons why that was the case, but the bottom line is it was just terrible....plain and simple. I'm going to do everything I can to forget about it and move on because the next tournament starts in two days and there's just no time to dwell on it. I've got my putter here next to me in the hotel room and I'll try and do what I can to get the feel back.

I'm supposed to be playing a practice round tomorrow for the next event, but the forecast is for rain all morning with plummeting temperatures to follow and a chance of sleet. Sounds like perfect golf weather to me. I'll have a post up tomorrow about what (if anything) I am able to accomplish.

Adam's Tour - Winter Series (Cypresswood Open) - First Round

Score: 80

Where to begin. Right away you're probably thinking this was a bad day and rightfully so. I shot 80. But, this was by far the worst 80 I've ever shot in my entire life. I literally hit 1 bad shot the whole day. So, how did I shoot such a bad score? Well, my first answer is I had 37 putts. This was easily the worst putting performance I've had since I've been playing. And yall know by now how bad my putting has been. There was a total of 4 3-putts throughout the round. Here's a breakdown of the day.

I started out with a 3-putt on the very first hole. It was kind of a long putt, but it was dead straight and little downhill. +1 over thru 1. I then followed that up with a 3-putt on #2. This one was about 15ft uphill, left-to-right. Two 3-putts on the first two holes and I'm +2 over thru 2. Not the start I was looking for. The third hole is where I hit my one bad shot of the day. I blocked a 4-iron off the tee on the par-3 3rd and was left with an impossible up-and-down. A flop shot, bunker shot and missed 6 footer lead to a double-bogey (5). I was going the wrong way in a hurry and the round really felt like it was getting away from me. What's funny is, from that point on, I played great and never really missed a shot.

I pared #4 and hit a nice wedge shot into the par-5 5th to about 10ft. However, another 3-putt and instead of making birdie, I make bogey. +5 over thru 5. I lipped out from about 12ft on #6 for birdie, and then somehow got about a 25 footer to fall on the par-3 8th for birdie. To be honest, if it hadn't of gone in, who knows how far by it would of ran. Back to +4 over. The 9th hole is a long par-4 dogleg left. There's a bunker positioned perfectly on the right side of the fairway, and the left side is blocked out by trees. I teed it up, aimed right at the bunker trying to draw it off just a little bit and smoked it right at it. My ball came to rest on the right edge lip of the bunker and I was left with a shot from 195 yards to the pin.....into the wind over water. I got one foot in the bunker and one foot out, and here I am trying to hit a semi high cutting 3-iron because there's a branch about 60 yards in front of me that I've got to maneuver around as well. I made double. So, I hit a solid drive and should of just taken my medicine with the lie I got, but I decided to gamble and I lost. I turned at +6 over (42).

On #10, I hit two great shots and had about 15ft up the hill for birdie. The next hole is a 215yard par-3 to a tucked back right pin location. Winds blowing hard left to right and I just striped a 4-iron that never left the flag. It wound up about 20ft past the pin and I 2-putted for par. The 12th hole is a tricky dogleg right par-5. I hit a great drive down the left side to set myself up for a shot to the green. There's a hazard all up along the right side that continues up past the green. So, with the ball just below my feet, I start this 2-iron about 20yards left of the green expecting it to slide to the right. It was more than I needed, but I knew that I couldn't let the ball get right of the flag. My shot ends up going dead straight and now I'm left with another impossible up-and-down. I went for the money maker and lost again. Another bogey and I'm +7 over thru 12. I played the 13th well and missed about another 15footer for birdie. On 14, I hit a 6-iron from 195 that never left the flag, but somehow it hit on the green and ran all the way over the back. I missed about a 5 footer coming back for par so that's another bogey. Another 3-putt on #15 from 20ft and I'm +9 over. Great drive on #16 that lead to a par and the best drive of the day on #17. #17 is 319yard par-4 with water all along the right and bunkers all along the left. It's usually drivable, but today it was into the wind. I hit driver anyway and came up a 3 yards short of the green. From there, I chipped it up to about 2 1/2 feet and missed it. I can't begin to tell you what was going through my mind by this point. I probably hit the two quickest shots of my life in the drive on the par-5 18th and 3-wood into the green. Both were perfect. It was playing 560yards into the wind and I was about 10yards short for my third shot. This time I pitched to about a foot and did manage to get that one in for birdie.

So, there's my novel.....I mean recap.....of today's round. I'm so frustrated that I let this round get away from me after hitting the ball so well the whole day. It would of been a great round to keep it around par under today's cold/windy conditions. I think only 2 people shot under par. If somehow, my putting does a 180 tomorrow and I start making putts, who knows what could happen. I need a low one....that's for sure. I can say this though...this is the first time I've had so much confidence after shooting 80. I know it should of and could of been so much better that I'm not going to let this get me down. I'll tee it up again tomorrow and keep doing what I've been doing. Let's hope the putts fall. My tee time tomorrow is 8:40 off #1.

Adam's Tour - Winter Series (Cypresswood Open) - Preview

This next event is being played at Cypresswood Golf Course (Tradition), in Humble, TX just outside of Houston. This is the same course I played last year for the PGA Tour Shell Houston Open qualifier so I've probably played about a handful of rounds out here before this tournament. I went out there today to play a practice round, but only ended up getting in 9 holes. We weren't allowed to play until the afternoon, and I think the entire city of Houston was out there playing as well. At one point, we were on the 3rd hole which is a par-3 and there were 4 groups on that one hole.....all foursomes. It took 3 hours to play the front so I called it quits after that. Plus, I was -3 under and wanted to keep that feel going into tomorrow. I don't think my confidence has ever been higher. Now it's just a matter of teeing it up tomorrow and letting it happen.

I'm pretty sure that the 70 degree weather had a lot to do with the amount of people playing today after the bitter cold week this city just went through. But, since tomorrow is the tournament, you know the cold weather has to come back. The forecast is for a high of 54 with the caption "WINDY!" We're expecting winds of 22mph gusting in the 30's so the temperature will probably feel a lot colder than that. But hey, it's nothing new....just another day on the Adam's Tour. My tee time tomorrow is 10:00 off #1.

So much for warmer weather......

So, we drove up to Baton Rouge Monday afternoon to get a head start on our trip to Houston. We woke up Tuesday morning and were getting ready to leave when I received an email from the Adam's Tour that the first event of the series had been canceled. The headquarters for the Adam's Tour is in Dallas, TX and this crazy front went through the area earlier this week and ended up snowing/icing the tournament officials in the city. Therefore, they were unable to make it to Houston to set up the event and consequently it was canceled.

After seeing how the weather has been these last couple of days and the forecast going forward, I can't say that I'm all that upset not to be playing right now. Even though I feel good about my game and I'm more than ready to play, the sub-freezing temperatures surrounding Houston and all the way here in Baton Rouge make it nice to be inside. In fact, my sister tells me it's supposed to snow any minute now in Houston which would of been a first for me since today was supposed to be the first round of the tournament. The weather channel here says to expect a Wintry Mix over the next 24hrs. Not exactly good golfing conditions. Oh, and to make things worse, my parents tell me it's 80 degree's in Florida. Why is it where ever I'm playing it's freezing cold?

So, since Erika and I decided to stay in Baton Rouge we're really just waiting this whole thing out. There's just not a whole lot I can do at times like this. I've got a club here next to me that I've been swinging inside non-stop cause I don't want to lose the feel I've got going.

Our plan now is to head to Houston Saturday, and weather permitting, maybe play an early practice round that afternoon and again on Sunday. As of right now, the second event is still expected to be played so we're going to continue forward as if those are the plans. Warm weather.....come on down!

Getting Ready!

I've been home 9 full days since getting back from Houston, and it's been great. Fortunately, the weather has been quite nice lately and allowed me the opportunity to get in some really good practice sessions. Coming off the last round I in January where I played well and shot even par in bitter cold conditions, has carried over into a week and a half of solid practice and added confidence.

As we prepare to hit the road tomorrow, I find myself looking more and more forward to playing in these next series of events. I like where my swing is at right now, I feel like I have something to go with in my putting (which is a lot more than I could say in the past) and now I've got some confidence. I'm praying for a little warmer weather in February, but now that I've got my own propane heater to put in my golf cart, I think Erika and I are more equipped to deal with whatever weather we find.

Tomorrow, we're planning on driving to Baton Rouge to get a leg up on our trip. Since my home course is closed on Monday, there isn't much I can do here golf wise so I'll probably do a little putting and chipping in the morning and then hit the road. That way we can take our time getting to Houston on Tuesday and then play a practice round on Wednesday. Stay tuned.....

Adam's Tour - Winter Series (The Woodlands-Panther Trail) - Second Round

Score: 72

As you can tell now, I decided to play the second round yesterday. In fact, it went a lot better than I thought it would. But, how I came to the decision to even play is the real story. As I'm sitting there in our hotel room Thursday night going over the pairings for the second round, the first thing I noticed was that I was the second group off at 9:10am. We knew the weather channel had a forecast for freezing temperatures that night and it was supposed to be in the upper 20's when I was set to tee off. Right away, I'm thinking it was just too much. I had shot myself out of contention Thursday and now I've got to go play in this. Like I said in my last post, I was ready to cut my losses and head home.

Well, enter Danny Gonzales. Danny is a fellow player on the Adam's Tour and someone I've befriended over the last few months. We've been paired together a couple times in recent tournaments and have played a few practice rounds together. Not only is Danny a good guy, but Danny has the key ingredient to surviving freezing weather. From past experience, I knew he came equipped with a full cart cover and propane heater. It's about a $100 purchase that I'm starting to wish I had invested in when I started these winter series. For those of you who haven't experienced the cart cover and heater combination.....it's unbelievable. No matter how cold it is outside, it feels like 100 degree's inside. And the wind that makes riding in a cart even colder, is no longer an issue.

So now, in the back of my mind, I'm thinking if I can get to the course early and get set up on Danny's cart, I might just have a chance. I realize that it's starting to sound like this is the only reason I decided to play yesterday and that's not the case. But, it did make the decision a whole lot easier. And, hey, I shot 72 which only 6 people shot better than. In fact, had it not of been for two 3-putts coming in on the back nine, it could of been even lower. What's funny is this might of been my best round (start to finish) out of all the rounds I've played so far this month. Go figure. I was so close to not even playing and then one cart cover and a heater later and I'm playing the best round of the January series.

After finishing my round yesterday, Erika and I hit the road and drove straight back to New Orleans. That's why I'm a little late getting to this blog. We've got the next week and a half off so I'll be back out here practicing in hopes of making February a lot better than January. Our plans are to head back to Houston Feb. 1 for the final 3 events of the Adam's Tour winter series. Hope everyone is doing well and staying warm. Take care!

Adam's Tour - Winter Series (The Woodlands-Panther Trail) - First Round

Today's Score: 82

ERRRRRRRRRRR!!!! That's the sound of the brakes on my momentum train coming to a screeching halt. And, I refuse to believe another weatherman in Houston ever again. The front that was supposed to pass mid-afternoon came through literally a minute before I began my round. As I approached the first tee, I could see this huge line of dark clouds coming our way. A minute before we teed off, the rains came. It remained that way for the first four holes and then the weather turned bitter cold and windy. When I finished my round, the temperature was 44 degrees with winds gusting up to 32 mph. That made the windchill 33 degree's according to all the weather apps on our phones. If history tells us anything, we know that I struggle under 40 degree's.

I was prepared for the cold weather today, but it didn't matter. The winds were so strong that it was nearly impossible to stay still and concentrate throughout the round. Needless to say, I played terrible. Every other shot was left or right and far from being solid. And as windy as it was, putting became a nightmare. I can't tell you how many times I backed off my ball today because it was wiggling so much on the greens. It seemed like I had to rush every putt I hit just to make sure the ball didn't move when I addressed it.

I did finish on #18 by hitting the flag on my second shot, but that was the only highlight of my day by far. All in all, it was miserable. So much so, that I probably won't be playing the second round tomorrow. I would need to shoot about -5 under tomorrow to have any shot of making money and the forecast is for an "arctic blast" tonight. That puts tomorrow's high of about 48 with similar winds that we saw today. No thanks! I think I'll spare myself the misery of grinding out another 82 and probably cut my losses.

Then again, I may wake up and get the itch to put myself through the torture again. Either way, we should be back in Louisiana by tomorrow night as the January Winter Series comes to a close. It'll be nice to get back home and see if I can't groove the things I was working on before I left. Clearly, they haven't set in and the nerves of competitive golf showed that.

Adam's Tour - Winter Series (The Woodlands-Panther Trail) - Preview

I just finished up my practice round for the final event of this series and I'm glad I did. This course is definitely the tougher of the three we've played so far. It seems The Woodlands offers two types of golf courses. "The Oaks", which we played last week, was certainly more forgiving...especially off the tee. "Panther Trail", the one we're playing tomorrow, requires much more precision. It felt like there was water in play on every hole. Length wise, it's almost identical to the other two, but this course forces you to hit more irons and 3-woods off the tee to keep the ball in play. If there isn't water guarding each hole, then there's woods and/or houses lining the fairways. I'm going to need a solid performance out of my long game this week.

The greens are maybe a little smaller of the three courses we've played, but still offer the same amount of slope and undulation. They're not quite as fast as Lake Windcrest, but still quick enough to make you be careful.

Unfortunately, the weather we saw today is going to be short-lived. The forecast for tomorrow is rain in the early afternoon while a front moves through and then freezing temperatures into Friday morning. My tee time tomorrow is 11:10 so I'm just hoping to get in as many holes as possible before the weather turns bad. Hopefully, I can build of the success of this past tournament and keep the momentum going.

Adam's Tour - Winter Series (Lake Windcrest) - Second Round

Today's Score: 72

Well, score wise today got a little better again. In fact, for a while there it looked like today might of been a pretty special round. Right out of the gate, I was making putts and after 5 holes I was -4 under par. I had made three good putts and got up-and-down on the par-5 4th. I wish I wouldn't of been, but honestly I was quite surprised to see that many putts go in in a row. It felt good. On the 6th hole, things got a little shaky. I hit a poor drive in the fairway bunker and left myself 163 yards to the hole. It was into the wind, so I decided to take 2 clubs extra and ended up making a pretty sloppy swing. Those two swings lead to a double-bogey (6). That stopped the momentum alright cause I went on to bogey the next hole to move back to -1 under for the round. I parred in and turned at -1 under (35).

On #10, I got to work on my left-handed swing since my ball came to rest right up against a fence. Thankfully, it was a par-5 and I was able to hit my third shot on the green and save par. I followed that up with a chip-in birdie on #11 to get to -2 under. It was a fairly simple shot about 15ft below the hole. From there, I hit a great shot into the par-3 12th to about 12ft underneath the hole but ended up 3-putting for bogey. I wasn't trying to be aggressive on the first putt but I ran it by about 3ft and missed it coming back. It was pretty rocky trying to get to the clubhouse from then on. My swing felt off....I started guiding the ball a lot and didn't really hit a good shot for the remainder of the round. I finished with a bogey on #18 to end at even par for the day.

It was another foggy/rainy/misty/cold day which made for sloppy conditions again. I guess I can't be too upset with the way I was hitting it because this event was all about patience. I felt like I stayed calm the majority of the time. I ended up finishing tied for 11th which was good enough to pick up a check. Feels good!

Another practice round tomorrow before our final event of the series that begins on Thursday. That one will be played at The Woodlands again, except this time on the other course (Panther Trail). I'll try to have a preview up tomorrow night. Hope everyone is doing well.

Adam's Tour - Winter Series (Lake Windcrest) - First Round

Today's Score: 73

So this round fell into the category of "worthy to talk about" so here it goes. With the rain that came through yesterday, the course was completely soaked today. Since we ride in carts for these events, we were cart path only and lift-clean-and-place in the fairway. Thank goodness because there was casual water everywhere which made for pretty sloppy conditions all day. It didn't help that there was a foggy mist for the first 15 holes either. Thankfully, the sun came out for the last 3 holes.

Overall, I'm continuing to play better as these tournaments go on. I've gone from 79, to 75 and now 73. I felt like today's round could of been a little lower if I could of eliminated the two 3-putts and the ball I hit in the hazard on the par-5 10th when going for the green in two. That was pretty bad cause there's about 50 yards right of the green to miss and I pulled it about 10 yards left. Not smart.

I did feel like I was just a little off on my swing all day which lead to a lot of shots missing just left or slightly to the right. If I missed a fairway it was just off the edge and the same if I missed a green. My short game was pretty solid today which helped me stay in control of my round.

I'm currently in a tie for 13th so I'll need to shoot under par tomorrow to secure a check for this week. Hopefully, the trend will continue and I'll have an even lower score tomorrow. I just need to clean up on the greens and fix whatever piece was missing in my swing today. My tee time tomorrow is 10:20.

Adam's Tour - Winter Series (Lake Windcrest) - Preview

Our next tournament is being played at Lake Windcrest Golf Course located in good 'ole Egypt, TX. It's just outside The Woodlands area of Houston, about 25 minutes from our hotel. I went ahead and played my practice round yesterday because I knew today's weather was going to be bad. I was hoping to get out there again today to work on my putting but it rained the entire day.

My initial reaction to this golf course is that it's very fair....much like the last one. Most of the holes offer plenty of room off the tee which is good for me. The greens are normal size, but deceivingly tricky. There's subtle undulations everywhere which can create some tricky putts. Every downhill putt is sneaky fast and uphill putts can be the same. Chipping and pitching around these greens will be interesting so staying below the hole is the best advantage to getting up-and-down.

There really isn't anything unique about this course to help me describe it's design so there's not much more I can say on this preview. I would expect with good weather that the scores will be low. I'm hoping to get out to the course earlier than usual tomorrow to get a better feel for the speed of the greens. In my opinion, that's going to be the major factor this week.....as it always is for me. My tee time tomorrow is 11:00 off #1.

Adam's Tour - Winter Series (The Woodlands -Oaks)

I apologize again for getting behind, but this time I didn't forget to post an update....I just didn't feel like posting an update. As much as yall are tired of reading about bad rounds, I'm 10 times more tired of writing about them. And it's not like the 79 I shot yesterday was that terrible, but it's a 79. Unless this was the U.S. Open at Oakmont in blizzard like conditions, that's a very bad score.

Now, I will admit that I've come to terms with the fact that I struggle immensely when playing in temperatures under 40 degrees. Yesterday, it got up to about 39 degrees and I basically just ran out of gas on the back nine. So, you're probably wondering why am I even bothering trying to play this time of year when I know it's this cold. The only answer I an give you is that I still believe that I can play good golf. I feel like if I can somehow play my game and make a few putts, then I can play anywhere....anytime. Especially after coming back from a nice layoff and getting my game ready to go. It's rounds like today that keep me coming back for more.

Now, in no way am I satisfied with shooting 75 today, but the score is a little misleading. I hit the ball a lot better today throughout the entire round and gave myself a bunch of really good looks at birdie. Unfortunately, I was only able to convert one of them. The few poor swings I made were there, but that's to be expected when trying out new changes for the first time under pressure. The majority of the time, I was pleased with what I saw.

So, once again I'm looking forward to the next event. After the first round, I really needed to play like I did today to find some momentum going forward. The temperatures are supposed to be steadily getting warmer so hopefully there will nothing but low scores to come. I'm going to try and get a practice round in over the weekend and the first round begins on Monday.

Back to Work

While I'm sitting here watching the BCS National Championship game, I realized it had been 10 days since I posted anything and I know in my last blog I mentioned I would have some updates before I left. Oooops. There have been a few distractions over the last week and a half with a trip to Dallas for the Cotton Bowl, a wedding and a couple rainy days. Hopefully I can make up for it in this post.

I got together with Brian here at home for two lessons which have left me feeling pretty good going into this next series of tournaments. At first, we picked up on a flaw in my setup which was causing a big problem in my downswing. It was a relatively easy change to make and by the second lesson we were basically just grooving the feel with a few drills.

I haven't played as much as I would of liked leading up to these next events, but I'm still feeling confident about my game. As usual, I've continued to work on my putting and I have to say there's been improvement in that area of my game as well. In fact, some of the adjustments I've made in my swing have applied to my putting and things feel better.

We leave tomorrow for Houston to begin another series of (3) Adam's Tour events spread out over 9 days. These are 2-day tournaments with no cut so if I can get in a rhythm hopefully I'll be able to put some good rounds together. I'm planning on playing a practice round Tuesday and the first round begins Wednesday. I'll have a preview of the course Tuesday night.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all. I hope everyone has had a safe and enjoyable holiday experience so far. I got to spend Christmas with Erika and the family down in Cut Off which turned into a bitter sweet day. Her grandmother ended up passing away early Christmas morning, but fortunately we all got to spend time with her earlier that day and then again after the phone call came. With all the time everyone had to see her during the near three weeks she was in the hospital, I think by the time she passed we were all at peace having said our goodbyes and knowing she was heading to a better place. So waking up Christmas morning was a little more somber than usual, but it was great to get to spend all that time with family. And not to mention, a much needed break from golf.

Now that we've survived another New Year's eve, it's time to get back to work and start preparing for the next series of events. I'm almost certain I'll be heading back to Houston somewhere around the 11th of January to play in 3 more Adam's Tour Winter Series tournaments. I've gotten in a couple good practice sessions in the last few days, but tomorrow will mark the beginning of some serious preparation. It goes without saying that I need some better results going forward than I had in Orlando. Hopefully the weather will be above freezing and we can have a little more enjoyable experience.

I'll follow up with some updates on how practice is going. Hope everyone is doing well. Here's to a great year in 2011.