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....
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Friday, May 6, 2011
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.
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.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
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.
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.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
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.....
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.....
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
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.
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.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
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.
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.
Friday, March 25, 2011
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!
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!
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