Colder Than I Thought

I got back from Newark on Saturday and it's been 3 straight days of highs in the mid to high 30's, which isn't quite golf weather. I've spent the last few days working out hard and hitting some balls at the dome. Not quite what I was expecting in the last week of March. Typically it's starting to get alright by now, but another week of this and I'll have to head south for some better weather in order to properly prepare for my upcoming Nationwide qualifiers. The first of which is on April 25th and is for the Kinderlou Forest tournament. I'd really like to play in that event, especially since the 7700 yard course sets up perfectly for me. You may recall KF being the site of my successful first run at 1st Stage in 2009. I fired a bogey free 67 in the final round on a blustery day and secured a spot to 2nd Stage. I love that place and hopefully I'll be able to earn a spot there at the end of April. Off for the Neville Island Dome right now to go pound some balls.

Sweet trip to Newark

After spending two days in my Toyota Camry, I figured why not spend a couple more? I was able to procure 4 tickets to Marquette's Sweet 16 game against UNC and was going to meet a few friends in Newark for the game. My buddy Adam Reed drove from Milwaukee and stayed at my house in Pittsburgh. We took off for Newark the next morning and after a 6 hour drive, got into Newark around 2:30. Never have I seen a more ridiculously complex and chaotic freeway system than there. Our hotel could only be accessed from the freeway, and only from the Southbound side, and exiting and turning around was no bargain either. Luckily we made some good guesses and got to the hotel without too much incident. Former roommate Brendan Lowd and friend Kate met up with us an hour later. We then took off for a pre-game Marquette event at the Brick City Bar and Grille next to the Prudential Center. There we joined a couple hundred fellow fans and alums in getting psyched up for the game. I ran into Tim Vetscher, who I watched all the Big East Tournament games with out in Phoenix, at the party and talked with him a little bit. Everyone was definitely optimistically hopeful about the day's game, and why wouldn't we be after how hard and masterfully the team played in the first two rounds?

We got to the arena and to our seats right before the tip. Kate and I received numerous comments on our jerseys (I had brought a pair of jerseys from 1984 that my mom had gotten from some team managers when they were getting rid of them. Herbert Harrison-43 and Donald Smolinski-4), along with some "Go Warriors!" comments. We won the opening tip and played tough for the first 5 minutes, even snagging an early 10-8 lead. The Marquette faithful were loud and proud. Yet, UNC's athleticism was apparent and their stifling man to man D was tough to break. It was difficult for our guys to even make numerous successful passes without difficulty. But they never gave up and played hard the whole game, even cutting the deficit in the 2nd half and giving us all something to cheer about, but UNC was just too much.

We then stayed for the second game as well, Ohio St vs Kentucky, and what a game that was. Definitely worth the ticket price just for that game alone. It was an exciting atmosphere though, and definitely worth the trip even though we lost. Adam and I would drive back to Pittsburgh the next morning, making it 4 straight days of 6+ driving hours for me.

Good, but not good enough...

Played well on Monday, but not great. Shot a two-under par 70 in blustery conditions and missed by three. I got off to a good start and was -3 thru 6, which included a pair of twenty foot birdie putts. I really rolled it well all day long, and hit it really well on the front nine as well. Unfortunately, as is the case with Monday qualifiers, you can't afford to let a couple shot slip because you need to get everything you can out of your round. 11 and 12 is where I ultimately lost in the qualifying. I was pin-high 60 feet on 11, about two yards off the green chipping. I hit a crummy chip to 10 feet and lipped out the putt. Wasted shot. On the next hole I blew my 25 footer by and missed the 6 foot comebacker. Wasted shot. I bogeyed 18 to finish the round as I was going for the pin trying to make birdie/hole out, a shot I wouldn't have tried if I was already at -5. That's three shots. That's 67. That puts me in a playoff. Dang.

It was a definite step in the right direction however, as I walk out of here knowing my game is headed in the right direction. Unlike last year when we left here thinking, "What the hell happened there, and where did some of those shots come from?" I'm stopping at the Taylormade van at the tournament today to meet up with Eddie Erkmanis, and if he's got time, get fit for an R11 driver.

I'll be headed home to Pittsburgh Wednesday morning, and possibly off to Newark to watch Marquette take down those Tar Heels, just like in '77

In Louisiana

Just reached Lafayette, LA last night after two long days in the car driving through Texas. Fortunately my mother flew out to Arizona to help with the drive. We stopped in El Paso for lunch the first day with Mike McQueen, my host from my two trips to the Western Refining All-American Tournament. We didn't go to El Paso CC this year, but we did last year when we drove through so that we could see my plaque on the wall with all the other champions.

Anyhow, I've had a good couple weeks of practice and I'm hitting the ball solidly. My parents flew out two weeks ago to get out of the Pittsburgh weather. I spent alot of time golfing with my dad, and we even took a day off to go to Sedona to admire the amazing rock formations. Shot a few ho-hum 60's rounds and now I'm looking forward to my first Nationwide Monday qualifier of the year on March 21st here in Louisiana.

The way I'm playing right now I feel it will all come down to putting. If the putter gets rolling and I make some putts, I'll feel pretty confident about my chances. You never know with an 18 hole tournament, really anything can happen, but I like where my game is headed. Last year I got the bad end of the tee times out here. It was mid-40s for my front nine and blowing 25mph. On 17, the clouds dispersed, the sun came out, and the wind died down. So you never know, but I'm going to play as best I can and tally it up when I'm done. Off to play a practice round at The Wetlands GC, where I played last year as well.

Nice win by Marquette last night!

Striping it on the range...

All-American Tour Championship next

So I'm officially in the All-American Tour Championship, which starts on Monday. It's a 64-man match play event with a Nationwide Tour exemption going to the winner. I think it's a great opportunity to get into a Nationwide spot. Instead of playing for 7 spots in a 100 man field, I'll just have to beat 6 guys in 6 matches. And I'm really excited after a great practice day today. I spent a lot of time on the putting green and was really stroking it well. On top of that, I continued to hit it great on the range. Although I haven't played many match play events, I have had some success in the events that I have played. It's always been a format that seems to suit me, as I usually make a lot of birdies.

My tee-time is 12:06 on Monday. Assuming I continue to win my matches, I'll play 1 match Monday, 2 matches Tuesday, 2 matches Wednesday, and the Championship match on Thursday.

70-70-70

Made 40 pars in 54 holes. Just didn't get much to go in all week long. Made some solid par putts at times, but on a whole, I just didn't stroke it great. Really striking the ball well though, and I'm really excited about where my game is headed. The short game will be the area of focus going forward as I hit some so-so chips this week and didn't roll the ball confidently enough. Looks like I'll finish T-33 this week. Made 3 birdies and 1 bogey again today. Bogeyed the first hole of the day, birdied the 2nd hole to get back to even after knocking it on in two, and birdied number 5 with a good up and down. I then proceeded to make 12 straight pars, the worst of which being on number 9 when my 2nd shot hit the pin and went to 5 feet. I lipped out the putt. Reached the difficult par 5 18th in two and two-putted for my third and final birdie.

I might be playing in the All-American Tour- Tour Championship next week. It's a 64 man matchplay event, with the winner receiving a Nationwide Tour exemption. The Gateway Tour is off next week. To date I've made 4 of 5 cuts this year, a vast improvement over last year, but what wouldn't have been?

Another 70, another made cut

Shot 70 again today. A little bit windier conditions, but again it could've been better. And again it was mostly missed opportunities with the putter, or just not hitting some 120 yard shots as close as I should. Made 3 birdies and 1 bogey. Definitely a positive that I've only made 3 bogeys in 36 holes. That's what you need to do in order to shoot low scores. Unfortunately, the birdies haven't been there yet this week... must be saving them all for tomorrow. I drove it fantastically today, and really had the 15 foot high low bullet driver working today. A shot that I owned for much of my time at Marquette, and it's a great sign that I was really feeling comfortable with it today. Missed a pair of up-and-downs on the front nine on the par 5's. Should've birdied both of those holes. My only bogey came when I gunned a 20 footer past the hole by 4 feet and missed the comebacker on number 4. Made a clutch birdie on 16, rolling in a 10 footer for birdie that got me to 4-under, after birdies on 6 and 11. Had a 7 footer for birdie on 18, but was cautious with the speed, knowing that 4-under was the cutline in all-likelihood. It broke off on me. A successful day from a ball-striking standpoint. Worked on the putting afterwards, although it was by no means BAD today, just very average. Got the stroke feeling good on the putting green after and I'm ready to go low tomorrow.

Solid start in Round 1

This week's Gateway event got off to a decent start today. I fired a 2-under 70 that was led by good ball-striking. The swing is really starting to feel better and better. I hit a couple iffy drives, but I hit a bunch of really good iron shots. I made a couple solid par putts, but didn't make much on the day, making 4 birdies and 2 bogeys. I started on the back 9 and two-putted 11 for birdie. I hit a great pitching wedge from the right rough on 15 and sank a solid 12-footer. A 3-putt on 17 from 40-feet down a big slope dropped me back to 1-under. Had to lay up on the par-5 18th after a mediocre drive. I had 247 to the front edge, the pin was 34 on, and the left side of the green dropped off into water... yeah, not feeling that on day 1. Had a really good up and down on the par-5 2nd hole. Hit a flop shot from 30 yards to 8-feet and sank it. Just missed a green with a wedge on 4 and hit a crummy chip to make the second bogey and drop back to 1 down again. Reached the next par-5 in two and parred my way in. Made a real nice 8-footer for par on 9 to finish the day. T-32 of 118, as scores were pretty good today. 39 and ties make the cut. I tee off just after noon tomorrow.

Back on Track

I've spent the last few days resting, getting work done on my arm/wrist by Dr. Jason Loth, and ultimately healing up. Both Carson and Jason were pretty shocked at how tight and locked up my left forearm and wrist were, however, with just a few sessions it seems to be getting better. The sharp pain that I was getting is gone, and I'm only experiencing some achey, fatigued, soreness if anything. I practiced yesterday for the first time since Saturday and hit balls with very limited discomfort. Today I had a full practice session and played 9 holes out at Moon Valley before dark. I hit it great and shot a 5-under 31. Glad to see that the hard work I've been putting in, and the progress I made, wasn't lost in my few days off. In the grand scheme of things this was probably a positive, as it brought to light areas that need to be strengthened due to overuse/fatigue, and it gave me a nice little break to recharge my batteries a bit. It was my first extended break (4 days) in a long time. I usually take a month or maybe two off during the winter, but with my struggles last year I decided to press through the winter and really work on tweaking my swing to get it back to where it's been in the past, which Joe B and I seem to have done, or are close to doing. Anyhow, I really enjoyed being out on the course today playing, maybe even more than I have lately, and I would attribute that to a couple days off. I'm excited for next week's Gateway event, as I'm going to try and play. It starts on Tuesday.

I've also made some progress on the book I bought last week, Dante's Divine Comedy. It's a bit of a slow read, as I'm trying to pick up on as much symbolism as possible, plus the vernacular can be dated at times. If I were trying to read it quickly, I'd surely get lost or miss some things, and that would be absolute hell...