Mylan Classic Monday Qualifier

I played in the Mylan Classic Monday qualifier yesterday out at Green Oaks, but to no avail. I had a good start and was 3 under through 6 holes, but made a pair of poor swings on back to back par 3's and made bogies. A scandalous pin position on 18 lead to a double bogey. I finished on the front nine and made 8 pars and a birdie for an even par 70. Interestingly enough, that finished 14th, which is also the number of spots normally available at Nationwide qualifiers. However, since the FedEx Cup is beginning, they took ten spots away from the qualifier and gave it to PGA players not participating this week. I did play better and the game is coming along nicely. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to catch the break I needed. It's also starting to become apparent that I won't be getting any exemptions anytime soon. If I'm not going to get an exemption when the Nationwide Tour comes into Pittsburgh, I'm not going to get one anywhere. Just more motivation to get the game in shape and play well at Q-School this fall.

My friend Peter Malnati had a nice week last week, Monday qualifying in Knoxville, and then finishing top-25, which got him into the Mylan. I'm taking him out to Treesdale tomorrow while the Pro-Am is going on.

West Penn Open

I may have withdrawn from the West Penn Open, but I still found myself at St Clair CC today. I picked up caddy duties today for papa GVS. I was actually scheduled to be in the group behind him. Instead I carried his bag, wrist brace and all, and helped him out as much as I could. Had a pretty good day reading greens and we made a few, but his ball striking wasn't quite there today. He fought hard though and managed his game well, firing a 3 over par 75. The course wasn't easy, and he managed to tie Rachel Rohanna, who was playing with the men today. Saw her on the range and she can really stripe it.

Highlight of the day came on our 14th hole. We were on the tee of the par 3 and I said, "Alright, time for a good swing. Let's stuff this one." My dad proceeded to hit an 8-iron to Stonesville, maybe a foot, for a deuce and his lone tweeter of the day. We played with a real nice gentlemen who was a member at the club, and a college player from RMU named Donny. On the 18th, he asked me, "Didn't you go to Pine-Richland..." and after nodding he responded by saying, "I went to NA." I dropped the bag and with a stern look, jokingly said, "Those are fighting words!" Laughs were had by all, and obviously I mentioned my game winning basketball shot my junior year against them... as if he expected me not to.

It's really too bad I decided to sit this one out too, because the course really set up well for me. The fairway bunkers were all 280 or less to cover, so I would've had no probs carrying all of them with driver. Plus fast greens are always up my alley. Yet, I had a fun day with my dad, and my wrist is one day closer to being 100% again.

PA and WPGA Opens

Some poor driving led to some precarious spots out at Applebrook for the State Open. Granted it would have been hard to catch Rohanna even if I had hit it well, but I fired a 74-73 and missed the cut. Unfortunately the spots I hit it were mostly covered in foot high fescue grass. A few too many hacks out of there and my wrist wasn't feeling too good, but I didn't think too much of it. After a couple days of practice back home my wrist got a little worse. I saw the doctor today and he has me taking some time off until next Wednesday, which means I've had to withdraw from the West Penn Open. But getting ready for Q-School is what's important and I can't afford to not be 100%

Philly Cricket Club

Found my new favorite vacation spot! Wow is Nantucket a really cool place... even if Verizon doesn't know it exists... I took a few days off and energized the batteries. The Fenway game was awesome, and we saw Ortiz bring the BoSox back with a Grand Slam in the bottom 9, but it was just not quite enough. Went to the Cape for a day and then rode the ferry over to Nantucket where I had a pair of beach days and played a cool little public course on the island. What's amazing is when it gets dark out there. I've never seen that many stars before! You could actually see the "milk" of the Milky Way and we were even able to see satellites quickly moving through the night sky. It was an amazing four days. Now it's back to golf!

I've spent the last two days playing and practicing at the Philadelphia Cricket Club and Sunnybrook GC. A really great guy, Steve Harrington, is a member at both and graciously had me out to play with him. The facilities at the Cricket Club are awesome and I've gotten some great practice in. I've got a practice round scheduled at Applebrook on Sunday with Joe Boros and tee off in the morning on Monday. It's always great to get Joe B's insight and it will be tremendously helpful.