Talkin' 'Bout PRACTICE Man!

Not a game... Not a game... we talkin' 'bout PRACTICE man, how silly is that?

Not silly at all AI... how do you plan on getting better then? I've been in Hilton Head, SC for the last few days, following my 69 that came up short in Albany, GA. I've put together 3 really good practice days, getting a lot of practice in, especially the short game. I completed my "Circle Drill" in shockingly quick fashion yesterday. It's my favorite putting drill, and I've been doing it for probably 7 or 8 years now. I put 5 tees in a circle around the hole at 3 feet. The goal is making 10 out of 10 from that distance. I go around twice, and can't move on until I make 10 out of 10. When I do, I move the tees back to 6 feet and have to make 9 out of 10. Then I move the tees back to 9 feet and have to make 8 out of 10. If you can make it through the drill consistently, you'll be amazed at how easy 10 footers start to look. My favorite thing about the drill, is that you're practicing "making putts" but also doing it under pressure (Because I don't leave the putting green until I finish the drill). I've been there for over an hour before... trust me when I tell you that having a 9 footer to complete the drill after an hour's worth of practice has just as much pressure on it as a putt in competition... if not more.

I've been staying down here with Daryl Shippos, former Treesdale great, who's now one of the pros out at Colleton River. The facilities there are amazing and the entire place is in immaculate condition. I played yesterday at the Country Club of Hilton Head and was paired up with an awesome guy named Lou. We talked a lot during the round as play was slow. Super nice guy. When we got done, the guy who came out to clean my clubs told me that Lou ran an advertising company and Lou was the person responsible for the phrase "Got Milk?" So how about that?

Looking forward to the upcoming Monday qualifier at Achaste, where last year I made 8 birdies, but came up a shot short. Not coming up short this year! I'm also signed up for an eGolf event in High Pointe, NC, but I'll probably have to WD from that once I qualify for the Nationwide event.

Almost, not quite

Played a good solid round of golf today. Hit the ball really good and hit 16 greens en route to a 3-under par 69 today. Unfortunately, 69's don't get it done in Nationwide monday qualifiers. However, it was an extremely positive day today, and another step in the right direction. The swing feels as good as it has in well over a year. I got off to an OK start, parring my first 4 holes. A bad bounce in the fairway led to a bogey on the 5th, as my ball bounced hard right, directly behind a tree. I almost chipped in on 6, the par 3, but put an awful stroke on a 3 footer and threw a shot away there. I was then +2 thru 6 and in trouble. But if there's one thing I never do, its give up. I almost flew my 2nd shot into the par 5 7th in the hole, and it went about 12 feet past. A perfect putt on the line I chose simply failed to break, caught a piece of the edge and lipped out. A tap in birdie, yet a momentum reverser. Good shots and better putts on the next two holes got me to 1-under after making a turkey. I turned at 35, but still needed to make some noise on the back.

The greens were fast today, rolling at about 11 or 12, along with being firm. I hit a great rescue shot on 10 and even had a decent birdie look. 11 saw me hit another perfect putt for birdie from 15 feet lip out. Then on 12 I hit an awesome 8-iron from in some trees after a poor club selection off the tee put me through the fairway. I hit the 115 yard shot to 4-feet and made birdie. A birdie on a par 5 coming in got me to 3-under, but I just couldn't get enough putts to fall from 20+ feet coming in and settled with a 69.

Although I missed out on the Kinderlou tournament, I'm really excited about the direction my game is headed. 2008 Mike Van Sickle is back and here to stay. A couple of good putting drill days will get me some more added confidence with the putter, and then LOOK OUT! I'm on my way to Hilton Head to spend the week practicing before next Monday's Nationwide qualifier. I also signed up for next week's eGolf event at High Point in North Carolina as a fall back option. I'm playing pretty good though, so expect to see me making it through next week! I'll be playing at Achaste in Georgia, where I played last year and shot a 68 with 8 birdies, 2 bogies and a double. I missed a playoff by a shot. Super excited for the upcoming events!

Results from today: Click here

Great two weeks

I'm down to my last week back home in Pittsburgh here, and I'm really feeling great about where my game is at. I'm hitting it as good as ever, thanks to some sessions with Joe Boros and a lot of practice. Played two balls out at Treesdale today and shot 67 and 65, so I'm pumped to get back into the competitive atmosphere. I'm also smashing the new R11 driver I got while I was down in Louisiana. After missing the qualifier down there, I stopped at the tournament the next day and went to the Taylormade van, where Marquette Alum Eddie Erkmanis hooked me up with an R11 driver. Love it.

It's also been good to be home. I've been able to blow off a lot of steam at Oxford by working out and been able to relax a bit with the family and some friends I hadn't seen in a while. Went to a Pirates game sporting my Neil Walker jersey (he went to high school with me and is now the Pirates star second baseman.) It's been fun watching him have success, and it's given my dad and I a reason to watch Pirates games. They're actually not too bad this year! Although they got creamed the day I went to the game.

I'm hitting the road on Friday and I'll be driving to Callaway Gardens in Georgia to spend a night at the Shaver household, who have been gracious enough to let me stay with them on numerous occasions. Then I take off on Saturday for Albany, GA, where I'll be playing in a Nationwide Monday qualifier. This is the Valdosta tournament at Kinderlou Forest. A tournament I really would like to get in, as the course sets up beautifully for my game. My plan is to get off the practice tee now and play as much as I can the next couple days to continue to prepare for my upcoming events.

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?