2nd Place at Fuhrer

My third round saw me get off to a good start, even getting into the red briefly.  Unfortunately I hit a bad stretch on my back nine, making 4 bogies in a row that dropped me into 4th going in to the final round.  Three players were tied at +2 while I was at +4.  But not to worry, because I would pull even with them pretty quick in the Final Round.  After an unbelievable flop shot on one to set up a great par save, I continued my aggressive philosophy on number 2 (a 330 yd par 4) and hit driver all the way onto the front fringe of the green.  After reading it to break a little left, I hit the putt, apparently pretty hard, because it hit the back of the hole from 50-feet, popped up, and fell back into the cup for an eagle 2 to put me back in a tie for the lead at +2.  My playing competitor and I plodded along that front nine making all pars, until I missed a 4-footer for par on 9 to drop 1 behind him.  The other two players in contention at this point had fallen back, so it was a two-horse race.  I made up for the bogey on nine quickly as I hit a gap wedge to a foot on 10 for birdie and then got some more back with a 30-footer for birdie on 11 as well, which put me in the lead with 7 to play at +1.  My playing partner, David Bradshaw, was +2.  I had a really nice up and down at 12 and had a 3-footer at 13, while David had 25 feet for birdie.  He poured his in, while my delicate breaker caught a lot of hole, but spun out.  So instead of having a 2 shot lead like it looked like I might have, we were both tied at +1 instead.  Pars on 14.  15 was another good opportunity for me, but I caught my second shot a bit heavy, not hitting the par 5 green in two, rather having a 90 foot putt from the fringe.  My 8-foot birdie try slid past while David made his 6-footer for par.  He hit it to 3 feet on the downhill par 3 16th for birdie and did the same on 17.  It was over after his birdie on 17, because my mis-hit 3-wood took a hilacious bounce up a hill behind some trees, forcing me to punch out.  I made a double.  He was -1 while I was back at +3, but still in second by 1.  I made a really nice par on the par-3 18th to shoot 69 the final round and finish lone second to capture the $15,000 pay day.

It was a lot of fun to be in contention and feel the heat coming down the stretch.  It just would have been nice to take advantage of those opportunities on 13 & 15.  That's where I really feel like I let the the tournament slip away a bit.  Anyhow, a very positive week as I now go west to play in John Deere qualifying.  Hopefully I qualify and again play in the site of my first PGA event.  If not, I've got two eGolf tour events lined up at The Club at Irish Creek in Kannapolis, NC and Grand Harbor in Greenwood, SC.

That takes me through about July 20, stay tuned for updates!  Playing well!

Good Start at Fuhrer

Today was the start of the Frank Fuhrer Invitational, one of the best tournaments on my schedule, if not the best.  $150,000 purse with 30K going to the winner.  I got off to the least coveted of starts, bogeying my first hole and then hitting a drive OB on my 2nd hole, the 11th at the Pittsburgh Field Club.  Things took a while to get better as I found myself +6 thru 12 on a windy day with firm greens.  But I strung together some birdies to fight back for a 73, closing the final 9 with a 33.  Doug Stadler (who is caddying for me) and I grabbed some lunch between rounds and didn't let the break between rounds deter from our momentum.  I shot another 33 on my outward 9, which included a great up and down from the greenside bunker on the par 3 6th hole and made 2 more birdies and one bogey on the back to finish the day at 140 (Even Par) with an afternoon round of 67, the low of the tournament thus far.  I'm tied for the lead with two others heading into our third round tomorrow.  I tee off at 10:12, results should be posted on the Tri State PGA website

Results

Monday Qualifier Today

Today is another great opportunity for me to get my foot in the door this year.  I'm playing in the Nationwide Monday Qualifier today for the Raleigh event.  I played a practice round yesterday and made a good number of birdies.  It's maybe not your signature MVS course, as it forces some shorter clubs off the tee, but certainly a course I can definitely have some success at.  I tee off today at 1:05

This last week went pretty well, for a while at least.  I shot a 69 in the first round of the eGolf event in Lake Wylie.  The 69 included 7 birdies and 2 Doubles at the Palisades.  A great 16 holes of golf, too bad we play 18 holes…  I would go on to shoot 74 the next day, but with more incident.  I was on 12, sitting at 1-over par on the day, 2-under for the tournament.  Waiting to hit 8-iron in on my 2nd shot of a par-5 when I was almost struck with a tee shot from the group behind us.  This was the third time we had been driven into on the day, and the second time in 3 holes.  I was visably shaken and dumped my shot in a right bunker, made par, and was still rattled on the next tee when I sudo-shanked a 4-iron off the tee into a hazard, leading to a double.  There was no confrontation with the players behind us, as they were too slow in playing the hole.  But I had a long and frustrated discussion with eGolf officials after the round.  And basically received the response, "Sorry, that's too bad, nothing we can do."  Obviously a very frustrating day on the course, being in position to shoot a good score on a tough course and have that sort of thing happen, but I'm over it now and looking ahead.

In the unlikely event I don't qualify today, my plan is to head home and prepare for the US Open Sectional qualifier in Columbus.  I'm playing June 4th, here's my pairings…

7:00am off the 10th tee at Scioto with Scott Piercy and Nick O'Hern
12:00 off the 1st tee at the Scarlet Course, same pairing

Feeling good about the game, think these qualifiers are two great opportunities I'm about to take advantage of!

What's coming up...

I played in an Autism Benefit at Treesdale yesterday.  We played a scramble format and I had a really fun day, on top of playing really well.  The group is called Autism Speaks, it's a great cause.  Check it out!
http://www.autismspeaks.org/

I've got about a week here in Pittsburgh to continue to hone my game, and I've been making great progress.  I'm really hitting it well and I'm excited for my upcoming schedule.  I just signed up for an eGolf event at River Hills on May 23-26, then I'll be headed to Raleigh for a Nationwide Monday qualifier which is on May 28th.  With any luck I'll get in that event.  US Open sectionals begin on June 4th in Columbus at the Scarlet Course and Sciota.

That's what's coming up!

On to Sectionals!

After some near misses in the Nationwide qualifiers the last few weeks, I finally broke through and qualified for something, US Open Sectionals that is.  I plodded along most of the day before getting hot on the back 9 at Quicksilver GC.  I birdied 5 of my last 7 holes to finish with a 5-under par 67 and medalist honors by two shots.  70 wound up in a 3 for 1 playoff.  It was an odd start to the day though to say the least…

We started in the pouring rain and after hitting the first green, I was faced with a putt through lots of casual water.  I was very fortunate to two putt and had an 8-footer for birdie on two when they blew the siren.  In a decision that goes down as one of the most puzzling in the history of golf, the West Penn decided to wipe out all 90 minutes of play and start ALL the rounds over, as opposed to just restarting where we left off.  No worries though, just needed to refocus and get ready for the new round.  I got off to a nice start with a made 15-footer on 2. Bogied 6, the par 3, and birdied nine.  I would go on to birdie 12, bogey 13 to drop back to 1-under par.  I would go on to birdie 14, 15, 16, and 17 to finish off the round.  I hit it great, but hit a couple mediocre chips and missed four putts inside 6 feet.  So it could have been even better, but it showed that it wouldn't hurt to spend some added time on the short game this week.  All in all, a very positive performance and I'm headed back to Columbus for my third try at US Open Sectionals.  The last time I was at the Olympic Club, this year's Open site, was for the US Junior Amateur.  Joe Zinsky was on my bag when I qualified for the Junior Am back then, and he was on the bag again yesterday.  He'll be looping in Columbus as well, hopefully we can continue this successful run en route to a tournament at the Olympic Club.

US Open Qualifier Today

Today is the US Open Local qualifier at Quicksilver GC, a course I have made an effort of becoming more familiar with this spring.  I've probably played 10 or 12 rounds out there already this year.  It's fairly wide open off the tee which is always good for a longer hitter like me, but the greens are where the course can get you.  You need to place your ball well and try to stay under the whole as much as possible.  The forecast today is looking like rain all morning, but possibly thunderstorms, which could mean a delay.  I tee off at 8:49 off the 1st tee.  My dad and I played out there yesterday and I fired a bogey free 65 and feel really good about things.  The goal is to play the course and execute like I did yesterday.  Today is a new day though, and I'm going to play as good as I can.  I've made it through Local qualifying twice already in past years, now I'm going to go make it number 3!  I might be able to tweet during any rain delays, so be sure to follow me  @MVS_Golf

Stay dry today!

Oh So Close!

I've been down south for almost 2 weeks now and I've had some bad play, some great play, and a fair share of disappointment.  My trip started with an eGolf event in Greensboro where my practice round went amazingly well.  I was extremely confident going into the tournament and unfortunately, things just didn't translate into the event.  My driver was not friendly, and all-in-all, I hit it poorly for the week.  Disappointing considering where I thought I was with my game.  Of course, after missing the cut, I went to Greensboro CC to have a little match with Chad Warmbein, a fellow Pittsburgh native who was also playing the eGolf event that week.  In fact, he came over to stay a couple nights with John Stratton who graciously hosted me again this year.  Great guy!  But out at GCC, the DAY after shooting a difficult 79, I fired an easy 68 and just hit it great…and GCC was easily twice as hard as Forest Oaks, the course used for the eGolf tour event.  Dumbfounding, but a positive as I looked forward to the Monday qualifier for the Nationwide Tour event at Kinderlou Forest, a course I know well and have shown I can dominate.

The Monday was played at Doublegate CC, or as Peter Malnati humorously, and accurately calls it, "DoubleDogLeg CC."  Because every single par 4 or 5, besides number 5, is a tree-lined dogleg.  It was a tremendously windy day and scores were going to be high.  But gosh, I was playing solid.  My lone bogey on the front 9 came on a 30-foot downhill, downwind putt that just wouldn't stop.  I turned at 2-under and continued to play solidly, in fact I had a great up and down on 15 to get to 5-under par.  Unfortunately, bogies at 16 & 18 would cost me dearly as 68 would be the score to safely earn a spot into the week's Nationwide event.  But I still had one last shot with my 69.  There was a 10 person playoff for the last spot, which meant one thing, I needed to go make a birdie to have a chance.  I hit a perfect hybrid, but followed it up with a crummy 100-yd wedge to 30-feet and I missed the putt, although I gave it a good effort.  I would be lying if I said I wasn't a bit nervous during that playoff, but it was a good opportunity and a great experience.  Again, I found myself disappointed about not getting in, but upbeat and positive about where my game is right now.

I'm sticking around the Atlanta area for a few days while I get ready for the Nationwide qualifier in Athens, GA on Monday.  Hopefully I can save one more shot there and get into one of these events.  I just need a chance, because I'm playing well!

No luck in Puerto Rico

Everything seemed to be moving in the right direction going into Puerto Rico, but I couldn't quite put it all together for either of the qualifiers.  I played pretty solidly on Friday, in the qualifier for 1 spot, but I had 3 bad holes on the front 9 that took me out of it.  Besides those three holes I made 3 birdies and all pars, which was solid.  I worked hard on the range the next couple of days to try to correct the troubles I had in the first round with some bad shots, and to some degree it worked.  I hit some really good shots in the Monday qualifier and birdied 3 of my last 5 in some serious wind.  Unfortunately, my miscues were really costly, leading to too many bogies and I just couldn't make enough birdies to make up for it.  I'm truly enthusiastic about the positives that are working their way into my game, but there is still work to do.  I've been working on some new things with Kevin Shields here in Pittsburgh, and it just didn't all quite stick with my 3 weeks on the road.  I'm back here now to continue working with him and Joe Boros.  I may be here for a while in the hopes of forming some good habits with my swing.  I worked with a hypnotist my senior year at Marquette, well, my whole team did, and he said it takes 21 days to make something habit.  So that is my goal, to work on my progress for 21 days to make it habit and to improve my consistency.

The wedge game still needs some improvement as well and now that the weather is getting better in Pittsburgh, I'll be able to take the practice outside.  The putting stroke was solid all week, and I hit alot of solid putts, so that's another positive.  I like where things are headed, now it's just about putting in the time.

Follow me on Twitter @MVS_golf

Good things on the Horizon

And that horizon is going to be in the Atlantic Standard Time Zone.  Puerto Rico is my next stop and I fly out on Wednesday.  I have one more day in Tampa tomorrow at Hunter's Green before I fly out.  Things are going VERY well.  I hit it the best I have today, including a 380 yard drive on the flat 18th hole at East Lake Woodlands today. No wind, simply crushed it.  Hitting great chips, giving putts good rolls, and I've really started to hit the ball solidly and consistently.  Super excited to get my competitive season underway in Puerto Rico.

CHECK ME OUT!
I finally succumbed to the peer pressure and have joined the Twitter world.  Please follow me @MVS_Golf  and I promise to update that a little better than I do my blog.

It has been a solid couple weeks of practice here in Tampa.  I like where my luck is headed, in fact, I hit 5 straight races at Derby Lanes Grayhound track the other day.  I mean that's mostly skill in picking the dogs and understanding talent, but I suppose there's a little luck involved too.

Another Great Week, Schedule

Not much new this last week… I've mostly just been staying the course with my progress.  I'm continuing my 4-day a week workouts at ESI.  They are going really well and my strength has visably increased.  Not only that, but my back pains have decreased dramatically as well.  I was able to see the chiropractor there today.  He's been gone for over a week to tend to some of his players that were at the Pro Bowl…yeah, he's pretty good.  The body is feeling great.

I was also able to get out and play at Treesdale yesterday, and after 2 lessons over the last 2 weeks with Kevin Shields, down at the Neville Island dome, I'm absolutely hitting the ball on a string.  The greens were not in good shape, but when you hit almost every shot inside 10 feet, that's when you can score anywhere.  I made 4 birdies on 9 holes and shot 2-under.  The best of which being a 230-yd rescue club I hit, into the wind, over water at the par-5 6th hole on the Grove course.  I hit it right over the flag to 10 feet and lipped out the eagle putt.  So excited to get down to Florida to practice and play for a couple weeks before I try my hand at qualifying in Puerto Rico, here's my upcoming schedule (tenative)…

February 17-28, Tampa, FL for practice and play outdoors
February 29-March 5, Puerto Rico for 2 qualifiers for the PGA event that is there
March 6-11 (with any luck) Puerto Rico Open, PGA event
March 12-17, eGolf Tour event at Pine Needles, NC
March 18-19, Monday qualifier in Louisiana for Nationwide Tour event
March 20-25, Nationwide event in Louisiana OR eGolf Tour event at Club at Irish Creek
March 26-30, eGolf Tour event at River Run
April 1-8, home in Pittsburgh
April 9-14, eGolf at St James Plantation
April 16-20, eGolf at Forest Oaks
April 22-29, Nationwide Monday qualifer at Kinderlou Forest, Ga, and Tournament
April 30- May 5, Athens GA Nationwide Monday qualifier, and Tournament
May 1(6)-12, home in Pittsburgh