Back on course

I finally got back out there today after having to take several days off. I'm still not sure how I hurt my foot, but I stayed off of it, kept it taped and elevated and It finally started feeling better.

I had to keep from yanking my driver dead left today, but still played pretty well. 2 under on greens that were just punched and sanded...hard to make many putts. I hit another flagstick today. I've noticed that my standards have gotten quite a bit higher lately, without me really noticing. I find myself getting irritated for blowing a shot. Example...today I hit a wedge in and was just disgusted by where I left it. I don't get angry on the course, but it was one of those shots where you just think...weak effort, that sucked. Then I get up to the green and I realize that I'm 12 feet from the hole. I'm just expecting more from my game, and that's good.

Today it was cold and a little windy. I hit a fading 4 iron into a par 3 from about 212 out. Again, I was unhappy with the shot, so I dropped a ball and hit it again. The first ball was only about 15 feet from the hole...not really that bad in the cold and wind. The second try at it slammed to a stop 3 feet from the hole. My point in this being that if I hit 2 fading 4 irons into a cold wind and the worst is 15 feet away, I'm starting to play pretty well. I drained that 15 footer as well.

Not a very productive week

I seems like it's been forever since I've gotten a complete round in. They have been working on the greens this week, that is, punching then sanding so I haven't been on the course a lot. I played 9 holes on Tuesday and shot 3 under. I hit a flag stick from about 163 yards out, then 2 holes later hit another stick from 148 yards out. The second one actually hit about 4 feet behind the hole and rattled the stick from behind when it sucked back. That one nearly dropped in for a deuce, which would have been my 3rd on a par 4 in about 10 days.

So with the greens all screwed up I opted for hitting a ton of balls this week. I would guess that I hit well over 2000 balls this week, and have the aches and soreness to prove it. I've also managed to pull or strain something in my foot. It's pretty painful so I may be off of it for a few days, which I'm not at all happy about because the weather is going to be amazing for about the next 9 days.

Practice is going well

I've gotten really bad about not posting here as often as I had intended. I've hit a ton of balls in the last two weeks...really focusing on yardages and distance controll. I've spent a lot of time with the wedges, really trying to get where I can dial in the perfect shot from anywhere inside about 130. It's going pretty well, actually.

Last week in a practice session I did something I've never done. I holed out for a 2 on #17 (par four), barely missed an eagle put on # 18 and made birdie, then continued playing and knocked in a 5 foot eagle putt on the par 5 1st hole. Eagle/birdie/eagle, and it was nearly 3 eagles in a row.

I'm trying to start figuring out where I'm going to play in the spring. The Adams Pro Golf Tour has a winter series in Houston, so I may try to play in at least 1 event in December. Then the regular seasons start in the spring. There is a NGA/Hooters ranking school in Houston in January, which I'll probably play in. That might guarantee me a few starts on the Hooters Tour next year. The Adams Pro Golf Tour is basically a pay to play type of thing, so I'm sure I'll try that a time or two as well. Then there are Monday qualifyers for Nationwide Tour events, which I plan to try a few of as well.

I'm also starting to write letters for some of the very early season stuff begging for a sponsor's exemption. I'm hoping that my story is intriguing enough that a couple of them might let me in. All it takes really is one good opportunity, then playing well in that opportunity. One good thing, one exemption into a field can follow another if you're playing well enough.

I really want to make the cut in a nationwide tour event early in the year it I can. It would be big in terms of confidence, plus I do need to make a little money now and then too! The Hooters Tour seems like a good place to try and break in...they are 72 hole events that are put on just like the regular tour stops. Practice rounds, pro ams, shootouts...everything.

Anyway, now comes the tedious part of writing letters and begging for sponsorships in the evenings, and practicing all day during the day time. Not that I'm complaining, of course, but I sure wish I had someone else to do the boring stuff for me. I'd much rather go practice.

Another week of practice

I didn't get as much done this week as I would normally like to, but there was a senior minitour event at my home course that had things tied up all week. I spent the first part of the week in Texas letting Abby visit her grandparents on Jenn's side.

I shot 4 under Wednesday, and 5 under on Thurs. Friday I couldn't get onto the course. Today I shot a sneezing, sniffling, coughing voice gone head splitting 77. I had all kinds of trouble out there today, but at least I birdied the last hole.

The shot making was just not there today. Thursday I put a shot to within 2 feet from about 113 yards out, and another slammed to a stop 4 inches from the hole from about 145 away. Today I was hitting greens, but 50 feet away from the hole. Just never got things going. I went back tonight and hit balls, then puted & chipped for a couple of hours. Primarily working out of high rough around the greens. I love being the last one off of the course at night.

This cold has really leveled me. I'm about to fall asleep sitting here and it's only 9pm. Going to turn in early tonight and get back at it tomorrow after church.

Friday, September 19th...This Week

My second week of playing golf full time has been another good one. I have hit a ton of range balls this week...probably in the range of 800 - 1000 if I had to guess. The putter faltered a little bit this week, but seemed to be pretty solid yesterday morning during my morning practice.

Wednesday was fun. I drove over to Memphis to play golf with a friend of mine. Her name is Devinn and she is an ICU nurse at the hospital where my wife passed away a few months ago. In fact, that's how we met and became friends through Facebook. She was a very calm, kind presence for me during what has to have been the most difficult six weeks of my life.

I enjoyed playing over there, although the bermuda greens gave me all kind of fits. I also worked out extremely hard the night before at the gym. I really didn't play very well, and she probably thinks that I'm about to become the golf world's equivilant of a starving artist. I had a good time, though it was a little strange. Not sure if it was a date of some sort, just two friends playing golf together, or what. She's a very sweet girl and I could get along well with her, but she's only 23, and I have a hard time reading her. Don't even really know how interested she is. Anyway, this blog is about my golf, not my feeble attempts at dating, so enough about that.

There are a lot of tournaments at Sage Meadows this next week or so, and I'm having to alter my schedule to practice around them. I'm going to end up hitting a lot more balls during this stretch, which is great for conditioning anyway. It also means I'll get more time on the practice green, and that never hurt anybody either. I may also play in Little Rock a time or two to get onto the course the tournament will be on in a few weeks.

I'm taking Abby to Texas to see her grandparents (my former in-laws) for a couple of days. Don't know where I'll practice down there yet. Another solid week, though. About three and a half more until my first tournament as a professional golfer. I can't wait.

Monday, September 15

Today was absolutely beautiful. High temp of about 75, very light wind and almost no clouds. It doesn't get much better than that for me. Today I got a lot of things done on and around the course. I shot 68 today, which I would normally be happy with...it's just that my only bogey of the day came on the par 5 18th hole. The only thing I hate worse than bogeying the final hole is making a bogey on a par 5. To do both at the same time makes me want to vomit. I played aggressively all day...but on the last hole I was thinking about making par and saving the bogey free round. I let up, and it bit me in the ass. At least it was now and not later on. A reminder, I guess, to keep the hammer down for all 18 holes.

I'm not sure exactlt how ofteb bogey free rounds occur in a professional event. I'm sure somebody probably has one almost every day. I would assume that they're only about as rare as home runs in major league baseball. Some have more than others, but every day somewhere somebody's going to hit a dinger.

I've been working on a new shot this week. I ordered a 5-wood with an extremely stiff shaft (unusual for a 5 wood, I know) a while back. I almost NEVER hit it left because of that shaft. One less side of the golf course to worry about with that club. Anyway, I've been working on a shot from about 210 - 225 yards with it. I can hit it about 260 full out, so to hit the shorted version I choke way down on the club and basically swing it like a seven iron. The result is a low, penetrating ball flight that stops on a dime. It's one hell of a handy shot to have in the bag if you need it. I hit it a number of times out on the course today and never missed a green with it.

The putting and chiping are progressing nicely. I had a long chip in for birdie on a 197 yard par 3 today. I'm also beginning to get the distance dialed in with shots under 135 yards. There are so many variables to consider. It seems like every day now a couple of my birdies come from shots that slam to a stop about a foot from the hole.

After the round today I spent the usual time on the putting green and then worked on fading drivers and that 5 wood shot on the range for a while. I'll probably get in 27 holes tomorrow, working around the greens some while I play. Wednesday I'm off to play with my friend in Memphis!

What was left of Hurricane Ike tossed me around today.

I got a round in today, which I really didn't think was going to be possible. It actually turned out to be a beautiful day, other than the wind. The pieces of Ike came through early in the morning and actaully caused some damage all the way up here. The course was littered with branches and debris, not to mention about a dozen trees were blown over.

I played with dad today, which can sometimes be a bit of a challenge. The wind stayed over 20 mph most of the day. This course has some serious bermuda rough on it. Add some wind to that and you can have a long day, which I did. I eventually shot 3 over, but was 2 under after 6. I bogeyed the next 4 holes, then tacked on one more later for good measure. Conditions were tough, and 3 over would not really have been that bad today, but it brought my stroke average for the week up to about 70, which pisses me off.

Week two of the "golf" years begins tomorrow. It's going to take me a month or so to adjust to playing as much as I am. I was tight and a little sore today, which actually had more to do with my 3 over than the wind did, although if you can blame a bad round on a hurricane, you should definitely do it!