Southern Hospitality

I hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

My Thanksgiving was very good! As I mentioned before, Andy Stehberger and his wife invited me to their family's Thanksgiving. Everyone was very nice and treated me very well. I also got a chance to play golf with Andy's family and friends on Friday.

Want to say Happy Birthday to my Dad. I won't mention his age but he was born in 1958.

My golf game is continually improving and it is making me pretty excited! After a couple days off and another Vikings victory, I am ready to get back at it. Less than 3 months until the first tournament, I have got to get this all put together!

The weather is still good here. We are expecting a little cold snap that would put the high around 50, which is still plenty warm to golf! Especially for a Minnesota Boy!

Cheers!

Thanksgiving!

As most of you know, I attended and played on the golf team at Saint John's University. Through that program, I have met a lot of people from around the country. The newest contact is a guy by the name of Andy Stehberger.
He lives down here in Charlotte and has been a blessing for me. He is helping me get acquainted with the area and also introducing me to people down here to help me get better connected. He took me to the Panthers-Dolphins game on Thursday night. It was the first outdoor pro football game I have been to so it was really fun. I am excited for when the Vikings come down here and wax the Panthers!
Andy and his wife also invited me to spend Thanksgiving with their family. I cannot begin to express how wonderful that is of them to do that (It will sure beat the Stove Top and Rotisserie Chicken I was planning on having!) .
This is just another example of the great support that people have shown me over the last couple of months. Without all of you, none of this would be possible for me!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Golf in November?!

Well, it is the middle of November and I played golf in 70 degree weather today! I could get used to this. I finalized a membership today at a great course that was designed by Hale Irwin. It is a very challenging track and is in great shape. It also has a great practice facility. I now have a place to hang my hat and get to work!

I am also a member at a gym down here. It is very important in the game of golf to stay in good physical shape. This is required to be able to perform at your full potential.

I have also been doing a lot of reading and listening to information regarding the mental aspect of the game. Someone once said "Golf is 90% mental and 10% physical". Being mentally tough for a 5 hour round is a hard thing to master. I am learning how to zone in when it is time to hit a shot and also how to become fully relaxed when I am walking in between them. I have some audio CD's by Bob Rotella, that are teaching me how to implement these things into my game. Another key aspect that he stresses is strong visualization. I don't think I have had to visualize so many things in my life as I have since I started his curriculum!

Besides the game itself, the other big aspect of becoming a professional golfer is being able to market yourself. Golf is not like all of the other professional sports in the sense that I did not receive a signing bonus or a long term contract. For me to chase my dream, it takes a lot of support. All of my golf related expenses are not covered by a billionaire team owner as they are in other sports. I am responsible for finding the means to fund all of my expenses. Most golfers, such as Rich Beem, partnered with members of their community to fund their dream. I am in the process of putting together a group of partners to help me reach my goal. Throughout the next few weeks, I will be spending half my time on the course and half my time reaching out to potential partners to join this group.

I want to thank everyone who has contributed gifts, as well as those that have committed to become a partner. It truly means the world to know you are behind me and believe in me.

Now that I am getting fully acclimated to Charlotte, check back often because my blog updates will be more frequent.

God Bless!

Hello from Charlotte

Hey Everyone,

It has been awhile since my last post. I am finally settled in the Charlotte area and I am already getting accustomed to it. The weather here is fantastic and I am already getting to play lots of golf. My apartment is in a nice gated community and the people are very friendly. This is the first time I have ever lived alone, so it is taking a little getting used to.

I had the opportunity to go over to Pinehurst, NC this week. Some guys from Hazeltine are members at a club called Forest Creek. It is an unbelievable place and the guys treated me very well. I got to play both courses there and they are both very fun. The club is only a couple miles from Pinehurst Resort, so we went over there and walked around Pinehurst No. 2. That is the course where they host a lot of majors and are holding the men's and women's U.S. Opens in 2014. I thought the area of Pinehurst was the best golf area I have ever been to, simply amazing.

I am going to play this afternoon with a SJU alumn. He has been very helpful in getting me accustom to the area. The weather is beautiful, so it should be a good day.

My agent, Jim Lehman's father passed away last week. I ask you to keep his family in your prayers as this is a very tough time for them.

That's all for now! Have a great week everyone!!