Changes!

Hello Everyone!

It has been quite a long time since I last posted on my blog. I have had a very busy last month or so and have had some big changes take place in my life.
A little more than a month ago, I was contacted about an opportunity to work for a rising golf company called Hot Stix Golf. The CEO is a Saint John's Alumni. I was kind of skeptical at first about leaving the Carolinas and a full playing schedule. After some phone interviews, a one day trip to Scottsdale, AZ, and some serious thought, I decided to take the job. My good friend, Clinton Dammann, also took a job with Hot Stix.
Hot Stix Golf is a custom club fitting company. They specialize in being able to provide people with superior fittings due to the top technology in the business. Also, they have no bias towards any certain club company so they have that advantage over the individual club companies. They do not sell retail, your clubs don't get ordered until they have all your specs. They then order the clubs and once they come in, they take them apart and build them to the individuals specs. If you ever see the golf club ratings in Golf Magazine, Hot Stix performs all those tests, so they have quite the reputation in the golf world.
They are looking to expand their locations and in doing so, they need to hire on more fitters. What my job will include is fitting people for the absolute best clubs for that individual. A full fitting takes around 4 hours, so as you can imagine, it is pretty detailed.
I met the CEO, Mark Flynn, my senior year at SJU. We talked for a long time at senior night. He is a very successful businessman and just bought the company about a year ago. He is a golf enthusiast and saw great opportunity for this company.
So, Clint and I packed up our cars and drove from Charlotte, NC to Scottsdale, AZ. After 31 hours of driving, my car getting broken into, and a couple minor car issues, we finally made it here last Monday. We will be here for a couple months to do some training before they relocate us to one of their new locations.
Since I will be working on a driving range somewhere, I will still be allowed to practice and play quite a bit. I just could not afford to keep playing a full schedule on a caddy's income. When I broke it down, I realized how great of an opportunity this was and could not pass it up. Now, this does not mean that I am giving up on playing professional by any means. I am still going to try and play in a few tournaments a year for right now and save up as much money as I can. I will be getting paid pretty well and have very good benefits.
We have been out here training for a week so far and I absolutely love it! It is very fun and challenging at the same time. I am not sure yet where I will end up but there is a chance I will end up in Minnesota for at least 6 months of the year!
I want to thank everyone who has supported me so far, especially my family! There is no way I could have done what I have so far without all your support. Like I said, I am not giving up yet, but this was the best decision for me at this time and I hope everyone understands.
I won't be continuing to blog through all of this, but if I do start playing full time again, I will make sure everyone is updated.

Thanks again!

Joe

Fall!

A lot has been going on here in the past couple of weeks. My computer crashed and that is the reason for the lack of blogs. Right after my computer died, my phone died. I guess when it rains, it pours.
I just moved to a new apartment complex. I now live with Neil Johnson and Clinton Dammann. Neil went to Gustavus and is from River Falls, WI, and Clint went to college with me at SJU. They both moved down here to play on the EGolf Tour next year also.
I am still caddying as much as possible. Quail Hollow has been closed for the past couple of months, so I have been caddying out at Charlotte Country Club. Quail is back open now, so I will be spending most of my time back over there.
I am excited to have these guys down here so I have someone to practice and hang out with. They are both really good guys so I am happy to have them around.

The blogs will be more frequent now that I have a computer around.

Hope all is well everyone!!

Book!

Not much has changed out here in Charlotte. I am all settled on a new apartment that I will be moving into on September 30th. I am moving in with 2 good friends of mine. I am pretty excited for a little change.

A teammate of mine from SJU sent me a book. I am not a big reader but this book was amazing and I finished it in a day. It's called "Golf's Sacred Journey, Seven Days At The Links Of Utopia". I cannot stress enough that if you play golf, you HAVE to read this book. It was truly amazing how everything pertained to me and not only my golf game, but my life.

I am continuing to practice hard and caddy out at Quail Hollow. Things are suppose to finally start cooling down out here, so that is a plus.

Other then that, I am just enjoying my final days of being 23 years young!

Time Off

I was able to be home in MN over the 4th of July. A good friend of mine had some extra frequent flyer miles and offered to fly me home so I could spend some time with my family and friends. I was very appreciative and had a great time.
The Egolf Tour is in it's last two weeks of the regular season. I am not playing in these events for the same reason I have been not playing in the prior events, money. I remain very positive and I am doing everything that I can to get back out there as soon as possible.
I am hoping to play in some of the fall series events that take place in September and October.
As for my game, it is improving. During this time off, I have had a lot of time to evaluate the year so far and the things about my game that were costing me strokes on the golf course. This time off has also allowed me to make some of the changes to my swing that I didn't want to venture into while I was in tournaments.
I was fighting an occasional hook. I figured out that it was due to my ball position and also my position at the top of my backswing. I was a little too far from the ball and my hands were not in front of the ball at address. At the top of my backswing, I was making a little extra move that was closing down my clubface. I have moved closer to the ball and my hands are now more forward. As to eliminating the closing down of the clubface, that is going to take a little more time because as I know from the past, this is something I have fought ever since I made my swing one that favored a draw.
So, I will be continually working on these changes and caddying as much as I can to make money. Other than that, there isn't much else that goes on down here.
I hope everyone is well and enjoyed Independence Day!!

Heat!

A lot of time has passed since my last post, but there is not much to inform everyone on. I have been caddying as much of possible to make money, and practicing whenever I am not working. My game is continually improving and I am excited to hopefully get back out playing in tournaments as soon as I can find the money.
The heat down here is something that is taking a little while for me to get used to. As I write this, it is 98 degrees with a heat index of 110. It's like a big oven, but I will eventually get used to it.
Since summer is well underway, I hope everyone is enjoying the outdoors and hopefully playing good golf!

So Close!

Well.....I shot even par yesterday. That put me at -2 for the tourney and not playing on the weekend. I had 1 bad hole yesterday. Hole 9 was a 202 yard par-3 that is a little downhill. I thought that if I hit a 7-iron, I would be in the middle of the green because it was 202 to a back pin and about 190 to the middle, downhill. Well that 7-iron flew the green by about 10 yards and went into a creek. That was pretty confusing, but it happens. Other then that, just a couple slip-ups to make a few bogeys. Again, I was putting a good roll on my birdie putts and started to get some to go in but not enough.
I am now going to have to take some time away from the tournament scene, due to lack of finances for the rest of this year to pay entry fees and travel cost. I am going to keep practicing and trying to caddy as much as possible to make money so that I can start playing again. It is a bummer that it worked out this way, because I feel like I am really starting to figure all of this out and was on the brink of really breaking through this barrier.
I will keep everyone updated on my progress and when I am going to start playing in tournaments again.
Thanks for your support!

Good Start!

Yesterday was a good start for me. I got off to a slow start, but finished pretty good to end with a -2, 70. I was on the course that was playing a little tougher.
I was hitting the ball pretty well yesterday, I just couldn't get the putts in the hole, until 14 when I figured something out. I then birdied 4 of my last 5(with a bogey on 17) to finish the round.
After missing my first 3 fairways, I didn't miss another the whole day. I only hit the driver 3 times. I hit my 3-wood pretty far and it's my favorite club, so I hit that as much as possible without leaving myself long irons into par 4's.
I hit 14 greens in regulation. I was making good swings with the irons and wedges.
I just need to go have another solid round today and try to move up the leaderboard!

Another Week

I shot a -2, 70 on Thursday. That put me at -1 for the tournament and the cut was at -3. I did play a lot better this week though, even though I did not make the cut. I just did not take advantage of the par 5's. I didn't put the ball in good position off the tee and that did not allow me to go after the short ones in 2.

The putting was "ok" the second day. I am still not making the amount of birdie putts that I need to. So I worked on that a little this weekend and hopefully it will be better next week.

Our tournament this week will be north of Charlotte. It is close enough that I can stay at home but it will be a little bit of a drive.

Better

Today was pretty solid tee to green. I shot +1, 72. I hit a lot of fairways and a fair amount of greens, but my putting struggled a little bit. I had 3 bogeys today and they were all 3-putts. The greens were punched a couple weeks ago and had some bumps. They were not bad enough to have that many 3-putts though. I just did not have a good feel for the speed out there. I left a couple birdie putts dead in the heart, just short.

All in all, I am pretty happy with the day. My comfort level is increasing every round and I am getting more accustom to the way it is out here. My confidence is improving and I am committing to all my shots.

I felt like I played very smart today, but just did not get the putts to drop. That will come, I just need to keep working on the putting.

I am going to have to play pretty well tomorrow to make the cut but I feel like I definitely have that in me right now!

Practice Practice Practice

Our next tournament is not until the end of May, so I have a lot of time to work on the things that I think are the reasons I have been struggling a little as of late. It feels good to be able to go out every day and work on things, instead of just a day here and day there.
I had my U.S. Open local qualifier up in Durham, NC earlier this week. I shot 73, which left my out of the 8 qualifying spots. I was +5 through 10, birdied 11, and then was in the middle of the fairway on 12 with a pitching wedge into the green. The pin was back left, with the green sloping from the back to front. Left of the green dropped off into a very low collection area. I missed the green deep left, which left me extremely short sided. After I hit the shot, I stood in the fairway and asked myself what in the heck I was doing! I realized that I really was not analyzing everything that I needed to going into every shot, and these were the things that I had been doing all year.
I somehow got up and down for par. I then went to the 13 tee at +4 and told myself that I needed to analyze each shot a lot more in order to put the ball where I needed to.
I then birdied 13, 14, and 15. I lipped out for birdie on 16, barely missed birdie on 17, and made a great up and down on 18 to shoot +1.
Even though I didn't qualify, I left the course feeling very satisfied! Now I am back in Charlotte practicing hard and doing a little caddying at Quail Hollow. I am going to work hard on my mental approach in the next two weeks to better understand what I need to do in order to position myself better and manage my way around the golf course in a better, more efficient manner.
On a side note, my boys of SJU are currently in 5th place at the National Championships going into the final round. Please keep them in your thoughts as they go out and try to win Saint John's their 3rd National Championship in 4 years!!

Funk

Well I had another not so good round yesterday that left me out of the weekend. My swing is just in a little funk right now and the ball is not flying like I want it to. I didn't drive the ball well at all this week, hit the irons everywhere, and putted average. I hit a lot of good putts that just didn't go in the hole.
All there is to do is work harder!

Bittersweet

Today was a good day overall! The reason the title is "Bittersweet", is because I left a lot of birdies out on the course today. I did however, make some clutch pars coming in to stay a couple under par, so that made me pretty happy! I will take -2 any day!

I had a lot of good chances today for birdie that I let slip by. I don't think I read the putts very well today and caught a lot of edges. I shot 37 on my opening nine, and then took advantage of the par 5's on the second nine to shoot 33.

The scores were real low today and as of right now, I am tied for 66th. So I got some work to do tomorrow if I want to be around on the weekend.

Look for another good update tomorrow night!

Progress

Well another short week for me. I did however, make some good progress with my Dad. He was able to help me realize why I have been struggling this year. As we broke it down, it all came to commitment. When I stepped up to a shot and was fully committed, the result was a good one. If I made guiding swings or hesitant swings, the result was not so good. So I need to re-gain my complete focus and not let down my guard whatsoever and commit to every shot!

I have another tournament next week and I am going to really work hard on getting in the zone and not letting anything come between me and my focus!

Lots of Practice!!

I know it has been awhile since the last time I blogged, but there has not been too much going on down here. I have been doing a lot of practicing and analysis of my game, trying to figure out why my scores have been the way they have. It has been going pretty good, I have been putting in a lot of long days and am starting to feel closer to the way I felt when I was playing solid golf, so that is encouraging.
I am especially excited for the tournament next week because my parents are going to be here! My dad is going to be on the bag and my nervous mom will be following, just like in college! It will be nice to have them here for the week and have my dad here to help me figure some things out!
It will be a pretty busy week around here with the Quail Hollow Championship going on about a mile from my apartment!
I am really looking forward to playing better golf and the last 8 rounds I have played, I was -13. Let's just hope that continues into these next tournaments!!

Struggles Continue

This week was kind of a summary of my year so far. I scored bad both of the first two rounds, which led to a missed cut. The two courses were tougher then the ones we have been playing, and there was some pretty good wind. I did however, hit the ball fairly well this week, but my scores were not what I am looking for.

I have been pretty confused this year so far. I don't feel like I am hitting the ball bad, but for some reason, I am not scoring well at all. I do know some things that I need to practice in the next couple weeks. My wedges and putting were fair this week but do need to improve.

I just need to sit back and really analyze my rounds and figure out why I am not scoring. I have to be honest and say that I have felt like my head has kind of been in the clouds at some points. I do know some things I need to do mentally. I let my mind wonder at points during the round and that cannot happen.

I will keep working on these things in the next couple weeks. It is a process out here, and I am just trying to learn as much as I can.

Home

I got home to Minnesota last week. My sister and her husband flew me home to surprise my Mom for her birthday. It was awesome to get home and see the family. I have missed them so much, especially my nephew, Hunter. He is growing up so fast. He calls me Doe!

I also got in to see the changes at the Litchfield Golf Club. Chad Siem is a close friend of mine and I am very excited to see all the good things he and his partners are going to do for LGC. He also built me a new driver that is spectacular. I don't know how he does it, but he comes through for me all the time and I don't think that Litchfield could have found a better team of guys to manage the club.

I am currently in Southport, NC. We have a tournament here this week at the St. James Plantation. We had our first practice round today and things are continually getting better with me swing. We are playing on bent grass greens this week, which is what we have back home in MN. So as you can imagine, I am excited about that. One of the courses is a Nicklaus design and the other, a Dye design.

I am excited for the week ahead! Check back this week as I will keep everyone updated on the progress.

Again, thank you everyone for all your support through this transition in my life. It has been tough for me, but it is improving and I look forward to the rest of the season!

Paycheck!

About the only positive to the day was that I got my first paycheck. I said that yesterday was my worst ball-striking day of the year, well the record was broken today. I just really hit the ball bad and was not able to save myself. I am going to do some good work this week to figure it out and be ready for the tournament in Southport, NC a week from now.
Thanks for all the congratulations, especially all the cousins that sent me messages on facebook!

Brutal

All I have to say about today is that it was the worst ball-striking day of the year. I shot 78. I really don't know what to say about it. I only hit 3 fairways and 8 greens. But I have another day tomorrow to redeem myself.
Onward I shall go.

First Cut!

Well, I made my first cut today, barely. It was a pretty tough day out there for me today. I was not hitting the ball well, so it was a big time grind day. I ended up shooting 74 and made the cut on the number, which was -1.
Although I went into the day with the mindset to climb the leaderboard, I was thinking a lot about the cut early on and I think that is part of what led to my opening nine 39. I got to the 10th tee and just knew the cut was going to be at -1. So I also knew that I was going to have to shoot under par on the back side if I wanted to be around on the weekend.
I made a good 6 foot par save on ten. I then parred 11 and birdied the par 5 12th. After a par on 13, I hit it in the bunker on the par 3 14th. I then missed a swinging 7 footer to save par. This put me back to even for the tourney. I then made a great 15 foot birdie putt on the par 5 15th. After pars on 16 and 17, I blocked my approach shot on 18 to the right side of the green. I had 30 feet and had to putt over a big ridge with the hole being at the base of the ridge on the other side. I hit a great first putt that ended up 3 feet past the hole. I then made that to shoot 74 and make the cut!
So I play 2 more days and then I will see my first paycheck!

Finally Where I Feel I Should Be!

Today was a good day for me! I finally played like I feel I should be playing week in and week out. I shot 68 today, which was -3 on the course I played. I am tied for 22nd place right now.
I hit the ball pretty darn well today. I made 7 birdies and 4 bogeys. I missed some 6-7 footers today that kept it from being a really good round. But all-in-all, it was a good day. I hit a lot of good shots and played my last 6 holes 4 under par. I made a couple clutch putts down the stretch. This day has done a lot for my confidence.
I am going to go out tomorrow and try to play even better and move my way up the leaderboard. Look for another update tomorrow.

Slowly but Surely

To get straight to the point, I shot 75 today with a triple bogey on the last hole. Other then that hole, I played a smart, solid round. It was nothing special but it was more on track to what I am used to.
I am making sure I stay positive through all the hardships. So, when I look back at the round, I played 17 solid holes today. What I learned from the triple is that I have to make sure I don't drop my guard. I need to stay in the moment, stay focused all the time and can't let off at all during the 18 holes.
So, another missed cut, but I am getting better all the time and will soon be back in form and doing better.

Confusion

Today was another tournament round that my score was not depicting of how I played. As I left the course today, I was pretty upset with the score that I shot. I had one bad hole where I made a triple bogey. I caught a tough break off a cart-path that shot my tee ball out-of-bounds. Other than that, I hit the ball pretty darn well, just did not make many birdies. The course was tough around the greens. There were many levels to each green and if you didn't put yourself on the right tier, you left yourself with a pretty tough 2 putt.

I know this is tough for a lot of people to understand, but I am making significant progress. Although my scores are not AT ALL where they need to be, or should be, I am getting more comfortable out there and am starting to hit the ball with a lot more confidence as time goes on.
When I got back to my apartment tonight, I sat down and did some serious thinking to try and put a finger on what I was doing wrong. To be honest, its tough to point the finger at any one or two things. Don't get me wrong, everything could be better, but its not as bad as my scores have shown. I know that it's going to take some time to get adjusted to things out here, but I think now is the time that I have to make that step and I look forward to shooting a good number tomorrow morning.

I had a good talk with my parents tonight and we all feel the same way. I just need to go out there and expect to shoot low scores instead of playing to hang in there. The tough thing for me is that I have not shot scores like this in succession in a long time. I am going to go out there tomorrow and go after things like I used to. I am going to attack instead of playing conservative. Playing conservative has never been the way I play the game and so I need to get back to the way I know how to play. I am hitting good shots, I just need to convert on those opportunities!

Check back tomorrow for a better report!!

More Tournaments

I know it has been awhile since my last post, and for that, I apologize. Things have been pretty slow out here. I have just been hanging out in Charlotte and practicing. I have my next set of tournaments starting next week. The first one is in Charlotte and so I will be able to stay at my apartment. The week after that we are in Columbia, SC, then we have a week off, and then we are over on the coast in the beginning of April. All of them look to be pretty nice courses. I am really excited to get back out there.
I had a friend down here last week that a lot of you probably know. Joey Polingo came down to visit and play some golf. He was here from Tuesday night to Sunday. It was nice getting to see someone from home!
The weather is turning around here and we have been seeing temperatures in the 60's. My parents tell me that the weather in MN has been pretty crazy. Lots of rain and some warm temperatures.
The game is getting better every day. So I just gotta keep pluggin away.

Practice Time

I am back in Charlotte to practice for 2 weeks before we have our next tournament. I have been doing a lot of thinking over the past couple days to try and figure out where I went wrong. I know a lot of it was due to not being comfortable. Because of that, I was not analyzing enough factors in order to put the ball into the best position for the next shot.
During the first 2 tournaments, I was not making sure I put the ball on a good side of the hole. I was attacking pins that I should not have and would then miss on the short side and create very tough up and downs.
I know what I need to practice in the coming weeks and will be working hard to fix these things. I will also be creating a note card to help me remember the things that need to be analyzed. This will in turn, create better birdie opportunities and less bogeys.

Stay warm!

Wow!

Today was the worst wind that I have ever played competitive golf in. It was gusting around 40 mph and then some. It was also a very long day. I got to the course at a little before 8:00, found out there was a 40 minute delay, so my tee time was now 9:20. I got out there and played 4 holes, then they suspended play due to unplayable conditions. We all thought they were going to cancel the day and scratch what we had done, and start over tomorrow. Instead, we sat in a delay from 11:00-3:00. They then sent us back out, and it was windier then when they suspended play, and we played until 6:00. This created a lot of frustration among the players in the morning wave. The reason why is that the conditions were basically unplayable, and the afternoon wave didn't have to play in it. I know sometimes that is just the way the cookie crumbles, but if it is unplayable, like I felt it was today, then it's not fair.
The reason I felt it was unplayable, and the reason they suspended play in the first place, is because the ball was getting blown around on the greens. There was one time where I marked my ball and had it blown a foot farther away from the hole when I replaced it. I then had to play it from where it blows to.
Secondly, you could never set your putter on the ground because if you set down your putter behind the ball, and the ball moves, it is a penalty. If you hover your putter, then it doesn't count as addressing the ball.
But, oh well, what can you do I guess. There was a par 5 today that is 530 straight into the wind. I went driver, driver, and had 90 yards left. I then hit 9 iron and didn't get to the green. I usually hit a 9 iron around 145-150 yards.
Well, I am 3 over through 14 holes. I am EXTREMELY happy with that. At the course I was at, I only heard of 1 lower score. So, things are improving. I am very happy with the improvements I am making. I am continually learning to better play this game professionally and I am also learning a lot by watching the guys I play with. I feel more and more comfortable every time I go out there. I am very excited about the direction things are headed.
I am probably not going to make the cut, but it's ok. I am very happy about things and will keep working hard.

Getting There

Today was pretty frustrating for me. I shot a 77. I played really, really smart but just could not execute well enough to make the birdies. I started the day with a double on hole 10, but made birdies on 11 and 13 to get back to even. From then on, I just could not get it in the hole for birdie. I had two 3 putts and a couple irons that were so close to being good but ended up in bunkers or missing greens. I hit 10 fairways and 10 greens. My chipping was pretty good, I just didn't make many putts.
I am starting to feel a lot more comfortable out on the course. I am making good swings, just not scoring well at all. I feel good about everything, I just am not scoring well.
Tomorrow is a new day and I am going to go out there and try to post the best number I can. It is all a learning process, and I am taking everything in and working on figuring out how to play this game professionally.

Onward and Upward!

Good Learning Experience

To say the least, I didn't make the cut. I did learn a lot though and got rid of all the nerves. I played golf more like I am used to today. I finished my last 6 holes of my first round early this morning. I played them 1 over par, to finish with a rock solid 83.
I then had to go straight to the tee to start my second round. I finished with a 78, but it was the best 78 of my life and I could not be any happier right now. I hit 12 fairways and 14 greens. So yes, the putter was pretty bad. The greens on the second course were like putting on your kitchen floor. I had 3, 3 putts and just could not get the birdies to fall. I only made 1 bad swing the whole second round and that was a tee shot that I hit in the water.
I hit a lot of good shots on a course with a course rating of 75.6. Even though 78 definitely is not good, I am very happy with the strides I made in the mental game today!
Now I will just be practicing down here until I head to Savannah on Monday for the next event!

Rough Start

Well, today was not what I was hoping for. I am only through 12 holes and am a lot over par. Handling the nerves was a lot tougher then I thought it was going to be. I was not committing to the shots that I decided to hit and I kept getting myself into trouble. I also made some decisions that were a little too aggressive, which also got me into trouble.
But, I am using it as a great learning experience. Since this is my first professional tournament, I do not have any expectations. I wanted to play a lot better then I am but what can you do. I just need to get back to making good swings and playing golf the way I know how to. It's the same game out here as it is anywhere else, the competition is just tougher.
It seems like the scores are higher then normal. The courses are pretty tough, with lots of places to get into trouble, it just happens that I keep finding them.
I got 6 holes to finish in my first round and then I am going to try to have a great second round and move on. The great thing about being out here is that there is always next week and it is a whole new tournament.
I will have my scores for everyone tomorrow. Don't expect too good of a first one though..Haha

One Week!!!!

One week from now I will have completed my 1st round! I am soooo excited! I will be trying to update my blog after every round so that those of you who want to follow along can read about each round. I am not quite sure if eGolf will have live scoring or not, but if you want to check out their website, go to www.egolfprofessionaltour.com. Also, you can get there through the link on my website (on the right-hand side located under "Schedule").

The weather is pretty chilly here, but I am still able to get out and practice for about 5 hours a day. The rest of the week is suppose to be nice, so I will be using all the daylight I can to prepare. The weather also looks to be good for next week.

I am pretty happy with where my game is at right now. I have been fine tuning little things for the past couple weeks. One of the hardest things for me to get adjusted to is the Bermuda grass around the greens. It is a gnarly grass that can create all kinds of different lies for your ball. This has made chipping a little difficult to get adjusted, but I feel I have a good handle on it now.

My travel partner, Blake, got in on Friday and we have spent some time together over the past week. He is a very nice kid and we get along really well. It is also nice to have someone to play with. We usually play for something, so that adds a little incentive. Also, having someone there to push you and help with your game is a plus.

Please check back often next week as we finally get this thing underway!

God Bless!

Snow? Really!!

Believe it or not, last Saturday, we got about 3-4 inches of snow here in Charlotte. Talk about terrible timing! They say that happens about once every three years! But I got back on the course today and picked up right where I left off! That was a relief. My game is very close to where I want it to be by the time my first tournament roles around in less than two weeks. Here is how I would rate my game right now, to my standards:

Driving: Very good

Irons: Excellent!

Short Game: Good

Putting: A little above Average

So, I played 27 holes today and was -2 on a pretty tough course. It was a mud bowl out there and 3 of my 5 bogeys were from soaking wet bunkers that I just could not figure out.

I got my confidence back in my swing now that my changes have come through. I am able to do whatever I want with my irons and my driver/3-wood off the tee. My swing used to favor a draw, which I didn't mind, but it wasn't very consistent. I used to want a draw so I could hit it farther. Now that I am fully grown and hit the ball plenty far, I wanted to switch to more of a fade so the ball would land softer on greens, and it is a lot easier to control. With switching to a swing that favors a fade, its hard to be able to hold on to the ability to draw the ball. Well I got that worked out now and am able to play that shot if needed. The thing that I really like is that with the changes, I have eliminated the occasional "snap hook" that I used to hit. Also, by switching to a fade swing, my long irons have gotten a lot better since I am able to go down after the ball instead of a swooping swing. This also allows me to get the ball out of the long rough easier.

With that said, my work will continue to be excessive in the next two weeks as I prepare for the season to start. Two weeks from right now I will be done with my first round!

God Bless!!

Countdown!

Well, we are 3 weeks away from the first tournament. I cannot explain in words how excited I am for that first tournament to get here. I am continually practicing everyday and doing everything I can to become ready.
I had my first loop at Quail Hollow this last week. It went really well and the course is amazing. The final 3 holes are the toughest I have ever seen. They call it "The Green Mile". Hole 16 is a par 4 that is just plain long! Hole 17 is a par 3 with water in front that wraps around the left side, and is also very long. Then you get to 18, which has a creek that runs right down the middle of the fairway. The landing spot for a tee shot, which requires length, is about 20 yards wide. It is extremely daunting!
Going through a whole winter of being able to play golf has been amazing. It has made me think a lot about how I went through college not being able to play during the winter. One of the biggest contributers to my success was Golf Source (Dome in St. Cloud). Chad Siem and the crew there do a fabulous job helping people to practice during the winter. Chad also did all my fitting and club preparation for my seasons at Saint Johns. If any of you are looking for new clubs or even a place to practice, I highly suggest heading to St. Cloud and working with these gentlemen. They are the best in the business.
With that said, my preparation will be ramped up in the coming weeks to be fully prepared.
I hope to continue to have the confidence in my game that I have right now. If I am able to do this, I feel that I will have a successful season.

Keep it in the short stuff!

Updates

The weather has taken a huge turn! We have been enjoying temperatures around 60 degrees the last few days and it looks to stay that way into the beginning of next week. It has been great to be out golfing and not have to wear layers upon layers of clothing.

This week was an exciting one for me. I got a part-time job caddying at The Quail Hollow Club. They have a PGA Tour event there every year and it is a gorgeous course. I get to play and practice there every Monday too, so that will be a lot of fun and you can be sure I will be there in 2 days.

I filled out a Player Biography form today for the tour. There was a lot of interesting questions that were fun to answer. I know they are creating a media book but I am not sure if they will be putting it on the website or not.

They almost have all the tournaments set for the year. I have updated my schedule to show the tournaments that I am currently registered for. I have only registered for the first 7 so far. You can see this schedule on the right hand column of my home page.

Medalist Management has been working hard for me. I received an email this week that had all my hotel information for the first couple weeks. The eGolf Tour does a great job finding us phenomenal deals at hotels, and Medalist Management gets them all booked and just sends me the confirmation email. It makes for a lot less work for me, which I greatly appreciate!

I will be doing the majority of my traveling with a kid named Blake Trimble. He is from San Diego, CA and is also a client of Medalist Management. Traveling together should help us both keep costs down and give us someone to hang out with and play practice rounds with. He is actually playing in the PGA Tour event at Torrey Pines in 2 weeks. Jim got him an exemption into that tournament, being he lives 5 minutes away. Having locals in tournaments like that is something the tour likes to do.

My first 2 weeks will be pretty crazy. Blake and I will arrive at Hilton Head Island on Monday the 15th. We will have practice rounds the 15th and 16th. The tournament is the 17th-20th. We will then have Sunday the 21st off where we will travel to Savannah Georgia for Monday and Tuesday practice rounds before the next tourney starts on Wednesday the 24th.
So, things are getting a little crazier around here, but very exciting!

Cheers!

1 Month

I am back in Charlotte, but the weather is not quite what I hoped it would be. It has barely gotten above freezing, but I am still practicing. It is suppose to be in the 50's this coming week, so that will be good!

I have registered for the first 7 events on the E-Golf schedule. I am very excited for February to come around so I can get these tournaments started.

So for now, I will continue practicing hard and doing everything I can to prepare for the upcoming tournaments. The time off I had when I was home was good, but, I am ready to hit it hard and start really preparing!

Leaving the COLD!

Well, I am in my final days of this brutally cold weather. I head back to Charlotte on Tuesday. With only a little over a month until my first tournament, I am ready to get back to work!
It has been great to be home and see family and friends. Christmas and New Year went very well and I am excited to see what 2010 has in store for me (hopefully a lot of made cuts!!). I hope everyone else has big plans for 2010 and that it is a great year for everyone.
I will be registering for tournaments tomorrow with my family. Most of the schedule is set and I am ready to get underway!

I had some BIG NEWS on New Year's Eve Day! I signed a contract with Titleist for the 2010 year! It is an incentive based contract, so the better I do, the better the contract is for me. I will be all Titleist. I will use the ball and clubs, carry the bag, and wear the hat and glove. I am very excited about this since Titleist is what I have been using for the majority of my life.

I hope everyone is doing well and off to a great start of 2010!