Way To Go Freddie!

Most of you don't know this but Fred Couples is my all time favorite golfer. I started watching him for as long as I can remember. I guess it was the late 80's. His silky smooth swing captured my attention and has stuck with me sense. I have tried numerous times to copy Fred's swing, but I haven't yet. Oh well. Fred finished T-8 at the Buick in his best finish in two years. His back has been a problem for many years and has kept him from playing the way he is capable. Fred started seeing a doctor in Texas and he has helped a ton. Keep it up Fred and I hope to see you beat the record for the most consecutive cuts at the Masters this year and maybe you wear the green jacket again. This could be the year!

Shark Laugh Strange Wilderness

Thought you might find this funny. I did. I am still laughing. I will be posting about the FBR tomorrow.

History was made...Part II

It is now Monday and Tiger did not disappoint anyone when he tied Arnold for 62 wins. He had a few stumbles along the way, but still conquered. I was on a roll yesterday with my post, but I decided that nobody wanted to read a novel in one day so I am breaking it up into pieces. Golf has been a huge part of my life and I have decided recently that I must pursue a career in golf. Since I am an average scratch golfer I dont have the ability or the funds to play on the professional level. I have decided instead to start a golf publication, club design, and instruction business. It is in its infancy right now, so I have resorted to taking a job that I am not excited about, but it pays the bills and will help fund this exciting venture. I have come to the conclusion that I can't stay an employee very much longer. I am just not built for it. I am wired differently than most people. I cant stand working for someone else. I have been a business owner before and I loved it. It was me and it is what I am good at. I am not sure who is reading this blog but it sure is a great way to vent and talk about things. Sharing it with you is helpful and comforting. All comments are welcomed and any help or donations are greatly needed and appreciated. I look forward to updating everyone on how my venture is coming along.

History in the making? Part 1

I am writing this while watching the Buick Open. I am also watching history again. Tiger is about to tie Arnold Palmer for PGA victories at 62. I know it is early, but with a 10 shot lead I am pretty sure he has it wrapped up. The man is amazing and it is a pleasure to watch him work. I was one of those that did not care for him in his early years. I was jealous. I have to admit it. You see, Tiger and I are the same age. I remember playing in junior tournaments with him. I never had the chance to be in the same group or even play in the next group. I dont remember alot of hoopla or press around him. I just remember people talking about how good he was. I have to say that I didnt get a chance to be around to see him hoist any trophies because I played so early that I was back at home before he even finished. A little scoring humor for those that need a laugh. I still have some jealous tendacies while watching him and a few others that I have followed through the years. I am jealous that I didnt have the work ethic or desire to practice and devote my youth to this game. I have always had that extra "talent" that other amatuers didn't have. Too bad I wasted it. I grew up on a golf course and the driving range was two holes away from my house. Maybe I wasn't able to appreciate how fortunate I was to have that in my backyard. As I have gotten older I understand how expensive this sport is and how lucky I was to have two wonderful parents that could afford a country club membership for me to learn the game that I still love. I dont regret alot of things in life but I do regret not devoting every second of my youth on golf. At my age now I have responsibilities and everyday aspects of life like work and bills. Golf takes a backseat to those things. I am now and will probably always be a lifetime amateur. Every now and then I see glimpses of wonder and perfection in my golf swing, maybe a USGA event will get me between the ropes of a PGA event through an amatuer exemption. But until then I will continue to watch the best that will ever play this game do something we all have had dreams of.
Part 2 coming......

Great job Luke!

I have been following an aspiring pro lately and his name is Luke Swilor. Luke is playing in a few Butch Tour Vegas Tour before the Canadian Tour starts up full time. Luke finished tied for 7th and earned $1000 for his efforts today. Luke got off to a great start with a 68 then shot a 71, but had a bad day today with an 80. Luke is a full time member on the Canadian Tour. Check out his site and blog at lukeswilor.com

Keep your chin up John!

With all the news this week surrounding John Daly I just have to say a few things. I would like to start off saying that I am a huge fan of John and may be a little biased. The news today says that John got turned down by the FBR open for a sponsors exemption. They instead gave it to Jason Day the new "IT" player that nobody wants to follow pass the first tee. If anybody ahs ever had the chance to follow John in a tournament then you would understand why the sponsors want him to play. He has a crowd as large as Tiger everytime he plays. John could be 30 over par and people would still follow. Tournaments make a killing when he shows. The FBR has screwed up big time on this one. This is a huge financial blunder considering all the press John is getting lately. Every tournament director should have John on their list, bottom line. What he does in his spare time is his business. Last weekend was one of the biggest and laid back tournaments of the year. I would have been hanging from every celebrity ceiling fan I could find, get a few winks, stagger to the teebox and knock down a 3 iron stinger up the left side. Do your thing John its who you are and some of us can't get enough of it. Listen to Butch and get that tempo in HARMONy, harmony get it. Butch Harmon...harmony get it. Oh well I thought it was clever.

On a sad note:
Tour caddie Steve Duplantis was killed today when he was struck by a taxi cab while crossing the street in San Diego. Steve was only 35.

Full story here

Good Luck D'Rae

I would like to tell everyone that D'Rae Ward the talented and lovely female professional that I have written about has retired. I checked out her website the other day and she wrote an update on her 08 status. You can check out her site and read the whole story. She has started a web site design company and is working to pay off huge credit card bills that she ran up trying to pursue her professional career. I wish D'Rae the best and I hope she continues playing the game we all love.

Click here for full story

Its been a while!!

I have not quit the game yet. I have been through a pretty rough winter and I just did not have the time or content for this blog. But I am back now. I want to hear form all of you and send me comments on what you want to here about. I am currently working on starting a local golf publication in the north and south carolina area. I am also working on some apparel and club design stuff. I will be posting more often and if anyone wants to contribute to my new business ventures please do. I might have a seperate site up or I may just take donations here. I will keep you all up to speed. Thanks for coming back even though I had nothing to say. I look forward to hearing from you all.

Is he man or machine?

Congrats Tiger! I think Tiger is a machine, anyone want to dispute that? This guy can do anything with a golf ball. I would love to say more but I am kinda speechless.

Part II

So now I am coming off the driving range weeding through the entourage of all these kids. I make my way to the first tee. I am playing in a threesome and I watch as the first group goes off. Solid players but nobody that has a chance, you can just tell. I check in and get my scorecard then a couple of other folks show up. I found out later that I was playing with the UNC Greensboro golf caoch and one of his players that gratuated this year. They did'nt like each other!! Which became apparent with a ruling later in the round. I wont go into detail about how I played, but I will say that I hit the ball well just didn't score well. The courses were both playing at 7200 yards which in my opinion is extremely long. The conditions didn't make it any shorter either. There was a par 3 that was all over water into the wind playing 227.
Crushed a 3 wood into the front left bunker, didn't get up and down.
I was almost ready to WD midway into the second round but I kept going. My blisters finally popped on number 15 of the second round. The most pain my feet have ever been in. Needless to say I didn't qualify. The medalist shot 66-69 I was a few shots off of that.
Going into the tournament I had high hopes for my chances. I soon found out that playing scratch golf on the weekends just wont cut it on long courses up against this caliber of player. I ended up being very proud of my performance and going toe to toe with the best in the country. What I learned that day will stay with me for a long time. Many more to come.

The day I felt like a senior citizen!

I have not had a chance to write about my experience at the US Public Links qualifier. People have been asking me how it was and how it went. The only response that I can offer them is one word...Humbling! I went to this qualifier knowing that I was a long shot and not really knowing what to expect. Boy was I in for a shock! I went up to Greensboro the night before. I didn't have a chance to play a practice round beacuse I have to work for a living and had no time. I got a hotel about 10 minutes from the course. I drove to it the night before just about dark and got a visual. The course didnt look to tough. The greens seemed pretty fast the way I like them. I got a good nights sleep because I was the second group off that morning on the Champions course. I was in a threesome. They had us going off both tees on both courses because this was the largest field they have ever had. 144 golfers vying for only 4 spots! I get to the course at about 6:20 for a 7:20 tee time. I check in and head straight for the driving range, and boy what I saw next was just shocking. The first thing i see is a long line of stand bags with every college name that you can think of. All you can here is the sound of crisp iron shots and rifle sounding driver shots. Music to any golfers ears. Behind every player was a washed up collegiate coach and a couple of proud unrealistic parents thinking their son was the next Anthony Kim. The majority of them were proud parents of the next Ty Tryon. At 32 years old and a full time employee this is where I finally realized that I was a senior citizen compared to these kids. Another dissapointing aspect of this tournament is that I had nobody to carry my bag. Again I am 32 and all of my friends work also. They couldn't take off for 2 days to carry my bag in 97 dgree weather for 36 holes. Yeah, did i not mention that it was 97 degrees and a 36 hole event. I will continue the story tommorow it gets even better!!

Im back again! Congrats Natalie!

I guess I will use the excuse that I forgot how to type, because it has been so long since I posted. Sorry, been busy or lazy whichever you want to believe.
Congratulations goes out to Natalie Gulbis for winning her first tournament this weekend. She deserves it for all the hard work she puts into her game. And to all of her critics I can say that she was never a Kournikova. Anna couldn't carry her thong without tripping. This wont be the last time Natalie wins a tournament. She is talented and beautiful.
I have been working really hard on my game lately. I just bought a Cleveland HiBore driver and it has change my ame alot. I played this weekend for the first time in a couple of weeks and fired a 75. It should have been better but I missed alot of putts. That what I deserve for taking so much time off from playing. I should be back to where I need to be soon. The NC Mid-Am is coming up and I have to decide soon if I am going to play or not. I'll let you know what happens.

Im Back!! and michelle wie sucks!!!

Well, I am back. It has been a while since my last post. I have been extremely busy and nothing has happened to report. I have been working alot on my game lateley. I have the US Public Links qualifier on June 18th in Greensboro. We are playing at Bryan Park. This is where the 2010 US Public Links is being played. I am hitting the ball better and look forward to playing. It is going to be tough. Only 4 spots available out of 144. It is probably going to take a 36 hole score of +2 to make it. I dont know if I have the game right now, but we will see. I tee off second at 7:10 so I will get done quicker which is great because it is going to be hot.
I wasn't ging to comment on Michelle Wie, but I must. This girl needs to divorce her parents, swing coach, manager etc. She just needs to play golf. Her wrist doesnt hurt any more than my hair does. Come on and get a grip. You havent won a tournament and you never will. Has anyone ever heard the name Ty Tryon. He is on the Gateway Tour now and has won $3600.00 this year on only two cuts.Give me a break. All of these "prodigies" need to be kids and play the game on an amateur level first.

I will try and keep you guys more up to date.

Been busy!!

I know i have not been posting much lately. I have been studying and taking tests to get my real estate license. I got it finally. Now I have three jobs. Then I have to squeeze golf in somewhere. No excuses, but I have been busy. My first tournament will be this weekend. Just a one day warm up. I will have three of these before the qualifying starts for the NC amateurs and the US amateurs. I will try and post a calendar so everyone will know where I am. My game has been up and down lately, but I feel confident that I have a good handle on it. Its like a puzzle with a few pieces missing. I can get it all together though. I will keep you updated on how I finished this weekend.
Take Care.

Missing in action!

Sorry about being away for a while. I have been enjoying the company of my new nephew. He was born on March 12 and he has been visiting me for the last couple of weeks. I have also been working very hard on my game and things are progressing well. As with all new changes they are not easy to get used to and I have had to adjust. The kinks are starting to work themselves out and I am looking forward to playing in some tournaments within a couple of weeks. I didn't play in a few earlier in the month, because I wasn't ready. I think I may be now. I will keep you informed along the way.

David Feherty rocks!

I just had to post this article by David Feherty. He is one of the funniest bastards in golf. The first paragraph made me crack up out loud! If anyone needs clarification on the joke about Elvis just post a comment and I will explain. Sometimes David's humor is so obscure that it has to be explained. Funny none-the-less.

Here is the link

Eye of the Tiger!

Does anybody else smell a beat down? That is what Tiger is going to do in his next tournament. He played terrible! But, he still made the cut and was in contention until the final day. How crazy is that? I wish I could play my worst and still make money. Thats what happens when you are the best to ever play the game. I admire him more every time I see him play. I am betting he wins the Masters by a landslide. I feel for the other players. Lets hope it is an entertaining and competitive Masters. There is nothing like watching the Masters go down to the final holes. I'll see you there.

Way to go D'Rae

My favorite female pro D'Rae Ward started her year off with a great finish at the Lakeland Duramed Futures Classic. D'Rae shot 73-68-76 to finish tied for 9th place. I am not sure how much she made for the effort, but I am sure it was enough for a nice meal to celebrate. I may be making too much out of a 9th place finish, but it is the first tournament of the year you dont know the new competition and you are not sure about the game that you are going to bring to the course. It is a great way to start and something to build on.
D'Rae is still looking for sponsorship, and she certainly has the talent to back it up.

HELP HER OUT HERE!

Short Game

Been working alot on my short game lately. Got a new 56 degree Taylor Made Rac and it has given me a nice bit of confidence. Need to shave those strokes anyway I can. Seems that the short game is where they seem to vanish. Putting has always been one of my strong suits, but has fallen off lately. I am starting to get my groove back on the greens. Tournament time starts in a couple of weeks. I will be updating you as I go.

Breakthrough!

I think I have made some good progress this week in my practice. That is all I can ask for is just progress. I will be starting tournament play in a couple of weeks. Just trying to work on my short game so I can eliminate those last few strokes that I need. I will keep you posted.

I always like to help others that are trying to make it in this career. I stumbled upon a guy named Luke Swilor. Luke just got full exempt status on the US Pro Tour. Looks like Luke has alot of talent and potential. Check his site out and show some support.

Luke Swilor check him out