PGA Q-School Day 1

Unfortunately my first day at q-school was a rough one, and not just on the golf course. The day started with me locking myself out of my hotel room while eating breakfast. Somehow the door's latch swung into the locked position after I shut my door. The hotel workers had a trick on how to get it open when that happens, but for a while I was worried we'd have to call the fire department. My golf clubs, car keys, wallet, and cell phone were all in the room so I would've been in big trouble if not for Shirley and her pop bottle trick. I guess I now know how to open the hotel room if that ever happens again.

Once I got to the course, there were no range balls. Nobody was willing to share them because they didn't have too many themselves so I found myself walking along the far side of the range picking up balls so I could warm up.

Once I got onto the golf course, nothing got better. I hit it very poorly today, especially off the tee. I wasn't sure if I was going to hit it right or left and I ended up trying to steer most of the shots into the fairway and that is never effective. I also struggled with my irons, hitting nothing close and missing a lot of greens with not difficult shots.

The worse thing about today was a ruling that did not go my way. On the 15th hole I found myself near a cartpath and on a barren sand-filled area. It wasn't marked as ground under repair, but the sand was clearly brought in as an attempt to level the ground out. I played two balls, one from the area and one with relief. I made a par 5 with the relief ball and made a double bogey 7 with the other ball. This happened on my 6th hole and for the rest of the round I thought for sure I would get relief because there were other areas similar to the one I found that had been marked. After finishing my round, but before signing my card I talked to a rules official. We drove out to the hole and he informed me that the area was simply part of the conditions of the course. I told him about the other marked areas and we drove to investigate those, but he did not change his mind. I very politely pleaded my case as to how the area I found was not a normal condition for a golf course, but it was to no avail. Just another unfortunate break at the end of a tough day. I guess shooting 76 wouldn't have been too much better, but it would've made dinner taste better.

I tee of on Wednesday at 9:20 am. The round on Tuesday took 5:20 so I'll be done just in time to catch an early dinner. I'll post again tomorrow night, but you can check the scores at:

www.qualifyingtournament.com

Very humbled,
Neil