1st Stage - Round 2 & 3

I Stink ... Kind of

1st Stage - Round 1

This round had a 76 plastered all over it. I was nervous. I hit some very bad shots and failed to get routine chips up and down. I didn't hit the center of the clubface with my driver until the 7th hole. Despite grinding every shot really hard I still thought I would end up with a 76 at day's end. Somehow...I didn't.

Biggest reason for that was a 20 foot putt on #15 (hole #6 because I started on #10) that I made. I was in a bad spot way over the green. My ball was lying on top of the bermuda grass, which meant I couldn't flop it with a sand wedge for fear of going right underneath it. So I chipped a 9-iron into the fringe short. It didn't check up at all and ran to 20 feet. While reading the putt I was telling myself that this round would end up with a 76.

That putt went in for par and then I birdied #7 with a sand wedge to 8 feet.

I already admitted that I was very nervous, but I also had a lot of negative thoughts.

This is a very stressful tournament and every bad break or bad shot is reason to begin doubting yourself. I got some of those bad breaks today and definately hit some of those bad shots. I heard those doubts in my head, but I was able to reassure myself with the idea that I've got a lot of holes left before this tournament is done.

Hopefully my nerves will be less the rest of the week so I can swing and think like I was in the practice rounds. During those rounds I had clear and simple thoughts and rarely had a second thought as to which club to hit.

Thursday is a later tee time - 10:55

Course Avg.

Course Stats

Neil

Holy $h*+

Two words that perfectly describe this golf course. Is this the toughest course I've ever played?

Pinehurst No. 2
Hazeltine
Blackwolf Run - River
Tobacco Road
Desert Mountain - Renegade
PGA West - Norman
East Lake Golf Club
Oak Hill
Congressional
Interlachen

This course has something none of those courses have...7781 yards. Pinehurst No. 2 or East Lake may require more precise shots, but Kinderlou Forest requires a lot of precision with a helluva lot of power.

* 7 of the 10 Par 4's over 445 yards (longest is 501)
* Par 5's - 566, 580, 614, 657
* Par 3's - 191, 195, 216, 240



Head to head I would probably say Pinehurst No. 2 is a more difficult golf course, but this course is by far the longest I've played and I will hit more 4, 3, and 2 irons on this course. It's going to be fun to play this course for 4 rounds in a highly competitive situation. I am very glad to be on this challenging course instead of on a course where shooting par will lose ground on the field.

Q-School - What you need to know

Great story about John Kimbell's continued success on this golf course. I played with John in a Hooter's Tour event last summer. Now he's 35th on the Nationwide Tour money list. With a good finish at this weekend's Nationwide Tour Championship, he'll be on the PGA Tour in 2008.

Hooter's Tour Leaderboard from 2006 - played at Kinderlou Forest
Nationwide Tour Leaderboard from 2007 - played at Kinderlou Forest

Neil

What an Easy Trip to Georgia

I left Minneapolis, MN Wednesday morning and arrived in Valdosta, GA Friday afternoon. It was surprisingly easy. I made a trip of similar distances many times last year and it was always very difficult. I wish I knew what made this trip so much less exhausting. Plenty of things were done differently so maybe it was all of them combined.

1 - I had a different car. I swapped my little Honda Civic for a Pontiac Torrent. This left me with much more space and what seemed to be a much more comfortable seat. I also had a bigger gas tank, which meant fewer refuelling stops.

2 - I stopped in Chicago for one night (something I always did last year), but I also stopped in Atlanta. Instead of travelling all the way to my final destination in day 2 I decided to make a stop. I woke up Friday morning and drove the final 3 hours to Valdosta.

3 - I received several phone calls and text messages from my brother and friends. On the phone while driving is not the safest move, but I'd rather be awake on the phone then drowsy and counting mile markers. Once I get tired my mind wonders into exhaustion.

Whatever the reason, I'm excited to be in Valdosta getting ready for 1st Stage of Q-School. I practiced this afternoon and played 11 holes on the course.

Back to the driving...I might be somewhat biased because I grew up in western Wisconsin, but the prettiest part of my drive was through Wisconsin. Trempealeau, Jackson, Monroe, Juneau, and Sauk counties were all gorgeous sights for leaf peepers. It was like taking a color-blind test throughout the entire state.




Driving through the appalachian mountains I expected some nice views, but it's too early for the foliage.

Illinois and Indiana were the worst. I guess Illinois shouldn't really count because most of my driving through the state was Chicago.

More tomorrow.

Neil

Day 8

Eight straight days of golf that involved some stress and some nerves. I was worried whether I would make it to Palm Springs in time for my Tuesday start. I was also worried about my golf clubs making it in time. In the end everything was great and it was a blast to do nothing but play golf for these past 8 days.

Pre-Qualifying/.5 Stage/1st Leg-Of-My-Fed-Ex-Cup is over. I easily advance with a final round 73. It looks like I could’ve shot an 80 today and still made it through. My goal obviously wasn’t to shot that 80. In fact, I really wanted to shoot under par and it looked like I was going to do that until an atrocious decision on 17 lead to a triple bogey. I was standing over the ball thinking that I need more club, but I was too anxious to make the switch. I hit the 7-iron and it never had a chance to clear the water.

The other 17 holes were very solid. Just what you would want when the only preventing you from advancing is a blow up round. I hit every fairway but one and had great birdie chances on the 10 of the last 11 holes. It’s obvious that I wasn’t able to make many of those. I was very tentative with my stroke through 11 holes, but then I remembered to keep my head down and every putt from there on in was very close to dropping in.

Ballstriking: 44
Putting: 27
Penalty Strokes: 2 (both on #17)


Thanks to all those friends who called to wish me good luck or to just see how things were going. Also, thanks to those who were checking this website all week to see how I played.

Final Leaderboard
Final Stats

My next event will be 1st Stage of Q-School. That will be in 3 or 4 weeks. I will find out where I need to go in about a week.

Neil

Stress Free Golf is Nice

Today was a nearly flawless ballstriking day. The stats will only show it being a mediocre round, but I was only in trouble once during the round. Look at my scorecard and you’ll figure out that one hole was #7. Besides that hole, I had birdie putts on 14/17 holes.

It wasn’t until #9 that I felt good about my swing. I had 89 yards to the pin. I eased off of my gap wedge because the shot was into a stiff 15 mph breeze. It landed within 10 feet and I made the putt for birdie. On the back nine, I missed one green (#10) and that was because I tried to hit a wedge way too far. The last 8 holes, I had 7 putts inside of 20 feet and was only able to make 2. For some reason I had my mind set on the greens being faster so I left everything short.

Friday is the final round. I start at 8:40.

Going back to yesterday’s post, I would not have been penalized for hitting the wrong ball as long as I was 100% sure I hit my ball first.

Round 1 – Ballstriking: 43 Putting: 30 Penalty Strokes: 2
Round 2 – Ballstriking: 43 Putting: 30 Penalty Strokes: 1
Round 3 – Ballstriking: 41 Putting: 30 Penalty Strokes: 1

Hole-by-Hole Stats
Course Stroke Avg
Leaderboard
Neil

I Let This One Slip Away

Today was smooth sailing for thirteen holes and then my brain got in the way and I started hitting the ball into the desert and into fairway bunkers. I kept things so simple for those first thirteen holes. I didn't let myself overthink my club selection, and I was very content with hitting my shot anywhere on the putting surface because that gave me a chance at birdie and subsequently an easy chance at par.

Once I got to #5, I debated way to long as to which club I shot hit off the tee. The hole is only 380 yards, but it gets very narrow at about 270 yards. Yesterday I hit a driver that reached the narrow area of the fairway and caromed into the desert. I went on to make a bogey. Today, that bogey was fresh in my mind so I thought about hitting 3-wood for accuracy. Unfortunately I was also telling myself that I was hitting the driver too good to not stay aggressive. The resulting pulled 3-wood went into the desert and managed to fly right into a bush.

I found the ball lodged in the bush about 6 inches above ground. I took one swing at it and nothing came out. Upon a 60 second search to relocate my ball I took another thrash at the ball. This time 2, that's right TWO balls came flying out of the bush. My ball bounced out into the fairway and the other ball trickled onto the cart path. Here's a quick question (I know the answer, but let's see if any of you come up with the same answer): If, on my second attempt at getting the ball out of the bush, I had only removed the other ball that wasn't mine, would I have been penalized for hitting the wrong ball?

Weird situation

Back to the rest of the round...I made a few nice par saves on 6, 7, and 8, but when I got to #9 I still had #5 in my brain. The ninth hole is only 360 so once again it's a lay-up hole, but after hitting such a poor 3-wood on #5, I didn't feel confident in hitting it on #9. So I pulled out driver and pulled it into a fairway bunker. I proceeded to hit the second shot short of the green, in the desert, and once again it levitated above ground in the same type of bush. This time it was about 2 feet in the air so I took an unplayable and made another double bogey.

Looking back to 4 days ago, you'll find a similar result to today. Round 2 of the Nebraska State Open was smooth sailing for 13 holes and then it was a grind for the last 5. On Thursday I need to find a way to keep swinging relaxed and without much deliberation for all 18 holes. If I do that, it'll be a fun scorecard to talk about.

I tee-off at 7:40 local time, so look for results in the mid-afternoon.

Stats - Not a surprise that the course average was 1 shot lower today. I thought the course played very easy today. The pins were accessible and with no wind, everything was right in front of you.

Neil

It Wasn't Pretty, But It Wasn't Terrible

My first round at PGA West was full of nerves, mistakes, timely birdies, and some great saves. I expected to be nervous, but what I felt on the first few holes was strange. The nerves made club selection more difficult. During the practice round, the first 5 holes were straight foward (with the exception of number 3. In the tournament round, I had a tough time getting through those holes at +2.

After the rough start where I was +4 through 7 holes I made a few birdies, and if it wasn't for 2 bad swings that put the ball in a hazard, I played well on the last 11. The best thing I had going today was my attitude. Even with the bad start, I was able to shake off all the bogeys and stay focused on my next shot. It was only the first round and I've got a lot more holes before I'm done. You don't have to go back very far before you'll find a tournament (Wisconsin State Open) where the 4 round tournament was a long week and wasn't over until the last round.

If you're interested, you can check out hole-by-hole stats.

Round 2 will be at 8:50. Check the results here


Neil

Ready for a Long Night Sleep

It was a long day of travel and then a practice round, but it all went very smoothly and I'm not resting in my hotel room.

I tee-off at 7:50 am on Tuesday, so you can probably check for results around 3:00 pm Minnesota time.

The golf course is a really good one. Driving is the key to scoring well because you won't be able to do much out of the pot bunkers or out of the desert.

I'll talk about my first round tomorrow night.

Neil

Columbus to Omaha to Dallas to Palm Springs; all in 24 hours

Boy am I glad this tournament isn't on the Dakotas Tour. Every tournament on the Dakotas Tour has a cut at around 30 players. If that was the case at the Nebraska State Open, I wouldn't have played a 3rd round. This tournament didn't have any cut, so everybody is invited for all three rounds.

I shot a final round 67 (4-under) and moved up enough places to receive a check. Most importantly, I putted really good today. Unlike the 2nd round, I actually think I got almost everything I could have out of my 67. Without question, I hit the ball better while shooting my 71, but I got the ball in the hole much better with the 67.

My ball found a lot of trees today, but I was able to make the most of what was given to me and hit punch shots back into the fairway or even onto the green. My ball hit a tree on holes 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 13, 14, 15, and 16. Holes 1, 13, 14, 15, and 16 I was left with a punch shot and I made a birdie on holes 13, 15, and 16.

It was a lot of fun to finally score well on a day where I don't hit it perfect. I still hit the ball very good (as you'll see from the stats), but it was far from how well I hit it in round 2.

Ballstriking: 39
Putting: 28

Tomorrow will be the toughest day in my 8 day marathon. I have a 5:50 am flight to Texas and then a connecting flight to Palm Springs. I should land in Palm Springs before noon. I will then pick up my rental car and drive to PGA West and play a practice round to get ready for Q-School, which starts Tuesday. I know I'll be tired on the golf course, but I'm going to have to stay focused during my practice round so I know what to expect come Tuesday. Everybody I've talked to has mentioned that the Norman Course at PGA West is really difficult so seeing it before the tournament will be very helpful.


Neil

2 Rounds, +3, 145

Round/Day 2 went better than yesterday. I shot even par 71, but I didn’t get everything out of my round. In fact, there haven’t been too many rounds this summer where I’ve gotten everything out of the round. I hit the ball way too good to only shoot 71 this morning. My putting is what has held me back all summer and it’s something about the 10-20 foot putts. I feel good about my putting stroke, but it doesn’t felt like I can make anything.

Starting on number 15 of round 1 through number 14 of round 2 I hit the ball as well as I have all summer. I only missed a few fairways in that stretch of 18 holes and only missed 2 greens. In that stretch I only played 4-under par and that includes 3 2-putt birdies. Basically I only made on putt for birdie outside of 5 feet. There was also a three putt in there.

So with one more round to go in Nebraska, I hope to figure out the greens and make some putts on Sunday. The greens are probably the fastest I’ve played all year, but they roll so smoothly that it should be easier to make putts. I just think I’m misreading every putt; mainly over-reading every putt.

Ballstriking: 40
Putting: 31

Round 2 results (I'm at 145)

Neil

Day 1 of 8

Today was the first of eight consecutive days of playing golf. Normally that isn't a problem, but 7 of the 8 days are competitive rounds of golf and the only day that isn't will be a travel day and a practice round day.

This weekend is the Nebraska State Open. On Monday, I will fly from Omaha, NE to Palm Springs, CA and get prepared for Q-School Pre-Qualifying.

I'm very excited about this week because I've prepared all summer for this time of the year. A lot of hard work went into being in shape physically and mentally for this much golf in a short time span.

The first round of the Nebraska State Open started off rough (1st round 74), but I have a optimistic attitude about the rest of the tournament and the rest of the nine days.

Ballstriking: 44
Putting: 28
Penalty Strokes: 2

Stay tuned for more posts. I hope to write a little something every day.

Neil

Back to Playing in the CVGA

The final tournament of the 2007 CVGA began today. I shot a 3-under 69 and find myself 4 shots behind the leader.

Ballstriking: 42
Putting: 27

Troy Shea, who is a member at the golf course we played, shot a 7-under 65. I'm tied with one other guy at 69 and then a group of people are at 70, 71, and 72.

My hope for Sunday is to get of to a good start so Troy feels a bit of pressure. We're playing in a two-some so it will almost have the feel of a match play round. I don't want to think like that because I'm tied with Jason Allen at 69 and he won this tournament last year. Additionally, there are several good players one, two, or three shots behind me.

I play at 11:20 on Sunday and I'm very optimistic about my chances. I definately gave this tournament away last year. I had it in my hands and I couldn't finish the round. All summer I've been talking about how my game is in a different spot than a year ago and tomorrow will be a great time to prove it.

I won't be able to post on Sunday or on Monday so to see results check of the CVGA website.

Neil

Round 2 at Dakota Winds

Shot yet another 72, which was 2 short of making the cut. I'm stuck in a rut of shooting 72's and that's not good on the Dakotas Tour. I need to find a way to shoot 3 or 4 under even when my game isn't at it's best. I believe I hit the ball well enough and made enough putts the past two days to make the cut or to shoot in the 60's, but I wasn't able to score in the 60's.

Stats today:
Ballstriking: 42
Putting: 29
Penalty Stroke: 1

Here's a course map of the course we played.


Friday will be a travel day for me. I'm heading home and will try and find a way to shoot lower scores. It's very cliche to say, "I'm close," but it feels like my game will all come together if I can just find the right focus.

Dakotas Tour Championship

Shot an even par 72 in round one. I was +3 after 11 holes, but 3 birdies in the final 6 holes got me back to even. Some player shot a course record 64, so I'm way back, but at least I have two rounds to make up the ground.

I tee off at 12:10 on Thursday. Hopefully round 2 won't be as windy as it was last year.

As for today's stats:

Ballstriking: 46
Putts: 25
Penalty Strokes: 1

Here's a quick update on what my stats were in the Wisconsin State Open:
Round 1 - Ballstriking: 42 Putting: 32 Penalty Stroke: 1
Round 2 - Ballstriking: 43 Putting: 30
Round 3 - Ballstriking: 45 Putting: 27 Penalty Stroke: 1
Round 4 - Ballstriking: 41 Putting: 29

Looking at those stats you can tell I struggled hitting the ball during the week and the only thing keeping me in the tournament was my short game (chipping and putting). Odd thing about those stats is I feel like until the last nines holes I putted horrible and I really didn't think I putted well during the third round. I guess chipping it inside of 3 feet saved me more than good putting saved me.

Neil

Monthly Update

It shouldn’t have come to this, but it’s been over a month since I last posted so I have a lot of golf tournaments to catch up on. I’m not sure what the overall mood of this post will be because there are some good tournaments to discuss and some bad ones too. I have high finishes, but also some cuts that were missed by a single shot

First, the tournament in Marshall, MN was a missed cut by one shot. After Marshall I had the Minnesota State Open and that was a great weekend. Through two rounds, I was tied for the lead. On Sunday, I didn’t play very aggressive and made a few too many mistakes. I finished 4th, but had a fun time signing autographs, doing radio/newspaper interviews, and feeling the pressure of playing in the final group of a big tournament.

I successfully qualified for the Wisconsin State Open up in Hayward, WI. Later in August, I placed 9th in the Wisconsin State Open in Sheboygan, WI. Round one, two, and three were a test of survival and I finished with scores of 75-73-73. That put me into 16th place going into the final round. Three bogies through the first 8 holes of round 4 had me going in the wrong direction, but once I made the turn a new golfer showed up. I birdied 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14 to get to 2-under par. On 15, the horns blew and bad weather pushed the tournament into the next morning. I finished the round with 4 pars for a final round 70 (39-31).

Before I played in the Wisconsin State Open I traveled to Rapid City, SD and missed the cut by one shot. This one hurts because I shot 69-72 (1-under par) and was only 8 shots behind the leader, but this wasn’t good enough to make the cut. The top 30 and ties made the cut and I just missed it.

Currently I’m in Fargo, ND where I just missed the North Dakota Open cut after shooting 72-72. The cut was 141, and I missed that cut because I made no putts during the first two rounds.

I also have had a CVGA Tournament where I finished 2nd.

One final thing to mention is PGA Q-School, which will begin September 18 in Palm Springs, CA. I will be playing at PGA West (the Norman Course) and look forward to the grind that is Qualifying School. I’m much more prepared this year than I was two years ago so keep checking the site and I’ll try to update more frequently than once a month.

Neil

WARNING: Heavy Analyzation Below

Before reading this post you're going to want to put your thinking cap on.


If you don't want to read some in depth golf talk, you probably shouldn't be reading this blog ignore this post.

Since the beginning of this blog, I've tried to write about my golf tournaments. It's not easy to explain a round of golf and it's tough for the reader to understand what I mean when I say, "I hit the ball well today." During my drive from Waterloo, IA to Marshall, MN I came up with 2 stats that I'll start using.

The first stat deals with putting. It's very simple to follow. If you 2 putt every green, you'll finish with 36 putts. So the first stat will be how many putts I have during a round. The baseline for a good putting day or a bad putting day is 30 putts. It'd be very tough to say I putted well when the number is 31 or more.

The second stat is more complicated and this is where you really need the thinking cap. This stat will focus on ballstriking. That includes everything that is not a putt. Most golf courses par is 72. Putting is allotted for 36 of the 72 shots. That leaves 36 shots not coming from the putter. If a golf course has par of 71, than 35 shots are left for ballstriking. A good ballstriking day would consist of 36 shots (that is 1 shot one every par 3, 2 on every par 4, and 3 on every par 5). Actually finishing with 36 "swings" would a be a very good ballstriking day so I'll say the baseline for a good ballstriking day in 40 shots. Having 40 shots means you hit around 14 greens in regulation and any day where you have 14 birdie putts leaves me a good chance to score well.

Now for a few examples

When I shot my 62 at the State Open here were my stats:
Ballstriking - 36 (I hit an extra shot on a par 3 and a par 4, but I reached two par 5's in two shots)
Putting - 26
Add those two numbers up and you get 62.

This past Sunday in Waterloo, IA I shot a 4-under 68:
Ballstriking - 37 (An extra shot on two par 4's, but reached one par 5 in two shots)
Putting - 30
Penalty Shot - 1 ( I had to take an unplayable lie)
Add 'em up and get 68.

Finally, today in Marshall, MN where the course is a par 71 (36 putts and 35 ballstrikes for baseline):
Ballstriking - 37
Putting - 33
That adds up to a 1-under par 70.


I'm done explaining. Hopefully I explained it good enough, but I doubt that I did. Send me a note if something is really confusing you and I'll try and clear it up. I think this will be an easier way to tell you how my game is performing.

Neil

Waterloo Open

Round one is complete and I shot 69. Check out the rest of the scores here. I'm going to take a nap before dinner.

In order to make the cut, I have to finish in the top 60. Looks pretty good after the morning scores.

Neil

The Good, The Sad, & The Depressing

The Good:

Shot -7 on the weekend (68-69). Ballstriking was outstanding and I had several eagle putts and hit 30 of the 36 greens in the last two rounds. It felt good to rebound in the 2nd and 3rd round after a poor first round.

The Sad:

My putting. I don't say sad, meaning my putting brought me to tears, but rather meaning that my putting was very dreadful. While shooting 7 under for the last 36 holes, I had 65 putts. Only 5 times during the whole tournament did I one-putt for a birdie/eagle. I had 4 two-putt birdies, which tells you I was hitting the ball good enough to go really low.

The Depressing:

Check-out time at Hotel - 10am. Final round tee-time - 1:50. That left three hours to waste in Vermillion, SD. I had no book to read, and I didn't feel like going to the course to sit in the clubhouse. Instead I snuck onto the University of South Dakota's campus and tried to find a piano that I could play. It wasn't until I drove to the North side of campus that I found the Music Building. It was open, but only because they had a music camp going on, so every practice room was filled with young kids practicing. No room for me. From there I went to Burger King and ate lunch alone. I should have just gone to the golf course and had a sandwich there and found a way to waste time there. I also will remember to bring a book so I can sit in the clubhouse with something to pass the time.



This weekend I have a two day shootout in Waterloo, IA. Lots of info on the tournament can be found here. From there, I'll be in Marshall, MN for three days.

South Dakota Open Results: I shot 213
Sioux Falls Pro-Am Results: I shot 73

One more thing. I played with Brian Geraty on Sunday and he has a website of his own. Feel free to check it out.

Neil

On The Road In Vermillion, SD

Two rounds are completed in the South Dakota State Open and I purposely waited to update the blog until after a good round. Round one was a dissapointing 76 and it felt very reminiscent to last summer.

Thankfully my game is in a totally different place this year and I was able to rebound with a solid 68 in round two. The highlight of the round came on my 5th hole (#14) where I drove the ball into the greenside bunker and then holed the second shot for an eagle.



That picture is layout of the course and I bet the first thing you notice is all the water. Very little of that actually comes into play and most of those small ponds are dry. The toughest part of this course are the greens. Every green has a severe slope along with many tiers. In fact, putting was the only thing that kept me from shooting lower than a 68.

Sunday is the final round and I'll try and post Sunday night or Monday morning.

Neil

Some Stuff To Read

I'm going to keep this simple, just links to updated results and some articles for you to read.

NEW Results

Eau Claire Leader Telegram Article The only fact in this article that is correct is that I won the tournament. Almost everything else is incorrect, but it's still worth a read. If you want the real story about what happened, you'll have to contact me personally.

MN State Open Qualifying at Chaska Town Course

Neil

Hello, Is There Anybody Out There?

Must be quick. I only have a temporary connection with the internet, but I was able to update my results in my last few tournaments.

Results

Also check out a new feature to the website, a map that tracks where I've been and where I'll be.

Map

Till next time, which hopefully won't be another 4 months.

Neil

2007 Tentative Schedule

Check it out

Click here to see schedule on a calendar