Mobile, AL - 2nd Stage of Web.com Q-School

Q-School continues tomorrow as 2nd Stage begins.  I'm in Mobile, AL playing the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail at Magnolia Grove.  This is a course I've played many times because my Dad and I spent every spring break here during high school.  I have lots of good memories from playing this course, including my first hole in one on the 14th hole.

I've only played one tournament since 1st Stage of Q-School, which was a Dreamchasers Tour event last week in Arizona.  It was a warm-up for this week and I managed to finish 4th thanks to a consistent score of 69 - everyday!  I definitely had some rust on my game, which was evident with a penalty I called on myself in the first round.  My ball was on the fringe and I marked it and cleaned it.  I thought I was on the green, but I was wrong.  I also whiffed on a shot in the 2nd round as I tried to chip out back to the fairway.  These bizarre things happen when you're rusty and haven't played a lot of tournaments.

Follow along this week here.  No live scoring - just updates at the end of the round.

Neil

Finally, a Colorado Open Recap - And Web.com Q-School Begins

Web.com Q-school begins this week so I figured I should post something about my magical week in Colorado.  If you've been following me on social media, you've probably seen links to a bunch of media articles and interviews that I did.  In this post, I'm going to try to explain what was going through my head during the entire week, but especially during the final few holes.  I know that I won by 3 shots, but it was much closer than that and I'm very proud of how well I remained focused on my shots instead of getting caught up in what other people were doing or thinking about winning $100,000.

Let's begin at the very end - the 72nd hole.  I made a 10 foot birdie putt on the final hole, which sealed my victory and set a new tournament scoring record, but I didn't know that at the time.  I saw a leaderboard on the 17th tee where I had a one shot lead.  I made a par on 17 and felt that a birdie on 18 would be important to keep the pressure on my pursuers.  My drive on 18 was one of my best all week!  A slight draw that started on the right edge of the fairway and drew just a bit.  I was left with 285 yards to the back pin, but only about 240 yards over the pond.  With a slight breeze into my face, I decided the smartest shot would be to hit a hard hook up by the green.  Missing left of the green would be just fine, but if I hit a weak high cut, it would've ballooned up into the wind and come up short in the pond.  I started my 2nd shot at the right side of the green and hit a hard hook that came to rest hole-high, left of the green and left of the green side bunker.

Upon reaching the green, I noticed that Jonathon Kaye had bogied 18 to fall back to -20.  That meant the only person who could catch me was Wil Collins, who was in the group behind me.  My 3rd shot was a pitch from the left rough, over a greenside bunker, with about 15 feet of green until the pin.  In the past, I would've hit a flop shot from my position, but this year I've been working hard on a pitch shot that lands soft and releases to the hole.  I have found that to be much more consistent than the unpredictable spin that a flop shot might produce.

The pitch shot came out high and soft, released up towards the hole and left me with a perfect 10 foot, right-to-left breaking birdie putt.  I rolled that putt in and gave an awkward but very emphatic fist pump.  Look closely and you can see the vein in my neck!

As I shook hands with my playing partners, they congratulated me, but I still didn't think I had actually won.  I thought that Wil Collins could make an eagle to tie me.  It wasn't until I got into the scoring tent that I was told I had a 3 shot lead because Collins had bogied the 17th hole.  This picture was taken shortly after I figured it out that I would win.

* I have two moments from the aftermath of my win that I will remember for a long time.  The first was as I walked towards my bag and the thought that I might win hit me.  I pulled my hat over my face and fought a smile.

* The 2nd moment was when I got off the back of the green and I found my Aunt and Uncle.  I was in a zone during the entire final round and didn't let many emotions affect me, but once I saw my Godparents, I was beyond happy to see them and I gave them both the biggest hugs I could.  Unfortunately no one got a picture of those perfect hugs, but I will remember that moment for a long time.

*My shot of the tournament was the 7-iron I hit on the 13th hole in the final round.  I had really struggled on that hole during the week, but in the final round I had 193 yards and committed to taking a little bit off of a 7-iron.  The pin was tucked in the front right with water and a bunker short.  I picked a target about 15 feet left of the pin and hit a great shot that finished just past hole high, about 20 feet left of the hole.  The wonderful thing about that great shot was I had 193 on the 15th hole and 191 yards on the 17th hole.  I carried the confidence from my swing on 13 through the rest of the round and made stress free pars on 15 and 17.  At a time when the pressure had built to palpable levels, it was great to have a couple of prefect yardages on 2 difficult holes.

Once again, 1st Stage of Web.com Q-School begins on Tuesday.  Here's a link to follow the results.  Scores are posted once I finish my round.  No live scoring, unfortunately.

Thanks.  Go Team USA.

Neil

5 Weeks, 8 Tournaments, and 11 States

This past winter when I was starting to make my summer schedule I was excited about a wide variety of tournaments that i would be able to squeeze in - especially during July!  Well I am officially in the middle of that busy stretch.  It began in late June as I packed up my car and left Arizona and I currently find myself in Denver, CO.

From Phoenix, AZ I drove northwest to Reno, NV where I played a Golden State Tour event.  It was played on a course that I've played Q-School on the last 3 years.  I love the course, but unfortunately I didn't play my best that week and missed the cut.  Missing the cut was somewhat of a blessing because I had a 22 hour drive towards South Dakota for my next event and I had 2 days.  I left Reno very early on Wednesday and drove 14 hours to Cheyenne, WY.  Another early wakeup call on Thursday and 8 hours of driving got me to Vermillion, SD with enough time to play a practice round.

In Vermillion, I played well and finished 3rd, 1 shot out of a playoff.  The highlight of the week was my play on the par 5's.  I played them -13 for the week -- 11 birdies and 1 eagle!!  The day after the event in Vermillion I was able to play the Gustavus Fundraiser, which I hadn't been able to participate in for 3 years.  It was a blast to get back to Le Sueur CC and play with some friends.  I managed to win the event with a bogey free 63 and our team finally won the team competition.

I spent one day at home in River Falls before flying out to Buffalo, NY for a web.com qualifier, but also spend a couple of days with my nephew!

The Web.com qualifier was on July 4th near Erie, PA and I shot 68, but came up two shots short.  I guess I needed some more fireworks.  My back-up plan to not qualifying was to fly back to Minneapolis and play a NorthStar Golf Tour event at Dellwood CC on July 5th-6th.  My flight from Buffalo, NY left at 5:45am and landed in Minneapolis shortly after 8:00am, with a quick stop in Chicago.  At Dellwood CC, I survived a 6-hour round of golf on very little sleep, and finished right before some major thunderstorms blew in.  A two round total of 139 put me in 4th place alone.  Those 2 rounds at Dellwood were my 4th and 5th round ever on Dellwood and I found a lot of the shots uncomfortable and I never got over that.

After Dellwood CC, I had one day off before driving to Sioux Falls, SD for another Dakotas Tour event.  Bakker Crossing played really tough throughout the weekend and some really difficult pins made it a real battle.  My main problem during the tournament was guessing the wrong clubs.  With the wind blowing 20-30 mph, I had to guess whether it was a 2 or 3 club wind.  I never quite narrowed in on which one it was.  I finished T-15th.

Back to Minneapolis for another one day break, but then I was off to Sioux Center, IA.  I had never played well on the Ridge GC in Sioux Center so I was a bit worried to see that trend continue.  The 20-30 mph from Sioux Falls followed us to Iowa and the first day was a really tough day.  Green speeds reached 14 on the stimpmeter and you had to play extra break because of the high winds!  I played 17 good holes, but one bad swing on my 16th hole of the day and I made a triple-bogey.  The wind died down on the 2nd day and I was able to get some momentum.  I was tied for the lead going into the final day and despite playing really well, somebody just played better.

The day after my event finished in Iowa, I had a flight to Denver, CO where I was to play a qualifier for the Colorado State Open on Monday.  Another 5:45 flight - then straight to the golf course for a practice round.  I was feeling like a zombie, but a HOLE-IN-ONE on the 4th hole quickly woke me up and gave me some energy.

I caught fire that day with a birdie, birdie, par, ACE start and I began tweeting about my hot round...

@tschultz07 @trschultz @ChiWiscoKid @drewthornsberry @ScottmHaskins #neilholebyhole during practice round in Colorado. Started 🐥-🐥-par-ACE

— Neil Johnson (@neilpjohnson) July 17, 2016

@trschultz @tschultz07 @ChiWiscoKid @drewthornsberry @ScottmHaskins holes 5-12: 🐥-🐥-par-par-par-🐥-🐥-par

— Neil Johnson (@neilpjohnson) July 17, 2016

@trschultz @tschultz07 @ChiWiscoKid @drewthornsberry @ScottmHaskins par-par-🐥-🐥 13-16. Just trying to keep pace with stenson

— Neil Johnson (@neilpjohnson) July 17, 2016

@trschultz @tschultz07 @ChiWiscoKid @drewthornsberry @ScottmHaskins finished par-🐥. 61. 3rd time I've had an ace during practice round.

— Neil Johnson (@neilpjohnson) July 17, 2016

@NeilHolebyHole @drewthornsberry @ScottmHaskins @trschultz @tschultz07 @ChiWiscoKid here it is: pic.twitter.com/ymJhl1jj4A

— Neil Johnson (@neilpjohnson) July 18, 2016

On the following day, Monday, the actual qualifier took place and I wasn't able to catch fire with my putter and I found myself at 69, T-13th, and in a playoff for the last 2 spots.  I made a simple par and so did another player, but player C hit his drive out of bounds, and player D 3-putted for bogey.  I survived the playoff and now I'm playing the Colorado State Open this weekend.

The event is Thursday, July 21st - Sunday, July 24th.  I tee off very early on Thursday morning and I think they will have some kind of live scoring.  Follow along with all the results here.

And if you're not following me on Twitter or Instagram, you're missing out on much more up to date results and comments.  It's easier for me to quickly put up my results on instagram with a single picture as opposed to composing an entire blog post.

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Neil

Let's Get Caught up with 2016

It's been nearly 2 years since my last post and although a lot happened in the last 22 months, but I'm just going to talk about my last 5 months of tournaments.  This past winter, I played a mini-tour in Arizona called the Dreamchasers Tour.  The cheaper entry fees and guaranteed 3 rounds were what first attracted me to play.  Eventually, other golfers started noticing the same things and they started getting as many players as the other mini tours, if not more.

1.  Lone Tree GC - My first tournament since September '15, a full 4 month break.  I had a lot of rust on my game and it showed.

2.  Blackstone CC - 3 weeks of good practice really made a difference and it ended with a nice 4th place finish.

3.  Wigwam Red (Heritage) - A frustrating week prior to the tournament bled into my golf and I struggled to find any momentum or any focus.  My only birdie of the week was on the final hole of the final round.  It seems impossible to go 53 holes without a birdie.

4.  Moon Valley GC - I quickly put the tournament at Wigwam behind me and got off to a fast start - 65 in the first round.  My 2nd round was pretty sloppy and frustrating, but I battled back on the final day and posted a solid 67 to sneak into the top-10.

5.  Lone Tree GC 2.0 - Nearly 2 months after the first tournament at Lone Tree, I went into this tournament excited to see how much my game had improved since January.  My first round 68 was nothing special, but the 2nd round 72 had a bit of a rollercoaster type feel to it.  Lots of wind on the 2nd day made it play much tougher and I found myself +4 after 10 holes.  However, 3 of my bogies were from 3-putts, not bad swings.  That gave me some confidence and I birdied 3 of the final 8 holes to get almost all of those bogies back.

The final day was something really special.  Another extremely windy day made the stroke average ballon to 73+, but I got off to a blazing fast start.  Birdies on 1, 2, 3, 5, & 6 got me "in the zone" and a 25 foot par putt save on 7 kept me focused.  A great 6-iron on 8 to 3 feet got me another birdie.  On 11, I hit a prefect gap wedge to 6 feet and made the putt.  The 12th hole was into a 25 mph wind and I hit 5-iron from 175 yards to about 20 feet, but rolled in the big-breaking putt.  Five straight pars through 17 left me with the down-wind, par-5 18th.  After a good drive, I had a 6-iron in where I played safely into the center of the green instead of flirting with the water.  I left myself 25 feet for eagle and the putt somehow stopped on the front lip, overhanging the cup.  I came up 1/2 millimeter from a 61 and a tournament win, but it felt so rewarding to have a great week and an amazing final round.

6.  Golf Club of Estrella - I hadn't played the golf course prior to the first round and it showed with a few cautious and careful shots.  I rebounded nicely in round 2, with a tidy 65, but the final round was a little bit sloppy and I finished 4th.

7.  ASU Karsten Course - A week filled with messy and inconsistent play.  Each of the three rounds had moments of brilliance and solid play, but those moments were too short and unsustainable.

8.  Legacy GC - Tour Spring Invitational - The "biggest" tournament of the spring had a couple of things riding on it.  The Dreamchasers Tour gives out bonus money for every 2 month stretch and going into the last event of April, I had a slim points lead over a couple of players.  I played tight during my first round, unfortunately with that bonus money on my mind.  Round 2 was much better, with no thoughts but hitting a good shot at my target.  The result was a bogey free 62 that got me into contention.  The final round was very similar to the 2nd day, but a poor finish (bogey on last 2 holes) left a bad taste in my mouth.  Luckily I earned an extra $1000 for winning the March/April points bonus.

9.  Ak-Chin Southern Dunes - A week of great ball-striking, great putting, and a great attitude all added up to a wonderful 6-shot victory.  A fast start in the first round - birdies on 1,2, & 3 got things rolling and I continued to fire at pins and continued to make putts each day.  On the final day, my 6 shot lead was 7 after a chip-in on 4.  But my closest pursuer, Nathan Tyler, picked up a shot on 6, 7, 8, 9, & 10 to get within 2 shots.  Nathan hit his approach to 10 feet on 11 and I missed the green.  My chip rolled outside of Nathan's coin, but I made the par putt and he missed the birdie putt - still 2-shot lead.  I birdied 12 and 13 to increase my lead to 3, but 14 was the real gut-check of the final round.  On the drive-able par-4 14th, I found the green-side bunker, but Nathan hit a beautiful drive to about 15 feet.  I thinned my sand shot over the green and into the back bunker, buried underneath a rake.  I chopped my shot out of the buried lie, but it stayed in the bunker.  Now, hitting my 4th shot from the bunker with Nathan 15 feet for eagle, I had a thought, "This is it.  You've completely blown the lead."  I took a deep breath to let that bad thought disappear and it did.  I refocused on getting this next shot close.  I splashed it out and it rolled down and into the hole - ho-hum par.  Nathan missed his eagle putt and my 3-shot lead was 2, with 4 holes to go.  After that amazing par save, I played great golf.  A perfect drive on 15, followed by and 8-iron to two feet.  I laid up on the par-5 16th after both competitors hit it into the weeds and I hit my 3rd shot from 65 yards to 2 feet.  A smart 6-iron into the center of the green on 17 lead to an easy two-putt par.  Another perfect drive on 18 and a 7-iron safely onto the green lead to an awesome 6-shot victory.


10.  Troon North - Monument - Greens that were very bumpy made putting very stressful and frustrating.  In the first round, I missed 3 putts that were less than 4 feet.  I finally made some putts during the final round and managed to finish t-4th.

11.  NorthStar Memorial Classic - Mississippi National GC - I had an ice cold putter all week in Red Wing and wasn't able to take advantage of some great ball-striking.  I love that I didn't have a bogey on the front nine all week, but I just wasn't able to catch fire on the back nine.

12.  Wigwam Gold - I captured another victory with some solid play at Wigwam Gold in Arizona.  I birdied 1, 4, & 6 during the first round to take the lead and I never looked back.  My only bogey of the first round was on 17.  I hit what I thought was a great 2nd shot, but it went too far and into the back bunker.  I made some really sloppy swings on 9 & 10 of the final round, but I quickly rebounded with a great approach shot on 12 and then a hybrid into the center of the green on 14 - and an easy two-putt for birdie.


My schedule for the rest of the summer is posted, with lots of Dakotas Tour events and a few Web.com Qualifiers.  I will be better at posting updates with my results.

Neil