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!
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.
Neil
