Arrived in Alabama

I've successfully travelled to Auburn, Al and will begin practicing for my first tournament Monday. The weather is gorgeous and the forecast for the entire week looks amazing. If you look in the sidebar, you'll notice the weather graphic has been moved and changed. I'll change that so you can tell what the weather is like at my tournament. The subscrition graphic was also moved. It is now below the schedule so you can still subscribe if you'd like.

For those of you who have subscribed to my website, I will be pausing the email notification once my tournament starts. That means you will receive an email after my first round, but not again until after the tournament. I don't want to flood your inboxs with notifications. After getting the first one on Thursday you'll just have to remember to check it on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. If you forget, you'll get a notification on Monday.

Make a Comment, Email Me, Check out the Forecast, and Look at the Players in the Tournament

Neil

Detailed Schedule

I've uploaded a detailed picture of my schedule for this summer. Click on the schedule table in the sidebar and a new window will open showing my schedule. You'll now be able to see a more detailed schedule. It shows which tour I'm playing during a specific week and I hope to post my results on here too.

EDIT:

I've noticed that if you're trying to access the picture of my schedule on a PC it has not loaded (It worked fine on an apple computer). I changed the link so now you will find the schedule picture linked under the table's title, not under the table itself. Just click the title and a new window will open up.

The Schedule is Posted

Look in the sidebar.....I've got my schedule up. I know it isn't a very detailed schedule, but I'm working on putting a more detailed picture linked to the simple table. Basically it's up there so family, friends, and random visitors can see where I'll be travelling this summer.

Further explanation of the schedule will be that my first 6 events are all on the Hooters Tour and the sixth one (in Greenville, NC) is a major tournament. Compare my schedule to the entire Hooters Tour Schedule at this website. You'll notice I'm not scheduling the first 5 events. Part of this is because I'm not allowed to officially play in an event until May. If I choose to I can try and Monday qualify into those events and I might do that for the event in Auburn and McCormick. I'll make my mind up on those April tournaments in the next 2 weeks.

-Rochester, MN is a Nationwide Tour qualifier. The Scholarship America Showdown that has been at Troy Burne the last two years moved to Somerby Golf Club in Rochester.

-Coon Rapids, MN is the Minnesota State Open

-Miami, OK is a Hooters Tour event

-Omaha is another Nationwide Tour qualifier

-Choctaw, MS is Hooters Tour

-Milwaukee is the Wisconsin State Open

-Conway, SC is Hooters Tour

-Columbus, NE is the Nebraska State Open

-Valdosta, GA is Hooters Tour

Finally, in October the Hooters Tour has their Tour Championship. I hope to qualify for that, but you can only miss four events so I may need to add some tournaments so I don't miss more than four. That might be impossible to do, but I'll try.

Take Care. Don't be shy: 1. Sign My Guestbook (you can leave a private entry if you only want me to read it), 2. Look at my pictures from last summer's tournaments, or 3. Email me with comments, questions, concerns, or some advice.

Neil

Schedule..........Coming Soon

Hello Family and Friends,

I finally got the information from Hooters Tour. As I had expected, my ranking number projects me to start on May 8th. That is the sixth tournament of the season and happens to be the closest in proximity to River Falls (Chicago, IL). Every other tournament will be farther away.

I will be putting my schedule into a table and putting it into the sidebar within the next few days. There was a table in the sidebar, but I removed that until I get my full schedule up there. Looking at my schedule now, I'll be playing events on the Hooters Tour, State PGA Sections, and some Nationwide Tour Monday Qualifiers. To be more specific I'm looking at 10-11 Hooters Tour events, 3 State Opens, and 2 Nationwide Tour Monday Qualifiers. Included in my schedule will be an attempt to qualify for the US Open (PGA Tour).

Check back later this week to see the schedule in the sidebar. Also, don't forget to sign my guestbook and subscribe to the website if you'd like to receive email notices when my website changes.

Thanks,
Neil

Several changes to the website

Greetings,

I'm still waiting for information for the Hooters Tour. Sometime this week or next, I'll get a package with the information I need. Until then, I'll keep my tentative schedule off of the website. Once I do get it I will put my schedule on the website. Currently you can see a table in the sidebar that refers to the 2006 Schedule. This is where the actual schedule will go.

The table in the sidebar is only one of many changes that I've made to the website in the last few weeks. The first change I made was the overall look of the website. This new template gave me some better options for adding links, adding tables, and a more desirable look. However, I have heard that the website is difficult to read because of the dark background and the lighter colored text. This is where another change to the website comes in. I've added a poll in the sidebar that asks whether or not you like the new look. Please answer so I know how many people like or dislike the new look. You can also just leave a comment for this post about the new look. Feel free to post the comment anonymously if you don't want me to know who dislikes the changes.

Other new changes include a hit counter that is on the bottom of the front page. This will keep track of how many people visit the site. I've added links in the sidebar that go to the Hooters Tour website, a page with some pictures, and a page where you can sign my guestbook. I ask all of you to please sign my guestbook, especially if you visit this website regularly. You can sign it privately if you only want me to read it.

One more change is a subscription service that you can sign up for. If you do this, your email will receive a notice when I update this website. All you need to do is type your email into the space in the sidebar. You will then receive a confirmation email making sure that you want to activate this subscription. You activate it by clicking on the link in your email and then you're set.

The final change is that many of the post titles are now links to results. Going back to the summer, you'll notice clicking the title will take to to a webpage with results from the tournament.

That's all for now. I will update as soon as I get the package from the Hooters Tour. Until then, please sign my guestbook, take a look at my pictures, and subscribe to the website if you want to be notified.

Neil

Happy New Year

It's been a long time since my last post, so I figure I'll update everybody on what's happened since November. Since finishing Hooters Tour Ranking School I've tried to project my schedule for the summer, but I can't finalize it until I hear from Hooters Tour. They'll tell me when I start and from there I can start planning what tournaments I'll travel to. Feel free to look at the schedule online. It's been updated since the original tentative schedule.

Hooters Tour 2006 Schedule

The only other thing that has changed since November is my schedule during January and February. I had planned on playing in the Gateway Tour's Desert series, but after some thought I decided not to. One of the reasons was the cost. I would've had to pay $10,000 for only eight tournaments. This summer I'll be paying $850 per tournament for the Hooters Tour and that is a lot per tournament. Paying $1,250 per tournament seems like too much. It would've been good experience, but I can save that money for this summer in case I need it.

Besides costing too much, I decided not to play in the tour because I was burnt out and needed a little break from golf. I've always enjoyed the winter months where I can put my clubs away for a few months. It helps me get refreshed and excited about the upcoming golf season. I've taken that break and now I'm ready to go this year. If I hadn't taken a break I would be struggling in the tournaments and wouldn't be playing at my absolute best.

When I hear from Hooters Tour I'll post and try to put my schedule online for everybody to see.

Take Care,
Neil

Hooters Tour Q-School Final Day

Rough final day. I shot an 80. Unfortunately I made a double bogey and a triple bogey during the round. Those big numbers kill a round, but what frustrates me about this course is how one bad shot leads to a double bogey. Most courses you can take your medicine, punch back out to the fairway and make a bogey, but not here. One of my least favorite courses I've played in a tournament and I'm glad I'm done playing it.

I finished 6th, but won't know my ranking number until February. I'll have to wait and I have no idea when I can expect to start on the Hooters Tour. Hopefully I'll be able to begin by May.

Neil

Hooters Tour Q-School Day 2

Played 2 rounds today and although the scores might not seem that good, trust me it could've been worse. I shot 78 in both the morning and the afternoon round. It was very cold and very windy all day. I think the high temperature was around 60, but with constant 15 mph winds, it never felt warmer than 50. Starting out at 7:39 was awful. The sun was barely above the trees when I got to the course and I had on three layers, which stayed on all day. The golf course is a tough one, but not because it's long or challenging, but because it's very odd. The course is surrounded with homes meaning out of bounds is on both sides of the fairway and once off the fairway, the ground tends to slope to the out of bounds. The ground is also very firm, which means you're getting a lot of roll, so it's frustrating to find the fairways. On top of this, there are water hazards on 13 of the 18 holes and they always begin at about 250 yards from the tee. This leaves the driver in the bag and usually the 3-wood too. I hit a 2-iron off of more than half the holes and only hit driver a few times. Even the 440 yard par 4 requies a 2-iron off the tee. All this trouble off the tee creates a long and frustrating day, then imagine doing it twice in a day.

Despite not playing that well, there are other people playing worse. One of the guys I played with this morning shot 102! It was tough to watch, but he kept his cool and actually finished the round and played in the afternoon. I know a lot of guys who would've quit or not turn in their scorecard. Everybody struggled in the morning. Three guys (including myself) broke 80 and I think 4 guys shot 90 or higher.

One more round to go. It'll be freezing again tomorrow morning, but I hope there isn't any wind. That will at least make it bearable. As of right now, I'm in 6th place. We'll see if I can hit the ball well for the whole day and make some putts. I struggled with the putting through the first 3 rounds. Take care and I'll update tomorrow night.

Neil

Hooters Tour Q-School Day 1

82 + bad start + bad day + bad finish + bad score = bad blog post

WSGA Player of the Year

Hello All,

Earlier I mentioned that I was named the 2005 Wisconsin Player of the Year. I have some more details. Go to this link to see the points list:

Wisconsin Player of the Year Points list

If that link doesn't work, go to this one and click on the box that shows the points list:

WSGA Website



I'm getting prepared for Hooters Tour Ranking School. It begins a week from today in Houston, Texas. I'll be leaving Sunday night and coming back Friday Night. There are four rounds and that's about all I know. The players have a meeting Monday night and I'm sure they'll explain more then. I'll be updating each day, but the Hooters Tour website is this:

Hooters Tour Website

You can look at the 2006 tentative schedule and other things about the tour. Like I said, I'll be updating all week so keep checking.

Neil