Dakotas Tour Championship and CVGA Championship

A final round 70 in Hankinson, ND placed me in a tie for 13th. After a successful two months on the Dakotas Tour I finished 9th on the money list and t-11th on the points list. I think that t-11th on the points list will earn me a little bit of bonus money, but probably not much more than a few hundred dollars.

This past weekend I played over in Eau Claire at the CVGA Tournament of Champions. No hope of winning player of the year this year because I didn't play in enough events.

For the third straight year, I finished 2nd and for the second straight year I shot 139.

Next weekend I'm off to Nebraska for the NE State Open.

Neil

Dakotas Tour Championship Round 2

Shot 76 in round 2. Got off to a bad start and when the wind started blowing 30-40 mph I was just trying to run in place.

Final round is Friday morning. It's going to be very windy again, so I hope to control my ball better and finish with a good round.

Neil

A Group Like I've Never Played In

Let me begin with some basics - I hit last on 12 of the 18 tee boxes during the round. And until I made the last putt on 18, I had the worst score in my group.




What did I shoot? - 64

The other two guys shot 63 and 65. We had 23 birdies and 2 eagles between the three of us (I had both of the eagles). Mr. 63 had one bogey and Mr. 65 had two bogies (plus a penalty stroke - where he still made par).

As a group we all birdied 1, 7, and we played 13 4-under. I shot 33 on the front nine and was losing by 2 shots to both players. Amazingly, we all pared 10, 11, and 12. But those three holes and number 2 were the only 4 holes during the entire round that our group didn't have at least one birdie on a hole.

Second round is Thursday morning and I'll play with the same two guys. The toughest thing about tomorrow will be bouncing back after a low round. It is often difficult to play well the next day - you're expecting things to be just as easy as the previous day. I'm going into the day knowing about this hurdle so hopefully I can play another great round.


Neil

Final Round - ND State Open

I played the first 12 holes like I was still asleep. Once I woke up, the damage had already been done. I shot a final round 76.

I've got 2 days off before the final event on the Dakotas Tour.

Neil

Fargo CC - Round 2

Shot a 1-under 71 in round 2. Leader is at 11-under through 2 rounds so I'm 8 shots back. Long way to go, but tomorrow the course will play about 400 yards longer and the pins should be the toughest we've seen all weekend. Basically, the course will be playing a lot tougher than it has the first two days.

Neil

WI State Open & ND State Open

Never got anything going at Eau Claire CC. Shot 73-72 in the final 2 rounds to finish T10th. Never got to 2-under par during a round and never struggled enough to be 4-over par. It was just 4 rounds of making pars - with a few bogies and an occasional birdie sprinkled in.

Shot a 2-under 70 in Fargo for the first round of the ND State Open. Made 2 birdies and 16 pars.

My second round is this afternoon.

Neil

Williston, CVGA Win, & WI State Open

I shot another 71 in Williston and finished t-10th. I hit the ball great on day 2, but had an off day putting. Ended up with 36 putts and 35 shots! Pretty tough to hit the ball fewer times than you putt it.

On Sunday I won my 2nd CVGA event of the year. I shot a 5 under 67 at Princeton Valley in Eau Claire. Three putted the first hole for bogey, then went on to make 6 birdies and no more bogies. Was in control most of the day. Unfortunately I only won $162, but it's nice to play well in an event that I should win.

Monday and Tuesday were the first two days of the WI State Open. It hasn't been pretty or very sharp, but I'm in 15th place with a 73-71. I'm 7 shots back, but with only half of the tournament done there is a lot that can be done on Wednesday.

Live scoring exists, so if you're at work, check it out.

Live Scoring

Neil

The Links of ND - Williston, ND

First round in Williston and I shot 1-under 71. This is a difficult golf course because every hole is surrounded by knee high native grass. The wind is also a factor. It only blew 20 mph today. That seems pretty calm for this area. It's supposed to be a sunny day tomorrow - I bet that means it will blow much stronger.

Round 2/Final round is tomorrow. A few guys shot 66 to take the lead so I'm 5 shots back.

Neil

Final Round in Rapid City

I shot a final round 65 at Arrowhead CC in Rapid City. I finished in 5th place and also picked up an extra $1000 for having the low round of the day. I shot 2-under 34 on the front nine and then made 4 birdies on the back to shot a 31.

If there ever was a stress free 65, Saturday's round was it. I actually had 32 putts and still shot 65! I only missed one green all day and managed to hit 3 of the par fives in two shots. That means my ball-striking was nearly perfect. 32 putts and 33 swings is an odd way to shoot 65, but I'll take it.

Now I travel to western North Dakota - near Montana and Canada.

Neil

From Yankton to Rapid City

I finished T-19th in Yankton. A final round 70 moved me up a few spots. During the four tournament rounds, I was never more than 2-under par and never more than 2-over par. The two nines that I shot over par (37 and 38), I came back on the 2nd nine and shot 33's - both times.

Now I'm in Rapid City, SD - amongst all the Harley owners. I shot 3-under 68 in round 1 and 71 in round 2. I'm in 15th place with one round to go.

Neil