A Victory in Yankton, SD

I made a final round charge today and won on the first playoff hole. More to come later, but here's the leaderboard:

Leaderboard

And a quick tweet:

Tweet

Neil

Last Weekend - Vermillion, SD

Last weekend I was in Vermillion, SD playing a Dakotas Tour event. I had a solid weekend and finished tie for 5th.

The positive aspects from the tournament were how I hit it better each day and my confidence grew as the weekend progressed. My first round was pretty sloppy, with 2 penalty strokes and a 3-putt. Despite those mistakes, I grinded out a score under par.

Saturday's round 2 was much better, I shot 65 and had 31 putts. Doing the math, you'll be left with 34 swings. I had an eagle putt on 2,6,and 11 - and the only green I missed was on 5 where my ball was 1 foot into the fringe.

Sunday's final round had a 3-putt (7), a penalty stroke (11), and a drive into a fairway bunker (16). Other than those three mistakes I hit the ball well and put myself in great positions to make birdies. My final hole, I hit a drive right down the center and was left with 205 to the pin. I hit a 6-iron to about 15 feet and the eagle putt violently lipped out. Making an eagle to finish the tournament would've been warranted because of how well I hit the ball, but I guess it wasn't meant to be.

This weekend I'm in Aberdeen, SD. Here's this week's leaderboard as well as the leaderboard for Marshall's event, which begins Monday.

Sometime next week, I'll talk about Aberdeen and Marshall.

Neil

The last two weekends, I've played Dakotas Tour events. Both events have been sloppy with disappointing final rounds.

Westward Ho

Bakker Crossing

Next weekend, I'm in Vermillion, South Dakota.

Neil

eGolf Events in North Carolina and Virgina

A couple of disappointing eGolf tournaments during the last 2 weeks. Last week, I got off to a rough start through 9 holes and wasn't able to recover. This week, a similar story with a strong finish - but too little too late.

My time out east has come to an end. I have Dakotas Tour events starting next weekend and I've run out of money. I've been staying in hotels for nearly a month straight and despite finding some great deals on priceline, that eventually gets expensive.

Neil

Rock Barn - Final Round

Yesterday's final round had some ups and downs, but it was mainly a positive day. My putting finally woke up and I made a lot of putts. I made some mistakes on the back nine, but each time I rebounded with a birdie on the next hole.

My biggest mistake came on #17. After 3 straight birdies, which happened because of 3 straight 15 foot putts made, I hit my tee shot into the water and made a double bogey. I tried to hit a 6-iron and it would've been alright, but I mishit it and it ballooned up into the wind. Hitting a 5-iron was probably the smart choice, but I preferred hitting a hard 6 as opposed to a soft 5.

In the end I finished t-14, which earned me $2600. A quick look at my Gateway Tour finished and you'll see a t-8 - but the money was short of $2600. That's one of the reasons why the eGolf Tour is a good tour. I'm glad to be back out here - especially when I'm playing well.

** 2012 Schedule & Results has been UPDATED **

Neil

Rock Barn - 3rd Round

I'm not sure what to think of today's round. I wasn't able to move up the leaderboard, but my 1-under 71 could've been a 75 or worse. The round started smoothly through the first 3 holes, but I hit my second shot into the water on #4. I made a 20 foot putt to save par. On #7, another easy par 5, I messed up a bunker shot and had to make a 10 foot putt for par. Then on #11 my tee shot found a fairway bunker and my only shot was to blast it out and back into the fairway. I hit my 3rd shot from 130 yards to 3 feet and saved par.

Despite those nice saves, I felt like I played much better than my score. I only hit 2 of the first 7 greens, but managed to hit 10 of the final 11. Even my tee shot on #11 that found a fairway bunker wasn't that bad of a shot. It's just a tough tee shot and I misjudged the wind.

I played the par 5's poorly today and that's the difference between my 71 and shooting in the 60's. Also my proximity to the hole was further than it was in the second round. I had a few too many 20 or 30 footers for birdie today, which was a similar theme in round 1. Final round is Saturday morning.

Neil

Rock Barn - Round 2

Today's second round started with a wonderful birdie on #10. I was in the fairway bunker and hit a great shot to 10 feet. I gave that birdie right back with a bogey on #11 and then found more trouble when my errant approach on #12 buried into the lip of a bunker. I had to take an unplayable and made a double bogey. The next two holes, I failed to hit the green and scrambled for pars. Needless to say, my round was off to a shaky start, but things quickly changed on #15.

I birdied #15 and #16 and went on a stretch of 12 straight greens hit in regulation - and that includes having an eagle putt on #18 and on #7. After that shaky start, I only missed one more green and that was on my final hole, #9.

Round 3 is tomorrow and then the final round is Saturday. It's nice to be playing a 4 round tournament because 3 round tournaments (like on the Gateway Tour) are much more of a sprint. I still have half of the tournament to make a move and continue making as many birdies as I can.

Leaderboard

Neil

Nearly Summertime

I'm back. After another long hiatus from blogging, but I'm trying to start up again as my summer schedule begins. Surprisingly, this break wasn't a result of playing bad golf - in fact, I played some pretty good golf during March and April. I found a nice string of consistency, making the last 7 cuts on the Gateway Tour. Only 1 of my first rounds were over par and only 1 of my second rounds were over par. That was a nice stretch of playing. Unfortunately I didn't play very well in the final rounds.

I do have another excuse for not posting. My car was totaled in a car accident on March 6th. Luckily I wasn't seriously injured, but it certainly added some stress to my life. I kept the stress off of the golf course and didn't let it affect my swing, but I usually had voicemails from insurance companies after my rounds. Below are some pictures of my car. I had to swerve to try and avoid the driver who never saw me. He side-swiped me and that pushed me into 2 other vehicles.

Back to golf, I've traveled to North Carolina to play some eGolf events. The first one started today and I shot an even par 72. I feel like I played much better than even par, but the wind was blowing early and I picked the wrong club a few times which led to 30 foot putts instead of much closer. Round 2 is Thursday morning.

Leaderboard

Neil

Vista Verde - I Finally Found Some Birdies

I made more birdies in todays round than I had in the previous couple of tournaments - Raven and Power Ranch. It helps when you chip in on the first hole. That gets a round started quickly.

After birding the first 3 holes I settled in and hit a lot of good shots and made a few putts.

Round 2 is Wednesday afternoon.

Leaderboard

Neil

Anthem G&CC Week 2 - 1st Round

The Gateway Tour is back in Anthem this week, but we're playing their other golf course. I had a disappointing first round. I played well on the front nine, but failed to make a six foot birdie putt on #10. From there, I three putted #11, made a poor decision and hit my 3-wood into the water on #12. Finally on #16 I hit an awful approach shot that led to an impossible up and down.

On the last hole of the day (as the sun was setting) and I failed to get up and down from just right of the green. I missed a 4 foot birdie putt, but I made a good stroke.

Round 2 is Tuesday morning and I've got a bunch of ground to make up.

Leaderboard

Neil