Full-circle moments in life are rare, and many times they close without us ever realizing it. That was certainly the case for me. I’ve decided to start cataloging some of those chapters that have quietly closed.
Starting Fresh in Phoenix
In 2015, I moved to Phoenix and quickly realized that my $38,000 salary was not going to be enough. So, I went on Craigslist and found that a golf course called Desert Highlands was hiring. I applied, got the job, and began what became a six-year chapter of my life where I worked nearly seven days a week.
Walking the Fairways and Meeting Mentors
During this time, I worked at four different golf courses: Desert Highlands, Anthem, Mirabel, and Silverleaf. All of these clubs were in extremely affluent areas, and they placed me in environments where I met many of the mentors and connections I still have today. Being able to pick the brains of some of the most successful people I had ever encountered was immensely valuable. I’m sure some members felt like they were being interviewed for a Business Insider profile, but they were always gracious and answered every question I asked.
Looking back, the time I spent walking the fairways of North Scottsdale was more valuable than almost anything else I could have been doing with my life. Every round I caddied for someone new had one thing in common: I always asked the same question—“If you could sum up the most important thing that attributed to your success, what would it be?” About 99% of the time, the answer came back to the process they put in place and their commitment to it. That lesson is something I’ve carried with me and something I emulate in everything I do.
Discovering a World I Never Knew
Desert Highlands is one of the nicest golf courses in North Scottsdale and a place for the ultra-wealthy to live. I had no idea places like that even existed. I often said during this time in my life, “Coming from North St. Louis, I didn’t realize that places like North Scottsdale were even a thing.” To go from the environment I grew up in to living and working among CEOs and company owners was life-changing. A lot of times, if you can see it, you can begin to believe it’s possible. I started to see what I wanted to become.
The Thrill of Valeting Luxury Cars
When I interviewed, they told me that along with my shifts at the golf course, I would occasionally be responsible for valet. By “occasionally,” they meant almost every weekend. I got such a rush driving some of the nicest cars I had ever seen, and the chance to sit behind the wheel of them was a thrill. I would fantasize about one day owning a car like that. While sitting outside—sometimes in the frigid Arizona desert winters—I would imagine what was happening inside the clubhouse, where I was never allowed to enter. I pictured members enjoying dinner and exaggerated in my mind how amazing their lives must have been.
Feeling Lost but Holding onto Ambition
Whenever I think back to those nights, I remember how lost I felt. I would stare up at the stars and ask God if I would ever get past that chapter of life. I felt like a car revving its engine with the pedal to the floor but just spinning its tires. I had so much drive and ambition but nowhere to put it. I knew I wanted to be successful. I knew it was inside me. I just couldn’t figure out how.
A Life-Changing Encounter
I got to know a few members who ended up being pivotal for me in different ways, but one moment in particular stands out. There was a member named Foster Friess, who has since passed away. To give context to his success: in 1999, CNBC called him one of the “century’s great investors.” One day, while I was working valet, he pulled up—a rare sight, since he almost never came to the club even though he lived in the community. I opened his door, greeted him, and I will never forget the way he looked me in the eye.
“I don’t know who you are, but when I look at you, I see success written all over you.”
It literally knocked me back on my heels. I was stunned and could only say thank you. I never saw him again, but that moment has carried me through some of the toughest times in my life—especially when I felt like giving up.
Returning to Scottsdale Years Later
In 2023, my company’s national sales meeting was in Scottsdale, and it was my first time back since moving away in 2021. Arizona is one of the most special places I’ve ever been, and it was incredibly meaningful to bring Courtney back to see the place that shaped me.
On that trip, we stayed with a member who lived at Silverleaf, had dinner with my friend who was the head professional at Mirabel, and even visited a member’s house in Anthem. There were a lot of full-circle moments, but one stood alone and completed the story.
A Dream Realized at Desert Highlands
Courtney and I had dinner with a couple I’ve known for years—people who were incredibly generous when I was pursuing golf professionally and who are still very special to me today. They had been members at Anthem but had since moved into Desert Highlands. And in what may very well be the last time I ever visit that club, I got to have dinner inside it—something that only seven years earlier had been just a fantasy.
The Power of Hard Work
In that place, where I once stood in the parking lot staring at the stars and asking God if I would ever amount to anything, if I would ever find a way to succeed without working two jobs seven days a week—I came back with far more than I ever imagined.
There is unimaginable power in the compound interest of hard work. Everything you go through is for a reason. Never leave a moment without learning the lesson.
The saying goes that you never want to meet your heroes, but that was not the case when I met Tiger Woods last November. Meeting my hero made me appreciate him even more.
Well, it’s been a while since I last wrote, 3 years or so. I have had a few minor life changes. I live in Florida now, I have a beautiful fiancée (Courtney), and a nine-month-old son (Camden).
I am no longer playing professional golf; I am now a District Sales Manager for a commercial Metal Building Manufacturer, called Metallic Building Solutions (shameless plug) . I love my job because it reminds me of golf in so many ways. There is a notion out there that the best salesmen are quick-talking and good at B.S., but that is like saying the best golfers are the ones that don’t practice and freewheel it; it’s just not true. Being good at sales and golf both require you to set up a strategy and execute. When I am walking into a new builder’s office, I feel the same rush as I did walking onto the first tee at a tournament.
This is one of my recently completed projects. Polk County Sheriffs Office
I adore golf. Besides my faith, nothing has had a greater impact on my life. When I first started playing, golf wasn’t about competition for me, I simply loved the game. As a young child, my mom would drop me off at Forest Park golf course at 6 AM and I would stay there all day, never once keeping score. I’ve always been drawn to the artistry of the game. Playing good golf feels to me like what a skilled painter must feel with a perfect brushstroke on a canvas, or like the conductor of a symphony orchestra experiencing the sound of a perfect crescendo. Over time, I developed a love for the game’s competitive aspect. Some of my dearest memories are of triumphs on the golf course: crucial putts sinking into the hole, iron shots landing next to the flag to defeat an opponent, and the unmatched feeling of winning an event.
In 2021, I began to feel that my time playing competitive golf was coming to an end. I believe that it’s important to recognize when a new chapter is starting in your life, as well as when one is closing. When I first started working at high-end private clubs in Scottsdale, I admired the professional athletes, but soon I found myself admiring the everyday members. It wasn’t their extraordinary wealth that captivated me, but rather the stories of their lives and the journeys they had been on. There’s a common myth that most wealthy people are born into their wealth, but I’ve met many individuals who started with very little and achieved great success. I’m just a kid from North St. Louis, yet I had the opportunity to interact with CEOs, executives, and founders of some of the world’s largest organizations. I’ve always believed that if someone else can accomplish something, then so can I. When they shared their stories of humble beginnings, I saw much of myself in them. Being in that environment planted a seed in me, and I made the decision to pursue it.
Last October, as Courtney and I were on a plane taxiing down the runway for takeoff, I received an email from a producer of a media company I’ve worked with before. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I tapped Courtney on the shoulder and showed her my phone. We both looked at each other in silence. On the screen was an invitation to do a commercial in bold yellow letters with Tiger Woods. I quickly responded yes, and I was told that they would reach out to confirm the offer. The next few weeks were a blur. I found myself drifting off, thinking about Tiger Woods more than normal throughout the day. I thought about what joke I might tell him to see the smile that I stared at in magazines growing up. I even thought that maybe he would find me so entertaining that he would want to strike up a relationship and become best friends. More than anything else, I knew that this would be my opportunity to tell my hero exactly how I felt about him. Then, I started to have the thought that maybe he would not be there, and if something happened, the devastation after getting my hopes up would be crushing. So, I decided to temper my feelings and any further fanatical dreams until I saw him that day.
When I got to the course that morning and saw all of the production staff, I knew that he had to be there.
I remembered that I had been told Tiger Woods would be the only one there that day. So, I was extremely surprised when I saw Matt Kuchar checking in at the desk in front of me. “Matt Kuchar, K-u-c-h-a-r,” he said to the lady checking us in. It was instantly clear that there was a hierarchy at this photo shoot. Also on site this day was Jason Day, Freddie Couples and Chris Gotterup. Despite everyone being extremely talented and extraordinarily famous, they would all be taking a backseat to the man who I believe is the greatest golfer of all time.
After checking in at the clubhouse, I noticed people standing outside on the patio. I walked out and saw Tiger Woods on the 18th green, wearing his familiar red shirt and black pants with the bolded TW on the collar. I also noticed that he was using the red dot Scotty Cameron putter, which is considered the most successful putter in golf history. It was an unbelievable moment. Today was the day I would meet Tiger Woods.
About an hour later, I went to the green where I was going to shoot my scene with Tiger. I still remember hearing the radio call out that he was on his way over. I heard a golf cart apply its brake, and when I turned around, Tiger Woods was grabbing his putter and walking onto the putting green. As he walked towards me, any preconceived thoughts of what I was going to say went out of my mind. Luckily for me, Tiger Woods, the greatest golfer of all time, a 15-time major winner, and undisputedly one of the most famous humans on the planet, introduced himself to me. The man whose face hung in my bedroom when I was a child reached out his hand and said, “Hello, I’m Tiger. What’s your name?”
After we got to know each other, we had some time to spare so I started a conversation. He was hitting some putts towards the hole, and I grabbed them and rolled them back to him. We talked about fatherhood, and he expressed how proud he was of his children, while I shared my pride in my own. I mentioned my background in competitive golf, and that’s when his inner golf enthusiast emerged. When I mentioned I was from St. Louis, he asked if I had attended the PGA championship at Bellerive. I hadn’t, but I had watched every shot from that day and still couldn’t understand how his putt on the first green didn’t break right and go in. He explained that playing late in the day posed challenges due to foot traffic affecting the roll of putts. I asked how he overcame that, and he said, “if you are on fast or bumpy greens, you just have to hope it goes in.” I then asked about slow greens, and that’s when Tiger locked eyes with me and replied, “you take the fucking break out of it and burry it.” It felt intense, as if he was peering into my soul, and I could only imagine what it must have felt like for a player to see that glare from him in competition.”
He and I had been alone for a while at that time, and I did not know how much time I had left with him before we needed to get started. In a moment of silence, I said, “Tiger, I don’t know if I will ever have another opportunity, so I want to take this moment and let you know just how much you have meant to me.” I went on to say how, as a kid from North St. Louis city, golf provided me access to a world I didn’t know existed. If it was not for him being who he was, I don’t know who I would be. He looked me in the eyes again, as intense as he did before, but his eyes showed gratitude this time and he said thank you. He then told me how hard it was for him to be an African-American in golf growing up. I had always heard rumblings of the racism that he faced, but hearing it directly from him and seeing how it affected him even to this day made me even more grateful for what he has done.
Finally, it was time for us to shoot our scene. The premise was that I would hit a really bad putt, and he would say, “and Bridgestone can help!” followed by some snarky comment. The first putt I hit must have gone 10 feet past the hole, which prompted Tiger to look at me as if I had three heads and say, “Well, I don’t think you need to hit it that hard, do you?” My hero was now making fun of me, and I could not have been happier. After the first few takes, in my ever-competitive nature, I decided that if this might be the only time I would be in close proximity to Tiger, I was going to make a putt in front of him. That’s exactly what happened as I nailed the next putt in the middle of the hole, and this time he looked at me and winked as he grabbed the ball out of the cup. “That’s a wrap!” was called, and on to the next scene Tiger went, but not before he walked over to me and said, “It was nice to meet you, Gerald.” I cannot pretend to know Tiger personally or that we are best friends. I cannot speak to stories of his character or examples of when he has not always left great impressions, but I can confidently say my experience with him was amazing.
I came across an Indian proverb that says, “He who asks a question is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask a question remains a fool forever.” I tend to be very curious and genuinely interested in people. When I used to caddy, my rounds often felt like a 60-minute interview because I love learning about what makes people passionate and what their specialties are. One time, I had the opportunity to chat with Jason Goldsmith, who is Jason Day’s performance coach. I’m always looking for ways to improve myself, so talking to someone who works with some of the best players in the world was very exciting for me. Jason said a lot of insightful things, but one particular idea made such an impression on me that I had to pull over on the side of the highway to type it out. It was a great reminder that greatness is found in doing every part of the process well and that success is the culmination of your habits.
To the little boy who grew up hitting balls on the vacant lots behind the house, back and forth for hours. The 4th grader who would get up early just to watch Golf Central before school in the morning and see highlights. To the 12-year-old Gerald, getting dropped off at the golf course at 6 am and not getting picked up until it’s dark outside. It actually happened – you met Tiger Woods, just like you always dreamed.
What do Curtis Strange, Tom Lehman, Jordan Speith, and Brooks Koepka all have in common? If your answer was that they were all majors champions you’d be 100% right. If by chance you also answered that they missed at q school their first time going, you are also right. At least I can say that I have something in common with them so far!
If you’re a golf nut like myself, you will recognize this title from John Feinstein’s 2007 novel about golfs “Fifth Major”. I remember reading it in middle school thinking “wow that sounds like fun!” Maybe that’s where my twisted love affair with this game came from. 14 years later, and I have my own Tale from Q School I am going to share with you.
This week I played in the Qualifying school for the Mackenzie Tour (aka Canadian Tour) held in California. If you don’t know, what Q School is, it’s a tournament, or a series of tournament that you have to play in to get on bigger tours. Every major world tour and PGA sanctioned tour has one. It is about the most pressure you can face in four days on a golf course! The reason for that is simple, you are playing for your future. Everything you do is leading up to q school and prepping for success in that. Needless to say I have been working extremely hard to get myself ready the last few months and felt like I was ready to go get that tour card!
Headshots for Q School
Tournament Prep
As I’ve written about before, I’ve been working with a new coach since I came back from the wrist injury. I had been struggling setting the club on the way back in a way that didn’t cause pain, Kyle and I not only have worked on that, but also other things to make the swing more consistent. In the past I would hit it really good one week and really poorly the next and not really understand why and we’ve worked on shedding some light to those things and making them better.
Swing from my last lesson
To get ready for Q School I played in an event at the same course two weeks prior, which is something I’m not sure I would do again. When I played the course two weeks ago it was so much softer than the event this week. I missed the ball in spots that seemed like decent places and that was not the case. The Mackenzie Tour Officials worked with the course to transform the course into a completely different animal. One thing players do in events is pace off how the ball reacts after it hits the green. To put in perspective the difference of the greens, with PW or less I was seeing the ball to come back 2-3 yards during that first event, and during q school it was going forward 6-8!
Perhaps the biggest thing I had to overcome in my preparation was finding a driver! A few months ago I put a new driver in play and I had been hitting it really good. During the warm up event from Q School I drove it so poorly, after the 2nd round I looked down and I saw it was cracking on the back of the head, which explained why it was suddenly so erratic! I was fortunate to get that one replaced with the same model, and was hitting that even better than the first! Two days before I left for Q School I was playing, and that driver broke! Fortunately my friend Davee let me borrow his Sim2 head for the tournament, overall I hit it pretty solid, but I didn’t quite have the same confidence in this one as the other one. I think there’s a good lesson here in making sure I have backups of whatever driver I am playing in the future.
Competition
Going into the first round there was no hiding the fact that I was nervous, but I felt like I could lean on my mechanics to get me through the nerves, something I had not been able to do in the past. The first hole is one of the most challenging driving holes on the course. 480 yards, with a bunker that starts at 250 yards off the tee and goes for 60 yards down the left side. I stepped up and ripped a drive over the bunker dead in the middle of the fairway! I left myself with 138 yards to a mid left hole location. For me that is a very comfortable and routine 3/4 PW, however I pulled it left in the green side bunker. I hit a really good bunker shot to about 6 feet, and then chaos ensued…I 4 putted from 6 ft. The last time I remember 4 putting was the first hole at Norwood Hills in a Jr event when I was 17. I didn’t feel too rattled by it overall, especially knowing that I had 71 holes to get it back, unfortunately I just didn’t have the touch on the greens that I’ve had the last few months.
Practice Round where I actually made putts 😅
I was still feeling really up and positive to fight back, unfortunately I just couldn’t get it going. A lipped out a birdie putts on that 9, and just struggled to get it in gear. Unfortunately it seemed like one of those round that happen where it just enough off. A perfect example was the par 5 7th hole, it’s a short par 5 this is incredibly tight. I drove it right down the middle of the fairway, to find it sitting in the middle of a divot. One the par 3 15th I flew a ball into a bunker, and it was so plugged we could barely see it. Just seemed like one of those weird rounds that golf gives you sometime.
There’s a ball in there I promise
There was more than just the 4 putt on the first hole to make me uncomfortable in this round. One of the guys in my group quit after the 7th hole, he was about +16 over at that point and decided it wasn’t going to happen for him. The other guy in my group lied about his scores on a few holes and that led to a pretty intense conversation after the round with an official. Two things I can say I am proud of myself for are 1. My honesty. When I play bad I don’t make excuses, and I certainly don’t cheat. 2. I would never quit an event. I’ve had some days that golf decided to pile it on and I signed for an incredibly high number, but I came back the next day and played. As I write this it is after the 2nd round and I am way too far out already from getting my card this week. A lot of guys are withdrawing, not me. I am going to go play the next 2 days, grind hard, and see what I can learn and pick up on. One thing I know for sure is I will be at another q school one day and lessons I’ve learned from this will help me succeed in the future. At the very least it’s an opportunity to see how a bigger tour sets up a course as the week goes on and at the most maybe I shoot 64-64 and get my card. I am going to find out whatever that lesson is for sure!
Expectations
One of the biggest lessons I learned from this tournament and something I can take into every tournament in the future is to not get too far ahead of yourself. I was focused so much on being prepped for this event, I almost forgot to just be in the moment.
Before the event started, we received an email saying that there was essentially only 6 cards available. Spots 7-25, which would normally also receive status that would get you into events, would be only conditional and the chances of getting into an event were extremely small. I put so much pressure on myself to get off to a hot start, that I didn’t stay in the moment. This is Q School, everyone is extremely nervous so you don’t know what the number will be to get through.
One of the biggest expectations I put on myself was how the course would play for the event, and man was I wrong. The courses has gotten firmer every single day and the pins have crept closer to the edges of the greens. I really think you have to learn the course in motion and not put too much thought into the things you don’t really know.
Takeaways
1. Putting is 🔑.
We have all heard the old adage “drive for show, putt for dough” and that rings true especially in high pressure situations. I have always been such an aggressive putter that I leave myself with a lot of 3-5 ft putts coming back. When you’re playing under a lot of pressure you want as little stress as possible. Add in the fact that you’re playing on bumpy surfaces, those length putts are anything but guaranteed tap ins. I am going to do a lot of work on my speed control and being more reasonable with the speed I hit my putts with.
2. You can’t over prepare, but you can overthink your preparation.
After I played the warm up event two weeks prior to q school, I spent HOURS going over in my head how I would play the course. Almost all of that strategy went out the window with how different the course was playing this week. The issue is I tried to stick to some of those things even though in the moment I should’ve at least explored other options. Going into future events I will carry a balance of being prepped, but also just being in the moment.
3. Patience is a virtue.
Pretty simple here. Stay patient. Everyone is nervous. Everyone is feeling the pressure of the event. You don’t have to go out and blitz the field. With my ball striking I am naturally going to have a lot of great birdie looks. There’s no need to press and cause more trouble. My caddy Christian did a great job this week of walking me through that. Several times I would hit a club to a back hole location that would never get there because long was dead. Middle of the green and two putt is a pretty stress free way to play.
4. Learn from it all.
Playing bad and missing my card this week at q school was extremely rough. You know what would be rougher though? Not learning from it. I sent this text to my friend this morning
“I feel so energized after q school. I feel closer than before. I know my ball striking is ready for the next level and I know exactly what I need to work on to improve. There’s nothing stopping me now”
I TRULY believe that too. I feel closer now than I ever have and excited to dive deep into the things I need to do to get better. As far as what’s next for me, I am in the process of trying to plan and put together a schedule for the summer. It will probably be a mix of state opens, Dakotas Tour, and APT events. Once I have it put together, I will post it on here.
As always I appreciate the love and support from all of you. I would like to be able to play and focus full time on my game to see it at its full potential. That requires some financial backing that I am looking to raise, if you are interested in helping out please reach out and we can discuss!
Growing up in North St. Louis City, I would pretend to play the nicest courses with my imagination. The empty lots behind my house were the first times I strolled the fairways of Augusta National, Pebble Beach and TPC Sawgrass, in my head at least. Abandoned homes were my favorite targets. I would aim at a roof of a home, and pretend like I was aimed at the 17th at TPC Sawgrass. In my head, I would imagine a different world so far away from where I was. A few decades later and I am in that world I would envision as a child, with a little help from my friends. On New Years Eve I was sitting in front of a fire pit at my friend Casey’s house, when he looked at me and said “what are you doing the 11th – 15th of January?” I had no clue at the time that question would lead to the best golf trip of my life!
Jennifer, Pops, Lera, Casey & Me on The 17th Hole TPC Sawgrass
When I woke up on January 1st, I walked to the balcony of Casey’s house, and while looking out across the Phoenix skyline I took a deep breathe and said to myself, out loud, “I am going to make 2021 the best year of my life so far.” 2020 was undoubtedly rough for everyone, but for me it felt like a bully waiting for you after school to shake you down. I knew that whatever changes I needed to make in my schedule that I would do it, because this would be an incredible opportunity and a great way to start my year. Later on that day I texted Casey and said “I AM IN.”
The Sunset at Streamsong
Streamsong Resort is home to three courses, all of which are world class championship golf courses. The first two courses on the property were Red & Blue, designed by Coore and Crenshaw, and Tom Doak respectively. The third, which is only a few years younger, was a Gil Hanse design. Giving these guys unlimited land and a property unlike anything else in Florida would be akin to when DaVinci saw the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
Number 1 at Streamsong Red
Our first round was on the Red course. The weather was slightly overcast and felt like an early fall day in Scotland. They wasted no time getting you into the round as you start with a 460 par 4 uphill to a three tiered green. If you know anything about Coore and Crenshaw, then you know they are huge on holes having width and angles. There is almost always an easier tee shot option, but if you take that option you are treated to harder angle for the approach. If you take on the challenge of the tee shot you are rewarded with an easier approach. In the words of the great Clint Eastwood, it is a constant test of “Do you think you’re lucky…punk?”
The Par 5 2nd on Red shows their strategy. A HUGE fairway, but if you want a chance to go for the green in two, you need to challenge the water up the right side or risk not being able to stop the ball on the green with your approach.
What I really enjoyed about Red was all of the nuances of the holes, and out of the green complexes they were my favorite by far to putt on. If you hit a good approach shot to the proper side of the hole, you were rewarded with a great look at birdie. There were also really cool things that I have never seen on a golf course before like an inverted bunker! I feel like it constantly tested and tempted you to take on the shots that you might normally stray away from, but you know if you pulled it off, you would be left with a great look at birdie or eagle.
Ever seen a bunker come up out of the ground? Me either
I would argue that Streamsong as a whole has to have the best collection of par 3’s I have ever seen. On no day did I hit the same club into any of the par 3’s. They are all beautiful. and unique and once again extremely rewarding for a well played shot. Case in point the par 3 16th. It was playing 216, on a back shelf and wind slight off the left and helping a touch. I could’ve easily hit 7 iron into the middle of the green, left myself a 30ft putt uphill and easy two putt and moved on. Instead I lighted a 6 iron that cut and landed short of thee pin and chased back to within a few feet of the hole.
Par 3 16th
Our next round was on the newest course, Black. Once again it was designed by Gil Hanse, who is widely regarded as one of the best, if not the best, architect in the game right now. Most recently, he did the restoration of Winged Foot that hosted the US Open in 2020. If you were to close your eyes at Streamsong Black you would most certainly swear that you were on a links course in a village across the pond. It looks NOTHING like Florida. The day was grey, cold and damp like we were off of the Scottish coast.
First hole on Streamsong Black. It looked like the beginning of horror movie, and played like one too.
Maybe there is something to golf courses named Black and being incredibly challenging. Bethpage Black in New York is a challenging US Open venue, and I feel like the Black is not far behind. The most challenging part about the Black here are the green complexes! They are unbelievably massive with more undulation than I personally have ever seen on a course, and would be hard to imagine a course with more. To put into perspective the size of them, I drove the 350 yard 6th, my reward? A 48 yard pitch shot! I asked our caddy if it was okay for to to chip off of the green knowing my tendency to take divots off of tight lies and he said “Absolutely. This part of the green is so sloped that we never put the flag over here anyway!”
My pitch shot off of the 6th green for eagle. Sorry to the superintendent, I’m trying to get more shallow!The “Punchbowl” green 9th at Black
The Black was the most rugged of the three courses in terms of looks. Remember the pitcher from little league baseball that was growing a mustache before everyone else? That is the Black. When your ball hits the green, it’s journey wasn’t close to being done. Quite often it looked like our caddy was telling us to aim in the next county, let alone the same hole’ The scripture “we walk by faith and not by sight” should be the slogan for the course.
The 5th on Black
I found the Black to be by far the most interesting of the three courses, even if it wasn’t my favorite. That distinction belonged to the Blue.
The first hole of BlueOne of my best drives of the week off the first hole on Blue
The final course in the Streamsong rota that we played was the Blue. It is a Tom Doak design, another highly noted architect. Maybe it was the weather, maybe it was the fact that I slept great the night before and got an excellent warm up before the round, whatever it was, I was reared up and ready to play this day! I found this course to be the most “fun” of the three. If I had to play one of the courses everyday for a year, this would be it! The first course was a 330 yard par 4 downhill that they said normally played downwind, but for us it was blowing into about 20 mph. One of my friends is a college coach and said they are having regionals there this year and it will be a great test! With the wind being a constant factor you have to make sure you’re constantly going through your check this before you hit a shot and you must be FULLY committed or you will have an extremely long day.
Par 3 7th hole on Blue
Much like the Black, your target to get the ball close to a pin is very rarely the flag itself. On the par 3 7th the flag was 196 yards, on the left side with wind blowing off the left. I tried to hold a draw 7 iron up against the wind, but left it open just enough and the end result was a 60 ft putt down two massive jumps that I was more than pleased to two putt! Had my tee shot landed 5 ft left of where it did we might have been drinking for an ace! The line between a great shot, and a headache was incredibly slim and those are the courses I enjoy the absolute most! Much like a course 3 hours north of Streamsong that would end our trip.
The Crown Jewel of the PGA Tour
Casey works out at the same gym as Kevin Streeleman. If you’re reading this blog I am sure you know who he is, but just on the off chance you’re maybe reading this and don’t. Kevin (Streels as the cool kids call him) is a 3 time winner on the PGA Tour and one of the nicest people you could ever meet. He and Casey are members at the club I caddy at in the winter and has always been a joy to be around. When Casey told him about our trip, Streels offered to get us set up on the course! Casey called me after they talked and asked if I could leave Friday night opposed to Friday morning so we could play and my response was a very quickly said “hell yeah!”
First at TPC Sawgrass
Playing a course that you’ve watched on TV hundreds of times such a cool experience that I’ve been lucky enough to do a few times. The fact that TPC Sawgrass is the home of The Players Championship, often regarded as “The Fifth Major” makes its all the more special! As I mentioned earlier, I grew up watching this tournament for years. I would see the shots guys pulled off and think “how did he do that!?!” and today I had the opportunity to myself!
The 4th hole at TPC Sawgrass
The course was very lush as they prepare for the tournament in a just about 7 weeks, so it wasn’t as firm and fast as it will be the 2nd week of March but it was in great shape! The greens were very very slow, but that only made me respect the shots those guys pull off during the tournament even more! The greens are so much smaller and have huge amounts of break that you would never guess from TV. Our caddy said for the tournament the get to 13 which was at least 4-5 feet faster than we played today! You can see why this tournament is so coveted and has such a great list of champions, you have to do EVERYTHING right to play well and man are some of those tee shots tight! The 2nd hole doesn’t even look like it has a fairway to hit! It is a tight dogleg left with overhanging trees on the left side of the fairway and a forest on the right. Our caddy said it leads the tour in drives UNDER 200 yards because of how frequently the trees right off of the tee box are hit!
The 2nd hole view from the tee box. I’ve seen wider lanes at bowling alleys!
The most notable group of holes even the casual fan would recognize at TPC Sawgrass are 16-18. When I was walking to the tee box on 16 I felt like I locked in even more, I wanted to play those holes strong! On 16 I hit a decent drive, and blistered a 3wood up by the green. It left me in one of the deep grass bunkers they have, in some of the deepest rough I’ve ever played out of! I hit a great shot to about 10 ft and just missed the birdie putt.
The 3rd on the Par 5 16th
And then there was the infamous par 3 17th “Island Green”
The “Island” Green
So many memories come in my head thinking about the 17th at Sawgrass. I think of Freddie Couples hitting it in the water and then slam dunking the next for the best 3 possibly ever. I think about Tiger in the US Amateur almost missing the green and then making the birdie to go 1 up. Sergio Garcia comes to mind, both for hitting the shot close to beat Paul Goydos in the playoff, and hitting 3 balls in the water to lose to Tiger a few years ago. History. History. History. I’m thinking about ALL those things, and for the first time on this entire trip, I felt some nerves! I asked the caddy for the number three times, kept checking the wind “is it off the left solely or is there some help in it!?” The flag was back left and he had said the green was firmer than the others. After computing all of that, I then locked in to the most exacting 139 yard shot I’ve had to hit outside of competition. The result? Well…
I hit the green!
I proceeded to two putt for par and move on to the 18th which was no picnic either! In my opinion the tee shot on 18 is far more intimidating and demanding than the 17th. The wind was strong off the left and I aimed at the left center of the fairway, and blistered one 340 down the fairway leaving myself with a PW in. I hit a great shot that spun down the slope and left me with a 30ft up the hill that I two putted to get through the trifecta in even par.
So this trip was awesome! Words can not describe how epic it was, even though this is a blog so I tried my best. I thank the Wesley family so much for inviting me along with them to experience all of this.
While I have you here, I want to also give you guys an update on what’s going on with me!
Random alligator
The wrist injury I suffered in Texas ended up sidelining me a lot longer than I originally thought it would, but it ended up being a great thing. I am always on the go and struggle to rest, even when I know that it’s best. Well when you can’t move your wrist it forces you to take a break and it was the best thing to happen to me. Towards the end of the summer with all of the travel, I wasn’t feeling like myself. I had been grinding so hard and the results showed and for the first time in my life, I felt just a bit burnt out. When I got to Scottsdale I put the clubs in the closet and didn’t touch them for a little over a month. I picked them up again about late December. I had the juice back! Having that much time off allowed me to not just recharge, but to evaluate and refocus on my game and life as a whole. I saw very clearly what things I needed to change and do better and began working on them as I got back into practicing.
They announced that Q School for the Canadian tour will be March 30th in Phoenix, so I am prepping for that. Going to play a few events leading up to it to really get my game sharp and get prepped for that. I feel like mentally I am in a good spot and will tighten up some of the loose ends and I will be right there! Thank you for all of your support and love that I receive from each and everyone of you that read this. I appreciate it more than I can say and hope to make you all proud.
I don’t believe that dreams are accidental. They are the hidden treasure maps that God writes on our hearts to find. Don’t ever stop looking for your treasure.
“When nothing seems to help, I go and look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not that blow that did it, but all that had gone before.”
-Jacob Riis
“Pounding the Rock” is something Gregg Popovich has drilled into his Spurs throughout the years. As Caphill wrote in SBNATION a few years ago “Rarely does a day go by where “we just have to keep pounding the rock” isn’t heard coming from the lips of a player or referenced by a journalist. The Stonecutter Credo has become the mantra for an organization that takes the long-term view in a field that thrives on instant gratification.”
The last line in that statement is the most important for me. What you are doing and focused on today, will show itself in the future. You have to keep your eyes on the long term goals, that is where your treasure lies. As St. Paul wrote in Galatians “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” This is a message I had to really hammer home to myself after an unfortunate shot last week at my event.
This week in Lufkin, TX
This past week in Lufkin, TX I was playing in an APT event and on the 4th hole of the day I had hit my tee shot down the left side of the fairway and it just creeped into the rough. It was a short par 5 on a really tough course and this was a great opportunity to get an early birdie and get it under par. Right after I made contact, I felt lightning shoot through my wrist. There was a tree root in front of the ball that I had struck and it was struck solid. Not wanting to quit in case it felt better I decided to play through the 9th hole, and to be fair, the next hole was a 186 yard par 3 and I hit it to 4 feet and made birdie. On the next hole though I hit driver and was quickly brought back to reality. Unfortunately I had to withdraw on the 9th hole, which by my best memory is the only time I have ever withdrawn from any event, or even walked off a course without finishing a round for any reason other than weather.
The good news is I got it checked out, and nothing is broken or strained. It is also causing me to relax a little bit which I admittedly struggle with. I like to go, go, and go some more. At some point you can overwork a thing. The bad news is I felt like it was going to be an incredibly great week and I really wish I could’ve kept playing. The course Crown Colony is one of the toughest in the state of Texas, and I felt like I had the most control over my ball possibly ever. I have been grinding so much at Family Golf Center and it’s showing. Especially the work I’ve got done on their wedge range and this was a course that demanded you hit it straight and hit good wedges into incredibly small sectioned off greens.
This close to an ace in the practice round!
One constant you see in the courses we play in mini tour events, that you don’t see at any higher level, is that the courses are typical older style golf courses. On these courses you can count on a few things. They will be really tight off the tee, sloppy pitched greens and aggressive pin places to try and “protect” the course from low scores. Sometimes these 6500 yard courses are almost harder than just playing a 7400 one because it’s so exacting. The only thing some of these courses are missing is a windmill and a clowns mouth, but we are all playing the same course so can’t complain, just have to figure it out. I feel like I have learned how to play these finally. In the past I would lay back, and try to hit shots in and struggle because the guys who win hit drivers and make a lot of birdies. I feel so confident in my ability to do that now and in the past, that wasn’t the case. I really feel like I have a game to win the events I play in, not just play in it or get close to a top 10. I am playing to win.
Par 5 at Crown Colony CC
I will be moving back to Scottsdale for the winter at the end of this month and I have really been asking myself “what will make me the most prepared for the opportunity I have?” My plan is to only caddy just enough to keep the lights on and devote as much of my time to my craft as possible. That includes the obvious practice and playing, but also exercising, dieting, sleeping, etc. leaving no stone unturned. I have seen so many leaps and bounds in my game this summer, and I want to see it through! I want to see how great I can be!!!
Brings me back to the credo. Everything is building on the thing before it. Nothing just happens over night. As my grandmother would say “what is in the well, will come up in the bucket.” There is good stuff in my well and I know in time it’ll show. I believe things either happen faster or slower than you maybe expect them too, but if you stick to it, they happen. I truly believe I am putting in all the good work to make this goal I set in motion 2 years ago a reality.
Thanks as always for reading and following along!!!
Hello friends (in my best Jim Nantz impersonation), I have been meaning to write for a few weeks and just have been grinding on something’s and haven’t made the time for it. A lot has transpired since I last wrote and wanted to update you guys on my journey!
Extremely excited to announce that have a sponsor to support my fall/winter plans!! It’s been a great summer and I look forward to carrying that over. I will be playing the All Pro Tour (APT) fall/winter series events and sprinkle in some other ones with the goal of going to Q School for the PGA TOUR Latin America in January. As always you know how have a plan that I have put in place to help me succeed and I am sure it will be fruitful in the long run!
Tee shot in New Mexico
The first event of my Road To Q School Tour was in New Mexico. It was the type of course that doesn’t necessarily fit my game, but I wanted to go and test myself. It was extremely tight and a bit quirky. The greens were fast and several shots hit the green and rolled off leaving tough up and downs. My biggest strength has always been my ball striking and I just didn’t control it well enough to truly give myself a chance. Looking back now it was a bit of a physical breakdown, along with some mental mistakes. Besides winning the pro member a few years ago in Flagstaff, I have never really played great in high altitudes. Early in the event I hit a few shots long over the green in spots where you absolutely can not and that rattled me a bit. To put the yardage in comparison in Phoenix I hit my 8 iron on a stock shot 175-178 One of the par 3’s played 197 and I hit 8 iron about 12 feet long. It was a big adjustment and I didn’t execute it properly, but I will take it as a learning experience and next time I’m in that situation will be more prepared. The one thing and I felt like I did not do well at all was think. If you’ve followed me for anytime and especially if you know me personally I am a pretty intense competitive person, while that fuels me in some respects, it can be harmful in others. Sometimes you can almost want something TOO bad and then that makes it harder to accomplish or achieve. I made that mistake last year and this is as a stark reminder to not do it again. I play my best golf when I am free, happy and enjoying it. Me being tense and stressed is a good way to not play good golf which I subsequently did. Glad to be learning these lessons early in the process so I will be a ready for Q school. Everything I am doing and attempting to do is built on the thought of being prepared to be on the Latin American tour next year. Giving myself some patience and understanding that this is all apart of the process.
This week I am in lovely Manhattan, KS, also known as the Little Apple for the Jim Colbert Charity Classic. It is my first event on the APT fall series and if this is any indication of what the rest of the fall will be, I am in store for some great competition on great courses. The APT is ran as well as any events I have ever played in. Unlimited practice rounds, trackman rentals and a host of other things that I am excited for. I played the practice round with a friend of mine that played his college golf at Kansas State and this event is being played on their home track. He remarked that he had never seen the greens this fast during our practice round and afterwards we saw the superintendent and he said they were rolling at 14.2!!! If you don’t know what that’s like, go drop a ball on the roof of your car and see if you can hit a putt that stays up on it. Jim Colbert who the course is named after and who won 35 professional events hilariously told the super that he needed to slow the greens down because “they aren’t that good yet.”
I played my first round yesterday, and boy what a start did I get off too. The first hole, a par 5, I lay up to a PERFECT number and licking my chops. I didn’t hit the best wedge shot but it hit on top of a green side bunker and rolled back in. This is where it got dicey. I proceeded to blade the ball over the green into a hazard, hit a good chip to 10 ft and 3 putt from there 🤦🏿♂️. If you’re keeping score that’s a 9! It didn’t immediately turn around from there, I was +7 through 6 holes. Not an ideal start by any means. I then rattled off 4 birdies on the way in to save the round. Clearly not happy with the way that went, but I also showed growth. In the past if I blew up that early in the round I would not have been able to get it back on the rails. Instead I still have a great chance of playing well today and making the cut if the number doesn’t move to much from where it is now. What allowed me to breakthrough was the thought again that “this is what I want to do more than anything and it should be fun. If it’s not fun than you shouldn’t be out here.” It allowed me to free myself up and I love the fight I showed in myself. (Just a heads up, I wrote this between the first and second round so some of the tenses may be off)
I finished the 2nd round a few hours ago and unfortunately, I didn’t play well enough to make the cut. Starting off the round and day I felt really good and confident. The first hole I lipped out a birdie putt from 10 ft and felt like it could be a day I had it in me. The cut looked pretty firm at +1 which meant I would have to shoot -4 and on this course for me that was definitely in the cards. The 2nd hole I thought I hit a perfect drive that found the hazard, but I bounced back with birdies on the next two holes and felt really good. Unfortunately I wouldn’t make another birdie until 16 and with a few more bogeys sprinkled in there I would fall short this week.
18th hole at Colbert Hills
Lots of positive things to take away from this week that I know will help me in the future. You never know when you’re going to make 4-5 birdies and so you’ve got to just keep fighting. I felt like I did a good job of that. One of my biggest goals going into this week was to just be in a positive headspace and I felt like I did that for the most part. I drove the ball arguably the best I ever have in competition. On holes the guys in my group were hitting 3 irons I was able to push driver into some tighter areas and give myself more birdie looks. My chipping and pitching seemed to be turning the corner, I hit some absolute filthy pitches to get up and down this week. Going forward my wedges have to get better, which is just spending the time on trackman dialing in those yardages. I felt like a putted the ball decent, I know I need to spend more time practicing the left to right putts they’ve been giving me a fit as of late. Biggest thing I am working on is being mentally ready to go on the 1st hole I feel the event, not the 5th when I am over par. That will just take some purposeful mental work and getting used to playing under pressure again which is why I am glad to have a full schedule of events to play in that I will be posting below this.
Thank you as always for your love and support. I look forward to keeping you posted as I start this new chapter!
Geegolly! I was so close to winning my event this last week! Had the Tiger by the toe and let him go! Golf is all about the lessons we learn, and what we do with this and this was a great example of it.
Drake’s Creek home of the West Kentucky Open
Wanted to more so talk about the lessons I learned from this event. Unfortunately every event can’t be in Alaska or someplace exotic, but they all provide. Competition and lessons, and this was no exception.
The first thing I had to deal with was the fact that I was not fully recovered from my Alaska trip! All week long a felt tired, like a man as lagging behind. I guess I’m getting old now. The biggest thing I had going for me though is I have so much confidence in my game and swing right now. In the past I’ve always had this feeling like I needed to work or grind on something in my game and that wasn’t the case this week. It was even evident in my practice round, I played the front 9 in my traditional way. Hitting multiple tee shots, lots of chips and putt, and dialing in yardages. When it came time for the back 9 I just rode it, looked at the tee shots and the greens complexes. This is a new feeling for me. A feeling of self assurance that is translating to more confidence.
The first round it rained the ENTIRE day. It was a constant juggling act of towels, umbrellas, rain gear and trying to keep everything as dry as possible. It also meant that the course would play virtually the same for everyone because you had to keep it in front of you. I hit it extremely solid only missing 3 greens all day 2 fairways. As I was walking off of the 13th green just making birdie a local reporter asked how we were playing, I told him I was -3 and he told me that I was in the lead. At this point I admittedly got ahead of myself. I started thinking about being interviewed after the round with 5 holes left! I did manage to gather myself and finish the round very strongly. What’s funny is I was not in the lead. The group in front of me a guy would finish with 67. It was a good lesson to me to keep the peddle down and not let up. If you’re up by 2, your biggest goal should be to get up by 3 as soon as possible.
Pro Leaderboard on the left
One thing I had to deal with as well was the pressure of being in the last group the final day. I was having dinner Saturday when I saw the tee times for Sunday and almost instantly lost my appetite. I’ve won events before, but something about this felt different. I did not sleep well that night, I kept going over how I would play the next day. The morning of the final round I had so much time to kill and I felt like I did a great job of it. I walked to the local Huddle House, talked to my mom (who hilariously asked if I had missed the cut and was wondering why I was calling her 😂) and finally I got to the course! When I go to the course all the nerves seemed to melt away and I felt at peace. I rolled some putts, and went to the range and absolutely striped it. The good thing is me flushing it before a round feels normal now. I have been hitting the ball so good for months now that I just expect it.
I knew I wanted to come out firing to make up as much ground as possible. The first hole was a medium length par 4 that had water up the right and OB down the left. I flushed a 2 iron down the middle leaving myself 150 to the flag. The flag was a front left flag, tucked over a bunker with the wind blowing off of the left about 15 mph. I chose to hold a chippy 9 iron up against the wind. A pretty bold shot, but one that I knew I could execute and I did! I hit it to 4 ft and buried the birdie putt. A year ago I wouldn’t have had the skill or the nerve to take that shot on. The 2nd hole, a par 5 I got a bit too aggressive on my approach and ended up behind a tree which cost me. I felt in control the entire day. By my best math I had 8 lip outs! Some days that is golf but overall I executed exactly the way I wanted too and it just wasn’t my day.
#11 at Drake’s Creek
Perhaps the biggest thing I took from the week was playing with Patrick Newcomb. Patrick is from Paducah, grew up playing at Drake’s Creek, but more than that has spent the last few years on the Canadian, Latin America and Korn Ferry Tour. He’s won 3x on the Latin Tour alone, obviously an extremely solid player. It was great being able to see him play, pick his brain and compare my game to his. The biggest difference I took from it was just a familiarity he had with the course and his comfort with competition as he is always competing. One of my goals is to gain status on the Latin American tour so to see that my game rivals that of someone who has been successful out there gives me a lot of confidence going forward with that goal!
I look forward to taking all these lessons and more and turning them into success in the form of a win in the near future!
One of the coolest parts about playing golf, are the places this game will take you. Places I would never go, people I would never meet, and things I would absolutely never see. I got to experience all of that and more this past week Alaska. I was invited to play in the Palmer Invitational by my friend Greg and what an amazing trip it was.
Flying into Alaska
My trip started out on Wednesday morning. I was scheduled to leave St. Louis at 11 am. You know what they say about making plans right? Well at 3:30 that afternoon I was still sitting in the airport. I got on the phone and pleaded with them to put me on another airline that could get me there that night, and to their credit they did, albeit a kind of round a bout way. I flew from St. Louis, to Phoenix. Phoenix to Portland. Portland to Anchorage. Sounds fun right!? 8 hours of travel turned into 14 hours! I was so happy to be in Alaska nothing could have dulled my excitement! Nothing except for learning that my clubs weren’t in Alaska! With all the switching of planes they had gotten left in Phoenix and would joining me the next morning. I was so beat up by the long day I just went to the house and crashed since we would be playing early the next morning I would pick them up on the way to the course.
Par 4 12th at Palmer GC
I never thought that I would be borderline “hot” in Alaska, but the first day was just that! It was low 70’s and absolutely gorgeous. I immediately went to figuring out how far the ball would be going this week. Alaska being at sea level, and not as warm as I am used to the ball should fly shorter and it definitely did. Adapting to different conditions is an interesting task and one that takes a while to understand. My strategy going into the practice rounds was that I would hit my normal shots, to gauge what happened to those compared to what I am used to and work off of that. I ultimately came to the conclusion that I would be hitting at least a full club less than normal, and in some cases more than that. That is a hard thing to wrap your head around. I spend so much time hitting balls and working on my distance that I get really comfortable with my yardages. I was going to have to trust my preparations.
Trackman Combine
I also had a great tool in the fact that Greg has one of the coolest man caves I have ever been in! It’s called “The Garage” and in it is a full golf simulator, along with a Trackman. Greg had the great idea to go there, adjust the settings to sea level and the temperature to 55°. We went there after the practice round and I worked through my bag hitting my clubs and charting the numbers. There is also camera face on and down the line so I could see the swing in real time. This was incredibly helpful because I have been working on some things in my swing and was great to see how they are shaping on. After the 1st round I wasn’t happy with some of the iron shots I had hit. In particular I was pulling them left of my target and could not figure out why. Greg dropped me off at The Garage where I spent about 3 hours working on stabilizing the face and rotating more through the ball to not “throw” my hands at it thus cause the face the be shut at impact. This gave me the confidence I needed to have a solid final round!
Grinding in The Garage
By my standards I did not hit it well the first round at all. The long car ride back to St. Louis from the Ozark’s, coupled with the long day of flying had my lower body incredibly stiff. When I get stiff my tendency is to slide into the ball as opposed to turning around myself. When I start to slide the face at impact is inconsistent and makes it incredibly hard to strike it well. I really had to manage my way around the course and not do too much damage. The ball striking woes paled in comparison to how bad I putted though! Now I know I said last week that my putter was back, but apparently it was just visiting me because it was a struggle this week. One thing that gave me a lot of confidence is how I played the last 6 holes the first round. The wind picked up and blew really hard, the temperature dropped and it started to drizzle a little bit. Not what you would call “scoring conditions.” I really felt like I had to just toughen up and execute the shots and I did. Greg and I had talked earlier in the week that sometimes you just have to hit a good shot and there’s no way around it, and that was what I did. I got it in at 71 (-1) , 3 behind the leader and was in a tie for 5th place going into the final day. One thing I told myself was that I had played about as bad as I could, and was still in the mix.
As I said earlier, after the first round I went and found something in my swing. I was pretty physically drained, but I had a lot of confidence that I was going to have a great chance to win with a great day. The first hole I hit a good shot into the green about 10 ft for birdie and barely missed it. The 2nd hole I hit the flagstick, which turned out to be a common theme for the day, because on the 5th hole I would hit the stick again and I told Greg “I’m going to hole something out today.” The round was progressing nicely. I birdied the 9th hole is to make the turn at -2 for the day. I added another birdie on the 11th but gave it back with a bogey in the 13th. I was entering the toughest stretch on the course and knew I had to buckle down and execute. I had a good par save on the 16th hole and preceded the the 17th hole which was the most difficult hole on the course. I had told myself leaving 15 that I wanted to play the last holes in -2. The 17th at Palmer is 470 Par 4, but water left and right so you can’t hit it more than 280 or you bring the water into play. The green has a significant slope about a 3rd of the way into it. The flag for the final round was tucked right into a back left corner. I decided to hit 3 wood off the tee, and I just about missed it. It was a high fly ball to center field that would’ve been caught, not the way you want to start the hole. As I approached the second shot I immediately knew it would be tough, I measured it at 217 yards and the wind was blowing down and off the right. Short was better than long, so I decided to go with a 5 iron that if hit solid wouldn’t go over the back but should get to the front of the green. I absolutely FLUSHED this ball and it was traveling just left of the flag. Greg said “man that thing is really flying.” It landed short of pin and popped over the ridge where I assumed it would be either pin high or just long. Walking up to the green I didn’t see it on the surface and immediately let out some emotion (that’s a nice way of saying I cursed 😅). When I didn’t see it on the green I figured it had to be long, so I walked around the back of the green in the rough and didn’t see it, so then I looked in the bunker and didn’t see it. Finally I thought there was only one place left to look and sure enough it was in the hole!!! An eagle 2 on the penultimate hole to get me to that -2 number I had called out, and fulfill my premonition to Greg. It’s always fun to hole something out, but to do it in a tournament when trying to make a charge it’s even more special!
One of the prettiest range views you will ever see.
I ended up finishing 2nd in the event, the gentleman who won it is a native that grew up on the course and has won this event 7x! It was a great experience to just feel that pressure of being in contention and perform! I look forward to coming back for years to come!
My next event starts this upcoming weekend in the West Kentucky Open just outside of Paducah. I am doing a lot of good things in my game right now and believe I will have an excellent shot at winning the event if I continue to just execute on the things that I’ve been doing. I have also put together a schedule for the fall and honed in on my plans for the next 5 months or so and I look forward to sharing that with you once it is finalized.
Helping out in the Jr. clinic before the event.
My journey into playing professional golf has been not typical. Out of college I moved out to Phoenix for what I though was my “dream job.” Two years into it, I was not happy and felt empty inside. I felt a voice (God), telling me it was time to move on and I had someone gives me the best advice I’ve ever had “you’ll never going to be feel fulfilled until you give golf a real try.” I was in a good job though! It was cool and seemed to be everything you would want. The biggest thing was it was safe. I worked 7:30-4:30 M-F, had great benefits, vacation, etc. I didn’t think I could leave that. I did however, and it’s been the best thing I’ve ever done. I found out this week that the company is laying off 10% of their employees. Now there’s no way to know if I would’ve been in that number had I stayed, but it was surreal to be in Alaska, chasing my dreams, when I found out that some of my friends were losing their jobs. Saying all that to say this. Life is short, jobs are temporary, money comes and goes, people enter into your life and leave. Chase what makes you feel full. Chase what you believe in. It may not be easy, but it will always be worth it in the end.
See it. Feel it. Trust it. See his face. Feel his presence. Trust his love Put it in his hands and let him guide you. I’m praying and rooting for you!
When most people in the world now hear “Ozark” they think about the hit Netflix show about money laundering and crime. I’m one of those people too now (seriously check out that show if you have not yet). Growing up is Missouri the Ozark’s had a deeper meaning though. It’s where we vacationed every summer. Some even call it God’s Country. I had the pleasure of spending the weekend down there playing some amazing courses that I wanted to share with you.
The Korn Ferry Tour is in Springfield, MO for the Price Cutter Championship, and they hold several Pro Am’s throughout the week that they need other pros for. I was fortunate to come down and play in two of them at Ledgestone CC, and the beautiful Buffalo Ridge GC. I wanted to come and play not only to see the courses, but to get some competitive “reps” in. Life is all about incremental progress and the more times I can put myself in a situation the better I will be in the long run. Everything builds on each other.
Great example of the elevation change at Ledgestone. Par 3 #15th that was 170 playing 135! Hi
The first event was at Ledgestone a great short hilly course with lots of doglegs around it. It was a really fun track to play for a variety of reasons, one of which being the drastic elevation changes. I felt like it was a great test for me, because I have been practicing extremely hard on controlling trajectory. I felt like I never had a stock full shot. I was j always taking something off, drawing or cutting it, hitting it high, etc. It was good to get the validation that that part of my game is progressing, but I would see the biggest sign of progress a few days later at Buffalo Ridge (more on that later.)
#6 at Ledgestone CC in Branson, MO.
The biggest thing that I experienced this week was my putter finally came back! *cue Lisa Stansfield All Around The World*. I wouldn’t say that I’ve been struggling with my putting, but it hasn’t been as sharp as I expect it to be. The tough part was I was barely missing putts, so it wasn’t like something major was off and easy to pin down. I have a set of drills I normally run through whenever my putting gets off and none of those seemed to work. Like most golf nuts I started experimenting with alignment, grip, stance, etc. None of it worked. As I was warming up Saturday on the putting green I just had the thought to go back to my old routine I’ve had for years. Align the ball with the “Pro V1” logo, step behind it make sure it is lined properly, walk into the ball, get the putter head set properly, set feet in, look down the line towards the hole, trace that line back to the ball, settle my eyes in on a dimple and let the putter go. Sounds complicated but it happens in less than 10 seconds and is 2nd nature for me at this point. I birdied my first 4 holes of the day, and preceded to shoot 65! Sometimes trying to fix things we over complicate them.
Buffalo Ridge GC Clubhouse
My next pro am was at Buffalo Ridge, which is legitimately one of my favorite courses I have ever played. I played it the first time in the 2015 Missouri Amateur and instantly fell in love with it then. Coming back to it did not disappoint at all!
#5 Buffalo Ridge
I was really focused on staying in my routine this day and I feel like a did a great job of it. While practicing this weekend I felt like I discovered a new key for me to walk into a shot more prepared. To implement this into my normal routine takes a lot of discipline and patience. It adds only a few seconds to my routine, but when done right I feel like it allows me to be fully committed to the shot and obviously that allows me to play my best. The addition is I stand behind the ball with the grip in my right hand, and the face rested in my left hand. While in this position I am in my “think box.” I am thinking of the shot I want to hit, the trajectory, distance, wind etc. The moment that the left hand comes off the club I enter my “play box.” The only thing I am thinking at this point is visualizing the shots and reacting to that. I have already made the decision on the shot and I am fully committed to that at this point. The wind was blowing hard this day, and I hit 15 greens, didn’t make a bogey and shot 66 so I felt like it worked pretty well and will work on making it more comfortable.
The most exciting thing happened on the last hole of the day. A lot of the tee shots at Buffalo Ridge don’t perfectly set up to my eye. I really had to focus and commit to specific targets and make aggressive, committed swings. The 18th hole at Buffalo Ridge is a great example of this. Bunkers lining the entire left side of the fairway, forest left of those and leaving it out right leaves an uncomfortable 2nd shot into a par 5 that you can reach in two easily with a good drive. I picked out the right edge of a bunker and BLISTERED one over it.
As good as this was to see, it was the second shot that left me smiling when I left the course.
One of the things I’ve been working extremely hard on in practice is hitting shots at uncomfortable angles. An example of this would be aiming to the left side of the range hitting draws, and to the right hitting cuts. A shot that has plagued me on the course for sometime now is the long iron to a left pin with trouble left. Typically you see this into a par 5 and just bailing right leave a long, mostly awkward pitch or bunker shot across the green and not the easiest up and down. It’s a scenario in tournament golf you have to step up and take advantage of. If you aren’t birding reachable par 5’s you are going to get lapped. In the pro am at Ledgestone I had this shot, pushed it out right and didn’t get up and down. I went to the range that night worked on it until I felt comfortable with it. I had this exact shot into 18 after executing on that drive and wanted to take advantage of it. The shot was 249 uphill, into the wind, flag on the left and bunkers right. I grabbed my 2 iron and focused in on a tree behind the green about 30 ft right of the flag. Because of the lie, and the wind I had to control the flight of the shot to make sure it didn’t balloon on me. I absolutely torpedoed a flat draw that landed on the front of the green and released to about 20 ft. I lipped out the putt for eagle, but was still ecstatic to pull off a shot that legit has troubled me for so long. The change in my practice adding a “competition” aspect to it has allowed me practice things in a way that translate to the course. I am excited to share some of the practice techniques I am doing with Golf Blueprint in an upcoming blog.
Tee shot off of #5 Buffalo Ridge
AND exciting news sports fan. This blog was written while I am on a plane to Anchorage, Alaska for the Palmer Invitational! I am so excited to see a place I’ve never been and play some good golf! Subscribe to my blog to make sure you don’t miss out on any of my post.
Gerald Harsley Jr's Golf Blog 