Futures Tour Q-School

Duramed FUTURES Tour Kicks Off Qualifying Tournament For 2010

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., Oct. 30, 2009 - The Duramed FUTURES Tour will kick off its 11th annual qualifying tournament on Monday, Nov. 2. A field of 292 players from 40 nations and 36 U.S. states will converge on Central Florida for the annual Q-School, which will be contested in five rounds on four different courses Monday through Friday next week.

The qualifying event will be staged on four courses in Polk County, Fla. They are: The Golf Club at Bridgewater in Lakeland, Fla.; Huntington Hills Golf & Country Club in Lakeland, Fla.; Lake Region Yacht & Country Club in Winter Haven, Fla.; and Ridgewood Lakes Golf & Country Club in Davenport, Fla. All four courses are located just off the I-4 corridor linking Orlando to Tampa.

Of note, six nations not typically represented in the field will be Costa Rica, Egypt, Estonia, Indonesia, Kenya and American Samoa. Behind the United States, Canada boasts the most players with 18, followed by South Korea with 15, Australia with six, and Thailand and Mexico, each with five players. Of contestants from the U.S., Florida once again has the most players with 35, followed by California with 25, and Texas with 12 players.

For more information during tournament week, please visit www.duramedfuturestour.com.

Contestants will compete in an effort to gain or retain status for the Tour's 2010 season, playing one round at each of the four courses before a 72-hole cut is made. Players making the tournament cut will play the final round on Friday at Lake Region Yacht & Country Club.

What I am Grateful For

Today I am greatful for a wonderful loving, supportive family, and for my beautiful little niece that came into this world this week. I can't wait to introduce her to this game!

Practice, Practice, & More Practice

You Got to Love Practice

I awoke early this morning and made the 1 hour and 22 minute trip up I 4 to Ridgewood Lakes Country Club in Davenport Florida. To tell you the truth there is not much going on in this part of town. Davenport is just outside of Orlando and it is a town that seems to consist of cow farms and strip malls. I pulled into the golf course parking lot and was very happy to see a well maintained golf course. In years past the tour is notorious for making us play on poorly maintained courses. It was exciting to actually see grass.

I enjoyed the new golf course very much and got to play with some cool people. I'd say that one of the great experiences in playing professionally is that you meet so many people from all over the world. I played with a girl from Norway today and learned a few words in Norwegian. It was pretty cool. I was happy with how I played and I mapped out the golf course really well. With a little work on my tee ball tomorrow, I will be ready for the next golf course.

After the round I practiced my putting for the rest of the day. My stroke is feeling really solid and I am getting super sharp with my 4 footers. I'm looking forward to sinking a lot of birdies!!

Note to self: Put more sun screen on!!!!!!

Journey South Continues

18th Hole Harbor Town

Sunset by Sea Pines

Harbor Town Light House

The Road

My final results at the Maryland Open were a bit of a disappointment however, the way I scored did not reflect how I played. Both rounds I had two very bad holes that cost me but other than that everything was pretty solid. I am very close to putting it all together. I just have to keep my head on straight and stick to my routine over and over again. It seems that when I get out of routine I loose a second of focus and this causes me to make a costly decision. I have to keep telling myself that I have worked very hard and everything will come together.
After the Maryland Open I stayed a night with my friend Casey just outside of Washington d.c. I have forgotten how neat that city is. On my way to her house I drove by the Washington monument and Arlington cemetery. It brought me back to the memories of when my family and I would visit my sister at GWU.
The next morning I awoke and continued my trip towards Hilton Head SC. It was there I stayed with the Triedman's for a day. They live right next the Harbor Town light house in Sea Pines. The view from their living room is absolutely amazing. You can see dolphins swim at least once a day and the sun sets are beautiful.

The following day Doc Triedman and and I played Berkley Hall. It was great to not be cramped in a car all day and back out there working on my game. I drove the ball really well and helped doc with his swing. We had a great time and it was nice seeing an old friend.
I have now settled in St. Petersburg Florida with my friend Joel. I will use this location as a base camp and drive back and forth to my practice rounds. My first practice round is tomorrow and I am looking forward to seeing the courses! Now it's time to get some sleep. Good night.

And The Trip Begins: Destination # 1 Maryland Open

On The Road Again

I began my journey south early this morning headed for a practice round for the Maryland Open in Bethesda. The trip started out very rainy but cleared up as I made my way through Baltimore. Driving on the highway always has potential for you to see people doing crazy things. For example, as I made my way down 95 I saw a young man trying to cross the highway to get to his friend on the other side. Craziness!

I am very excited for tomorrow's first round. The course is in great condition and I love the layout. I have a 12:10 tee time tomorrow so it will be a perfect time to tee off. I am looking forward to seeing how low I can go.

Right now I am going to get some z's and dream of birdies!!!

http://www.bethesdacountryclub.org/

The Start of My Quest: Thanks DAD for the Lucky 7- Iron

It all began on a summer afternoon long ago when I was seven years old. I would watch my dad and brother practice chipping in the back yard and I would be upset when they would go off to play golf and leave me at home. It wasn’t soon after however ,that my dad surprised me one day with a 7-iron that he cut down just for me. I would practice swinging that club in the backyard for hours, hitting chip shots and whacking the blossom heads off my mother’s flowers much to her dismay. It was in these moments that the love affair with the game began.

It was one afternoon when my dad realized I might have more than a casual interest in this game. And to his surprise, I was getting better at it too. Much to his dismay, I would sometimes practice in the front yard that was close to the main road. I would try to practice hitting the ball to the end of the driveway. My dad would always tell me not to take a full swing because he didn’t want me hitting any cars driving by. Of course on one particular day I decided, against my fathers wishes, to take a full swing which resulted in me clobbering the ball way across the street nearly hitting an 18 wheeler on its way by. At that moment I knew I was in trouble but a new realization began to surface that anything was possible. I was hooked!

As I got a little older, my dad would take my brother and I to play down the street to the local municipal golf course at 5:30 in the morning. It would barely be light out before we teed off, but at those wee hours of the morning I learned the ins and outs of the game. I played with reckless abandon. It really didn’t matter that I didn’t know what I was doing as my natural ability got the chance to flourish and a passion ignited that would eventually grow. Many more of these moments were to come on the little old municipal .

Quote Of the Week

TRY NOT.DO...OR DO NOT. THERE IS NO TRY.

~YODA