Friday, October 18, 2013

Las Vegas - Round One

Kevin had a great work week. We meet Monday afternoon and had a great practice session with his teacher, John Tillery. Tuesday we played a practice round with Tommy Gainey, Blake Adams and Scott Brown. Kevin is swinging well. We also worked with the Taylor Made guys and got into a better driver and 3 wood. Wednesday we had two practice sessions. One in the morning and the another after lunch. We put in some extra time in the bunkers this week and Kevin was starting to feel better about his bunker play.

Thursday's round was all about patience. We missed a few opportunities early and Kevin's patience was wearing thin. Two sloppy three putts and a flier out of the rough was our only miss steps to the day. A round that could have been an easy four under turned into an even par round (71).

Once again, my back started acting up about halfway through the round. By the time we reached our 14th hole, it was difficult for me to pick the bag up and get it on my shoulder. The pain was so intense the last few holes I was even having trouble breathing. After the round, Kevin was selected for drug testing so we only hit a few putts, making sure his fundamentals were good, and called it a night.

At about 9:30 last night, not feeling any better, I realized there was just no possible way I was going to be able to caddy. Kevin's long time friend, David Robinson is here caddying for Blake Adams. Blake had to WD due to a hip injury before the first round, so we decided it would be best for David to caddy the rest of the week for me. It's killing me not to be able to caddy today but I didn't want Kevin to be playing and have to worry about me. This is the first day I have ever missed a day of work but I woke up this morning and struggled to even take a shower. I have booked a flight home this afternoon. I'm  looking forward to finding out what is going on and getting ready for Sea Island, GA in a few weeks

Monday, October 14, 2013

Frys.Com Open - Round Four

Kevin shot a solid round of four under par (67) to finish the event 7 under par. His scores improved each day 73, 69, 68, 67. The driver still gave him some troubles during the final round as both of the bogeys came after the tee shots found a hazard. His iron game and putter remained solid all week. It was a nice way to start the season and we're looking forward to Las Vegas.

After the round, we all didn't have much time to catch our flights. As soon as we finished, we packed up the golf bag and Brittany and Kevin headed out to San Jose airport. I waited for my roommate, Derrick Redd (Ben Martin's caddy) to finish and then we headed out to the San Francisco for our flight over to Vegas. The plan for today is to meet Kevin mid day for some practice. We plan on working with the Taylor Made guys to try and find a better fitting driver. His old driver cracked and the two new drivers they built for him last week produce too much spin.

Saturday, October 12, 2013

Frys.Com Open - Round Three

Kevin had another solid day. He drove the ball much better today and continued to hit good quality iron shots. Starting on ten, we bogeyed the difficult par 3 eleventh but made back to back birdies on 15 and 16 to turn at one under par. A couple of great par saves during the middle of our round on the first and second holes kept us in the game after a few wayward tee shots. Kevin was then able to go on and play the back nine in two under par. His three under total (68) puts us in a tie for 52nd with one round to go.

With more then 78 players making the cut (81 total), the Tour makes a "secondary cut" to the low 70 and ties for Sunday. That cut fell at one under par. We will once again go off split tees in threesomes. Our tee time will be 11:25 with Jason Gore and Heath Slocum on number 10.

Frys.Com Open - Round Two

Kevin continued to hit solid iron shots today. He hit a total of 14 greens for the second day in a row and had 10 of those 14 approach shots inside fifteen feet. After starting the day with birdies on the first two holes, Kevin hit every green on the front nine but was unable to make another birdie. His two under par on the front nine moved us back to even for the tournament and in great shape heading into the back. Things were slowed a bit after bogeys on 10 and 11 but he hung in there and kept giving himself good opportunities for birdies. Three birdies on the last six holes got us back to even par for the tournament and good enough to make the cut right on the number.

After some lunch, we had a short practice session before calling it a day. We will be teeing off in threesomes tomorrow off of both tees. Our tee time is 11:20 off of number ten with Will Claxton and Brian Stuard. 

Friday, October 11, 2013

Frys.Com Open - Round One

We just played our first round of the new season without a birdie. Kevin played well today in some tough late day conditions. The temps were cool, the wind was gusty and playing in the final group, the greens were bumpy. He managed to hit 14 greens but was unable to convert the putts and finished the day with 34 total putts. If we just continue giving ourselves the opportunities, we'll be fine tomorrow.

When we finished the round, it was almost dark so we just packed the bag up and headed out. My back was OK for most of the day but I started getting back spasms on the last four holes. With the rounds taking almost 5 1/2 hours to play, I should have brought my medicine with me. I decided to just pick up some dinner and get back to the room to get some medicine. Now, after a shower and taking my medication, I'm starting to feel better. I'm hoping a good night sleep will have me ready to go again in the morning. We tee off tomorrow at 8:50 on number one. 

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Start of the 2013-14 PGA Tour Season (Fry's.Com Open)

The PGA Tour season is here already. After finishing the Web.Com Tour Finals in Jacksonville, FL, we only had one week off before the start of the new season. It was a good week. My parents came back to North Carolina with me from Jacksonville and spent the week with us at home. The kids were excited to see their grandparents and it was nice to have some help around the house. I took a little tumble while caddying in Jacksonville and did something to my back. Not being able to do much, my dad spent most of the days outside helping with yard work. I'm a little embarrassed to say but my yard hasn't looked this good in two years (the last time he was able to visit!!!).

I flew out here (San Jose, CA) on Sunday and met Kevin Monday morning. We spent a few hours practicing before playing in the afternoon pro am. Tuesday's schedule was much like Monday with a good morning practice session and then an afternoon practice round with James Driscoll, Will MacKenzie and Andres Gonzales. Today was the normal PGA Tour Wednesday practice day for us. Not being able to play the course, spent most of the practice time around the chipping green and practice bunker before finishing the day with some range work and putting. Kevin struggled the last few weeks with his ball striking but showed up here hitting it much better. 

We tee off tomorrow at 1:30 on number 10 with Will Claxton and David Carr.