Byron Nelson Championship - Third Round

Tough day for everyone. The wind was blowing 25mph and gusting to 35mph all day. Kevin continued to hit the ball well but the wind made the decision making on yardages and lines nearly impossible. It was total guessing on how much the wind would affect the shots and we had three drives that were hit solid but finished in poor positions. One went into a water hazard and two others finished near the lips of fairway bunkers. We played these three holes in four over par and shot five over (75) for the day. To put things into perspective, the final group today (Garcia - 74 and Palmer - 73) only had one birdie between the two of them yet they still lead the tournament. With all that said, Kevin's putter is still letting him down. His speed has been off all week and has missed a number of opportunities inside 15 feet. We continued to work on it after the round today so we are hoping to start seeing the results tomorrow. The forecast once again is calling for heavy winds. We are paired with Ben Crane and tee off at 7:56. A nice solid round could move right back up that leadboard.  

Byron Nelson Championship - Second Round

Kevin played very well today and fought hard to shot one under par - 69 on an extremely windy day. On a day where the wind was blowing 20-25 mph and gusting up to 35mph, there were only 9 scores better then Kevin's 69 today. Kevin's ball striking was solid all day. We had a lot of looks at birdie through 13 holes but we were only able to make two. The last 5 holes finish into the wind and even though Kevin hit solid shots, the golf ball did not find the green and we missed the last five greens in regulation. But Kevin dug deep and made five great up and downs to keep the round intact. Only one player, Steven Bowditch (-5) made a bigger move up the leaderboard. Kevin's 141 total puts us t-39 with two rounds to play. We tee off tomorrow at 9:06 with JJ Henry. The forecast for the weekend the same as today. Winds gusting up to 35mph. Looking forward to it.

Byron Nelson Championship - First Round

Tee time was 1:45 today. The pace of play was extremely slow (5:45) and it felt like we were out there forever. Kevin played fairly solid today (72). He said he felt a little anxious starting out but he hit a perfect drive and pitching wedge to 3 feet for a birdie on our first hole. He did struggle getting his puts on line and we missed a number opportunities. His ball striking was pretty good. We just could not get a comfortable distance into the greens all day. We seem to always be between clubs and never had a "green light" normal distance/shot into a flag. Hoping that changes tomorrow. 

British Open Qualifier - Monday

Scheduled for 36 holes, officials had to reduce the qualifier to 18 holes after a late morning storm suspended play for 6 hours. Play was suspended at 10:30am. We were one under par through 11 holes and Kevin just hit an approach shot to about 25 feet on 12 when play was suspended. We got off to a rocky start, with two 3-putts and a flubbed chip shot in the first 5 holes. But Kevin was able to offset those mistakes with four birdies and put us right in the ballgame at one under par when the horns sounded to suspend play. Unfortunately, heavy rains left the course unplayable and an announcement was made at 3pm that the qualifier would be reduced to 18 holes. This put us a little behind the eight-ball since we now only had 6 holes to catch the leaders. When play resumed at 4:30, Kevin struggled with the speed of the greens. With the greens being much slower after the rain, he left his birdie putt short on 12 and then 3-putted 13 leaving both putts short. On the upside of things, Kevin's ball striking was very good on an extremely windy day. The work that he has done on his swing is starting to show. He controlled his ball flight and distances all day. We'll spend the next two days cleaning up the loose ends and we'll be ready come Thursday.

Back on the Road

After two weeks off, I am looking forward to getting back to work. The toughest part of the job this week was the 15 hour drive from Morganton, NC to Dallas, TX. I woke up yesterday (Saturday) at 4:30am, out the door by 5am and pulled into my hotel 1030 miles and 15 hours later. Not the ideal drive but sometimes you just have to do what needs to be done. We did not know we were not playing in the Colonial until late late week and with the cost of flights and rental cars, I decided to make the drive. I'm glad it's over but not looking forward to the trip back home.

Kevin is arriving this morning. He is attempting the British Open Qualifier on Monday at Gleneagles GC just outside of Dallas. I am meeting him around noon and then we will play a practice round. The qualifier is 36 holes and our first tee time is 7:50am tomorrow.

The Tour event this week is the Bryon Nelson Championship. We start preparing for that on Tuesday.

Wells Fargo Championship (Charlotte, NC) - Practice

Home Game. Living about an hour away, I am planning on commuting this week. Kevin played in a Pro-am on Monday in GA, so I spent the day at Quail Hollow doing course work. Finishing up around 4pm, I was able to get home in time for my daughter Albany's first softball game of the season.

On Tuesday, my friend Dennis Woolard came down to Charlotte with me. We met Kevin and his instructor, Rickey, at 9:30 on the range. After warming up, we played a practice round with Garrett Willis, Ryuji Imada, and Jeff Overton. I put Dennis to work and he was "The Caddy's Caddy" today and carried the bag for me. We all had a blast and Kevin was able to get some good work in. After the round, we went back to the range and continued to work on grooving the swing. Kevin had a great session on the range and then we did some short game and putting work. With the sun setting, Kevin wanted to test it out a little more on the golf course, so we headed out and played three more holes. We had a great day of practice and my buddy Dennis was thrilled about his day but also worn out.

Today (Wednesday) was a great day for me. Kevin wanted to play and decided to make the hour drive to Morganton with Rickey and play at my club, Mimosa Hills. Everyone at the club was excited to have a PGA Tour pro coming to play for the day. I invited Mitchell McGlamery, a young inspiring tour pro, to join us. Mitchell will be making his professional debut in three weeks on the Carolinas Pro Golf Tour and I felt it was a great opportunity for him to spend the day with Kevin. Kevin was extremely gracious as many of the members came out to say hello or watch a few holes. It was a special day.

We tee off late tomorrow at 2:10 on number 1. I looking forward to a good week.