Vancouver / Greenbrier Update

It's been a while. I told everyone that I would not be blogging from Canada but I did not realize that it would continue into last week. I was staying so far away from The Greenbrier (about 1.5 hrs away in Roanoke, VA) and with the family out with me, I just did not have the time or energy to blog last week. Unfortunately, it looks like I'll be taking one more week off from blogging in Reno. I'll be staying at The Grand Sierra Resort which most likely will be charging for the Internet. So, to all my friends that are giving me a hard time about paying for the Internet, its not about the cost - its about principle. If McDonalds can offer free Internet, why can't a four star resort include it into the price of their overpriced rooms?

Vancouver was a great week. A good friend, Rick Newsome, from Victoria, BC and his fiance, Bev came over for the week. Rick caddied for me during my days playing on the Canadian Tour. I also ran into one of my roommates from my Canadian Tour days, Dave Jukes, and his wife Antonella. It was great to catch up with them and it brought back great memories. The golf course was extremely difficult. With tight fairways and high rough, it was referred to as a "US Open test." Any drive that finished in the rough could not be advanced to the green and it was like a half shot penalty for driving into it. Kevin played great and put us into contention going into the weekend. A few missed putts on Saturday and a loose driver on Sunday took us out of contention and we finished 59th for the week.

The week at The Greenbrier got off to a horrible start. I flew home Sunday night and Kevin stayed behind to do a charity outing for Andres Gonzales in Seattle, WA on Monday. Our plan was to meet up on Tuesday for an afternoon practice round at The Greenbrier. Kevin called about noon on Tuesday to let me know that his flight was cancelled out of Chicago and that he would not be getting in until later in the afternoon. Kevin then calls back around 3pm and tells me the next flight has also been cancelled. He was now working on getting a private flight to West Virginia and he would not be arriving until late. We ended up playing a 9 hole practice round before the Wednesday pro-am at 6am. The limited 9 hole practice round made it very difficult. Kevin had to play the front nine "blind" on Thursday. Combine that with a tired mind/body and we struggled all week.

Kevin's parents and Brittany came in for the week. He was staying at The Greenbrier for the weekend to get some much rest and relaxation with the family. I came home for the weekend and had a great little birthday party Saturday night with my family. I'll be leaving for Reno tomorrow morning. I just found out the US Air pilots are on strike and the Charlotte airport is a mess. I'm hoping my travel plans go smoothly tomorrow!!

Viking Classic - Fourth Round

Tough day today. We struggled getting the ball in the fairway off the tee. Only hitting five fairways, we were not able to control the ball from the rough and we had limited opportunities at birdie. Our one over par (73), -14 total, dropped us to a tie for 27th.

After the round, I hopped in the car and drove 10 hours back to Morganton. I got home at 2:30am, doing some laundry this morning, and then heading to the airport for Vancouver. My flight leaves Charlotte this evening at 6pm for Seattle. I'll be renting a car in Seattle and then driving up to Vancouver, expecting to arrive at my hotel around midnight (3am EST). It's going to be a long day. Kevin is flying in from Jackson, MS today and we plan to meet about 8:30am Tuesday morning.

Unfortunately, my hotel in Vancouver is charging for the internet. I refuse to pay for the internet in a hotel so I will not be blogging next week from Canada unless the business center offers free internet.

Viking Classic - Round 3

Damn it!! Our first "missed shot" of the week. A thin 3 wood from 243yds didn't cover the hazard on the par five 18th and we finished with a bogey. It was our only bogey for the day and it dropped us to 15 under for the tournament - 3 shots behind the leader.

Kevin's 3 under par (69) was once again solid. We got off to another great start with birdies on the 1st and 4th holes. We added two more birdies on the back on 12 and 16. It just seemed like we could not get a comfortable yardage to the pins today. We had a lot of shots that were between clubs which made it difficult to get the ball close to the hole. When you get between clubs it is natural to get a little conservative, play the ball to a safe spot, and try to let your putter do the talking. That was a test on Kevin's patience because he felt like he should have been hitting the ball closer. But I thought we managed the round correctly and it gave us the best opportunity to shoot low.

Even with the disappointing finish, Kevin is in contention and has an opportunity to go out tomorrow and post a low score. Patience will be the key because this golf course will allow you to make a run of 4 or 5 birdies in a row. You can do it early, in the middle of the round, or late. There isn't any part of this golf course that doesn't allow it. I feel if we can post a solid number tomorrow, we tee off far enough ahead of the leaders that you never know what might happen.

Kevin's parents and sister drove in today. They left Aiken this morning and made it here for our back nine this afternoon. Kevin made a nice par saving putt on the 10th hole, heard a cheer, and said "that's got to be my mom". After the round, we all had a nice dinner and we're looking forward to tomorrow. We tee off at 11:01 with Woody Austin.
 

Viking Classic - Completion Round 2 (Saturday)

The restart was 7am. We loaded up in the vans at 6:45 and headed out to the 6th green. Kevin had a downhill 12 footer for birdie to start the day. Unfortunately, the fresh, early morning green speed got us. Kevin hit a solid putt that ended up rolling past the hole and he could not make the par putt coming back. Unfazed, he stepped up and didn't miss a shot coming in. He birdied 7, rolled a 12 footer over the edge on 8, and birdied 9 to finish the day. The round of 8 under (64) puts us at -12 for the tournament.

Round 3 is estimated to start early afternoon. The field will be split, going off of both sides. I'm expecting our third round tee time will be around 2:30 - 3:00. If the weather holds off, we will have a chance to finish round 3 tonight and be back on track for Sunday.

Viking Classic - Friday

Extremely long day. The day started with a one hour delay which turned into a 2 hour delay. The Tour needed extra time to prepare the course as a storm dropped 1.5 inches of rain during a 10 minute period over night. Unfortunately, we were already on the way to the course when the first announcement was made. We ended up arriving at the course at 7:30 for a revised 10:50 tee time. At least the British Open was on TV.

When the round finally got started, Kevin got off to a great start. Birdies on on the first three holes to start the round put us at 7 under for the tournament. A bogey on our fourth hole (13th) came when we caught a flier from the first cut of rough and a pitching wedge flew 140 yardages. Kevin hit a nice chip to 4 feet but failed to convert the up and down. The bogey was short lived and Kevin birdied the final three holes to finish the front nine in 5 under par. We were able to play two more holes until play was suspended due to a thunderstorm. After a 4 hour delay, played resumed at 5:45 local time. Kevin once again got off to a great start, hitting a wedge to 4 feet and made birdie. One more birdie on the par five 5th hole (our 14th) put us 7 under for the day. Play was once again suspended while we were playing our 15th hole. Kevin just hit another beautiful 9 iron to about 12 feet when the horn blew.

The Tour decided to suspend play for the night and the restart is scheduled for 7am tomorrow. Looking forward to a good night sleep.

Viking Classic - First Round

It was a solid day (68) in very hot conditions. The heat takes so much out of you, we are all pretty tired.

Kevin got off to a great start with birdies on 1, 5 and 6. A few missed opportunities on the par 5's stalled the momentum a little. We were able to get the ball around the green on the par 5's but failed to convert the up and downs. Other then that, every part of the game was solid. Kevin is in total control of his ball striking and it was fun to watch. After the round, we hit a few extra putts and then called it a night.

We tee off tomorrow morning at 8:50am.

Viking Classic (Jackson, MS) - Practice Days

As you all know by now, we shot even par on Friday and missed the cut last week at the John Deere Classic. It was discouraging since our ball striking was as good as I have seen in two years. A late bogey on 17 forced our hand and we finished with a bogey on 18 after hitting an aggressive shot at the pin knowing we needed a birdie to make the cut. It was a tough way to miss the cut but we applied what we have learned into this week of preparation.

On Saturday, Kevin signed up for a pro-am in Davenport, IA. After the pro-am, we hopped into my car and started our 12 hour drive to Jackson, MS. We drove 8 hours, made it to Memphis, TN shortly before midnight and stopped for the night. Sunday we finished our trip and took the day off from practice.

Kevin's instructor flew in Monday morning and I met them at the club about 11am. Holy HOT!! The heat index this week will be hovering around 105 - 110 degrees. Kevin played in the Monday pro-am and he continued hitting the ball solid. We are focusing our practice this week on wedge play and short game. Rickey just wanted Kevin to maintain his width and stay patient at the top of his swing.

Because of the heat, Kevin decided to play nine hole practice rounds on Tuesday and Wednesday at sunrise. We met about 6am each morning, played nine holes, and then finished our practice session with wedges, chips and putting. We were done by 10:30 each day and then Kevin went to the fitness trailer for a workout. Rickey is very encouraged with everything that he sees and just wants us to focus on a few simple thoughts - keep the width and stay patient. We tee off tomorrow at 1:40 with Jarrod Lyle and Monday Qualifier, Matt Fast. I just hope the thunderstorms stay away and allow us to finish the day before dark.

John Deere Classic - First Round

Kevin shot 2 under par 69. We left some shots out there but he rolled the putter good and was able to make 6 birdies to offset the 4 bogeys. We had a couple of bad swings on two par 3's that led to bogeys and one more bogey from 96 yards. If we clean that up and keep it rolling, we will jump right up that board.

The new ball performed awesome. It's really hot off the driver when he hits it solid and also maintains its flight when it is slightly miss hit. It was nice to see a few slightly missed shots carry the distance. Distance control is so important out here and this new ball seems to help with consistency.

After the round, Kevin was selected for the Tour drug testing. He had to go for the test right after signing his scorecard. With the late tee time and finishing so late, we did not have time to practice. We will go back at it in the morning. Our tee time is 8:40.  

John Deere Classic - Tuesday and Wednesday

We met up around noon on Tuesday. Did a little practice and then went out for a practice round. We played with Garrett Willis and Jim Herman. We noticed the greens were much firmer this afternoon then they were yesterday. I'm sure with the cooler temperatures forecast for the week, the Tour will put minimal water on them and firm it up even more by Thursday. After our practice round, we went for some more range work. The Nike staff also wanted to make sure the new ball was performing for Kevin, so they tested a few 7 irons and drivers on the launch monitor. The numbers were exactly what we were seeing on the course. The new ball will be put into play this week.

When I left Kevin last night, we had the plan of playing an early morning nine hole practice round before the pro-am. I woke up at 4:30, showered, dressed and headed out to the club. At 5:30, as I sat in caddy parking, waiting for the shuttle to the clubhouse, I decided to look at my phone. I noticed a text message from Kevin. He sent it last night, it said "sleep in and ill c u abt 9". How am I doing? Nothing like showing up to work 3 1/2 hours early!! Last night I went to bed early...never heard my phone...never thought about checking it for messages. Since my hotel is about 20-25 minutes away, I decide to head over to Denny's for breakfast. Killed as much time as I could, read the paper, pondered the Caylee Anthony Trial, posted on facebook, checked twitter, etc, etc. Finally 9am rolled around and we had our normal Wednesday practice routine. Kevin is swinging it good and rolling it good.

We tee off tomorrow afternoon at 1:55 on number 10 with Fran Quinn and Monday qualifier, Brain Maurer. Time to make some birdies!!

John Deere Classic (Moline, IL) - Monday Practice

I took the 12 hour drive yesterday (Sunday) arriving about 8pm. Kevin flew in this morning. We met about 10am at the club and worked with the Nike staff. Kevin wanted to test a new ball that just came out and also find a new hybrid / 2 iron. During testing, we found that the new ball has a flatter ball flight and there was more consistency with distance control. This ball flight seems to give Kevin a few more yards on all his clubs and allows the driver to "chase" down the fairway when it lands. After a few tries with some new hybrids and a 2 iron, it seems like Kevin hits the "traditional" 2 iron better then any of the hybrids that were built for him. The 2 iron has the same look as the rest of his irons and for whatever reason, he hits it better.

After a late lunch, we did some short game practice - putting, chipping and bunker play. The Monday pro-am finished about 3:30, so we went out and played a nine hole practice round. We played the back nine and continued testing the new ball. The ball performed nicely around the greens and Kevin could not see any difference in feel on and around the greens. We finished just before 6pm and called it a day. Kevin had a long day after waking up at 4:30am for his early morning flight. We will meet tomorrow late morning and do it all over again.