First, I want to thank Kevin for coming to my room Thursday night, ordering us pizza for dinner and blogging for me. It's about time he did something!!
The second round was much like the first round. The wind blew hard most of the day and we once again struggled on the back nine. Teeing off of the par 3 - 10th to start the round, our tee shot once again found the water hazard right of the green. Two more tee shots right into water hazards off the 13th and 14th tees had us behind the 8-ball early. Knowing the scores would be high, Kevin fought through and we had our chances coming in. Other then those three bad tee shots, he hit it well and we managed it well. But we just could not take advantage of the scoring opportunities. It's frustrating but all we can do is keep playing and practicing, trusting that it will all come together and pay off soon.
After the round, Kevin booked us flights out for today. He headed out early to Richard Scott's wedding and I'm on my way home. Unfortunately, our re-rank will not be good enough to get into the Honda Classic next week in Palm Beach, FL. Our next event will be in Puerto Rico in two weeks.
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Mexico (Guest appearance)
Hi Everyone, this is Kevin. Dewey said he was tired of blogging after I play like a "kned" so I told him I would sub in as a guest blogger tonight. Now to see if I can sound like him...
We had it going a for a little bit with -1 thru 9, but had a rough back nine. Seems to be a common theme for the year. Started with a pushed 4 iron on 10 that the wind blew forever in the hazard and the double bogey train was revving up. I played (excuse me "We") solid for the next few holes missing some makeable birdie putts until the 16th hole. Another wayward drive on 16 led to another double and a popped up 5 wood on 17 topped it off with another bogey. The wind started to howl later in the round and the scores ballooned a bit so we still have a shot at this.
3 bad swings led to a bad round, clean those up and hole a few putts and we are off to the races. Hope everyone is doing fantastic and we will let Dewey return tomorrow!
We had it going a for a little bit with -1 thru 9, but had a rough back nine. Seems to be a common theme for the year. Started with a pushed 4 iron on 10 that the wind blew forever in the hazard and the double bogey train was revving up. I played (excuse me "We") solid for the next few holes missing some makeable birdie putts until the 16th hole. Another wayward drive on 16 led to another double and a popped up 5 wood on 17 topped it off with another bogey. The wind started to howl later in the round and the scores ballooned a bit so we still have a shot at this.
3 bad swings led to a bad round, clean those up and hole a few putts and we are off to the races. Hope everyone is doing fantastic and we will let Dewey return tomorrow!
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Northern Trust Open - Off Week
Many of you called, text, or emailed wanting to know what we were doing this week. So, it has come to my attention that half of my blog (Pebble Beach Pro-am) was deleted when I posted it on Sunday. I was sitting in the San Francisco airport, using my phone to post the blog (which I don't normally do) and I guess I messed up. Anyway, here is the "rest of the story".
After missing the cut, Kevin took the red eye home Saturday night and I flew home on Sunday. Kevin is not in the field for this week's Northern Trust Open. We have been on the road for five weeks, so Kevin decided not to "chase" the Monday qualifier in LA. We are taking the week off, getting some rest, refueling the body, and then it is off to Mexico next week.
The Mexico event is the final event before the "reshuffle". Each player in Kevin's category (Nationwide/Qschool) has a ranking number. With some of the more popular or smaller field events, this category is the last category to fill the field. Therefore, some of the players in this category will not have the opportunity to play (i.e. this week - Northern Trust Open). This category gets reshuffled throughout the year after every 5-7 events. The re-ranking is based on total money earned. The more money the player makes, the better their chances are to get into tournaments. With the Florida swing happening after Mexico, these events are popular with more European players coming over and filling the fields. We are hoping for a solid week in Mexico to move up the ranking.
Since I've been home this week, many of you have asked about Kevin. I can sum up the start of the year with a positive note. We have only made two cuts, finishing back in the pack, but we are not playing bad golf. The PGA Tour is tough! The players are great and the golf courses are difficult. Small mistakes are magnified out here but that does not equate to poor play. Kevin's ball striking is solid. He has the confidence in the things he is working on with Rickey. He continues to work hard on his short game and I still see big improvements with the variety of shots he is learning around the greens. I believe he is real close to doing something special and I know he does too.
See ya next week from Mexico.
After missing the cut, Kevin took the red eye home Saturday night and I flew home on Sunday. Kevin is not in the field for this week's Northern Trust Open. We have been on the road for five weeks, so Kevin decided not to "chase" the Monday qualifier in LA. We are taking the week off, getting some rest, refueling the body, and then it is off to Mexico next week.
The Mexico event is the final event before the "reshuffle". Each player in Kevin's category (Nationwide/Qschool) has a ranking number. With some of the more popular or smaller field events, this category is the last category to fill the field. Therefore, some of the players in this category will not have the opportunity to play (i.e. this week - Northern Trust Open). This category gets reshuffled throughout the year after every 5-7 events. The re-ranking is based on total money earned. The more money the player makes, the better their chances are to get into tournaments. With the Florida swing happening after Mexico, these events are popular with more European players coming over and filling the fields. We are hoping for a solid week in Mexico to move up the ranking.
Since I've been home this week, many of you have asked about Kevin. I can sum up the start of the year with a positive note. We have only made two cuts, finishing back in the pack, but we are not playing bad golf. The PGA Tour is tough! The players are great and the golf courses are difficult. Small mistakes are magnified out here but that does not equate to poor play. Kevin's ball striking is solid. He has the confidence in the things he is working on with Rickey. He continues to work hard on his short game and I still see big improvements with the variety of shots he is learning around the greens. I believe he is real close to doing something special and I know he does too.
See ya next week from Mexico.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Pebble Beach Pro-am
Sorry for not keeping in touch this week but after five weeks on the road, I was a little tired of blogging. By the time I made it back to my room each night, all I wanted to do was go to sleep.
Kevin and I met up on Tuesday. We worked with Rickey in the morning and then played a practice round on Pebble Beach. Wednesday was the same routine except we played Monterey. Kevin was hitting it great and we were ready for the week.
When I met Kevin on Thursday, he was not feeling well. He came down with a head cold with a sore throat, sneezing, runny nose, etc. He couldn't shake it for the rest of the week, and then I caught it Friday night. We finished the week 4 over par and missed the cut by four. The week can be summed up as a week of missed opportunities. We putted poorly all week we also left other scoring opportunities out there. We didn't take advantage of the reachable par 5's and missed a few greens with some short irons.
Kevin and I met up on Tuesday. We worked with Rickey in the morning and then played a practice round on Pebble Beach. Wednesday was the same routine except we played Monterey. Kevin was hitting it great and we were ready for the week.
When I met Kevin on Thursday, he was not feeling well. He came down with a head cold with a sore throat, sneezing, runny nose, etc. He couldn't shake it for the rest of the week, and then I caught it Friday night. We finished the week 4 over par and missed the cut by four. The week can be summed up as a week of missed opportunities. We putted poorly all week we also left other scoring opportunities out there. We didn't take advantage of the reachable par 5's and missed a few greens with some short irons.
Monday, February 6, 2012
Waste Management Phoenix Open - Final Round
Kevin's ball striking was better on Sunday. He drove the ball great hitting 12 of 14 fairways. We missed a few scoring opportunities with four loose wedge shots but the rest of his game was good. Kevin's short game was sharp and we managed a two under par round (69). The highlight of the day came when Kevin hit a nice 7 iron into the famous 16th and made the putt for birdie. It was the first day they didn't boo us off the stage. Our total of one under (283) finished t-55th.
After the round, we packed up and headed to the airport. Kevin flew to Las Vegas to meet up with friends that were there for the weekend. Since we were not in the field for the Phoenix Open, his friends had his bachelor party planned for this weekend. When Kevin Monday qualified and then made the cut, his boys were in Vegas without him, so he took off to spend the night with them.
I flew into San Francisco and spent the night. This morning I drove down to Pebble and I was able to get some course work done on Spyglass Hill this afternoon. The ATT Pebble Beach Pro-am is played on three golf courses - Pebble Beach, Spyglass Hill and The Monterey Peninsula Club. Kevin flew to Pebble this afternoon and we will meet tomorrow with Kevin's instructor, Rickey Sullivan, to start preparing for the week. Rickey flew in yesterday and is here working with everyone in his camp. I'm excited about the week. We are back at the place where Kevin made his first PGA Tour check and it is one of the most beautiful places in the world. What a great office I have this week!!
After the round, we packed up and headed to the airport. Kevin flew to Las Vegas to meet up with friends that were there for the weekend. Since we were not in the field for the Phoenix Open, his friends had his bachelor party planned for this weekend. When Kevin Monday qualified and then made the cut, his boys were in Vegas without him, so he took off to spend the night with them.
I flew into San Francisco and spent the night. This morning I drove down to Pebble and I was able to get some course work done on Spyglass Hill this afternoon. The ATT Pebble Beach Pro-am is played on three golf courses - Pebble Beach, Spyglass Hill and The Monterey Peninsula Club. Kevin flew to Pebble this afternoon and we will meet tomorrow with Kevin's instructor, Rickey Sullivan, to start preparing for the week. Rickey flew in yesterday and is here working with everyone in his camp. I'm excited about the week. We are back at the place where Kevin made his first PGA Tour check and it is one of the most beautiful places in the world. What a great office I have this week!!
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Waste Management Phoenix Open - Round 3
Our tee time this morning was 10:20 on number 10 with Bill Lunde and JJ Killeen. Kevin struggled all day with his ball striking. He has been driving the ball great over the past three weeks but we were only able to hit three fairways today with the driver. We topped that off with only hitting 5 greens. His short game kept us in it for most of the day but we went to the well too many times and it finally caught up with us on our back nine.
After the round, we went to work on the range. Kevin has been working hard with his instructor but his swing keys today took him out of rhythm and his body and arms were out of sync most of the day. By the end of our range session, Kevin was back in sync and his body looked great through the ball.
We finished our practice with some short game and putting. Kevin was getting a kick out of the drunk rowdy crowds hanging around the practice greens so he wanted to give me a taste of what it has been like for him. He challenged me to a putting contest with drunk college kids watching. It did not take long and I had kids yelling at me about my calves, my poor putting skills, telling where to hit each putt, etc. I lost the match but it was fun none the less.
We tee off tomorrow at 10:15 with Brandt Snedeker and John Merrick
After the round, we went to work on the range. Kevin has been working hard with his instructor but his swing keys today took him out of rhythm and his body and arms were out of sync most of the day. By the end of our range session, Kevin was back in sync and his body looked great through the ball.
We finished our practice with some short game and putting. Kevin was getting a kick out of the drunk rowdy crowds hanging around the practice greens so he wanted to give me a taste of what it has been like for him. He challenged me to a putting contest with drunk college kids watching. It did not take long and I had kids yelling at me about my calves, my poor putting skills, telling where to hit each putt, etc. I lost the match but it was fun none the less.
We tee off tomorrow at 10:15 with Brandt Snedeker and John Merrick
Friday, February 3, 2012
Waste Management Phoenix Open - Friday
The day started early with a 4:45am wake up call. I met Kevin at 6:20 to start our warm up for the 7:30 restart. It was dark and cold as we started to warm up under the lights. But as the sun began to rise, the frost started to lay. The Tour announced a 30 minute delay around 7:00 and then added another 30 minutes about 7:15. When play finally resumed at 8:30, it was a perfect morning.
Kevin completed the first round with 6 straight pars. As soon as he signed the scorecard, we went straight to the first tee to start round two. It was an average round on a course that had some difficult pins. The front nine, we bogeyed both par 3's after missing the greens but Kevin was able to make two birdies to turn at even par. On the tenth, Kevin made a nice long putt to get us under par for the day. A tee shot right into a water hazard on the par 5 13th led to a bogey but he was able to get that shot back with a nice birdie on the other par 5 (15th).
We arrived at the famous 16th one under par for the day. With a packed house, we came up short into the front bunker and we were not able to get it up and down. They all let us know that we did not have a good hole and that they all thought they could do better then us. It is an unbelievable experience. If you hit a great shot, they cheer like you are greatest of all time. Hit a poor shot, and they will yell things at you that would make their momma's be ashamed of them. Caddies are not left out. They bet on each group on which caddie will reach the green first. The two caddies that don't win will have a few choice words thrown at them. It's all a little over the top, but fun none the less.
We finished the round with two pars and shot even par (71). Our 2 under par total will be good enough to make the cut. Because of the early frost delay, play was once again suspended due to darkness. The Tour will again try for a 7:30 restart, finish round 2, make the cut and begin round 3 between 10:00am and 12:00pm teeing off both the 1st and 10th tees.
We are looking forward to the weekend and having two more memorable experiences on that 16th.
Kevin completed the first round with 6 straight pars. As soon as he signed the scorecard, we went straight to the first tee to start round two. It was an average round on a course that had some difficult pins. The front nine, we bogeyed both par 3's after missing the greens but Kevin was able to make two birdies to turn at even par. On the tenth, Kevin made a nice long putt to get us under par for the day. A tee shot right into a water hazard on the par 5 13th led to a bogey but he was able to get that shot back with a nice birdie on the other par 5 (15th).
We arrived at the famous 16th one under par for the day. With a packed house, we came up short into the front bunker and we were not able to get it up and down. They all let us know that we did not have a good hole and that they all thought they could do better then us. It is an unbelievable experience. If you hit a great shot, they cheer like you are greatest of all time. Hit a poor shot, and they will yell things at you that would make their momma's be ashamed of them. Caddies are not left out. They bet on each group on which caddie will reach the green first. The two caddies that don't win will have a few choice words thrown at them. It's all a little over the top, but fun none the less.
We finished the round with two pars and shot even par (71). Our 2 under par total will be good enough to make the cut. Because of the early frost delay, play was once again suspended due to darkness. The Tour will again try for a 7:30 restart, finish round 2, make the cut and begin round 3 between 10:00am and 12:00pm teeing off both the 1st and 10th tees.
We are looking forward to the weekend and having two more memorable experiences on that 16th.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Waste Management Phoenix Open - Round One
With frost this morning, our tee time was pushed back one hour. We teed off number 10 at 2:01 with Stephen Gangluff and Troy Kelly. The pace of play was extremely slow as we played the first nine holes in 2:55. Kevin struggled a bit getting into the rhythm of the round and he said he had trouble getting comfortable. But he played well and managed to make the turn in two under par. A missed up and down gave us a bogey on our tenth hole but he got that right back on the next hole with a great drive and a wedge to 7 feet.
Play was finally suspended at 6:00pm after Kevin hit a beautiful 7 iron on the par 3 fourth (our 13th) to six feet. We decided not to putt in the darkness so that is where we will start back tomorrow morning. The Tour has scheduled a 7:30am restart. Temperatures are forecast for the same as today, so we may be looking at another delay. When play does resume, we will finish our first round and then go right back out for our second round.
Play was finally suspended at 6:00pm after Kevin hit a beautiful 7 iron on the par 3 fourth (our 13th) to six feet. We decided not to putt in the darkness so that is where we will start back tomorrow morning. The Tour has scheduled a 7:30am restart. Temperatures are forecast for the same as today, so we may be looking at another delay. When play does resume, we will finish our first round and then go right back out for our second round.
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