Jackson, MS (Week) / Boise, ID (First Round)

I arrived into Jackson on Tuesday about midnight and checked into an airport hotel for the night. Kevin arrived about noon on Wednesday and we headed out to the club for an afternoon practice session with his coach. On Thursday, we had an afternoon tee time and got off to a great start. Kevin was four under par through six holes when play was suspended for a thunderstorm. A small storm cell just continued to build and hung around for the rest of the day. Play was officially cancelled for the day about 6:30pm and we were sent home for the night. Play was scheduled to resume at 7:00am friday morning but fog pushed it back until 7:30. Kevin continued right were we left off the day before and finished the first round with a nice 7 under par round (65). After the round, we only had 20 minutes until we had to start our second round. Kevin grabbed a quick bite to eat and we headed right back out for the second round. With the heat index close to 100 degrees, the 30 hole day was setting up to be a marathon. It all caught up to us late in the day. A three putt bogey (15th) was backed with a poor swing on the next hole (16th) leading to a penalty stroke and a double bogey. We ended up finishing the round at one over (73).

The weekend was much like our second round. We hit some really good shots but the bad shots were all big misses. Kevin putted great all week but we just could not give ourselves enough opportunities to keep pace with the leaders. We finished the weekend with rounds of 71 and 74 for a four round total of five under par (283) tied for 65th place. 

Monday was a travel day to Boise, ID. Since our plans last week changed last minute and I had to fly to Jackson, it was going to be a long day for me getting to Boise. I left Jackson, MS at 5:30am and headed back to Kansas City (via Charlotte, NC) so I could catch my original fights (via Phoenix) to Boise. I finally arrived here in Boise after 17 hours of travel. Tuesday was our normal practice day with a full 18 hole practice round and then the pro-am Wednesday morning. Wednesday's pro-am was a tough one. We were paired with one player that had NEVER played golf before. We understand the importance of the pro-ams and Kevin did a great job making the guys feel comfortable but it really did take a lot out of him. It was just a difficult day to stay focused.

Today, we teed off at 8:25. Kevin played well on the front nine, missing only one fairway and green on the front nine. Struggling a bit with the putter, Kevin made the turn with a solid two under par. Things took a turn toward the worse when a pulled 4 iron off the the short par four 10th found the water hazard. After the drop, a blocked nine iron right of the green put us is a bad spot and we could not get it up and down, making double bogey. The rest of the back nine was a struggle. We didn't hit it good, chip it good, or putt it good. The final result was a back nine score of three over par for a one over par total (72). With perfect scoring conditions, the scores were super low today with 72 guys shooting 3 under or better today. We will have do some work tomorrow to have any chance to hang around for the weekend. We tee off number 10 tomorrow at 1:25.

Leaving Kansas City heading to Jackson, MS

We spent Sunday afternoon in Salt Lake City practicing and getting ready for this week. We both flew out Monday to Kansas City but I did not arrive until 8:00pm. Kevin got in early and went out to the golf course for some practice. He ended up wanting to play nine holes, so thanks to my roommate, Benji Thompson, he had a caddy for the nine holes. When I arrived Monday evening into Kansas City, Kevin text me saying we were 9th alternate for the PGA Tour event in Jackson, MS.
He said to plan on going if we got into the event.

I met Kevin at the golf course this morning at 7:00am for an early nine hole practice round. By the time we finished our nine holes, we moved up to the third alternate for Jackson. Since Kevin had an off site commitment this afternoon, we hit a few balls before he had to leave. It wasn't long after Kevin left the course when the call came in to tell him we were in the field for Jackson. So I headed back to the hotel, bought a flight, packed, and headed back to the airport.

I'll get into Jackson tonight about midnight and will met Kevin sometime tomorrow. I'm excited to have this opportunity and I'm looking forward to a great week.

Utah Championship - Second Round

Everything was much better Friday for the second round. Teeing off of number ten, Kevin started the day with birdies on 10, 12 and 13. The good start fed his confidence and even though he still wasn't totally comfortable with everything, he was hitting it solid and it was going where he was looking. The momentum slowed with disappointing pars on the par 5's number 17 and number 1 as we made the turn. Knowing we needed to get it to five under to have any chance of playing the weekend, making pars on those holes was putting the squeeze on. Kevin kept hitting good shots and giving himself looks at birdie. Knowing we needed a birdie on the last to have any chance to make the cut, Kevin hit a perfect drive and approach to 10 feet. He made the putt to shoot five under (66) but still fell one short of the cut number. Even though we missed the cut, we still can take a lot of positives from the week. We just need to build off this week and move forward.

On Saturday we went to Park City, Utah and played golf at Promontory Golf Club with Scott Parel and Benji Thompson. We played a little match (pro/caddy teams) that turned out all square. We had a great time and it was a fun way to spend the day. Since we both are not flying out until Monday, I will be meeting Kevin today at the course for some practice. Keep building on this week and give it another try next week in Kansas City.

Utah Championship (Salt Lake City)

It has been a while since my last blog. The kids finished school during the week of Wichita, so I decided to pack the family up and bring them along for the Raleigh and Evanville, IN events. While it is always great to have them out with me, it's also hard to find the time to blog. After Indiana, we had the week off, so we decided to head down to Jacksonville, FL for a few days to see my parents. My Dad is doing much better and has most of his strength back. It was great to get down there and visit for a few days.

I met Kevin here in Salt Lake City on Tuesday morning. We both flew in Monday night but Kevin's luggage was delayed and didn't show up until Tuesday morning. We hit balls in the morning and then played an afternoon practice round. With the high altitude here, the 7000 yard golf course does not play very long but the narrow tree lined fairways puts a premium on ball striking. This course has five par 5's and six par 3's and most of the par 4's are not driver off the tees. With this combination, the scores will be low this week.

Unfortunately for us, Kevin's ball striking has been off since we arrived. We all know that we are going to go through times when the ball striking is not up to par and we will just need to rely on the short game to get us through the week. But what makes it difficult this week is the high altitude. When you are not hitting solid shots in this altitude, not only is the direction off but it is impossible to get the correct yardage. Shots that are hit solid will stay in the air about ten percent longer at this altitude. When a shot is miss hit, it does not produce enough spin on the ball and it will not be able to stay in the air. So even a short iron could have up to a 15-20 yard gap depending on how solid the strike was during the hit. So, with all that said, it has been a tough week for us out on the golf course.

We teed off yesterday for the first round at 7:10 with Dusty Fielding and Gavin Coles. After a tough front nine and a bogey on the 11th put us three over par for the day, Kevin managed to string three birdies in a row on 12, 13 and 14 to get us back to even for the day. A three putt on the 15th stalled the momentum but he was able to get one more birdie on the 17th hole and a great up and down the last gave us an even par round (71). It's definitely not the score we wanted but at least it still gives us a chance heading into today's round. Golf is a funny game. A little confidence and momentum will go a long way and you never know when it will show up. We just need to keep working hard, try to keep his spirits up and trust what we are doing. We tee off today at 12:10 on number 10.