Mexico OHL Classic - Rounds One and Two

It has been a wild week so far. I'm losing track of what day it is. The weather delays on Thursday meant zero golf for us. Our first round started Friday morning. Kevin played solid. He is still struggling with the driver but he managed to keep it out of the hazards during the first round. With a solid iron game and putter, he shot a nice six under par (65). A quick 30 minute turnaround and we started our second round on the par three tenth with a tap in birdie. Unfortunately, as the round went on, the driver finally caught up to us. Two drives right into water hazards led to a bogey and a double and we made the turn at three over par. We made it to the third green when play was suspended for the day due to darkness. After a 4:00am wake up call, we were back in position at 6:45 and finished round two. A late bogey on the final hole kinda sums up how our year has been. From 136 yards, Kevin hit a nine iron 12 feet left of the hole that lands directly on top of a sprinkler head located on the fringe. The ball bounced about 40 feet away into an impossible up and down position. He did well just to make bogey from where we finished. We now are sitting at two under par for the tournament awaiting to see if it will be good enough to play the final two rounds. If so, we will begin round three late today and hope to get about nine holes in before dark.

McGladrey Recap / Mexico Update

As most of you know, we had a good week at Sea Island for the McGladrey. It was great seeing everyone that made it out and I appreciated all the thoughts and prayers. I am happy to say that last Sunday was my first pain free day since my fall seven weeks ago and I continue to feel great here in Mexico.

Last week at the McGladrey, Kevin finished t-20th with rounds of 65, 73, 70, 66. We struggled a little off the tee but we managed it well and Kevin hit his irons great. The middle two rounds were solid but we were just a little off on the greens with the reads. Kevin hit good putts but we were just slightly off and had a run of 27 holes without a birdie during the middle two rounds.

After the round on Sunday, I drove back to Charlotte, NC and met the family for the night near the airport. We were able to have a late dinner together and I flew out Monday morning for Mexico. I met Kevin on Tuesday and we began our preparation for the week. Even though the "rainy season" has officially ended, they are still getting a lot of rain down here and it looks like it will continue this week. Right now (Thursday morning), we are in a weather delay. Our scheduled tee time today was 12:05 with Scott Gardiner and Andrew Loupe but it looks like that will be delayed. With rain forecast all week it looks like it could be a long week.

McGladrey Classic - First Round

We had a great week of preparation. We met Monday around noon and spent a few hours practicing. Kevin's instructor was here for a few days but not much had to be done. They worked hard during the off weeks and Kevin is hitting the ball nicely. We spent most of our practice time around the putting and chipping greens. Kevin also worked with Fourteen Golf (Kevin uses their wedges) during the off week and had a few wedges built to help him with his bunker play. We spent some time Monday dialing in those wedges. We finished the day with a nine hole practice round with Blake Adams.

Tuesday we had the clubs re-gripped, played another nine hole practice round, and once again spent most of our practice on the short game. Wednesday Kevin practiced in the morning and then went off site and played. I'm staying at my brothers in Fernandina Beach, FL (about an hour away) so Kevin gave me the day off.

We showed up Thursday morning to a totally different golf course. The winds have been blowing about 25 mph all week but Thursday was dead calm. After a 1:50 fog delay, we teed off at 10:20. Kevin struggled starting the round and made bogeys on one and three. After a great par on the fourth from a bad lie in the rough, Kevin settled in and took advantage of the calm conditions. Great iron shots and great putting led to eight birdies over the next twelve holes. Sitting six under for the day in the 18th fairway, the 4 iron found the right bunker and we couldn't get it up and down. We finished the day with a nice five under par (65).

Because of the fog delay, the afternoon tee times were not able to finish the first round. Our revised round two tee time is 1:50 off of number ten. The winds have once again picked back up and it is forecast to blow 25-30 mph all day. It will take a lot of patience today and look forward to the challenge.