A Milestone

Someone said that golf is a game of inches. It’s easy to picture what that means in putting.

As a new pro, inches sure mean a lot to me.

On Monday, as darkness fell, I was battling in a qualifier against eight other golfers. We were all tied at 68. It was a sudden death playoff. Five of us would get in.

I parred the hole. It was enough to qualify for my first Nationwide Tour.

Check out the Nationwide Legend Financial Group Classic event in Ohio at http://www.pgatour.com/tournaments/h088

Now, to make the cut!

Rolling with the Punches

I’ve had a dry spell this month. My long game went wonky. I tried fixing it and screwed things up more. Not good to fool around with motor memory!

As it turned out when I saw my coach yesterday, I’d gotten sloppy with my stance—too wide. Such a simple thing but I could not see myself. Neither could any of my buddies.

Steve’s always good with solutions. That’s one of the many things I like about him. He told me to cut a piece of wood exactly the width of my shoulders and put it in my golf bag. When things don’t feel right when I’m practicing, I can do a quick check on my stance. That’s just one of many tools and tips Steve gave me to help me be my own coach.

There’s a break right now in the Grey Goose Gateway Tour schedule, so I’m off to a Nationwide Tour qualifier in Cleveland.

Scheduling Headaches

I thought it was hard trying to keep my amateur schedule straight—making sure that dates don’t overlap and getting my applications in on time. With being on a developmental tour, it’s a bit hit and miss as to what fits with a PGA Tour. I’m also learning things I didn’t know I’d be faced with.

Take Q-School. I thought I had it all figured out. Finish with the Grey Goose Gateway Tour in September and early October. Go to the first stage of Q-School in late October.

No! There’s a pre-qualifying stage in late September that clashes with the last GGGT tournament and the Championship in Arizona! Because I haven’t played on a PGA Tour this year, I have to do the pre-qualifying stage. Maybe if I had tuned into that earlier, I would have planned differently!

I’m hoping to keep the championship date by getting into a Q-School location in California.

These things usually work out somehow.

Giving to the Community

Last week was different. Instead of my regular Grey Goose Gateway tournament, I was back in Toronto for the Bell Celebrity Classic.

It was a first for me as a pro. I had a lot of fun meeting the celebrities I’d read about. I was glad to help Bell with fundraising.

In all, the event raised $200,000.00 for the Sick Kids Foundation.