Licking My Wounds. Working on Becoming A Better Player

I was shocked when I did not make the cut at the second stage of PGA Q-School. It hurt badly. I felt well-prepared. I knew I was a better player than last year. After a good start at the first stage, I expected to keep the momentum going.

But, old habits like hooking the ball off the tee a couple of times, cost me. I must have let down my guard on my routine. Let old thoughts creep in. Maybe got too confident. It’s a bit of a mystery. So, it will take some sorting out to identify what went wrong. It’s clear to me I still have much more work to do to be that great player I feel I am.

Fortunately, I have some tournaments in December to keep me busy and focused. I have joined the Gateway Tour again for the 2009 winter series. It has a new competition in December. The player who comes first receives a fully paid for winter series. That should be fun.

I’m working on logistics to go to the Canadian Tour December event in Costa Rica. If I finish well, my status will be at a higher level for my 2009 Can Tour start.

I’m looking to 2009 to sharpen my game and rack up some achievements. I want to prove to myself that I am really becoming a better player.

Steadier This Time at First Stage of PGA Q-School

What a difference a year makes. In 2007, the sports psychologist I consulted made it clear I was not ready for Q-School. My long game was erratic. My practice habits were not focused enough. Practicing into a vacuum too much.

I went to Q-School anyway. Didn’t get past second stage.

It was about August of this year that I noticed things coming together. Maybe the two month layoff with my finger injury helped me. Who knows?

I had been working with Sean Foley for about a year on my long game. Plus, Marius Filmater has kept the pressure on me, putting me through all kinds of tests on my short game. The feedback has been just what I needed.

Then there’s the mental side of golf. I picked up Robin Sharma’s The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari in the Winnipeg airport after not making the cut in a Canadian Tour event. My mother got me started on Eckhart Tolle’s and Tony Robbins’ books.

I realized that I had some thinking habits to clean up. Like, every time I have a negative thought (“That was a bad shot.”), I should make up the “opposite” thought (“I will do better next time”, or “The good thing about that shot was…it didn’t go in the water!”).

So, first stage of Q-School felt a bit different. Not easy. The first day, I was shaky. But my game was more steady. Overall, I played solid golf—fewer bogies, no drops, more greens in regulation and some birdies here and there. It’s nice when I am not scrambling all the time.