It's funny that we feel compelled to always let our backgrounds be known before we go forward. But in this case with such a new blog it's probably justified whether it's right, wrong or indifferent. I won't apologize. One of the reasons starting this blog is to help chronicle PGA Tour Q School through the eyes and ears of Brian Maurer and myself (Scott Schultz). It will also host some tournaments I play in throughout the year but will no doubt be host to anything golf related.
We see the big boys teeing up every weekend but not everyone knows the absolute grind that these players follow to live their dreams. We follow people like Tiger and Phil because of their success and stature but we don't know about the 1000's of other golfers that tee it up annually to one day compete against them. You wonder with Tiger and Phil's success so early on at how they would have reacted to the grind of Q School. John Feinstein's an award winning columnist and has written some top rated books including a great account of the 2005 final stage in his book Tales From Q School (http://www.feinsteinonthebrink.com/). I have nowhere near the credentials that he has nor any of the other journalists that cover golf like Matt Adams (http://www.fairwaysoflife.com/index.asp) has but we will bring it to you from the best perspective we know how. The hope is that for every moment that is spent on the golf course you can enjoy and cheer us on.
I've already noticed that I refer to Brian and I as "we". He's the man who works tirelessly day in and day out aiming to play on the PGA Tour against the best (including that of our hometown hero Bo Van Pelt). I'm the one that he personally asked to "be on the bag" for Q School. I'm as honored as anyone can be. I'm a designer by degree and profession. I have a day job that I go everyday for a weekly paycheck. Brian's playing the "Future's Market" in doing now which will get him his job later. But whatever our backgrounds and for the next few months we are "we". A team. Living and dying on golf shots but also enjoying every moment knowing that no matter what happens out there we do it with respect, honor, and our faith in God.
We teamed up earlier in the summer for the John Deere Classic Qualifier. For every Monday qualifier there's usually a Thursday or Friday qualifier before hand to separate the wheat from the shaft. Winning that tournament nets you nothing in the grand scheme of things as Monday is the ticket that gets punched. We made it through at even par that day. And focused our sights on Monday. I can still see (probably Brian too) the shorty putt missed on the 15th at Pinnacle CC that day. But for that one missed opportunity there are others such as the 10 extra minutes we took during our practice round to laser in some distances on the pin placement. Do hear Brian say after the shot "no matter if we hit this putt or not the extra time we spent getting that distance right was worth it" gave me the confidence on how to do things right by being his caddy. After all this was my first real gig as caddy. I've played for over 30 years and have won my share of amateur events but I was in uncharted waters. A golfer gets his confidence with hitting the right shot under pressure. A caddy gets just as much confidence when he pulls the right club. To tell Brian on 18 (a devilish uphill par 3) that as much as he wants to shoot at the pin he has to give himself the chance to have a birdie putt a minimum and he pulls off the shot that needs to happen at that moment was worth it... a near miss from 20 feet still was the fate for that shot and that day. The toughest part was hearing that you miss a two for one playoff by one stroke. I had a 45 minute drive and Brian had 5 hours to let that stir in the pot. I've NEVER felt that emotion before that stirred within me.
Brian has had great success as a junior golfer through high school in Richmond, IN where he was part of the State Championship team in 2003 and Runner's up in 2004 under Ron Murphy. He played all four years at Ball State posting 8 top 20's and 4 top 10's his senior year. He won the Pre-Qualifier to Q School last year out in California and has played quite a bit on the Hooter's Tour though not to the successful level he is aiming for. I've known Brian since his high school days when he was laying in wait behind the 3 point line to drop in a timely basket for the mighty Red Devils varsity basketball team. We've played our share of rounds together. Whether he remembers or not, I remember the first time he beat me as it was at Buck Point in Brookville, IN (a PB Dye course that sadly closed this year). Our third member of the group during our yearly outing, Jeff Lane, probably remembers as well.
Regardless, though this was less of "background check" and more of a "stage set" there are 4 days until we arrive in Pinehurt, NC for the 1st Stage of Q School for the PGA Tour. Me by plane. Brian by car. A couple full days of practice will be the prelude to 4 days that could lead to a lifetime starting October 26th. Stay tuned....
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