JDC MQ and other acronyms...

It's Monday evening and there are two things I didn't really see happening: after over a week of nearly unbearable humidity and high temps, that I'd be having dinner on my back deck and the other is, frankly, having dinner on my back deck. 

Closing in on 5 hours since Brian and I walked off the 18th green for the John Deere Classic Monday Qualifier you have time to ponder. Unlike Brian, who drove 6 hours back to Richmond in the confines of his Dodge, I had a 30 minute commute back to the house to feebly get through some laundry, cleaning, and a bit of a nap. It also gives time to reflect on a day that really leaves a bittersweet feeling in your stomach. 

Arnold Palmer is famously quoted as saying, "Golf is deceptively simple and endlessly complicated." Truer words have never been spoken. Since 2010, when I was able to coax Brian out to Iowa to play in this Monday Qualifier, it's always a time of the year that we both look forward to. Brian gets to have the luxury of staying at my house instead of a hotel room where you're always reminded that the stay is temporary. Here he gets all the amenities as if he were staying at home like home cooked meals, Xbox, free wireless Internet, familiar surroundings and, of course, my soon-to-be world famous mango jalapeno salsa. The new item on the list of things to do: Osaka Sushi Buffet in Moline, IL. I haven't gotten him to try sashimi yet, but at least he now eats copious quantities of rolls. It's a start. 

Brian arrived last Tuesday. Not having status on the PGA Tour and Web.Com Tour makes you go through the pre-qualifier a few days ahead of the real deal. You may have seen an earlier Facebook post that Thursday's PQ round was probably the hottest day that either one of us had spent on a golf course. It was pure survival to its core. You don't even want to hold a conversation because it takes so much out of you. On the plus side it's one more round you get to play in tournament conditions. A tidy 1 under par 70 left us feeling good about the possibilities of the coming Monday. 

We had a good warmup session this morning. Brian was in good spirits hitting and shaping the shots we anticipated to take to the course. It was good to see fellow Cleveland Golf players Jack Newman and Randall Hutchinson. Two Michigan State products that, in their own way, have made good strides in their careers to this point with Newman playing in the Masters just a few short years ago. But as Brian and I have talked about countless times, just because you play at the Masters or because you MQ into a PGA Tour event doesn't give you entitlement that it will happen each and every time you play. Patrick Reed this year may be an exception to that rule since he's made 4 PGA Tour events through Monday Qualifying. He was in today's field but didn't make it out.

It was a different way of parring the first hole that we drew up, but after punching out of the trees on the first hole Brian hit a great 5 iron into the green. A 2-putt par sent us on to the deceptive par 3 second hole. With all the heat that's been in the area most golf courses keep their greens cut just slightly longer than normal. To the untrained eye it's hard to tell the difference, but to the golfers' it's noticeable. We hit a pretty typical 7 iron onto this water fronted green into the middle, but left with a 3-putt bogey. 

Brian put a 2 iron into the bag this year replacing his hybrid. He's comfortable hitting it and feels he has better control. On this course we hit it 6 times as needed. On this hole it sets up perfectly and leaves a nice 9 iron into the green. A 2 putt par moved us on to the the par 4 fourth. A nice "up and down" from just short of the hole but in the fringe moved us along to the "driveable" par 4 fifth hole. I put that in quotes because, for the life of me, it's so much more risk than reward I don't know why people want to hit a driver. After all, when you can go 5 iron and 54 degree wedge to 3 feet I'll take that route all day long and half the night. 

Brian bombs a drive on the 6th hole leaving us a 'tweener yardage. When you're golfing you're often given a choice to hit a full shot and risking spinning it away from the hole, or playing a shot that may give you a slightly longer putt but gives you more control in the outcome. We took that second route because of a false front and though it scared the hole on the putt, we left still at Even par. 

 The par 5 seventh hole certainly is special to us from last years effort. Today Brian hit the longest drive I've ever seen him hit on this hole. There again it was a 'tweener between a 5 and 6 iron. With a front pin we chose the 6 iron feeling that if we were just short of the green that would be an easier up and down than trying to hole a long two-tiered putt. It paid off and with a birdie putting us into red figures we were off to the ultra long par 3 eighth hole. This is a long golf hole period. Out of the entire field it had only 3 birdies all day. After hitting a 5 iron to just shy of the center of the green, Brian hit a bomb of a putt to be one of those birdies on the day. 

Another 2 iron on 9 left us the same yardage and same uphill lie we had on the third hole. That one we left about 20 feet short. This one we landed pin high just 18" from the cup. However, it bounded over the green into the back rough and left the most delicate pitch on the course. We made a mistake being in this position and paid for it. Walking away with double bogey erased our under par effort and sent us to the back nine shaking our heads a bit, but nonetheless positive we could make some noise on the back. 

Unfortunately on the back nine the noises we made were more deep sighs of opportunity lost than of birdie cheers. As you can see on the scorecard below, we missed some good scoring opportunities on the short tenth hole and "wedge in" par 5 eleventh. The new par 3 twelfth hole is a new hole put in play this year. Because of flooding in 2010 it caused Pinnacle CC to rethink its layout. This is a beautiful par 3 a bit out of place on the whole course design. With a new hole you get new sand in the traps. Therefore with the softer sand you get "poached egg" lies. I tried to put a positive spin on it to Brian that it was more "Sunnyside up" but another bogey pushed us to +2 on the day. The last driver of the day (the sixth we hit of the day) was a beauty leaving us a yardage that yielded another birdie, but unfortunately our last one of the day.

The "endlessly complicated" words of Mr. Palmer's quote seem appropriate for the day. There were probably 2-3 miss hits all day, but those cost us 4 shots. Who knows what happens when you make the turn at -2 instead of Even par? Who knows if we don't burn the edge on the 10th to maybe go -3 and the feeling you have going forward turns your day around? Bottom line: it didn't, but that's golf. It's so much like life. You can have things go your way for days, weeks, years on end and out of the blue it goes sideways. How you react to those "miss-hits" and how you press forward says more about you than anything in life. What I admire about Brian is he doesn't know the meaning of the word "quit". That's what I enjoy most about being on the bag for him. Together we see that each hole has its opportunity for birdie or better. I'll leave you with this quote Brian posted to Twitter as I was composing this blog: "It's not about having dreams, it's about having the courage and determination to chase them and make them reality." 

Congrats to Cleveland Golf players Randall Hutchinson and John Hurley making their first John Deere Classic appearances this year. Also to Mathias Gronberg and Chad Proehl from Waukee, IA on qualifying as well. When Brian and I made it through last year we caught up with Chad and played a few holes with him. It was nice that he remembered us this year with all the people that he sees on a regular basis.

We'll be back again next year. There's no doubt. Maybe we get to go straight to the Monday Qualifier or maybe yet he may find himself exempt into the John Deere. But until that time I know Brian will be working his ass off to shorten the razor's edge gap between where he is and where he wants to be. The boy has passion. It's contagious if you let it.

The sun has set on the day and the ratcheting sound of my sprinkler is all that's keeping me company. Until we meet again, keep your dreams alive and never give up on what makes you happy.

-S

A birthday and something orange in the sky

One of the above happens every year (this time I was the lucky one!) and the other... well... it seems like it has been a year since we've seen it here in Florida. The weather finally broke this afternoon after about 2 days of rain and that big orange thing in the sky was a welcome sight. We've put in a couple good days on the course despite the weather. Killearn Country Club is plenty soaked. The tee boxes and greens are in awesome shape. The fairways are a little thin in spots but you can generally get good lies.

The cool thing about our practice rounds is that Brian will let me hit a tee shot every now and then and depending on the situation I'll play the hole. We started out yesterday with a couple guys fresh out of Kansas State. They bailed at the turn and it was just Brian and I the rest of the way. The 12th hole is an shortish uphill par 4 with a slight dogleg right. No warm up I get up and throw a little fade out to the right side of the fairway. A full 48 degree wedge up the hill to 3 feet. Birdie. Games kind of easy every now and then! But Brian and I just walking the course is a treat. We don't have to rush for others behind us. We don't have to wait on others in our group. We're just out there in our element.

Today we played with a couple guys from Michigan State. One of which was the leading money winner in the NGA Winter Series this past year. Those Sparty golfers are everywhere!

Those who know me know that I won't ever pass up a sushi dinner. Brian had to laugh tonight at the volume of sushi that I took in. 15 pieces of sashimi, 5 pieces of this Osaka's Louisiana Roll, 8 pieces of Rainbow Roll, 6 pieces of Alaskan Roll, half an order of edamame, and let's not forget the Miso soup!

The one thing I couldn't pull off tonight was the Jimmy Buffett concert. Hated to miss it but paying $50 for nose bleed seats inside an arena didn't appeal to me tonight without by fellow Parrotheads back in Indiana. Fins up!

Relaxing the rest of the evening was our MO tonight. Only disappoint was Sparty not winning tonight. But always a good time watching Big Bang Theory. Penny (knock knock). Penny (knock knock). Penny (knock knock).

The NGA released the pairings today and we tee off in the last group on Thursday at 2:27pm. We're honestly hoping we can just finish the round that day. We're gearing up for the possibility that we'll be back at the course early Friday morning prior to teeing off around 9:30 on Friday morning for Round 2. The weather doesn't look good either. We're not worrying so much as what we'll happen but just preparing ourselves for what could be a stop and go type of round and the potential to play a lot of golf on Friday.

It's late on Tuesday night and a full day has been had. Thanks to all for the birthday wishes. I can't really process words and thoughts any more. However, I'll leave you with the words from Thomas Edison - "There is no substitute for hard work."

Match Play and Pterodactyls

In the spirit of the Accenture Match Play event going on in the PGA Tour, Brian and I decided that Saturday was going to be a match play event between the two of us. Earlier in the morning we had gotten in about 3 hours of practice out at Shingle Creek. The wildlife out at Shingle Creek was incredible. We had a visit from a bald eagle earlier. I didn't have a chance to get a picture of it as I was caught up in the splendor of the size and beauty. I did however get a picture of a slighter slower blue heron.

Because of the NBA All Star game in town the course was pretty much packed with golfers. Because of the NBA All-Star game in town pretty much all local course's tee times were filled. We were able to find a tee time at a course that Brian had actually played a few months earlier (and played well with a T7) at Harmony Golf Preserve. I was going to as ready as I could be to play.

Being the nice guy Brian is he gave me 3 strokes a side. I gladly took that bit of charity and promptly made a sweet sandie (up and down from the bunker) on the first hole to go 1up. The lead increased to 2up after 3 holes with a solid par by me. It was a bit of déjà vous for Brian back to his final round in November when he double bogeyed the same par 3 before putting down 6 birdies the rest of the way in for that tournament. Nonetheless I was trying not to let the fact I had this big early lead get to my head but the enviable was coming. A couple less than stellar chips kept me from getting up and down and my lead was gone just like that.

The pterodactyl sightings were our find friends pictured below. It was rather humorous to see these creatures. And they were loud too. If you could imagine being immersed in Jurassic Park then you could have sworn these crazy things were there!

I can't say I really played poorly just more like someone having not played in 3-4 months. Some things were already improving in my game. However, it was a slow leak the rest of the round and Brian eventually closed me out on the 15th hole. Couldn't have played a nicer course though. It's kind of out in the boonies so they don't have a lot of golfers clogging up the course. Well except for the drunk 4some ahead of us. Figures, right?

All round we'd been jonesing for pizza. As luck would have it we had a flyer slipped under the door. We figured it was worthy. Well... nothing more disappointing then waiting over 90 minutes for a piece of cardboard with some cheese and toppings on it. Sort of a sour end to the day. I'm sure it was good when it was warm at some point on its journey. But on any return trip Romano's Pizza will not be on the menu. If that's the worst thing on this trip I think we'll be ok.

Another night in the books. Sunday was a travel day. No real news other than the jam and karaoke sessions in the car. Pretty funny stuff really but that gets filed under the player/caddy confidentiality agreement!

Good night all! I'm only a day behind now on the blog. We're out early on Tuesday morning for a practice round. Will catch up tomorrow night. Something says I'll have a little to say. With that, I'll leave you with this quote:

Let us not look back in anger, nor forward in fear, but around in awareness - James Thurber.

Rust and Relaxation

Yes I said rust. That's pretty much for me. Brian's been down here for over a week. I haven't hit a real golf ball since my last blog at Thanksgiving. Before that may have been October-ish. Needless to say that I've had a lot of excitement brewing up to get down here to Florida to get away from Iowa for a bit.

I'll back up briefly though. I received a text from Brian last Monday morning prior to going into work. It simply said "stay in the present, focus on the task at hand today, do what you do." Prior to his tournament rounds I usually send him words of encouragement and thoughts to keep in mind during his round. It's a long distance version of what I remind him while I caddy for him. Roles were reversed this time as I got the advice to approach my 4 day work week just as you would a 4 round golf tournament. After all I could have checked out pretty easy and coasted through the work week. I've read countless books on the mental side of golf but never had given serious consideration to how I could implement it into more than golf and especially into a work day. If you follow me on Twitter (@finsupgolfer) then you probably saw some curious tweets each day. Combining work and golf mindsets really worked. I did have some fun with some spinoffs on tweets I've seen from PGA Tour golfers.

Arriving at the wee hours of Friday morning Brian and I arrived at Shingle Creek around mid-morning after I was able to catch up on some sleep. But I'll admit that I was too excited to really sleep late. We put in some good work. The Shingle Creek course in Orlando is where Brian's "office" is during his prep for upcoming events. Short game. Putting. Long game. Most of the clubs in the bag had some attention paid to them. Needless to say my back was pretty sore. The one cool toy I bought early in the year at Brian's advice was the Pelz Putting Tutor. I probably spent about a third of time just using that device on the putting green. I'm telling my golfer friends if you truly want to improve your putting then this can help (no I don't get a kickback from Pelz). Or don't take my advice and I'll just take your money now!

Dinner was Kobe Japanese Steakhouse and Brian realized the potential of my sushi eating capacity. Brian usually will pick up dinner for me during tournament week but we have the unwritten agreement that I'm on my own for sushi. For him that's a wise choice!

Friday ended quickly. With mid to high 80 temperatures and 20 mph winds we were both sun and wind burned. I vaguely remember watching the NBA Rising Stars game on tv (and for the record it's generally the only time I watch any NBA action).

Day 1 was in the books. All in all a good start. I found it prophetic that I saw a quote from Marcus Aurelius prior to going to bed that said "When you rise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive; to breathe, think, to enjoy, to love." My reply - yes please!