We're in

Quickly... I earned my 2010 Canadian Tour Card. Finished even par, day to day totals were -3, -3, +3, +3. It was one hell of a stressful week, it felt like one full month went by. Either way I have my card and I will be starting in March in Mexico.

I'm going to keep day to day updates on Twitter from now on and most likely a month to month update on Blogspot from here on out.

Follow me at www.twitter.com/scr1ven

JS

Update II

The Fall Q School is teeing off this Wednesday. I have been getting ready for this event and have already had a practice round at Hidden Lake located in Burlington Ontario. It's a great course and will suit me well. I am really excited to get this going, this entire year I have been pluggin' away and I know I have it. This week will get me where I need to be playing, and the Canadian Tour will be the place to help me move to the next level.

Follow me on Twitter @ http://twitter.com/Scr1ven

I have found that twitter is a great and easy way to keep a "quick blog" and I will be using it over this upcoming week. Wish me luck

JS

Update

It's been a month since I last posted but nothing has really been going on. I have been working hard on practice and getting everything ready for the august month. This year I was unable to test my game for a chance at the RBC Canadian Open. The field filled up very early and had nearly 50 worthy local pros on the waiting list. Other than that disappointment, I have put my focus toward a few things happening this August month. Monday July 27 I will be competing in the Dick Grimm Invitational at the Coppinwood golf club. It's an 18 hole event and hosts some of the top local pros. It should be a great event to get the competitive juices flowing again. Earlier in July, I sent letters requesting sponsor's exemptions to the next two Canadian Tour events and I hope I receive them. August 3rd is the beginning of the Jane Rogers Championship for the Canadian Tour at Greystone Golf Club. August 31st is the Seaforth Invitational which is another great event on the Canadian Tour schedule. I sent resumes trying to prove I deserve one of the spots to both those tournament directors and I hope I'm given a chance to play the events without having to endure the stress of Monday Qualifying. Lately I have really been playing well and I'm super excited for it. I always seem to be peaking this time of year but this time around I have so many more experiences and a little more confidence and know how of whats going on around me. I feel like I'm ready for the opportunity to play in these Canadian Tour events and ready to play well enough to perhaps gain more starts on the tour. I have been working hard on my driver these days though. I bought and put together a Taylormade R7 460 TP and thought that I made a perfect match to the one I used during Florida Q School and Shell Houston Open Qualifying. At the moment I don't see the resemblance but sometimes I hit a tee shot that just soars and it seems effortless, so I know it's there within that driver.

Other things on the schedule this August is a golf tournament I'm hosting at our local Foxbridge Golf Club. The GM at the club asked if I was interested in hosting one at the club, and being the club I have played probably 1000 rounds at growing up we will be teeing off on August 16th. I am actually taking care of everything on this tournament myself so it's going to be tough to weigh the practice and the run around and stress of a golf tournament but it should all fall into place and I feel up to both challenges.

August could be a great month and I hope I have great news,

JS

Decisions

Well another week has gone by and another miss on the Monday qualifying stage. Even though last week I was so close to being in the event, this one bothers me far more than the last. This week I felt like the ball was in my court, I felt great over the ball and was seeing some great scores all week while in Banff. When I had my practice round for this course I found easy to make a game plan and find great lines to be aggressive yet still be in control of the course. I had 7 birdies and 3 eagle chances during my practice round and really felt like there was no problem being able to shoot at least a 69 on the course, I just felt the course suited me great. Things didn't go as planned and I got behind early and never felt right all day. Despite keeping a very level head and going through all my processes I wasn't able to convert the chances for birdie I had made for myself. Sure enough I pressed on the final holes and missed the number.
From what I've learned since being out here following the tour there are many players who have gone through the same trials. Monday qualifying is a beast and really drags on you. You are always counting on having the one great day and being the best out of 80 solid golfers to get into an event you already feel you belong in. It's tough keeping your head straight when you get in a situation like this. Lucky for me I have guys like Barry who know this devil far too well. It makes it a little easier because I won't beat myself up too bad thinking back on an unsuccessful start to the season.
So, I have decided that following the tour for the next 3 weeks through Edmonton, Saskatoon and Winnipeg will not be on my schedule. I have entered into the Great Lakes July 6-7 event at Royal Ashburn which means I will be coming home early. Not a bad thing... but I'm just tired of wasting my money trying for a tournament, missing it and hanging out the rest of the week around the event while eating out everyday for every meal while staying in a hotel.
There is no doubt this fuels my fire for knowing what I want to do and what it takes to be successful for the ENTIRE 2010 season.
This has been a disappointing start to what I believed was going to be a great beginning to my career out here as a professional.

Although it was unsuccessful as far as my goals go perhaps it's a good beginning. Coming home I do feel a bit defeated but I learned some great things out here and do believe I belong week to week in every field. So all in all I can take some extremely positive things from this past month and a half and look forward to making it happen.

See you back in Ontario,

JS

Road To Calgary

After this week at the Surrey Invitational the Canadian Tour has a scheduled week off before continuing in Calgary for the ATB Financial at Sirrocco CC. For the week off myself, Barry and a fellow player have traveled to Banff to play a few courses and enjoy the Rocky Mountains on our way to Calgary. We will be playing Silvertip CC today, Banff Springs tomorrow, Stuart Creek on Thursday and are planning on getting in a round at Kananaskis Golf Club on our way to Calgary.
I personally have never been in the Rocky Mountains and the drive from Vancouver to Banff along Highway 1 was amazing, it was a 9 hour drive that felt like 1 hour. I am definitely spoiled to be here, it can feel like a vacation so quickly but I am trying to keep my head straight and focused on the fact that I have a job to complete. This entire week Banff Springs has offered their practice facility to us and will be playing those courses. My game has really turned around in the last week since getting all that practice in during the week in Surrey. I am going to try and attach a picture to this entry, other than the rain (which is the first time I've seen rain in a month) this place is gorgeous.

JS

Rolling With The Punches

It's been a while since my last post although plenty has been happening. I am now in Surrey, BC at the Surrey Invitational. Today was the first day and unfortunately I was unable to play in the field. This past Monday I played in the qualifier for the event where only four spots are available. I finished with a round of 69 (-3) and was sitting in 4th place behind two 68's and a 67. Two groups left I felt as though I had a chance and one young 15 year old kid came through with a round of 68 and booted me out of contention for a spot. I would be the first alternate for the Monday qualifiers and the 13th alternate for the event. Not really believing I had a chance to play this week I practiced and worked on game preparing just in case but still no word I was playing through the start of the week. I will say that it was a great week as I was able to really work through some things in my game. The week coming off the Q School in Victoria my swing seemed to be all but gone and I had no idea what to do with myself. Last week in Victoria I worked on a new swing which felt very mechanical and tried and tried working on it until Sunday evening the day before the Monday qualifier here in Surrey. I decided to go back to what used to work and just stay relaxed... no over swinging and take it shot by shot. Well I managed a three under 69 and here I am... still out of the tournament.
Because I missed the cut I planned on caddying for Barry O'Neill, my good friend here on tour. As we arrived to the tee I was told to get my bag I was first alternate now that 12 withdrawals had happened. So I had to potential to play this afternoon if someone pulled out... This never happened, I was looking all day towards the officials wondering when they would be bringing to my bag to warm up but it never happened. So unfortunately I will be carrying the bag this week and taking a week off as the tour does next week and be trying to Monday qualify for Calgary. I feel great, I wish I could play in this event as I feel quite comfortable with the course layout. Greens are quick and firm but it plays well for me. It has been nice being able to hang out around the tour though. I have had plenty of good practice and it seems we stay out here during the practice round days for 10 hours. We may even hit the range twice even three times, putting and chipping games and everything really get your game in shape. So I am just hoping things can get rolling in the next week in Calgary because I am so ready to get out there and compete. This has been somewhat of a miserable start to the season as far as achieving my goals go but there is plenty of time and hopefully I start to peek at the right time. Stay in touch, good news to come.

JS

Canadian Tour Spring Q School : Morningstar GC

This wasn't a very exciting week for me. It was littered with frustration. My pitfall the entire week was putting, I was misreading the greens where if I wasn't missing on pace I was missing on line. It got so bad for me on these greens that once I would read a putt I would sometimes give more or less break than what I read standing over the ball to make it fall and of course nothing. Not to mention a bad start, the first day I made two swings on the front nine when I wasn't ready, swung anyway and it cost me 3 strokes by the 8th tee. Day two the putter was cold still and I was 73, it was amazing though how little momentum I had on the course because nothing would fall for me. Can't say I wasn't doing everything else great I hit a flag from the fairway day two (and 4) they rested only 8 feet away and missed both. I hit almost every shot into the greens from within 140 yards to 20 feet or less all week. So when you have no momentum I tried to make something happen which again was a bad decision because it was completely out of my game plan to cut corners on certain holes. I payed the price on every single one and managed to escape with a 75 ... somehow. The final day was of course a little more relaxed, in my mind the only thing I could do to get into the top would be 8 or 9 under and that's pretty much out of reach on this course. Either way, the entire day my ball striking was impeccable I hit so many balls to within 10 feet it was ridiculous. 2,4,6,7,8,9,10,11,14,15,16 were all balls 15 feet or less, one of them hit the flag, and one sat on the lip which was hole 11 from 132 I was an inch from making an eagle... I made that putt. So the final day was rough because I felt like I was playing a great game and the ball never could get rolling to the next hole because I would miss the putt and I would question what I did wrong. It was painful.
The good thing is I was able to pull some positives out. Along with the old ones of remember to never shoot when not ready, be fully committed to your shot, stay even keel I was able to see the potential for great scoring. If I just learn from a few mistakes and take that to the next week there is the potential for some great things. I saw the ball hit from 140 yrds and in nearly to perfection... it was more than I could've asked for I gave myself so many chances all week. Again though, it's putting that held me back this week.
Monday I will be travelling to Victoria for the Monday Qualifier for the Canadian Tour Event. I will be travelling with my good Irish pal Barry O'Neil who is meeting me here in Parksville today and then we will continue to travel.
I would like to thank the Loftus family for giving me their home, it's always nice to feel at home when you are playing in these types of events. I would also like to thank my caddy Bill Vandervelde, who not only was a great fan of mine on the course but gave out some good hard cheers for my fellow competitors in my group, we had a great time and I hope he did too. I will be in touch this Monday, I intend to get these putts dropping and see my potential actually be realized in the coming months.
Thank you Morningstar, for a stressful but excellent week.

JS

Canadian Tour Q School : Practice Round

Well tomorrow morning the final Canadian Tour Q School begins and I can say I am as ready as I'll ever be. I've put a lot of practice and work into getting my lines and thought processes ready fro this event. The Morningstar GC is a tough little track but if I steer clear of trouble I should do just fine. Earlier this week I had to make my own course yardage book as the club here does not have one of their own. It's a good thing I've been around some of the best course yardage books made by the guys at the GAO in Craig Loughry and Marcus Strom. Making this book also gives me a better understanding of the course and got me to focus more on the courses ins and outs. The tee shots are a key factor on this course. There is a lot of trouble around this whole course but most of the time you can hit irons off the tee to be in just as good position as someone with a driver. The greens are also a key factor here. Today in the practice round the greens keeping staff still hadn't double cut and rolled the greens as they plan on doing this week for the event so I anticipate the greens to be a whole different kind of beast tomorrow. These greens look like a Pete Dye design, very undulating and many tiers. This was the main reason I made the course book so that when I am hitting into greens I know exactly which way the green will be sloping for that specific pin placement and hit my ball into the correct spot as needed for best chance to make a putt. I'm assuming like most greens like this getting the ball below the pin is imperative.
I tee off tomorrow morning, actually the very first tee time of the day so I will be the very first group on every single green. That's definitely an advantage, the greens will be slick but extremely smooth with no footprints. Hopefully all goes well, I know I can shoot some great scores on this course but most importantly I know where to be aggressive (which is hardly ever) and when to play smart and keep my lines straight. I'll let you know how the first round went tomorrow. As I can see on www.cantour.com I am on the top of the leaderboard so I intend on keeping it there.

Wish me Luck, this is the one!

JS

British Columbia Arrival

Hi everyone, it's been a little while since I last posted. Since the Shell Houston Open monday qualifying I have been working hard on being ready to compete and earn my card once and for all here in Parksville, BC at Morningstar GC. First of all I would like to thank everyone who has been giving me well wishes and encouragement. An especially big thanks to Woodensticks Golf Club for allowing me to use the facilities at my leisure to make sure I was ready for the Canadian Tour as well.
So, I arrived this morning in Nanaimo, BC at 10am and was then brought back to where I'll be staying alongside the Morningstar GC. I will be staying with the Loftus's and already they have made me feel right at home. Eventhough I was feeling a little tired I went out for a quick round on the course just to get an idea of what the courses feel is like. I don't think the course is playing as tough as it will be for the event as the greens are slowed down at the moment but was assured they will be close to 11 on the stimpmeter for the Q School. Mike Loftus (who I'm staying with) is the General Manager here at Morningstar GC and I feel this will be a great test, especially once the greens start rolling at 11. The views on this course are amazing, a few tee shots are right into a large mountain range in the distance... it's absolutely beautiful. There is even a family of Bald Eagles on the front nine which is quite a thing the see up close, today two of them flew directly over my head only missing by a good 20 feet while I was on the green putting. With all this nature surrounding the course it will be easy to drift off into the beauty. Over the course of the week I will spend a little more time on learning the lines for tee shots and of course the greens. Stay tuned, I'm feeling good and ready to join the Canadian Tour through Morningstar GC.

JS

Shell Houston Open : Monday Qualifying 73

Today I finished my round at a +1 73 ... Please don't be fooled. I got off to a boring start hitting all four greens and tapping in each of those 4 putts. I was somewhat upset with not making the putts or even one of them because I spent a lot of time on my putting the last week and yesterday in practice we played 9 holes i made 5 of 7 tries at birdie yesterday to finish 5 under for nine holes. Today I even gave myself a 20 foot birdie putt on hole #4 which is the toughest hole and the toughest pin placement. So a quick recap of what happened today starting after 4 goes like this...

Hole 5 par 5 ... had a 71 yard flip over a bunker and landed 2 yards short on the lip of bunker, chipped it to 3 feet, heavy swinger... and missed. I came back with a birdie on the next and lipped a chip out for eagle on the 7th and tapped in birdie. The par 3 8th i stuck to 12 feet, downhill slight break, i just hit a little too firm, tap in par. Nine I par, Ten I par... The 215 yard par 3 #12 I birdie which was a great birdie and led me to the next par 5 which I lipped out again for eagle (I kid you not ... two lips on chips for eagle) and tap in birdie.

So I'm 3 under through 12 and I hit a great drive down the long 13th, 140 yards... pin right ball was below my feet and I just came out of the shot and it went into the bunker and underneath the lip... i missed par. Up and down for par on 14 par 3 and then another one of my 3 poor shots in scoring position that led to bogey. I had 104 yards into the 15th hole but the wind was blowing hard into my face. I would normally use a 57 degree wedge in that position but because of wind I even went up to a smooth choked down wedge... wind blew and I came up short and didn't get it up and down. So now I was only -1 and I knew that I really needed a miracle now to make it into the tournament. Two putt on the tough 16 for par and then I came to the "easy" 17th... a 318 yard par 4. Usually I would lay up have 100 yards in and a good shot at birdie but in my mind I needed to go eagle eagle finish. So I hit driver with wind blowing back into my face. This shot was a carry completely over water and I found it. I actually found it again on the next hole but I missed clubbed on the next one... the damage was done anyways, I knew I had to get into -5 at least really to have a chance. So I made a 7 there and went to 18 +2 ... I birdied the 18th and there you go a +1 73. In a tournament that round would have been a "disappointing" 69 but really if it wasn't for those three poor shots I made I would have had a serious chance at a spot into the SHO. These things happen and as I see the leader board (and it's not finished as I write) plenty of great players had a real tough time with this hole... At least I can say I didn't just try and come in with a 69 and have everyone say "great score". That would make up for missing the number by 3 or 4. I went for it and was happy how I played... I just wish I could've had those three strokes back. That's the way it is though in these Monday qualifiers... If you look at how the guy who shot 65 (there are 2 at the moment) you will notice they may have made only one mistake... and that's all you really get. When I made it into the Canadian Open I made only one mistake.

So there it is... The conclusion to a 3 month run at improving and chasing my goals. I feel like I have come a long long way from where I was in January and am a firm believer in the idea that i have a great shot at succeeding in this profession. I will be taking the next couple weeks off to go home and visit with friends and family. At that time I will be looking for extra help in sponsorship, so if you are reading this and want to be involved in my pursuit or you know of someone that might be interested please send me an email for details. I will be travelling west in march to make my way to the Canadian Tour Spring Q School... before then I will stop in Calgary to practice with a friend at his course and then onto Vancouver to meet up with Barry on the Canadian Tour. It's not a long way till then and I'm excited for what's to come. It's been a long three months, I worked super hard and the work in paying off. Please keep in touch and keep an eye on the blog ... I'm sure I will be seeing some of you shortly but thanks again for reading and being involved in what I'm doing. It's helped a lot and I will say it again, this is what I want to do and I feel like I'm on the right path.

JS

Shell Houston Open : Monday Qualifying (Preview)

This morning I woke up to hopefully find a tee time for the Monday qualifying coming in a couple days. Finally they are up, 8:10am off the first tee. I'm pretty excited about that because it's the best chance to play under perfect conditions (no wind, smoothest green conditions). As I looked through a day or so ago I noticed the player roster... Frank Licklitter II, Ricky Barnes, Tommy (two gloves) Gainey... I was thinking it was going to be a big time field, lots of strong, seasoned players. Then this morning I see even more... Bob Tway, Colt Knost, Brant Jobe, David Gossett and more.
So seeing that I got excited that I might be able to be paired up with one of these guys... unfortunately I haven't been but I'm still excited to go out and have all putts drop. I've been telling myself I'm due, yesterday I was invited out to the Houston Country Club and dispite 2 putting nearly every green I finished -1. It was unfortunate for my visit the greens had been punched two days prior, sanded and they had let the grass grow... so it was a slow and grainy day on the putting greens. The HCC is a great course and a lovely atmosphere, I had a great conversation with some of the members afterwards who were excited to see my name on the roster for the Shell Houston Open. It's always nice to know people are pulling for you. Which is why coming into Monday I know I have just as good a chance to shoot the low round of the day as an old seasoned veteran on tour, a bunch of US Amateur Champions, and a number of PGA Tour card holders and Nationwide Tour players because as long as the putts fall I will be in teh same position to get in as they are... playing Monday.

And let me tell you, if I do get in I am ready for my performance on the PGA Tour ... again.

JS

Shell Houston Open : Pre Qualifying 72

I am trying to enter into the Shell Houston Open the same way I entered into the field at the Canadian Open, through Monday qualifying. Unlike the Canadian Open, the Shell has a pre qualifier because of the amount of contestants. Yesterday there were 173 players in the field... 50 moving forward. The qualifying will be done at Cypress Tradition Course which just so happens to be the course I played on for years as a collegiate player and the course in which I practice on daily. Through the practice round I could tell the pins where going to be set in the easiest positions the course which gave me an edge as well (Pins are marked by a paint mark the day before, you just have to find it). So if top 50 move forward I knew I really just had to stay calm, take with me what I had learned in the past couple weeks and cruise through this pre qualifying with as little stress as possible. I tell you what if it wasn't the "pre qualifying" and it was a tournament or the actual Monday qualifier when you have to make just about every birdie chance you are presented I would have been having fits. I struck the ball great , tee shots were again fine and my putts were all rolling smooth, great pace but lipped out 6 times ... 6 lip outs, 1 for eagle and the rest for birdie. I had myself prepared for the event mentally though where I understood that this round meant nothing, you don't have to shoot a real low score, you just have to make it through. I could see from my playing partners they weren't so prepared. One of them was going at every shot possible trying to tear the cover off the ball. Another was so nervous I felt bad for him, he was shanking, he was blocking everything right, his putting was too hard or too soft... I at one point just had to give him a little advice on being in this kind of stuff. I knew how he felt, he looked like I was on those first couple holes of the Canadian Open when everything was moving too fast. So like the season veteran I am ha... I let him know he was still in it, we have plenty of time and not to feel pressured to go quickly. The other fella I played with was a Nationwide member last year, his name was Ben Willman and I had good conversation with him through the round.

Today was the best I had ever felt on a golf course, I wasn't scoring as well as I should've been but I was accomplishing the task that I had set out for. I was calm and had confidence in hitting the shots and really had a laissez faire attitude toward if the putt went in or not... as long as I had my line and I hit it where I wanted it I could do no more. From speaking with Barry it seems that's the attitude you need towards putting is... pick your line, hit it... if it goes in move on... if it lips out and misses, move on. Sometimes that's tough and I still say there is a place for willing the ball into the hole but there sure is a whole lot less stress when you don't care if the ball goes in or out... and i would rather them in all day thank you.

One of the stories Barry had for me on the road was oddly enough from a guy he had met on his travels ... Ken Tarling. Anyone in the golf industry in Ontario for sure would know that name and it's quite ironic. He and Barry had been practicing for a couple days together and after a round Ken asked Barry a question and maybe I'll try and just narrate this thing... good story I learned a great deal from it.

Ken: "How do you feel after a great round of golf when you score well?"

Barry: "I feel great, confident, I love the game and very positive."

Ken: "How do you feel after a bad round of golf?"

Barry: "Quite the contrary, I am negative, upset, angry, I wonder if I'm in the right profession."

Ken: "See you're in the wrong profession if you're going to be changing your state after each individual round... You need to look at the process. You need to be in love with the process of being a professional golfer. You need to love waking up and going to the range and chipping and putting for hours. You need to love the process of meeting the new people and competing, you need to love the process of traveling from place to place. Good or bad days, you will learn from it and move forward within that process."

I really liked that story and it made me realize how great this life actually is and how much I want to be able to do it for years to come. It is the process that makes you a better player and those who learn from it, you can tell because to them a good or bad day is just another day.

By the way ... the pre qualifier moved 50 players forward to Monday qualifying... I was one of them shooting a 72.

JS

Day 4 - 71 : Silverthorn CC

I apologize for not posting as prompt as the last three entries but the end result was disappointing and has been haunting me now ever since I tapped in my bogey on the eighteenth hole. Before the round I believed that if I shot a 67 I would have no problem earning my card. That would leave me at -2, I felt that was a comfortable place to sit as I was one of the first guys in on that day and would have to wait the duration of the back nine. Once we began the round I felt great again, the second hole I left a downhill putt short by a dimple for birdie which I laughed off as I was instructed by Barry who had been having success by laughing off tough breaks the last two days. When I went to the 3rd hole I hit a big drive straight down the middle favouring the left side which gave me a great angle at going to the green in two... downwind, 220 over water completely. I didn't catch it as well as I would've liked and it came about two feet short of clearing and I made a bogey. When I came off that green I was upset because all I really wanted to do was avoid the bogey and take my birdies when they came... and there would be a lot because I have hit my tee ball so well. Next hole I flew the ball just too far and missed a 7 footer par putt... Now I was getting a little angry, the 67 I was looking to shoot was going to be tough and didn't have to be as hard as I was making it. I actually got angrier on the 6th hole, the number 1 handicap hole on the course. I had a 6 foot birdie putt and missed it short side (and I felt like I had hit a great putt). I missed my 10 foot birdie on the next hole 7 par 5 and the same thing on 9... had an 8 footer and had a 4 footer coming back (it was actually a very tough pin placement). So when we made the turn it was tough telling the scorekeepers I was 2 over because I knew I had 9 holes left to make something happen.
On the tenth hole I hit a great tee shot and was left with 62 yards to a back to front green... hit past the flag and spun back to the front of green which was only a 12 footer, it lipped out. 11th hole I got up and down and at that point I said to myself " I will play these next holes perfect"... kept on repeating it. Numbers 12 (493 par 5), 13, 14, 16 and 18 are all terribly easy golf holes if you make your tee shot. As I kept telling myself that I was just hoping the putts would fall and sure enough I had a 12 footer downhill for eagle on 12 and made it in. Moved to next hole, 60 yards left from a divot, 15 feet left of hole and lipped it out (and yes I was angry)... made a 12 footer for birdie on 14. Stuck my 15 hole ball 15 feet right of flag (par 3) and rolled that putt over the edge. 16 I made about a 20 footer , thank goodness that straight putt stayed online. I two putted on 17 for par and made my way to 18 four under par on the back nine only have making three putts. Very nerve wracking tee shot I had a couple re grips more than usual, I ripped my tee shot way down fairway. 18 is a par par 5 520, and it was playing downwind and I hit my ball in perfect position to make the green in 2 to hopefully two putt, make my birdie and sweat out the afternoon at even par... hey maybe I eagle and -1, I thought that was in for sure as well. 180 yards a good breeze downwind... water is in front and to the right of green and the pin is located on the right side of green 7 paced off right to be exact. From the middle of the green there is a slope that falls to hole. That made it quite easy for me, I had a lady in a prominent blue dress standing behind the green on the left portion of the green, I took aim at her with a 7 iron and hit the shot. I caught it slightly low on the face which means coming out of it a bit. I watched my ball sail towards the at the middle of the green, straight at the flag, then right of green and in the water. Crushed I dropped my ball and two putted for a bogey on the last and knew I had ruined my chances at earning my card. Now I know I made a good run at it in the clutch and all week no putts fell even tough I felt I putted well, and over the 4 days missing by two strokes is really nothing. But I had that card in my hand, a 7 iron to the center of the green.
That is "the" nightmare of the Q school, the tree putt on the last, the ball in the water... those are the ones you hear about and you hope you never have to endure it. Well, it happened... to me, and it really sucks. I've been using my NLP training from my mental strategy sessions to replay the round and further more that shot. I've hit that shot a thousand times perfect now in my head and I can assure you it makes me angrier to know just how easy that was to make that shot and earn my card.
I did learn some good things this week however, I know I have it within me to be there and I know it will happen. I learned a little more how to plug away one shot at a time in a 72 hole event and never get down. It has given me a great deal of confidence in myself to play to my potential... I mean when those putts start to fall, look out.

I return back to Houston today, Barry and I will be stopping in New Orleans half way to break the drive up. Maybe do some celebrating as well as he earned partial status on the tour in first position... so basically he will be in every event this year. I have entered myself into the Shell Houston Open qualifier and hope to make it in to that, win and go to the Masters. If not, I will be working on the game and get set for spring Q school in Vancouver May 26th.

Thanks for all the well wishes I play as though you all are watching every shot and I enjoy having that ... because I hate making bad shots in front of anyone.

JS

Day 3 - 71 : Southern Hills

Today was a good day, I was able to move myself up in the field. Unfortunately for me I was playing so well I almost felt as though I was letting strokes get away when I was missing so many birdie putts. I really felt like I was going to shoot a great round straight from the start because everything was struck so solid. Anyways, long story short... I am looking for a huge round tomorrow. Stick to the good things I've been doing which has been getting my ball in position to have a chance at rolling in a birdie. I went over to the greens at Silverthorn CC and rolled my putter for an hour and I do feel confident rolling the ball. Wish me luck, I have a long way to go, but I know deep down I have it in me to take care of this when the pressure is on.

JS

Day 2 - 72 : Silverthorn CC

Today was an alright day. I felt great and hit the ball great off the tee which is a big reason why I was a little upset with my outcome. Again I had a rough time on the greens, I missed a good 5 putts inside 8 feet and even missed a 2 footer (it was a swinging putt to the right) but no matter. For some reason the greens here at Silverthorn were just as slow as Southern Hills the day prior. Just that speed had an effect on me where I wasn't making anything and wasn't able to create any momentum. I felt like I was when I turned to the front 9 and went birdie, par (missed a 10 footer), birdie, and then par (missed another 10 footer). Then I had another 10 footer for par and missed that, followed by the missed two footer. It's quite a game when you look back and think had any of those dropped I would be well under and and working back against my first round.
That's my project right now, I know there is plenty of golf left but I need to make some strides in climbing back into the field. In all honesty I'm not far out, if I can put together two solid round in the red I will have a card no problem. I feel great out on the course and am just waiting for these putts to fall. I'm not trying to do anything different on the course, just trying to play safe and make my pars... birdies when they are available. Tomorrow I play Southern Hills again and I feel confident that I will play well and hopefully ready to make aq run and show my name up in the hunt. A big help for me has been the help from a hometown friend Mac Boucher. He has offered to help me as a caddy here as he's visiting his grandparents in West Palm Beach. He's been doing a great job of keeping me focused and positive. We look forward to tomorrow I'm going deep, that course is in my back pocket! ... Mac says so.

JS

Day 1 - 76 : Southern Hills CC

Well today things didn't go as well as I felt out on the course. I feel as though I really hit the ball well off the tee and put myself in great position to score well. I did hit some bad shots from the fairway a couple times but in all honesty I felt great on the course. My problem were the greens... my thoughts were that the greens there would be cut and it wouldn't be a big deal dealing with how grainy the greens were. This morning when I got on the putting green I thought the greens were cut and smoother than the days prior. That was on the front of the putting green, go to the back of the green where there was much more grass and it was just as slow. So I felt like I hot my ball in some great spots I was just never able to make the putt to get me moving in the right direction. I made two bad swings which ended up costing me a good 4 strokes... one was on the 8th hole I missed the green and hit a poor pitch shot. The other was on the 12th hole, I hit a great drive in perfect position and tried to hit a 4 iron up against the wind to fall left into the fairway... sure enough it flies straight and lied in an elevated bunker, 48 yards from pin... went over green , bad chip and two putts. Those were the 2 double bogeys I made.
Looking forward to tomorrow morning I feel great and confident about my tee shots, this course will allow me plenty more chances at wedges in my hand and chances at scoring ... also as I sit here outside towards the 8th hole I see they are getting the greens in great shape. So I'm pumped because I've been hitting my putts online and I feel like they will fall, especially out on Silverthorn.
So today may not have been the best scoring day for me but all in all I feel like I'm not out of position or out of this race in any way. Wish me luck as I wwork my way back inside the cut line.

JS

Silverthorn CC

Today was the second day I was able to play the Silverthorn Country Club. As I said this course would will be where I can take advantage of the short yardage. It is 6900 yards and that would be stretched out at its max. Their is plenty of out of bounds, pretty much on each side of every hole but rarely comes into play even on the worst of shots... their is enough room, especially if you take a good line off the tee. We have played the course the past two days with the greens fairly slow and I know that the greens will be cut, rolled and will be quite different from what we have practiced but in my mind they will only roll a little more true so I can look to make a few more putts. I'm excited to play this course though, in my mind if you play well through the two days at Southern Hills then there is no doubt you will be looking good for the top 18.
Today the Canadian Tour Officials made their way to the course and we have been notified that we are playing for 9 full exempt cards and 9+ties non-exempt spots on the tour. There are only 78 players in the field this week thus the reason for reduced cards available. Anyways, I tee off around 9:30 am on Monday at Southern Hills so I look to get off to a great start and ready myself to take advantage of the Silverthorn CC and make my way onto this tour... it's all i want.

JS

Southern Hills CC

Today was my first time getting a look at the Southern Hills CC, the course which we will be playing our first and third day for Q school. Southern Hills is a three year old course and was designed by Mr. Pete Dye. It's a great course and you really don't feel like you're in Florida because of all the hills you have go up and down. It's also tucked away in the woods and almost has a homey feeling for me. This morning Barry and I arrived at the club just before 10 and weren't able to tee off until 2:30. Fortunately they have a great practice facility with an 8 hole par three course, all holes ranging from 80-130 yards. We worked on our short game for a good hour or so, played the par three course, rolled some putts, then hit balls on the range and even had a chance to play a game of pool in the men's locker room before finally teeing off at 2:20. I feel like I was able to get a good feel for the course and feel quite comfortable on it. It sets up well for me as it's a ball strikers course and long positioned tee shots are rewarded. You never really have too much pressure off the tee either. As a matter of fact earlier this week a fella I play golf with from time to time who has been trying to play in some Champions Tour events let me try a driver he wasn't hitting too well. The Taylor Made R7 460 TP, it has a graffaloy platinum shaft and I will be using it off the tee for Q school. It is a great golf club and because of it's size I rarely have to go at any tee shot or even worry too much about misses. My misses are now in the fairway and when I hit it right I'm better than before... This will be a great addition to my bag and will give me a boost while playing in this Q school. Anyways, back to the course... the greens are fairly slopey but not up to standards with a Pete Dye design, they are more subtle. Today the greens were a lot slower than what I would assume we would play in the Q school, they just have them ready to be cut way down. Once they do that the slopes will be more of a hassle and I will have to navigate to the hole a lot smarter because I won't want to be caught above any holes on these greens... I also know that the Canadian Tour loves to place their pins in the trickiest of spots to drive you nuts. Tomorrow I will be practicing on the Silverthorn CC golf course where we will be playing tuesday and thursday. I'm told it will be the course were we will be doing most of our scoring, it's a 6900 yard course and the greens are in great shape but flatter in comparison to Southern Hills.

JS

Arrival in Florida

Barry and I have made it to Florida. We decided to drive through the night so that we would miss traffic and be able to arrive today and relax get a good nights sleep and wake up refreshed tomorrow ready to practice. We have been lucky enough to be put up by two members of the club that we are playing, the Bill and Estelle Corrigan are their names. They have a great place here right on the 8th hole and couldn't be more hospitable towards us two. It's like being at home already, we are too lucky. Later this afternoon we're going to take a drive down to the club and chip and putt around just to have some fun, we may even just go in the back yard and fool around on the 8th green behind us.
I'll keep you posted on what we're looking at for courses (we play two courses for the Q-school) and will get underway tomorrow. So I can say 100% that I'm off on the right foot, this is a very comfortable and relaxing place to come to during this upcoming event.

Stay Tuned,

JS

Round 2 : MC +9

Full Scorecard Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Par 5 4 4 3 4 4 4 3 5 5 3 4 4 4 3 4 3 5 Rnd2 5 6 4 3 5 5 5 5 5 5 4 4 5 4 3 4 4 5

Well, can't say I saw that coming. There were a couple things that I was pleased with today and of course more things that were disappointing. I'm going to try and stay away from excuses although there were many differences today compared to yesterday. One of the positive differences was that I didn't have the tentativeness over the ball like I had seen yesterday. Unfortunately this is what started me in the wrong direction. My driver was amazing today, my first four tee shots were as perfect as they could be. Second hole my tee ball rested only 80 yards to the hole, I must have driven it 350 yrds (fairways are firm). I did have to deal with the very tight and firm lie to a tucked and elevated pin. Seemed easy enough I had a scoring wedge in my hand but I caught the shot thin and it flew over the green and in the hazard. This was the story of the day. Many of my shots struck well ended up completely different then how I had planned. I short sided myself more often than not, and of course on these greens 20 feet away it's pretty tough to drop them. Don't get me wrong there are guys that shot crazy low scores. Barry actually played with both of the leaders and said for both of them it was rediculous to watch, they made everything they looked at from anywhere (that's how you win). But you get my drift... I will concede that the course should have been played in 1 to 3 under par if you were doing well... Eight under is just nuts. Anyways, eventhough I had some bad luck on the first couple holes i just focused on hitting the greens and sure enough I did but 3 putted those 3 greens in a row. Everywhere I put my ball was just no good to get close. I will say that I had an uninhibited swing but i was just killing every shot, I even clubbed down from my partners 206 into strong wind and my 5 iron flew the green completely. It was very confusing.
Then I started to lose it and I am upset at where my mental game went. Because I felt so good at the start of day and wasn't tentative over any shot I got down on myself because if I felt like that I would've done a lot better, I had bad self talk "why are you doing this?" kind of stuff. I started to speed up my play a little bit and I was certainly in a rut for 5-6 holes. At about the 13th hole I came around and started to think more about how I could still make the cut and keep going... I struck a big drive right into perfect position left with 100 yards downwind to a moderate pin ... I caught it thin and was at the back of the green 40 foot putt and 3 putted. Somehow I didn't get down on myself there and gave myself birdie chances on the next holes 14,15 and 16 not making one of them. I basically stumbled in from there. So it was pretty dissapointing, but at least I know what to work on and what to expect. I really feel like todays score could have been avoided had I stepped back and taken a little more time... unfortunately I didn't notice until it was too late.

It's tough to deal with these things only because I don't have many chances to play under pressure, and matched with the high expectations I do. When something like this happens it's tough to dig yourself out of the doom and gloom but I know I have every bit of skill that the guy next to me has... and soon enough (say 2 weeks from now) it will be evident.

JS

Round 1 : T9 -1 70

Full Scorecard Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Par 5 4 4 3 4 4 4 3 5 5 3 4 4 4 3 4 3 5 Rnd 1 5 5 4 3 4 4 4 3 4 4 4 4 5 4 4 3 2 4

So for my first round back in competition since the Canadian Open I have to say I'm pleased with how things went. They do say the scorecard has no pictures and it's true, however, the weather was perfect for scoring and I felt as though scores would have been super low. I do think the only reason the scores weren't so low is because of the condition of the greens, and I missed a bunch of reasonable birdie chances. From the beginning I felt a little tentative over my shots, I wasn't completely comfortable shooting at the flags. Lucky for me the practice I've been doing helped me trust my game enough to keep me on the greens. I just wasn't able to get close enough to the hole to make the putts, I was leaving myself 15-20 feet from the hole and with these greens you really just want to hit the right weight so you're not left with but a tap in. I hit 7 of my first 9 greens and was only able to convert the 9th hole par 5 for birdie. Later in the middle of the round I got some shots in close but wasn't able to convert. I'm glad I had prepared myself for the greens mentally and stuck to the plan, on the back nine I missed a couple greens and was still missing the putts. Usually you would start to try and mess with your stroke and that usually messes with your head. NOT ME !
My last three holes I finally got my ball inside 10 feet and sure enough made every one. So There it is... first round back in competition and I made it in under par. I'm thinking the cut will be somewhere at +1 or +3. So I'm not worried too much as I feel like a round in the 60's is right there. I'm looking forward to having another round in competition and just get used to the feeling of having some stress over the shot. It makes me zero in and make stronger decisions on the course. Keep an eye on the website for score, I tee off at 9:20am.

JS

Tight Lies Tour : Northgate CC

This Monday will be the first tournament I will have competed in since the Canadian Open back in July. I'm quite excited to get back in the competitive side of the game... these past couple months have been all about preparation and I feel like I have done a great job in doing so. Earlier this week Barry and I visited the Northgate CC for a practice round. Other than the extremely windy day, we were able to do some good scouting and figure out some key strategies for getting through this somewhat tricky course. It only measures around 6,950 yrds but it's the tee shots that are the key to success. Driver is not always needed for this course but position is imperritive. Once you have found fairway and better yet and angle to some of these potential pin locations, there will be a great opportunity to score. Most holes after tee shot should place me no more than a nine iron into practically every hole. The par threes are all 190yrds and higher but the rest of the course seems quite scoreable. There is one issue that will come up throughout the round, however I have come to terms with it. The greens ... they are quite damaged, bumpy and slow. At least that was what they were like when we played the other day. It's unfortunate to want to test my game under the pressure and know that it is quite possible for a ball to run offline with the condition of the course. It's something we will all have to deal with and hopefully I have an edge because of early decision making on how to deal with the situation.

From time to time when this comes up on a golf course (and it has been lately in TX because the grass is dormant) when you miss a putt you look within to figure out what went wrong. Eventhough you know the putt bounced on it wway to the hole and went offline you will always try and do something different next time. There really isn't one special way to deal with bad greens. If you do know a solution please let me know...

Anyways, I'm going into this event knowing that the posibility is there for frustration to mount because of bouncing putts. I have told myself that I will continue with the same putting stroke and mental process through the round regardless of a miss... I will not try and change my stroke or anything because of a miss. Reason being I trust my stroke and feel that it is reliable for me. Hopefully this way I can just take what I'm given and give it my best shot at making the putt. Naturally they should just fall all day... and that's what I plan on doing... that's just contingency to stay the course and not try to overthink anything.

You can track progress through this link :

http://golf.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ/Ya&sdn=golf&zu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.adamsgolfprotourseries.com%2F

I hope it works, but it's at the adamsgolfprotourseries website.
I'll be keeping you up to date day on how wthe round went day to day. I plan on having good news each and everyday, like I said my preperation will have a chance to finally pay off.

JS

Preparation

Just wanted to update everyone on what's going on down here. I have been continuing my practice schedule and things have been progressing on schedule. This week I will enter into the Northgate CC Tight Lies Tour event it begins March 2-4, it's a 54 hole event and I hope to have this event help me with preparation for the Canadian Tour Q School Mar. 16. I feel like all is going well, my head is in the right place and I feel confident that my game is ready for the stress of Q School. I have been searching for a driver that will give me a little more forgiveness and have found the Titleist 909 D3 ... I was fitted the other day by a club fitter I have met down here who's working out of the Golfsmyth I use for equipment work. I hope that this driver arrives before the Q School so I can get a feel for if and figure out if I can trust it for the event. The D3 feels extremely solid and with a larger face compared to my older 983 E model I will get a little more help on miss hits. Driver aside my main focus is being in the right mind frame to go through the Q School as smoothly as possible.

Sounds easy enough.

JS

Busy Week

I started this week off in the search of a coach to help move me into the next level of my game. Within that search, it didn't take long for me to learn a few quick things about myself as a professional. During my practice sessions I have really been focusing on something I don't think I cared enough about ... consistency. Lately I have been working on short game execution which will keep me consistently better around the greens. Barry has been a big help on that, working on shots around the green that are just no brainers. This has made it progressively less stressful when making those shots I have been having trouble with. To make this consistency happen I am working on eliminating most of my moving parts during my short game shots. Eliminating my lower half and using my shoulders and chest to swing through the ball at impact. Stress will come up in a round but if i can reduce the potential stressful occurrences during the round I know I will on average have better results.

I have always used a little more of my arms to swing through the ball at impact which is fine, it has been working for me up to now... It's just a matter of understanding how your swing works and what are your tendencies. Tuesday I met with a potential coach who had played on the PGA Tour in the 90's. Carl Cooper seemed like he could be a great fit as he would be able to give me an insiders view on how I can take my game to the tour. As we spoke on the range I let him know what I was looking for... number 1, it's a month away from my chance at Q school and I don't want to be making any swing changes. Two , Three whatever... you see where this is going. By the fourth hole I hit my tee shot and Carl lets me know that to be better I need to change my swing. Long story short I tried for the entire round to make this golf swing work and all it did was help me lose not only a dozen golf balls in the woods but i lost all confidence in what I had been working on up till then. It wasn't a good day.

Carl and I will not be working together.

That was Tuesday...

Another guy I've been playing with is Michael Borrote from London, England. He's a class A PGA professional and plays some events on the Tight Lies Tour. I played with him on Wednesday and later went to the range. He had a suggestion for my swing which would help me be more consistent. The best part was, it wasn't a big change at all. I squared myself up to the target and weakened my grip (my grip has always been fairly strong*). From there I was able to swing through my swing a lot more, he found I was holding my shots off to keep them online.
A good 500 balls on the range and short game work we made it to today. Wind was blowing this weekend and today was at least 35 mph... it was strong enough that a large cypress was knocked over beside the green we were on. Either way I played like their was no wind out there... I hit 12 greens, 2 or 3 may have been missed on the fringe. Had 27 putts (missed two 5 footers, two 3 putts) and shot a 2 under 70. I was 4 under on the back nine, which we played first. I only had to make 3 tough up and downs, two were from sand... but i did, and they were basically tap ins. It was a great day and my playing partner even said he was inspired to practice harder. He was 79 and played well... the wind was tough. Today was incredible just how tough the course was playing with the wind but I just stuck with what I had been practicing and I was very pleased to play my best round in the toughest conditions yet.

I look forward to this week, I will be working really hard on my short game and making everything more and more automatic. I have to say I'm also really looking forward to a day where the wind just sits still and I can see what I can do out here without mother nature in the way.

* A strong grip doesn't mean you grip the club harder, it's a position where if you grip the club strong you are more likely to hit the ball to the left (if you're a right hander). The reason is because the grip makes the club head close a bit at impact. It's completely the opposite for a weak grip where the ball will move right because the club head is open at impact. I weakened my grip so that I would be coming through the impact zone with a square club head more often.

Stay tuned, things are looking good.

JS

Presentation @ Woodensticks

Here is the video from the evening at Woodensticks. Many were unable to attend that evening due to weather, fortunately I was able to record it for later viewing. There are five parts on youtube and the tab if you're looking for it is simply Jacob Scriven.

New Month, Same Vision

Well at the start of this week I had the feeling that I was turning the tide and moving my game back to where it was in July. Perhaps I was asking a little too much when I thought I might be seeing some 60's later in the week. As I explained earlier the bermuda grass has been an issue on gaining confidence with shots around the green and putting. This week our golf course fertilized the greens which didn't allow them to cut, although they are dormant they still cut to keep them flat and smooth. Since they didn't cut this entire week it put doubt in the mind when putts would be pulled by the grain* left or right after making a great stroke. The objective for this week has certainly been staying confident and trust what I'm doing is right.

My practice has been going well and have been working on making even better contact and keeping my lower body as still as possible on shots around the green. This will increase my consistency and when I get to courses that have a fuller (almost easier) rough this practice will be extreemly helpful. I say easier because at the moment any time I miss a green I'm left with the toughest shots in golf. The idea is that with a fuller, more consistent rough the ball has a greater chance of sitting up off the ground allowing the ball to be hit a little easier. Unlike here in Texas the ball is sitting on the soil almost 90% of the time. I've also turned to some drills, Barry (my practice partner) has introduced a drill that works on putting and shots around the green. It takes about 2 hours to go through it completly but seems like it will really help with club selection around the green. This has really helped my putting and I've found my putting stroke getting extreemly smooth. This has helped with staying confident on the greens, with that grain it seems only the best of putts will fall. I've also found my ball striking to be getting increasinly better. I think it's because of the increased short game work and focus on solid contact around the green.

New into my schedule has been the addition of fitness in the morning. I joined the Bally's Gym here in Houston and it is a great facility to continue my fitness program. I have been out there by 7am and to the golf course by 10. This is the first time I have been able to include a productive fitness program with my increased time on practice. I'm hoping this will be my recipe for success. The work that's been going into my game these days can only help me reach new heights. One the perks to the early morning workout is the Bally's Gym I attend has a wonderful steam room to loosen up before swinging the club all day.

I'm looking at one month until Qschool comes and of course I feel like I'm on the right track. Keep a look out for video from practice sessions and playing. I want to use that for getting a better visual picture of game in general, hoping it will help in improving my game.

JS

* Grain, for the non golfer is the direction in which the grass grows. Usually on greens back home in Canada the grass on putting surfaces are bentgrass. When cut, there is really no grain grain affect the putt. Here in Texas and the south the grass is bermuda grass which is a weedy type of grass and grows in all sorts of directions. This makes it difficult to rewad and keep putts online. As the grass gets longer on the green, the grain will increase as well.

Practice Makes Progress

Well it's been exactly 2 weeks since I arrived and only a good week that I have been working through an effective practice routine day to day. Over the weekend the weather wasn't all that great; windy and somewhat cold which made it even tougher to execute my shots. Feeling like I had done a lot of work I gave my body a rest on Sunday and worked through a few visualization techniques hoping to bring a positive week ... scores to prove. Today I made it to the club at 9 am and worked through a progression of short game drills, worked on being quiet through my swing on the range and followed that with another good putting drill before teeing up around 12 pm. I guess the rest, along with solid practice has me on the right track because today I was finally able to finish a round under par. Here is a look at how I did it at Cypresswood Tradition Course.

Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Par 4 4 3 4 5 4 5 3 4 4 3 5 4 3 4 4 4 5 72
Score 3 3 3 6 5 4 4 4 4 4 3 5 4 3 4 4 4 4 71
Grn Y Y Y NW Y Y Y N Y Y Y N N Y Y N N Y2 11
Putts 1 1 2 2 2 2 1 2 2 2 2 1 1 2 2 1 1 2 28

Today's weather was close to 70F partly cloudy, wind was prominent around 25 mph throughout the day. I felt that I was beginning to strike the ball solidly and on line which was great. My driver was hit well accept for the 4th hole where a pulled it left and was forced to hit a draw into a strong wind coming from left ... pushing my ball into the water. Either way, I feel like I was rolling the ball better on the greens and playing well with the grain. More importantly my shots around the green were far better than I have seen to date. Even my misses seemed to be within a reasonable range where I would have a fair enough chance of making a save (which did happen on 10, 13 & 16).

So ... there is some proof. The practice is working and I'm feeling confident in the fact that I am hitting better and better shots. Perhaps by next week I'll be well under par.


Don't hold your breath.

Sorry for scorecard it's the best I could do.

JS

Scratching @ The Rust

Today I seem to be making progress on the rust that comes from a couple months away from swinging the club. Not to mention the adjustment it takes to play the bermuda grass. At the moment the weather has been great but with the dormant grass it's tough to make solid contact with the ball around the greens. There isn't much grass around them and the soil underneath is soft, so you end up with a lot of tight lies with no substance underneath to hit a solid shot. It plays with your head when you are left with a pitch shot inside 20 yrds. The only option in that situation is to hit it crisp with an accelerated motion at the ball. So this truly needs practice. I've been working on my short game (those shots especially) a good three hours to start my day. Then I will continue with shots on the range to groove the swing and get on target. From there I will jump on the tee and play a full 18 to work on game situations. It's also a good way to learn what really needs work.
Today has been the best for seeing progress; I feel the red numbers are upon us. With about two months to go until Q school I feel like I am making the right strides in being ready to earn my card and play a full schedule. I have also been working on my short term goal setting for a little extra clarity on my short game progress.

JS

The Beginning

Well it seems I have finally got myself situated down here in Houston. I arrived Last week and have made a few strides in getting myself comfortable. The past few days have been absolutely amazing golf weather and I have found myself out at the golf course just enjoying the weather and having a few fun rounds with my old teammates. My practice will be done predominantly at the Cypresswood Golf Club in Humble TX. It's a great facility with 3 courses. The Director here has allowed me to play and practice as much as I would like.
Sunday I played at the Redstone Tournament Course (which is where the Shell Houston open is held) and will be speaking with the Head pro there to see what kind of coaching he might be able to provide. However, Today I was introduced to a guy who is living here with a family near that course and is playing in the Adams Tight Lies Tour and intends on going to Q school for the Canadian Tour. He is a strong player from Ireland and it seems he and I will be practicing a lot together in the next couple months. In my mind this will be a great thing for me as I will have someone in the exact same mind set as I am. This will for sure increase my practice productivity and makes the decision of finding a "pro" to be with me for practice sessions a little difficult as this new "teammate" in a sense may be exactly wwhat I'm looking for.
I've been seeing some good things in my game already although there is definetly a bunch of rust to wear off. This next week I will be spending a lot of time on the range and will be developing a strong schedule that I will be able to follow throughout the year.
The next few days look very promising with weather being sunny and in the 70's right till next week. Sorry to rub it in for those of you shovelling the driveway each day. Look forward to more posts, the drive to Q School has begun and I will keep you posted all along the way.

JS