Red Numbers, THERE YOU ARE!

Today I was invited to play a round of golf at the Redstone Golf Club in Houston. This is the course where the Shell Houston Open will be played in a couple weeks from now. All the grandstands and tents are up for the vendors so it has that feel of a PGA event, without the spectators. Anyways, the condition of the course is nearly immaculate considering the winter Houston has had... cold and rainy. The course just looks great though, the ground is firm, the grass is lush and the greens are smooth and fast. As you know I have been working hard on getting my game in shape and finally I saw some serious game show from it. I was able to pull out a 67 (-5) today which was great not only as a ball striking and putting day but mentally i was fairly sound as well. I hit 14 greens in regulation and had 27 putts with 8 birdies (could be a personal birdie record), hit a bunch of fairways and only had a couple dirty shots. I did have a tough time in the bunkers which has not been the case as of late... but the green side bunkers at Redstone have very little sand in them at the moment, actually they are more like cement, and in the week prior to play they will be filled and packed in with a bunch of sand for that oh so good "tour" feel. This still means the two shots I put in the bunkers I bounced off the ground and had avg. 30 feet back to hole.
67 or not today was a great day because my head was in it and I started to look at flags and zone in... not many worries about how to swing the club, I was more just letting myself do it. This is great because it shows me that the hard work is beginning to pay off. And no better time than now...
This morning I signed up for the pre-qualifying tournament for the Shell Houston Open Monday Qualifying. Every player who does not hold a PGA Tour or Nationwide Tour card has to play in this event to earn a spot in the Monday Qualifier like the one I played in to get into the 2008 RBC Canadian Open. Like last year this event will be played on the Tradition course at Cypresswood, the course I practice and play on daily. I feel it's a great chance for me to play into this Shell Houston Open because who knows the course better than me. I have birdied every hole on that course and just missed last year trying to get in. the way I feel with that course is, if you were to bring any PGA Tour player to that course I would still be able to compete with you solely by course knowledge alone and even if you were a better player I would still have an advantage.

Well that's the way I'm thinking right now, it's pretty positive and I keep doubt from my mind daily and I think it's really starting to pay off. I hope I see some strong results in the next couple weeks, I mean hell, if all goes well I could be playing The Masters in a month.

JS