The breakthrough is coming..

Hi all...

Since my last post, I have played in the pre-Qualifier for the Greenbrier Classic (PGA Tour event) and the Monday qualifier (2nd stage if you will) in West Virginia. Course: Resort at Glade Springs - Robert Cobb design, par 71. All bent grass, with a mix of po annua grass on the greens.

The first 18 I played well. I birdied my first hole, after a good wedge to 5 feet. I then birdied the par 5 5th hole, chipping it close on my third shot. A little run of alternating bogeys and birdies left me at -2 through 13 holes. Wedges were the key to my scoring in the pre qualifier, setting myself up with pretty short birdie opportunities all day. I saved a great par at 14 after I pulled my 3 wood in to the trees off the tee. A great wedge to 2 feet at the next hole set up a birdie to move to -3, and then a 15 foot putt at 16 dropped to put me at -4. I made 2 solid pars at the last 2 holes to finish off a 67 (-4). I finished t4th out of 105 competitors and was happy with my days work. So, onto Monday (the final qualifier).

I had a great feeling going into the Monday qualifier. There were only 75 players, and 4 spots available for a place in the Greenbrier Classic. Although a strong field, with a mix of a US Open champion, and several former PGA tour players I fancied my chances given my latest form.

I got off to a slow start, not hitting my best shots. I bogeyed the second after finding trouble right off the tee. But, soon found my rhythm and birdied 4, 5 and 6 to get my round on track. I then hit a great 9 iron to 4 feet at the 9th and was -3 at the turn. In Monday qualifier, you have to remain aggressive. I knew that there were going to be some low scores but I did a good job of staying in the present and not thinking too much about the end result - something everybody has a tendency to do.

I hit a really poor tee shot on 10, but got lucky....could have gone out of bounds but instead I was able to hit a hooked-round-the-trees recovery to the green and made a par. I made another par saver to remain at -3 at the 11th after my wedge went a little too far. Over the last 7 holes, my putter eluded me. I missed great opportunities at 12 & 14 and failed to save par at 15 which put me back to -2. The last 3 holes, I was trying to birdie all of them and post as low as possible but couldn't quite do it. I 3 putted the last for par after hitting the green in 2 on the uphill 550 yard par 5 which put a bit of a dampener on the round.

I finished in a tie for 11th place, 3 shots off the qualifying number at -5. Not the finish I wanted but nonetheless a really good effort and I am happy the way I went about my business. I have now shot 6 consecutive rounds in the 60's in tournament play so I am definitely on the right track.

My next event is next week, back on the egolf tour for the Southern Open. Top 60 on the money list at the end of the season will qualify for the 'Million Dollar Championship Series' I currently sit in 56th position and will look to improve upon that next week.

Thanks for following.

Lee