Not my best golf in New Orleans but feeling better for Greensboro.

Sorry I haven't posted anything for a while. I have driven 1,600 in the past 5 days and haven't had much time to blog.

I traveled to a very wet New Orleans, Louisiana to try and qualify for the Zurich Classic (PGA tour event). I had been feeling a lot better about my long game back home in Hilton Head since my visit to Andrew Rice. But when I got to New Orleans for the practice round on Thursday I felt pretty drained and the body wasn't firing as it usually is, perhaps something to do with driving 11 hours cross country the day before.

However, I started off steadily in the qualifier. Four pars and a birdie through the first 5 holes and I was settled into the round. I made an alarmingly bad swing with a 5 iron on the 6th, finding the water hazard right on a lay up shot. Although I tried to remain in the moment and focus on the process, this kind of freaked me out and I went through a 3 hole stretch of missing everything right. After dropping 4 shots in 3 holes, I found myself +3 through 9 and facing an uphill battle to make it through.

I made an excellent birdie on the 10th to steady the ship, then missed medium-short length birdie try's at 11 & 12, before what can only be described as bad luck and a total momentum killer at the 13th. I hit my tee shot a little right, maybe 5 yards off the fairway in the rough. When I got to where I thought my ball was, I couldn't find it even after 5 minutes of searching. Assuming it was plugged, I went back to the tee, hit another, walked up to that one (similar position to ball #1) and found the original ball plugged in a low wet area! The double bogey kind of killed the momentum I had built over the last couple of holes. I made a nice putt for birdie at 16, but my ultra aggressive strategy got the best of me at the last to put the nail in the coffin.

I ended up with a very disappointing 77 and obviously didn't qualify.

What I have learned from this week is probably to try and break up my travel so I don't write off a day before a competitive round. I have also learned that I can't let a mistake rattle me. I allowed the shot on 6 to define my front 9, and I can't afford to let this happen.

My stats for the day were:

Fairways - 9/14 (64%)
Greens in reg - 9/18 (50%)
Putts - 28
Up & Downs - 6/10 (60%)
Bunker saves - 1/3 (33%)

On to the Sedgefield Classic in Greensboro, a course I like and played solidly at last year. I have had time to recoup and rest so I am ready to go on Wednesday.

Stay tuned, thanks for following.

Lee

Championship @ St James

Unfortunately my good play in Monday's Pro-Am somewhat dried up for the main tournament this week. I shot 74 (+2) and 78 (+6) and missed the halfway cut.

My game was pretty solid in round 1, and barring a double bogey at the 5th (my 14th hole) I would have been in the top 15 or so. Going in to round 2 I was confident of posting a low score to assure I made the weekend and started off great, birdieing the 1st and 2nd. However my momentum was halted abruptly after double bogeys at the 3rd and 4th, following 2 hooks off the tee. For the rest of the round I couldn't seem to build any momentum. I made 5 birdies but couldn't sustain a good run of holes.

Throughout the 2 rounds of the main event I struggled with my ball striking particularly the long irons. I also struggled shaping the ball right to left when I needed to. This comes mostly from being a little steep with the downswing and a slightly shut club face in the delivery of the club.

My short game (as my statistics will show) was good, as it mostly is. I just have to sort out my long game. I am booked in Tuesday to see Andrew Rice a very well renowned swing coach based here in Hilton Head. Really looking forward to working with him.

My stats for the tournament were:

Fairways: 18/28 (64%)
Greens in Reg: 19/36 (53%)
Putts: 28.5 per round
Up and downs: 10/15 (67%)
bunker: 1/2 (50%)

Some better stats to come.......

A couple of action shots from this week:

Duke School of Nursing Pro-Am at St James

Hi everyone, sorry for my lack of updates lately, I have been working hard to prepare my game for the coming events in April. The weather has been great in Hilton Head, and I am getting closer to playing some proper golf.

I was invited to play in the second annual pro-am benefiting the Duke University School of Nursing. 37 teams (each with 1 professional and 3 amateurs) competed. There were plenty of prizes available for the amateurs and a small purse of $4,000 for the strong list of pro's.

I shot a very solid round of 70 (-2) in windy conditions on the tough Reserve club which was good enough to finish in a tie for 2nd place. I made a small but helpful cheque of $800, which is even better considering there was no entry fee!

My team came about middle of the pack, but I was happy with my performance on a course I have struggled on the last 2 years. My putter was hot all day, needing only 25 putts for the round.

Today was great preparation for the main event starting Wednesday on the same course. I will take a lot of confidence in the knowledge that my form is heading in the right direction.

My tee times for Round 1 and 2 are 12:40 and 8:40 respectively.

Here are my stats for the day:

Fairways: 11/14 (79%)
Greens in regulation: 12/18 (67%)
Putts: 25
Up and Downs: 6/6 (100%)

Pretty good on the short game!

Check www.egolfprofessionaltour.com for tournament updates starting on Wednesday

Cheers

Mid Pines recap

This week at Mid Pines wasn't my best performance on the course. A mixture of some rust and poor course management cost me making the cut, so from that standpoint it was a pretty disappointing week. As always though, there were some positives I can take out of the first two competitive rounds of the year.

The conditions were pretty tough for scoring, +4 ended up being the number to make the cut. My 2 rounds of 74 and 77 put me in a tie for 45th out of a field of 85....obviously too low down to make it through to the final round.

Stats for the week:

Fairways: 14/28 (50%)
Greens in regulation: 20/36 (56%)
Putts per round: 30.5 - including 3 3-putts
Up and downs: 8/15 (53%)
Sand saves: 4/6 (67%)

Played the par 5's in -2
Par 4's +10
Par 3's +1

Have to improve on the par 4 scoring.

Back to work today on the range and short game area. My game will be ready for my next event which will be at St James Plantation, on the 1st April.

Will send an update soon,

Here is a picture of the putting green Mid Pines golf club after the storm came through...

Mid Pines Classic

Tomorrow will be my first competitive round of 2015 and I'm definitely looking forward to getting started. It will be great to get back into tournament mode and kick off the season with some good form.

The weather here has been pretty poor for the last couple of weeks, not ideal prep but same for everyone. I was only able to play 9 holes in the practice round because of the weather but the course looks in good condition and I'm ready to have a great tournament.

The field is only 84 players this week with $100,000 guaranteed purse - really good potential payout. My mind however will be focused on the 'process' as usual.

My start times (Eastern U.S time -5 GMT) for the first 2 rounds are:

Round 1: 9:03 a.m off the 1st
Round 2: 8:00 a.m off the 10th

For scoring updates please check: www.egolfprofessionaltour.com

I will update the blog with a summary at the conclusion of the event.

Lee

Hilton Head

Hello everyone,

Just a short update to say that I arrived on Hilton Head Island yesterday (17th Feb) and moved into my new digs with the Sambrook family. The Carolinas have been hit by a bitterly cold patch this week, nonetheless practice at my new home club - Palmetto Hall Plantation started today. The game felt a little rusty today following my travel schedule, but scoring pretty nicely.

Although the next couple of days look a bit ropy weather-wise I plan on practicing and playing for the next 11 days before heading to Southern Pines (next door to Pinehurst) for the Mid Pines Classic - site of my first paycheck as a pro!

I will update the blog before the tournament begins.

Here is a picture of the short game practice area at Palmetto. I will be spending quite a few hours here over the next 10 months:

2015

Happy New Year everyone!

I thought I would post an update as I get ready for the start of the 2015 season.

I've had a really good rest and social golf over the Christmas period, it's been great to wind down for a few weeks to recoup a little after a busy year of golf, training regimen and travel. I had some physio work done, with Aileen Ross (based in Hurst Green/Oxted) on my hip which at times has been troublesome particularly in the latter half of the year. Aileen has given me some pointers as to what I should be doing to keep the areas around my hip less tight and to protect from injury.

For this coming season, there will be a couple of new ventures. I will be slightly relocating. I have an unbelievable opportunity to move to Palmetto Hall Plantation, Hilton Head Island sight of the Egolf's tour championship at the end of 2014. I will be staying with two members of PHP, The Sambrook family and will have a very similar set up to the last two years in Charlotte.

The fund raising has been going pretty well and I am getting closer to my target figure. I am finalising my schedule as well which will include more qualifiers to give me that chance to make the breakthrough to the Web.com tour which is what this all about.

Stay tuned for more updates. I am aiming to get to the States on the 15th Feb, a week before my first tournament.

Thanks for following,

Lee