Wildman’s Q&A: Former Duke standout Adam Long

Asher Wildman with Golfweek found me at the Hooters event at Forest Lake and asked me a few questions about my college days… check it out by clicking on this link: http://www.golfweek.com/news/2011/feb/15/wildmans-q-former-duke-standout-adam-long/

Next Stop: Pinehurst

 As many of you know, I finished up an eGolf event yesterday in Hilton Head, SC. First of all, let me just say that Palmetto Hall (the host facility) is absolutely fantastic. Both courses were in premiere condition, I haven’t played on greens like that in months. Most notably, however, was the way in which we were welcomed and treated by the staff and members at Palmetto Hall. Long story short, it was a first class event.

 While I was there, I was able to get in touch with an old friend, John Abernethy. I met Mr. Abernethy when I played the Players Amateur at Belfair, CC in Bluffton, SC. He is a fellow Dukie and won the ACC Championship in 1962. Thursday evening,  Mr. and Mrs. Abernethy were kind enough to invite me and a few other players for dinner at their beautiful home in Belfair. It was great seeing them again and look forward to continuing that relationship for a very long time.

 As far as the actual golf, it was just okay. I didn’t do anything too special. One thing that definitely stands out is the fact that I made a quadruple bogey on my 16^th hole in my first round. It takes a series of wrongdoings and bad luck to make quads, this one was no different. I am proud of the fact that I was able to regroup and birdie the following hole. After the round, I could just hear OD Vincent, one of my college coaches saying, “now that is some serious Mojo.” I went on to make six birdies in my second round, including four in a row, to shoot 70 and make the cut right on the number. The third in fourth rounds consisted of some ups and downs but overall pretty mediocre golf. I’m definitely not happy with how I played but I’m glad I was able to hang in there even when things didn’t feel particularly well.

 I’m in Pinehurst now, enjoying a relaxing Sunday. I plan on heading out to Pine Needles for some short game practice and then to the gym for a long overdue workout. There are a lot of good sports on TV today, I’m pulling for Purdue to beat Ohio State, Freddie to win the Northern Trust, and Duke to dominate GT.

Boring Golf

Yesterday was the final round of the last Hooters Tour Winter Series event in Orlando, Florida. It was probably one of the most boring tournaments I’ve ever played. I shot 68-67-68 (10 under) and finished T4, only 2 shots back from a playoff. On Thursday, I was in the second to last group and three shots off the lead. It was a lot of fun to be in contention and have a chance to win the tournament on the back nine.

That probably doesn’t sound boring to any of you so I’ll explain…

I played so steady it was boring. I bogeyed my second hole and didn’t make another bogey for the rest of the tournament. In fact, the longest par putt I had was probably 5 feet. Each day, I hit a lot of fairways and greens and was in total control of my game. When I say boring, I just mean there weren’t a lot of highs and lows. Instead, it was solid, consistent golf. In summary: boring golf is good golf, I’ll take that any day.

I leave Orlando on Sunday for the first eGolf event in Hilton Head, SC. I hear the courses are sweet, hopefully the weather is just as nice.