2011

As 2011 comes to a close, I feel like it’s an appropriate time to reflect on my first full year as a professional golfer. I played in over 30 events and traveled all around the world, leaving me plenty to talk about. Some highlights include: playing two tournaments in Morocco, qualifying for and playing in the US Open, winning a Hooters Tour event, first stage of European Tour Qschool in Portugal, and advancing to final stage of PGA Tour Qschool. While those were great memories, this game always finds a way to keep you humble as I learned when I missed four straight eGolf Tour cuts in April-May. I also battled through a case of mononucleosis last summer which is an experience I don’t care to relive.

Despite a few setbacks, 2011 was undoubtedly a success. I set four goals at the beginning of the year and I accomplished three if them: I qualified for a Nationwide or PGA Tour event (US Open), I won (Hooters Tour), and I qualified for final stage of Qschool. After a mediocre first half of the year, I finished the second half very well. In fact, I’d say I’ve played some of the best golf of my life in the past few months. I created several positive memories this year that have really elevated my confidence and perspective. I’m looking forward to carrying that momentum into next year and beyond.

I’ll post an outlook of what my 2012 will look like in a couple days. As always, thanks for your support; there’s no way I could do any of this without you. I hope you all enjoyed the holidays!

School’s Out

After fourteen days in Palm Springs, I’m finally heading back to St. Louis. It’s difficult to sum up the past few weeks but I’ll do my best to hit the highlights…

First of all, I really lucked out with my caddy. After second stage in Florida (where I carried my own bag) someone asked for the job for final stage. Not really knowing who he was, I took Scott Martin’s information and said I would get back to him. He caddied for my friend, Will Strickler, on the PGA Tour last year. Will didn’t get through second stage so Scott was looking for a loop. After talking with Will, I called Scott and hired him the next day. Scott and I committed to one another for nine days of what’s said to be the most grueling test of all with only a brief introduction. It turned out to be the best decision I could have possibly made. He was terrific, we really worked well together and I hope to use him again soon. A picture of us is below.

My accommodations for the week took a drastic turn for the better when my friend, Derek Fauthauer, invited me to join him and his brother at a beautiful home only a few minutes from PGA West. While the constant abuse from the Fauthauer twins was brutal, it still beat the Holiday Inn.

In a lot of ways, the tournament reminded me of the US Open. Absolutely nothing like first or second stages of qualifying. 174 players competed on two courses for six consecutive rounds. The top 25 were rewarded PGA Tour cards for 2012, the next 50 were given full status on the Nationwide Tour next year, while the rest have differing levels of conditional status on the Nationwide Tour in 2012 (so it is better to miss getting full Nationwide status by one shot rather than 10). I shot 72-69-70-76-70-76 (+1) and finished in 100th place. I’m disappointed because after three rounds I was in 30th place looking at a PGA Tour card and going into the final day I was two shots clear of getting full nationwide status. At no point during the tournament did I think I would come away with only conditional status on the Nationwide Tour.

You all may think I know everything there is to know about all this but even after a half-day seminar about the Nationwide Tour, I’m not 100% sure where this puts me. Basically, I have a number and I’ll be on a waiting list to get into events all year. I’ll definitely play in a few tournaments, I just don’t know which ones yet. I’m officially a Nationwide Tour member and receive many benefits from that, I’m just not at full status yet. I do know that if I get into a tournament early (either by my number or Monday qualifying) and make the cut, I’ll play in virtually every event thereafter. The process is very complicated and confusing so I won’t even get into the details but that’s the gist.

After the event, my dad, uncle, grandpa, and friend all came out for a golf trip in Palm Springs. They played the Classic Club on Tuesday and I joined them on Wednesday and Thursday at the Stadium and Nicklaus Tournament courses at PGA West (the same courses we played for Qschool). After multiple practice rounds and six competitive rounds, I thought I had seen all of those courses; I was wrong.

So I’m back in St. Louis for a while. I need to make some decisions about sports agents, equipment deals, and scheduling. I don’t plan on playing in any tournaments until next year but I need to formulate a strategic plan of attack for 2012. And apparently I need to do a little Christmas shopping as well…

Thanks for all of your support, keep in touch!