Hello, golfers:

I have great news to report. I had a great day Sunday, Oct. 25 and gutted it out to finish 22nd on the Nationwide Tour money list. I earned my card for the PGA TOUR next year!

I shot a 66 and was the low round of the day at the Nationwide Tour Championship at the Daniel Island Club in Charleston, S.C. I birdied the last two holes to finish seventh in the event.

Words cannot describe the sense of achievement and pride I have for my finish. My back was really against the wall today, and I came through in a clutch situation. It is one of the best rounds I’ve ever played, with the amount of pressure that was there.

I am really excited about the upcoming year and looking forward to playing on the PGA TOUR. Thanks for tuning into the IMS Web site and pgatour.com. Stay patient and make them all!

Craig Bowden

Hello, Golfers:

Last week I was in Columbus, Ohio, playing in the Nationwide children’s hospital event at the Ohio State University Scarlet Course. The weather once again did not cooperate. So much for global warming, huh? 

The course was extremely long and very tough, but I managed to survive the cut and make a little money. My game felt a little off last week. I think it was because of the weather and course conditions. I was hitting a lot of longer clubs into the smallish greens of the Scarlet Course - which is the recipe for a bunch of bogeys.

I took this week off to get ready for this last push of events. Plus, I can’t stand the course in Wichita. I am playing in Springfield, Mo., next week and I seem to always play well there. I am stll very optimistic that I will be hoisting some crystal very soon.

Keep on watching the pgatour.com page and the Golf Channel. Good luck.

Craig

What’s up, everyone?

I’m home again this week - still recovering from a sore knee. Due to my injury, I had to pull out of the Nationwide Tour Players Cup at the Pete Dye Golf Club in Bridgeport, W. Va. There are no Nationwide events scheduled for this week.

Next week, I am going to play in Wayne Gretzky’s Pro-Am. It will be my second year playing in this event. It is located just north of Toronto, Ontario.

I have spoken to former NBA superstar Charles Barkley, and I think he and I are going to play together again in the Pro-Am. We golfed together in the event last year, and I had a blast. I never know what to expect when I am golfing with Charles, but he is a tremendous guy. His golf game has gotten better - I hope. (It couldn’t have gotten much worse - just kidding.)

I’m looking forward to a great week with Charles and getting back to playing some good golf. Charles is an awesome guy. You can’t imagine how much fun it is golfing with him. He cusses a little bit, but he loves everybody and is just a wonderful personality.

This week I will be spending a bunch of family time with my wife, Bobbi, and our daughters, Quinley and Kirin. I am looking forward to spending quality time with my loved ones. I don’t know exactly what we are going to do yet, but we will probably go the the Limestone Heritage Festival Fourth of July Parade in Bedford, Ind., on Saturday, July 4. This year, F-16 jets are scheduled to do a flyover to kick off the parade.

I hope everyone has a safe and happy Fourth of July with their families and friends!

Craig

Hello from the U.S. Open, golf fans:

The weather when I played on Friday was overcast all day. It was just one of those cruddy, gray days. The weather finally opened up and became nicer in the afternoon, making the conditions better for the other group of golfers. They ended up getting the better end of the wave as far as their tee times compared to those of us who went out early.

The weather got so good for the afternoon golfers that, as I watched it, I could see that the guys were tearing it up. The conditions were soft. When the cloud cover lifts, the ball goes a little further, and you can see your line a little bit cleaner. It’s not a huge enough difference that I can use that as an excuse, in my opinion, but it does make a difference.

Other golfers struggled in the morning, as well. But I can’t worry about what’s going on with the other guys. I just have to go out there and keep doing what I’m doing. I’ll need to play well, stay positive and be patient. Hopefully, something good will happen.

Honestly, I actually played pretty good on Friday. I just didn’t putt the ball very well. It turned into a frustrating day for me. With the exception of my bad putting, it could have been a pretty good day. Hopefully, Saturday will be a day that I can go out and make a bunch of birdies and get myself back into this golf tournament.

I’m ready to get out there on Saturday and get after it again. I would like to be able to get quite a few holes in before the weather gets bad again.

More rain is on the way - but I’m ready to play.

You can follow my scores by clicking here. My weekly blogs will start on Tuesday. I’ll recap my last days of the U.S. Open on Tuesday and preview what I have going on in the week ahead.

Thanks for coming along on the Tour.

Craig

Hello from a soggy U.S. Open at Bethpage Black in New York:

What a day. I played three holes in the morning on Thursday, and then they called us in and put us in a holding pattern. We waited for the weather to break, and it never did. They finally called it around 3 o’ clock. The weather here is nasty. It is awful. The wind was blowing like crazy, and the course is soaking wet.

Thursday was also my birthday. After I dried off and cleaned up, my family and I went out to dinner in the evening.

I am scheduled to tee off at 7:30 a.m. on Friday. Hopefully, it will happen. It’s still raining as I do this blog. There are 500 people at Bethpage working through the night to try and keep the course playable. They are using squeegees on the greens. They are pumping water out of the fairways and out of the bunkers. They are going above and beyond and doing everything in their power to keep the course ready.

Since I played in the morning on Thursday, I will finish my remaining 15 holes and then probably won’t finish my second round until Saturday. The golfers who were scheduled to play Thursday afternoon will play Friday afternoon; attempting to get both of their first two rounds in. There just isn’t enough daylight for everyone to get all of their first two rounds in on Friday.

It’s too bad the weather is so bad here in New York. It’s unfortunate for the spectators, the corporate sponsors, hospitality, and, of course, it’s bad for the players. I wish we were having “Chamber of Commerce” weather – but it just isn’t in the cards.

As a player, weather like this works on you mentally. You feel like you are just grinding it out to get it finished. Of course, we are still expected, and ready, to play. We’ll get it done. But there is a good chance it will still be going on Monday.

It is what it is. I’ll do what I can to get it done. I’m still looking forward to playing in this event.

Stay dry,

Craig

P.S.: Follow Craig all weekend at the U.S. Open by clicking here for live scoring.

Hello, golf fans:

I am sending this blog from New York as I prepare to compete in the 2009 U.S. Open at Bethpage Black golf course. I am currently playing full time in the Nationwide Tour, but I played well enough and was one of 17 golfers (out of 121) at the Columbus, Ohio, sectional qualifying site who qualified to compete in this year’s Open.

The weather here isn’t too bad so far, but I heard on Thursday and Friday there is the possibility of getting some ugly weather.

When I first started playing golf professionally, I started out by throwing my clubs in the back of my pick-up truck and driving around the country to try to make money at events. During my career, I have played in the Hooters Tour during the early 90s. Then, starting in 1996, I played on either the Nationwide Tour (1996, ‘98, ‘99, 2001, ‘02, ‘03) or the PGA Tour (1997, 2000, ‘04, ‘05, ‘07).

My family includes my wife, Bobbi, and my two young daughters, Quinley and Kirin. Our dogs, Olivia and Lambchop, are also a part of the family. Unfortunately, my family isn’t able to travel with me everywhere I play, but the last two weeks I have been fortunate enough to have them all with me. Since I sold my camper, the dogs aren’t able to travel at all with us anymore. With the hotels and airplanes it is just too much trouble.

Last week, I competed in the Nationwide Open in Knoxville, Tenn. I was even-par after 27 holes and a stroke from not making the cut on Friday. I had a real good back nine with six birdies and one bogey. I shot 5-under, made the cut and shot myself into contention at the event. On Saturday, I shot 5-under again and got as high as second on the leaderboard. Then on Sunday, I faltered a little bit with a 72. But overall it was a positive week for me, especially leading into this week at the U.S. Open.

This will be my fifth U.S. Open in which I have competed. I played in 1999 at Pinehurst in North Carolina. In 2002, I played here at Bethpage Black. I was at Olympia Fields in Chicago in 2003 and Shinnecock Hills in New York in 2004.

Last time I played at the U.S. Open in Bethpage, I was paired with Greg Norman. The New York fans were yelling to him, “Greg, it’s your year.” But I was saying: “No, my name is Craig. But thank you for following along and watching.” I was playing and joking around with it, and Greg looked at me like I was crazy. I was just having fun and playing it up.

As far as this week at the Open goes, if I’m playing my game the way I can play it, I think I can finish in the top 15. Legitimately, I would be very pleased with a top-15 finish. If I can stay patient and positive and don’t let bad holes get to me and get flustered, I think I can accomplish that.

The course here is actually a little long for my game right now, but I honestly think my patience is really good. So, I think that I can overcome the length with the patience aspect.

I’ll be 41 years old on Thursday. I’m older. I’m more mature. I have a lot of things going on in my life that have given me patience. My daughters kind of keep me in check. And I’m hitting the golf ball really well right now.

I appreciate the opportunity to blog on this Web site. The Brickyard Crossing is a cool course, and we are very lucky to have it in our backyard in Indiana. Being from Indiana is something I am very proud of. And, being a race fan, I enjoy and appreciate our tradition and heritage in Indiana. It’s awesome to be a part of it. I am glad they asked and included me in by being a part of this program with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Brickyard Crossing Golf Course.

Finally, I would like to say thanks to all of the golf fans who will be following my progress at the 2009 U.S. Open. Follow the scores all weekend by clicking here.

Tee it up!

Craig