The Indy 500 is in the books, and congrats to Helio and Team Penske. It is back to golf here at the Brickyard, with a few events here in the next week or so.
A new event here at the Brickyard was completed this week, the Brickyard Crossing Senior Series hosted by Rollie Schroeder, our pro emeritus. This will be a monthly tournament for seniors to compete for prizes. More information on these events can be found at the Web site, www.brickyardseniorgolfseries.com.
The PGA Tour this week is in Texas at the Colonial, the Nationwide is in Raleigh, N.C., where we have couple of players with Brickyard ties competing. Chad Collins is back out on the road as you know if you have read his blog this week, and our old friend Jim Gallagher Jr. also is playing this week. Jim usually comes up for the race but called and said he was playing this week and wanted to stay home and practice. Another Hoosier professional on the Nationwide Tour, Craig Bowden from Bedford, stopped by last week to watch the Indy 500.
Our men’s and ladies’ clubs here at the Brickyard are in full swing with their seasons. The ladies played Wednesday, May 27, and the men have an event Saturday, May 30. If you would like more information on our clubs, visit our Web site at www.brickyardcrossing.com or give us a call at (317) 492-6572, and we will answer any of your questions.
This Monday, I will have the pleasure of playing the new Pete Dye course at French Lick, Ind. I have heard it is amazingly difficult and long. Rumor has it that the course record from the back tees (8,000 yards) is 86. Obviously, I will not be playing the back tees but hope to get a few photos of the views from the back tees.
The U.S. Senior Open qualifier is a month away and I need to find some game. So I need to get out do some practicing and especially do some stretching and walking. So don’t forget to get out hit some balls and play a round here at the Brickyard. Stay tuned for upcoming events and programs here at the Brickyard.
Jeff Schroeder
PGA Head Professional
Brickyard Crossing
Another The Rollie golf tournament is in the books. We had a full field of over 150 players on a beautiful 80-degree afternoon May 20 at the Brickyard Crossing.
Our friends at IZOD provided a great gift bag for all the celebrities, and players and Jug’s Catering provided us with the traditional fried chicken and biscuits dinner.
I want to thank all the drivers for playing. We had about six current drivers, such as Graham Rahal, A.J. Foyt IV, Tomas Scheckter, Darren Manning and Ryan Hunter-Reay. We also had two former Indy 500 winners in Al Unser Jr. and Bobby Rahal, plus Jerry Sneva, a former Indy Rookie of the Year. I also want to thank our friends from NHRA, drivers Brandon Bernstein, Morgan Lucas, Shawn Langdon, Tommy Johnson Jr. and Melanie Troxel. Thanks to all the drivers for making The Rollie the golf happening of the month.
One big thanks goes to all the players for supporting the tournament every year. Check out the photos here on our Web site.
The biggest thanks goes out to the Hulman-George family for naming the tournament after my father, Rollie Schroeder, for his years of service here at the Speedway as their golf professional. Thank you Mari, Tony, Nancy, Josie and Kathi.
This Memorial day weekend is big here at the Brickyard. Friday was Miller Lite Carb Day, and the course is closed except for our Pace Car driver this year, Josh Duhamel. He is getting in a little golf before he goes back to practicing for the race Sunday.
Come Monday, it is back to usual business here at the Brickyard with golf starting at about 11:30 a.m. So after the weekend is over the course reopens for regular play, and I have to say our golf course is in the best shape ever. Thanks to Jeff Stuart, our course superintendent.
Remember the Brickyard is open for play starting Monday, and we will be coming up with some new promotions besides our daily Twilight Golf after 4 p.m. Lots of cool events scheduled here this summer, so stay tuned.
Jeff Schroeder
PGA Head Professional
Brickyard Crossing
May is in full swing here at the Brickyard. The first weekend of qualifying is over, and congrats to the Penske organization for winning the prestigious pole for the Indianapolis 500 set to run May 24.
The Players Championship finished last week. Pretty shocking that Tiger did not win. As a matter of fact, Tiger never threatened as he got off to a bad start and never recovered.
Tiger was interviewed after the round and explained how he was hitting these “high right spinners,” which means there is something new in the swing that isn’t working. Some people are saying the bulking up of his upper body is hurting him. I think maybe a new swing will be brought out at the U.S. Open next month. You can’t play the U.S. Open at Bethpage Black with a high slice and ankle-deep rough.
Here at the Brickyard, we have enjoyed some good golf activity although the weather has not been the greatest. But we have been getting by.
Next week is a big week leading up to the race. The big event of the week for us is the annual The Rollie golf tournament. This tournament is in honor of my father, who was the professional here for 39 years. He just rolled into town last weekend and will spend the summer here and then head south when the weather turns cool around October.
We are pleased to announce that this year’s tournament is being sponsored by IZOD. There are also a few associate sponsors that help out with food and beverage, such as Jug’s Catering and IMS Food and Beverage. The tournament couldn’t be a success without them, and a big thank you goes out to all of them.
A sad part of this month is that two of the biggest supporters and participants of The Rollie, and also when it was known as the annual Race Drivers tournament, are not with us anymore. Those two gentlemen are Jug Eckert and Lloyd Ruby.
Jug always supplied the food and drink for the after golf party and awards. Lloyd always worked behind the scenes getting other drivers to play, getting the accessory companies to donate items and basically made sure that everyone had as good as time as he did. Those two will be sadly missed.
Until next week, keep it down the middle and don’t forget the Brickyard is open during qualifications this weekend.
Jeff Schroeder
PGA Head Professional
Brickyard Crossing
May is here, and the racetrack is officially open for practice for the Indianapolis 500.
Of course, we have had some rain the first part of the month. The MAC Championship finished Saturday, May 2, and Kent State won the conference in a convincing manner. The tournament started out with 36 holes on Thursday May 1 but was delayed due to rain. They finally got started around 10:30 a.m. with a shotgun start, and believe it or not, they got 36 holes in before dark.
In the second round, Kent State blew the field away by shooting a school record 17-under-par as a team. Their scores were 66, 68, 68, 69 and 74. They count the best four out of five scores. This was an impressive score from our back gold tees in wet, soft, breezy conditions. My Ball State Cards got off to a slow start and picked up in the third round but faltered to a sixth-place finish.
I ventured down to Fuzzy Zoeller’s new course, Champions Pointe, in Henryville, Ind. This is a good course that has a good variety of holes with trees and then some open holes and some water that definitely comes into play on the closing holes.
I actually hit the ball OK, but I missed a few fairways, and the rough was just brutal. It was long and wet, as they had rain almost all last weekend, and we played on Monday so the rough was not cut. Every time I missed the fairway it led to a bogey or even a double-bogey like I had on the eighth hole. I ended up with a 78 but just chipped it horrible all day.
So after a couple of competitive rounds, I know I have to take my own advice and start working on my short game. During May it is tough to get any practice time in with all the events going on, but a few minutes around the putting green should be doable. I keep telling everyone to work on their short game and here I am ignoring my own advice. So it is back to what my father made me do when I was a junior: Work on my short game or he would not let me play a round.
This past weekend, the May festivities of our Centennial Era kicked off with the Centennial Era Balloon Festival presented by AT&T Real Yellow Pages and a Saturday evening concert by Josh Kelley and Ryan Cabrera.
Josh and Ryan rolled in about 6 a.m. in their bus from a show in Cleveland the night before and wanted to play some golf that day. So we teed it up at about 10 a.m. Saturday behind the last round of the MAC.
Josh played college golf at Ole Miss for a year before embarking on his musical career. Josh is a 4 handicap and obviously doesn’t get to practice much, but he definitely can play and could be a scratch player with a little practice. He hits it high and long.
He gets to play in all the cool events. He just got through playing in the Hootie and the Blowfish tournament and played in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Ryan, on the other hand, is not so good, but he has fun playing and after about three or four holes he started hitting some good shots. He and their manager, Gabe, had a little game going. It was stroke play, and Ryan beat him pretty good the front side. They kept the match going on the back nine, but I have to admit they have their own set of rules and scoring system.
All and all, we had a great time with them. They were really into the Speedway and the golf course and were amazed at the size of the facility. Plus I was a big hit with my 16-year-old daughter, Lauren, as she got to meet them and get her picture taken with them. Thanks, Josh and Ryan.
The PGA Tour this week is at the famed TPC at Sawgrass. I played this course about two years ago, and it is tough. A few bad swings, and you are on your way to a high score.
Not sure what is going on with Tiger’s game. He has had some uncharacteristic bad finishes to rounds that I thought would not happen. Maybe it’s the layoff or he might be working on something new since The Masters. Time will tell, and the old saying is the cream always rising to the top.
As I sit here, I can hear the IndyCars practicing over at the Speedway. Remember, you can come out here during this month and play while the cars are practicing. We even have golf available during qualifications. The exception is that the golf course will not be open on Pole Day this Saturday but will be available the other three qualifying days.
Good luck to all the drivers this month as they prepare for the greatest race in the world, the Indianapolis 500. Check out our Web site at www.brickyardcrossing.com for other news and events going on here at The Brickyard.
Jeff Schroeder
PGA Head Professional
Brickyard Crossing