It just wasn’t meant to be.
Senior Open qualifying was last Tuesday, July 2, and it was my debut as a senior. On Sunday and Monday before the qualifier, I went to Lake Forest, Ill., to play in the Chicago Children’s Memorial Hospital Pro-Am. I have played in this event for about five years or so, and it is one of the largest fundraisers for the hospital, raising more than a million dollars from this event.
I thought it would be a good idea to get some competitive golf in before the qualifier. I played Sunday and Monday and played pretty well.
Three of us – George Arvanitis of the Country Club of Indianapolis, Jason LePage of Broadmoor Country Club and myself – flew up to Chicago and back through O’Hare Airport.
We all checked our golf bags at O’Hare, tipped the skycap and headed in to get on our flight back to Indy. We left on time and got to Indy by 10:15 p.m. and went to the baggage claim area and waited for our clubs.
Well, of course, the only set of clubs not to make it was mine. I explained the situation to the baggage rep for United, and he said that the clubs were still in Chicago and should be on the next flight at midnight. I told him to call me, and I would come back and pick them up.
Of course, no phone call. On Tuesday morning, I am calling the baggage number with my claim number, and the clubs had still not been located. Plan B was now in effect because I know now that my clubs are gone.
I started putting together a set of some clubs that I may have used most recently maybe five years ago. I didn’t have the driver that I had been using most of the year or the putter I had been using with a lot of confidence.
Bottom line: I just didn’t have any confidence in the set of clubs I put together. To say the least, I was very frustrated.
I ended up shooting 78 and missing a playoff by six shots. There were two players tied at 71 for medalist honors, Scott Morris and Steve Rogers, and two players tied for the last spot at 72. The two players in a playoff for the last spot were Russ Cochran and Quinn Griffing. Russ got the last spot when he birdied the first playoff hole and Quinn made a par.
Congratulations to Scott, who is a professional out at Ironwood here in Indy, and Steve, who played his college golf at Indiana University. Russ is from the Champions Tour, and Quinn is from Fort Wayne, Ind.
The frustration showed in my first few holes as I bogeyed numbers 2 and 4 and did not hit an iron shot till hole No. 7. I settled down and realized that my original thought of having to shoot 68 or 69 was way too low. The wind was blowing, and the pace of play was really slow, so I figured I needed to shoot even par to have a chance.
I three-putted the ninth hole to shoot 3-over on the front nine and still felt like I had a chance. I made a bad par on 10 as I drove it about 10 feet from the green and did not get it up and down for a birdie, which would have got me started.
I made pars on 11 and 12 and then hit a terrible shot on the par-3 13th and made a triple-bogey. From there I knew it was over and made pars the rest of the way out to shoot 78.
It was just one of those days where nothing positive happened to get my round going, and my confidence was ruined by playing without my usual clubs.
That day is over, and now we turn our attention to the Indiana State Open being played here at the Brickyard starting Tuesday, July 7 through Friday, July 10. This might be the strongest field ever with a lot of college players and also players who just turned pro after completing college.
Some notables considered older guys also are here, such as four-time champion Jeff Cook, Bill Schumaker, Denny Ford, Todd Smith and myself. Although I will not be 50 until Saturday, July 11, I am now one of the old guys.
I hope to be blogging daily and reporting on the action. The golf course is in excellent shape, and we had some rain on the Fourth of July to soften up the course and make it play longer. But more importantly, the rough will be long and lush. I think the scores will be low, and it will probably take 10-under to win the tournament, if not better.
Other staff members here at the Brickyard that are playing in the Open are Jeff Williams, my assistant professional, and Sam Foley, business development manager.
Good luck to all this week. The course will be open to the public Thursday and Friday after Open play, so book a tee time and see how you fare on a tournament course.
Jeff Schroeder
PGA Head Professional
Brickyard Crossing