The first two rounds of the Indiana Open are in the books, and it has been a birdie fest here at the Brickyard, to say the least.

With the course being in excellent shape and little wind, the Brickyard was defensively from the young guns. These young guys bomb it over 300 yards consistently, and with fairways running fast, the par 5’s were short and the long par 4’s manageable.

As for my score, it all came to down to putting. I shot a pair of 75’s for a 150 total, missing the cut by two shots. Of course, I three-putted 17 and 18 to miss the cut, but I hit the ball well and just made a couple of mistakes that cost me from playing the last two days.

As the third round began Thursday morning, rain moved in and finally tapered off around noon. The tees have been pushed way back, and the pins are tucked nicely, so the scores could go up.

The leaders after the first two rounds were Chris Baker, Hooters Tour winner this year, and Andy Winings. Andy is the son of BG Winings, who is the golf professional at the Trophy Club in Lebanon, Ind. BG and I were college teammates at Ball State and have been playing together for the last 20 years, and every once in a while he takes me fishing.

Both Chris and Andy have turned professional since completing college, and I am sure they will be going to Tour School. There are quite a few good players chasing them, and it should be quite a shootout coming down the stretch on Friday.

We really need to give praise to our superintendent, Jeff Stuart. He has the course in championship condition, just like when we had the Champions Tour. So thank you to Jeff and all of his staff for providing such great playing conditions.

Remember that the course is open for play after the Indiana Open field has teed off, and the tournament layout also will be available over the weekend to test your skills.

Since this is my last event as a “regular” professional versus a senior, I can only say “goodbye to the back tees” on a regular basis. I am going to work on my putting, as it really let me down this week.

Until tomorrow afternoon, I will report back on the finish as I am headed out to watch the leaders play the back nine.

Jeff Schroeder

PGA Head Professional

Brickyard Crossing