As the 2009 year is coming to a close, I thought we would put out one more blog for the year. The 2009 year was filled with ups and downs, but for the most part it was another good year in the world of golf here at the Brickyard.

We started the season here at the Brickyard with the “Pay The Temp” promotion on St. Patrick’s Day. The weather was perfect with temps reaching near 70 degrees. The course was packed. We continued that promotion through the month of March, and hopefully we will bring that back in March 2010.

During the season, Central Indiana was treated to some major golf as the U.S. Senior Open was contested at Crooked Stick in nearby Carmel.

On the PGA TOUR, we saw a new champion at The Masters in April as Angel Cabrera defeated Chad Campbell and Kenny Perry in a playoff to take home the green jacket.

The next major tournament was the U.S. Open in which David Duval made a dramatic comeback but just came up short, as did Phil Mickelson, to Lucas Glover. Lucas won his first major at Bethpage Black, a brutal golf course.

Next up was the British Open, and how can you forget Tom Watson and his historic run at the Claret Jug? Tom ended up losing in a playoff to Stewart Cink, but Watson won everyone’s heart with his play that week.

And finally the last major of the year saw Tiger Woods leading the PGA Championship going into the final round. But as it turned it out, maybe Tiger had a few other things on his mind as Y.E Yang went toe-to-toe with Tiger to capture the PGA Championship at Hazeltine.

And, yes, right now the most talked-about subject everywhere is Tiger Woods and his off-course adventures. Tiger has decided to take a break from golf indefinitely. Let’s hope he can work through these times and return to the course to entertain the fans.

I would like to say thanks to all who played the Brickyard this year and thanks to those of you who visited our Web site and read our blogs that featured not only myself but our Course Superintendent Jeff Stuart and PGA Nationwide graduates Chad Collins and Craig Bowden. Both Chad and Craig will play on the PGA TOUR next season, and we wish them luck as they start the new year. Thank you Jeff, Craig and Chad for your time and stories that I am sure everyone enjoyed. I know I did.

Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year to everyone, and we will talk to you in 2010.

Jeff Schroeder

PGA Head Professional

Brickyard Crossing

The Straight Down tournament last weekend in San Luis Obispo, Calif., was great as always. The weather was OK, not as good as it has been in the past but definitely nice. The golf, on the other hand, was maybe not what we had forecasted.

Both rounds, my partner Joe Hillman and I got off to birdie-birdie starts. Both rounds we made two bogeys on the front nine from nowhere, mostly the result of not being aggressive or poor putting.

Poor putting has been the theme all year for me. When I get a good break, I don’t capitalize on it. Take my 10^th hole at Straight Down, for example. It’s a par-5. In the first round, I caught the cart path with my tee shot, and the ball went an extra 150 yards to where I have a 4-iron to the green. I hit a good iron shot into the middle of the green and then three-putted for par.

It was kind of like that for the whole weekend. Get it under par, then chop up the easy holes and shoot over par in the second round to finish in the bottom third of the field. I will admit the course was set up as tough as possible, using difficult pin positions and speeding up the greens faster than normal.

But all in all, it was a great time. We got done in time to watch the Colts beat the Patriots. The tournament was won by a PGA TOUR player, Jeff Brehaut, who left from there to go to the second stage of TOUR qualifying school.

I also got to see some good players and watch their swings. I always try to do that when I go play in tournaments so maybe I can pick up something that will help me or the students I teach. I watched Loren Roberts, who swings so smooth and slow but still knocks it out there a good distance. Others that played were Scott Simpson, Kevin Stadler, Mark Wiebe, Roger Tambellini and Dan Forsman.

The second stage of PGA TOUR Q-School is going on right now, and a few Indiana players are competing, including Chris Baker, who finished second in the Indiana State Open here at the Brickyard this year. Also playing at Q-School is James Sachek of Zionsville, now residing in Fort Worth, Texas.

The Champions Tour finals are finishing today, and Quinn Griffing of Fort Wayne is the lone Hoosier who made it to the final stage. I just checked the scores, and Quinn came on strong the last two rounds and sits inside the top 20. He had rounds of 71-72-63-69. Quinn will not be exempt for the Tour next season, but he can qualify for the open events that are available. The top five are fully exempt, and then the next seven have conditional status. Trying to get on the Champions Tour is so difficult, but at least Quinn can go straight to the Monday qualifiers and skip the pre-qualifiers before each event.

I hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving next week. That means the holiday season has officially begun. If you are looking for some great gifts for a golfer, don’t forget that the Brickyard Crossing Golf Shop has many items a golfer would love. One great gift is a gift card for a round of golf here at the Brickyard. Also, if that golfer has been struggling with their game or if you would like to introduce someone new to the game, buy them a golf lesson with one of our professionals.

Jeff Schroeder

PGA Head Professional

Brickyard Crossing

The weather here has been good, and golfers are getting in some nice bonus rounds this fall at Brickyard Crossing Golf Course. The weather has been better than October, which has brought out golfers in short sleeves and shorts.

I can’t believe it, but the Indian Summer I had asked for finally arrived this year. The weather for the weekend looks good, with temps in the 60’s. Give us a call and make a tee time this weekend as we now have reduced rates.

The PGA TOUR resumes this week at Disney with a few veteran players needing good showings to keep their cards for next year. Don’t know if you are aware of it, but the PGA TOUR event that was to be played two weeks ago in Mississippi was rained out and not rescheduled. That threw a few curve balls for some players who needed to make some money to be exempt.

On the Q-School side of things, former Indiana resident James Sachek, a Zionsville High graduate, made it through the first stage with four solid rounds of 2-under par to move on to Stage 2. Good luck to James.

Tiger is down under in Australia after Phil Mickelson beat him last week in China. Tiger played a very bad opening nine holes, and Phil played well. This week, Tiger is playing in the Australian Masters at one of the best courses in the world, Kingston Heath. Reports are that thousands came out to watch Tiger play a practice round Monday after the beat-down he got in China.

As for me, I am off to California for the Straight Down Fall Classic tournament in San Luis Obispo. I am playing again with Joe Hillman.

The tournament format is one pro and one am best ball at scratch (no handicap). Once again, a strong field has been invited, with the likes of tour professionals Loren Roberts, Dan Forsman, Mark Wiebe, Kevin Stadler, U.S. Open winner Scott Simpson), Roger Tambellini, Charley Hoffman and Chris Tidland, just to name a few. It also sounds like Fred Couples might play again.

The proceeds from this tournament this year go to ALS. One of the former winners of this event, Don Woodward, has been stricken with ALS, and 25 percent of proceeds will be donated to ALS research. The event kicks off this Friday, Nov. 13 with a Pro-Am in honor of Don. They are calling it the Woody Pro-Am, and it promises to be great event.

If you would like to see more info on the tournament and Straight Down clothing products, visit www.straightdown.com.

Until next time, get out and enjoy this bonus weather. And GO COLTS – BEAT THE PATRIOTS!!!!

Jeff Schroeder

PGA Head Professional

Brickyard Crossing

It is sad to say, but the golf season here in Indiana is coming to close quickly. We had a brief spell of good weather the last 10 days, but we also had a lot of rain mixed in with a few cold days.

With the golf season over, we look toward 2010 with great anticipation. The economy and weather early on and at the close of the season did us no favors. We had a rather mild summer with temperatures. Speaking of temperatures, we once again will promote “Pay the Temp” at the start of the new season and may bring it back for November. Stay tuned to the Web site for specials and other interesting golf items this fall and winter.

The PGA Tour is in Mississippi this week, and unfortunately the first round has been postponed due to heavy rain. See? Once again, weather is an issue in golf. Jim Gallagher Jr is in the field this week, and we wish him luck.

A couple of Hoosier golfers did really well this year on the Nationwide Tour, Chad Collins and Craig Bowden. Chad finished second on the money list, Craig 22^nd. By virtue of their finishes, they both receive PGA TOUR cards for next year. Chad already was locked in for a card, but Craig had to play the round of his life last Sunday at Charleston, S.C., to stay in the top 25 and get his card. You can read about Craig’s last round in his blog he posted Monday.

As for golf in the Midwest, it is time to look at what can be done in the offseason to stay in shape and fine-tune swings. There are a couple of indoor places here in Indianapolis to hit some balls, and there are quite a few places to work out. Try to find some golf-specific workout programs to help you work on flexibility, and then do some toning on the old muscles.

This is a great time to look into putting together some golf trips with your buddies and head out of town to warmer places and get in some golf in the upcoming winter months. I think there will be plenty of deals out there on travel this year.

My annual trip to California is coming up in November to play in the Straight Down Fall Classic in San Luis Obispo. Last year, it was a strong field, with the likes of Fred Couples, Charley Hoffman , Dan Forsman, Jamie Lovemark, Jason Gore and Chez Reavie. The field has not been announced yet, but when it is, I will report on the entrants this year.

I am still hoping for that Indian summer, but we might be running out of time. Speaking of time, we move our clock back a hour here in Indiana this weekend, which means darkness will come that much earlier.

Jeff Schroeder

PGA Head Professional

Brickyard Crossing

Of course most of the players were from Ohio and naturally I took a lot of ribbing about IU football. But I did remind them about our Colts and how we were looking forward to Anthony Gonzalez getting back on the field this season. The Colts are off to a good start again and have this week off to rest. Sometimes when they have a bye week some of the players will get in a little golf but the weather has been less than ideal for golf, high 40s and rain has been the norm here since last week.

The IndyCar Series season ended last Saturday evening with Dario Franchitti winning the race at Homestead and also winning the series championship. Congratulations to Dario and to the Target Chip Ganassi Racing Team on a great season. Dario’s teammate Scott Dixon finished second in the championship.

The PGA Tour is in Las Vegas as the players make a run for the top 125 and exemptions for next season. The Nationwide is in Florida with Craig Bowden trying to stay in the top 25 to earn an exemption onto the tour next season. Craig opened with a 1-under-par 71.

Back to Vegas, one of the leaders after the first round is Tom Pernice Jr. Tom just turned 50 here a few weeks back and won his first Champions Tour event and now is in contention to win on the regular tour.

The President’s Cup ended last weekend with the United States team winning in somewhat of a dominant fashion. To start the week off all the media wanted to know was the situation between International Team captain Greg Norman and his wife Chris Everett. It was reported they had separated after 18 months of marriage and Greg had just had surgery on his shoulder. Greg’s response to the questions was very classy and to the point, they were there to play golf and his personal life would not be discussed that week.

After the matches were over there was a little flap over Anthony Kim and his social life the night before the single matches. Kim played Robert Allenby and beat him 5 and 3. Kim was well under par for the match and Allenby said that Kim was out until 4a.m. that morning. Long story short is that they have made up and decided to move on. U.S. captain Fred Couples did a great job of getting this team together and having them play their best golf. Fred definitely needs to be a Ryder Cup captain in the future. Fred had some great assistants with him in Jay Haas and none other than basketball great Michael Jordan.

That is about all that is going on in the golf world and I would like to send a get well wish to our friend Bill Schumaker from Columbia City, Indiana. Bill had heart surgery a week ago and is recovering nicely. Bill is an Indiana Golf Hall of Fame member and has won every possible professional tournament in Indiana along with a PGA National Club Professional Championship.

The weather has got to turn back to at least normal and we still are waiting for that Indian summer we always have here in Indiana. Book a tee time and get out and play some golf before the snow flies.

Out on Tour, the Presidents Cup begins on Thursday with Fred Couples and Greg Norman as the captains of the U.S. team and International team, respectively. The event is being played at Harding Park in San Francisco. It is a public course and is rated one of the best in the country.

One of our bloggers here, Craig Bowden, at the Brickyard had a good week on the Nationwide Tour and moved into the top 25 on that money list. Craig had a solid tournament  and needs to keep playing well to stay in the top 25, which will earn him a spot on the 2010 PGA TOUR. Check out Craig’s blog this week by clicking here.

Another Nationwide Tour player who was blogging for us is Chad Collins. Chad has enjoyed a really successful second half of the year and is guaranteed a spot on the PGA TOUR next year. Congrats to both players as we will have a few more Hoosiers out on Tour next year.

The Brickyard Crossing Men’s Club ended its season last Saturday. We had a little fun that day as the superintendent put some “fun” pin placements out on the course that day. The low score was 79 from the modified white tees. I played that day, and it was “fun.” The pins were in spots where we probably will never see them again. Hats off to Jeff Stuart , our superintendent, and his crew on giving us one of the best-conditioned golf courses all summer.

Even though the temperatures begin to fall this time of year, there still is a lot good golf weather left. It seems like we have been getting some early cool temps and then an Indian summer pops up, with some great 70- and even 80-degree days here in Indiana.

Provided the weather holds out, I am headed over to Columbus, Ohio, to play at Scioto Country Club. They have an event every fall called the Swat. The golf course is rated in the top 100 and was Jack Nicklaus’ home course when he was growing up. I have played there before, and I saw why he was such a great iron player. They have done some renovations to the course that I have not seen, and they are trying to get a major tournament there in the future.

My good friend Bill Stines is the professional at Scioto. He was the assistant there to Walker Inman, who the tournament is named after now. The format is interesting, as every team in the field plays each other a Nassau bet each day. This will be fun, and the course has so much history as it has hosted a U.S. Open, Ryder Cup, U.S. Amateur and U.S. Senior Open.

On the racing side of things, tune in at 4 p.m. (ET) Saturday to VERSUS as the season-ending race for the IndyCar Series is at Homestead-Miami Speedway. This should be a great race as three drivers go after the season championship. Good luck to Scott Dixon, Dario Franchitti (both with Target Chip Ganassi) and Ryan Briscoe with Team Penske. This will be a great race to watch so tune in Saturday night on VERSUS.

Until next week, root for the U.S. team in the Presidents Cup and don’t put away the clubs just yet. There are still good days to come, and think about booking a trip to go play someplace, like the Brickyard.

Jeff Schroeder
PGA Head Professional
Brickyard Crossing

Fall has arrived, and the leaves have already started to change colors. Golf here at the Brickyard goes on but with a slight twist. We must aerify our course annually to have optimum playing conditions. With aerification, the course gets beat up a little bit, but we do reduce our greens fees rate. As much as we would like to put off this process, we need to get it done so the healing process will not take as long and the course will be ready in the spring.

The PGA Tour Championship came to a close last weekend at East Lake CC in the heart of Atlanta, a fantastic course. Tiger Woods won the FedEx Cup. No surprise there, as he was the odds-on favorite to win. Phil Mickelson won the tournament with a great rally past Tiger on Sunday, shooting a 5-under 65 for a three-stroke win over Tiger.

After the Tour Championship, the Fall Series starts for the boys on the tour and usually the fields tend to be a little weaker as the rest of the players jockey for position on the money list to be in the top 125 and be exempt for next year. If they don’t finish in the top 125, it is back to Q-school. That is no fun for those who have been there.

There are few local guys trying first-stage qualifying: Brett Melton, Andy Winings and Justin Hueber. Brett is a club pro from southern Indiana. Andy and Justin just got out of college and turned professional, and they have been traveling playing in different pro events. Both had to go through pre-qualifying, and both made it easily. Good luck to those players. You can follow the Q-school action online at www.pgatour.com  in October.

Most events in Indiana are just about over as the Indiana Golf championships concluded last week at Rock Hollow golf club in Peru. There were four divisions, and I competed in the Senior division. As has been the story most of the year, my play from tee to green was pretty good, and it just seems like I am not making any putts. I actually switched putting styles back in August and had some early success, but lately it has been frustrating not to make a few putts that you feel like you should be making.

During the next few months, I will have a few opportunities to play in some events that are typically competitive but fun at the same time. I will play at Scioto CC in Columbus, Ohio, which is the course where Jack Nicklaus grew up playing, and also will return to California for the Straight Down Invitational in November. This time also will allow me to work on some new swing thoughts and also figure out the putting stroke.

But there are still some events to be played here at Brickyard Crossing. Our men’s club year-end tournament is coming up Saturday, Oct. 3. We also are offering our unlimited golf membership this year: If you join now you for 2010, you will receive the rest of this season free as a bonus for joining. For more information on our memberships, call us at (317) 492-6417.

Remember, there is still great golf weather, and we will keep the course open as long as the weather will allow!

Jeff Schroeder

PGA Head Professional

Brickyard Crossing

The neat thing about this is that the golf course is going to be open while the cars are testing. The weather this Thursday is forecasted to be sunny and in the high 70’s, a perfect day to play golf and see and hear some Grand-Am cars test here at the Speedway. Get online at our Web site or call (317) 492-6570 and book your tee time for that historic day.

On the professional side last weekend, Tiger finished second again. He missed a very makeable birdie putt to tie on the last hole. It just seems he is not making those big time putts of late. One guy who did make a big-time 20-footer was winner Heath Slocum. With that victory, he jumped to third in the FedEx standings. The course they played was called Liberty National in New Jersey, but the Statue of Liberty overlooks the course and you can see the New York City skyline. Congratulations also go out to the USA team that won the Solheim Cup.

This weekend is Labor Day, and the NHRA U.S. Nationals take place out at O’Reilly Raceway Park. We hope we get a few of our friends from drag racing to come out and play at Brickyard Crossing. The course here is in excellent condition, as it has been all year. Our superintendent, Jeff Stuart, and his staff have done an outstanding job of keeping the course in what I call “championship tournament” condition. The greens are quick, and the fairways are green and running, which makes for great conditions to play golf.

Back to professional golf, Nationwide Tour player Chad Collins has been on roll here lately. You remember Chad: He did some blogging for our site. Chad had been struggling a little, and then in a three-week stretch, he has two runner-ups and a fifth place to move into the top 15 on the money list and basically assure him a spot back on the PGA Tour next year. The top 25 get back on Tour. Good playing, Chad. Keep it going.

Next up for myself is the Senior Club Professional Championship next week at Harbor Trees here in Indy. If I play well enough, I could earn a spot in the National Senior Club Professional Championship in November down in Florida.

This weekend you also will hear and see a lot about the PGA’s Patriot Golf Day. This program will ask players around the country to donate to the Folds of Honor Foundation at participating courses. Brickyard Crossing is participating again this year, and we hope to double what we raised last year. For more information, visit www.patriotgolfday.com or www.pga.com .

Don’ t forget to play the Brickyard this Thursday and watch the Grand-Am cars test on the road course here at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Jeff Schroeder

PGA Head Professional

Brickyard Crossing

Congratulations to Todd Smith of Rock Hollow in Peru, Ind., on capturing the 2009 Indiana Club Professional Championship last week at French Lick. The courses proved to be very difficult, and the Ross course has some very tricky greens. The last two rounds of the tournament were played on the new and very demanding Pete Dye Course at French Lick.

As for my play, it all came down again to putting. I hit the ball well from tee to green but only made one medium-length putt that I shouldn’t have. I have not tallied how many putts I had for the tournament, but it was a lot. For the three rounds, I think I three-putted about eight times, most of them from under 30 feet and not that difficult.

The course got to a lot of people because it is very visually intimidating. It is very long and the greens are not overly large, but it is very difficult to get the ball close to the hole. The scores were a bit higher than I expected, but I was happy with my ball hitting.

Nevertheless, I ended up finishing tied for 21^st,  not bad for a senior , but I didn’t qualify for the National Club Pro Championship next June. My next big event will be the Senior Club Professional Championship qualifier in September at Harbor Trees in Noblesville, Ind.

Congratulations also go out to Jack Barber, the head professional at Meridian Hills Country Club here in Indianapolis, as he was named the National PGA Professional of the Year by the PGA of America.

Speaking of the PGA, how about Tiger not winning the PGA last weekend? I would have lost my house and everything else if I could have bet on him winning.

I must say that Tiger was very classy in his post-tournament interviews as he said that Yang played very well and did all the right things to win. Tiger went on to say that he hit the ball extremely well and just had a horrible day of putting.

Sounds so familiar!

It just goes to show that no matter how good you hit the ball, it is all about putting. So I am going to do some practice putting drills and work hard to get ready for the Senior Professional Championship coming up after Labor Day.

Keep checking the Web site here at the Brickyard as we get ready for Labor Day weekend. Now that the days are getting shorter, Twilight Golf will move up an hour, to 3 p.m., after Labor Day.

We will have pretty busy couple of weeks leading up to Labor Day as the Red Bull Indianapolis GP MotoGP race comes to the Speedway Aug. 28-30. If you didn’t see these guys on the bikes go around here last year, you need to check it out. It is crazy how fast they go and how low they lean the bikes over in the corners, and the only thing protecting them is their specially made leather uniforms.

Over Labor Day weekend, we will participate in Patriot Golf Day here at the Brickyard. We will ask golfers to donate $1 to the Folds of Honor foundation to help families of our service men and women who have lost their lives in the fight for freedom around the world.

This is a very worthwhile cause in which the PGA of America and its Play Golf America programs endorse. They really are the leaders for this cause. For more information on the Folds of Honor and Patriot Golf Day, visit www.patriotgolfday.com.

School has started here in Indiana, and that means fall is just around the corner. There still are beautiful golf days ahead, so don’t put up the clubs. Get out hit some range balls and book a time here at the beautiful Brickyard Crossing.

Jeff Schroeder

PGA Head Professional

Brickyard Crossing

He basically ripped Warwick Hills apart after an opening round of 71 and talk of a second straight missed cut. He fired 63-65-69 to dust everyone off and moved to Firestone, where he beats Paddy Harrington on the 16^th hole of the last round with a birdie to Paddy’s triple bogey after a slow play warning. The slow play warning on the group was actually issued by a European official.

Now Tiger is at the last major of the year, the PGA. The PGA is being played at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minn. Tiger is major-less since the U.S. Open in 2008. What are the odds he wins? Hazeltine will play at – are you ready for this? – 7,674 yards. That’s right over 7,600 yards for a major championship.

How long must golf courses be to hold a major event? The great old venues of yesteryear are now obsolete. Courses like Merion, where Ben Hogan won, are no longer considered for a major. I have to agree with Pete Dye that equipment and technology have made most courses obsolete. Some courses would have to spend millions in renovations to be even considered for a tournament. Our golf course is listed at 6,995 yards from the back tees, and if we moved pins and tees around it would be well over 7,200. After just having the Indiana State Open here, it is obvious that our course, which is 15 years old, is somewhat short compared to the distance that players hit it today.

With that, let’s move onto some other golf items such as the “summer break” that the LPGA is on right now. The last time the ladies played in the U.S. was July 12, which was the Women’s U.S. Open. The next event here for them is the Solheim Cup in Chicago. The LPGA definitely is hurting, and next year is not looking real strong for that tour as it fights to keep tournaments and sponsors. Just like all golf tours, the economy is hurting the LPGA as corporate America watches its image and spending.

Another item coming up at the end of the month that I am going to touch on is Patriot Golf Day. It is a very noble charity that was started by Major Dan Rooney, a PGA professional and fighter pilot. You can visit the Web site at www.patriotgolfday.com and learn more. We will talk more about this as the event nears on Labor Day weekend.

This coming week, the Indiana Professionals Championship will be played at the French Lick Resort. It is a 54-hole tournament that will be played on the Donald Ross and Pete Dye courses at French Lick. We will play 18 on the Ross and 36 on the Dye.

Remember, the Dye course can play over 8,000 yards. We will probably play it at about 6,800-6,900 (I hope!). Posted in this blog are a few photos from my last visit there in June.

This event is a qualifier for the National Club Professional, which happens next June at French Lick. There will probably be about seven spots or less for the tournament. I have been fortunate enough to play in two National Club Pros and one regional Club Pro in my career. I hope to add another one this year along with a Senior Club Professional Championship spot in September.

It’s time to go hit a few balls and get prepared for next week. Brickyard Crossing is in championship condition, and tee times are available daily. Visit us online and be sure to keep checking our Web sites for information concerning the Brickyard and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Jeff Schroeder

PGA Head Professional

Brickyard Crossing