What a great November we’ve had so far!
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 22nd. 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
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
Our last race of the year at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was last weekend, with Jorge Lorenzo winning the Red Bull Indianapolis GP MotoGP race. But there is something else interesting happening here Thursday, Sept 3, as Grand-Am sports cars will test on the road course.
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
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
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
It’s Masters week! Most feel this is the start of spring and the golf season across the Midwest.
I’m going to start by making some picks and observations about the tournament and the players in the field. First, the field is somewhat limited with about 70 players. Of course, my pick to win this year is Tiger – bold pick, huh? – for a few reasons.
First, Tiger is coming off a dramatic victory at Bay Hill in which he birdied the last hole for a one-shot victory. He also still has the passion for the game, and by his expressions after making the winning putt he still shows his emotions for the win. His mental game is such that it almost gives him a two-shot advantage every round over the field. He loves Augusta and the atmosphere.
Now let’s talk about who will contend this week with Tiger. Phil Mickelson has been touted by the media to be his rival. Well, remember there are 70-plus players this week, and 140 players other weeks, who want to beat Tiger. You have to beat the best to become the best.
So let’s move on to a host of players that are ready to win their first major. The foreign contingent is led by last week’s winner, Paul Casey. Then you have Retief Goosen, Sergio Garcia, Nick Watney, Justin Rose, Luke Donald and the list goes on. And let’s not forget the defending champion, Trevor Immelman.
Now we can move to some of the older players. We have a crowd favorite in Fred Couples. At age 49, Freddie is playing some very good golf this season with a couple of top-five finishes, including last week when he bogeyed his last three holes for a third-place finish. Also playing this week is 48-year-old Kenny Perry, who has been one of the hottest players over the last year and could challenge this week for his first green jacket.
We also have Greg Norman returning to Augusta, a place where the green jacket has eluded him numerous times with a meltdown in 1996 in which he lost a six-shot lead over eventual winner Nick Faldo. And last but not least, the lone Hoosier to win The Masters, Fuzzy Zoeller. Fuzzy won his green jacket in 1979, his first start at Augusta, in a playoff over Ed Sneed and Tom Watson. This is the 30th anniversary of his victory, and he has decided it will be his last Masters as a competitor. Thanks, Fuzzy, for all the memories, and good luck in your final appearance as a player.
Here are some interesting notes about Augusta. It limits the amount of spectators. You must either already have tickets, or badges, as they call them, to attend the tournament Thursday through Sunday. They have a lottery for practice tickets, in which they also limit the amount of spectators. They also have a waiting list for volunteers. You never see any debris laying around the course. The prices at the concession stands are considered among the least expensive of all major sporting events, and they limit the amount of TV time along with the amount of commercials during the broadcast.
I have been fortunate enough to go to The Masters twice and can tell you that it is well worth the trip if you ever get the chance. It is most likely on every sports-minded person’s bucket list, along with the Indianapolis 500.
With The Masters this week and tax day next week, we hope that we get some good weather here and see lots of golfers. We go into a full schedule starting this weekend with a NAIA college tournament here hosted by Indiana Wesleyan. There are teams from all over the country coming to play the Brickyard. There are some very good players on these teams, and I will report back on the results next week.
Jeff Schroeder
PGA Head Professional
Brickyard Crossing
The Brickyard Crossing and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway lost a good friend this week. Lloyd Ruby passed away this week at the age of 81.
Lloyd was a good friend of my father and our family, and he would come back every May to play some golf and attend the Indy 500. Lloyd was one of the drivers who helped keep the Race Driver’s Tournament going every year with my father, Stan Benge, Parnelli Jones and Jug Eckert. The tournament is now known as “The Rollie.”
The format is a scramble, and every year it was a well-known fact that USGA rules did not apply. The rules of the tournament were known as “Ruby Rules.” Strict golf rules were not followed; it was all about having fun.
If you ever got the chance to play with Rube, it was a golfing experience you would never forget. Mulligans were abundant, and the adult beverages were a must. The tournament always was held the day after Bump Day, and the drivers who participated came to have fun after a long month of working to get into the world’s greatest race, the Indianapolis 500.
There are many stories to tell about those golf tournaments, and I am sure at this year’s tournament a lot of Lloyd Ruby stories will be told. Lloyd was a true friend of the Brickyard Crossing and an even bigger supporter of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He will be sadly missed this May by everyone here at the Brickyard.
The weather here in Indy has been good for March; we are still running our “Pay the Temp” special and are seeing a lot of new golfers here at the Brickyard. The NCAA Midwest Regional is in town this weekend, and we should pick up a few players from that. Other than basketball, right now the golf talk centers on Tiger playing this week at Bay Hill. I think he will have a good showing as he always has played well at Arnie’s tournament. After Bay Hill, everything will focus on The Masters, and will it be Phil or Tiger?
I got out last Saturday, March 21 and played here at the Brickyard with a few members, Gary Martin and Fred Hash, and Sam Foley, one of our teaching professionals. The course was in really good shape for March. Jeff Stuart and his staff did an outstanding job of getting the course ready for play.
If you have not read Jeff’s blog yet, do so and you will find out a lot of interesting facts about the maintenance of Brickyard Crossing and golf courses, in general.
I didn’t hit the ball too bad for the first time out since my disappointing play in Florida back in January. One of my goals this year is to try and practice more and play a round or two each week to keep in competitive shape as I near the 50 mark.
Remember, get out and practice a little before that first round of the year. This also is a good time to go see your local PGA Professional for a lesson. Getting a lesson early in the year can break some bad habits that you might have or even create that first time out.
Here at the Brickyard, we offer an array of programs and packages for lessons. Keep in mind that swing flaws cannot be fixed with just one lesson, so think about doing a series of lessons or – like we offer here – unlimited lessons for the season.
Jeff Schroeder
PGA Head Professional
Brickyard Crossing
The golf season finally has arrived here at Brickyard Crossing.
On Tuesday, March 17, we opened for play with a “Pay the Temp” promotion, which meant the air temperature was the price for your greens fee and cart for the round. We ended up being completely booked.
The weather was perfect. Sunny and high 60’s, with a low around 40 degrees. So we started out the season full bore and ended up extending the “Pay the Temp” promotion for the rest of March.
We had some fun with the opener taking place on St. Patrick’s Day. We had the Gordon Pipers here, and we did a little ceremony with Indianapolis 500 veteran A.J. Foyt IV, Nationwide Tour pro Chad Collins, Brickyard Crossing superintendent Jeff Stuart and myself. A.J. and Chad ended up playing, but Jeff and I were too busy to join them.
Congrats to Chad on his 13th-place finish last weekend in New Zealand. He flew in late Monday and came out to help us kick off the 2009 golf season.
In other golf news, Phil Mickelson finally finished one off over the weekend. Now the debate over whether Phil or Tiger will be the favorite at The Masters has heated up, I think I will take Tiger.
Tiger’s last couple of rounds last weekend looked like the old Tiger, but he has made some minor changes that the experts pointed out. His footwork is better, and his swing looks a little different. Speaking of swings, has anyone seen Hank Haney trying to fix former NBA great Charles Barkley’s golf swing on The Golf Channel? Wow – what a undertaking. But Charles is working really hard at fixing it.
Not much else going on. I’m just glad to see some golfers and actually a promising forecast for the next week or so. It felt good to get back in the swing of things here at the course, see some familiar faces and meet some new golfers that had not played the Brickyard before.
That is going to be one of our initiatives this year, introducing golf to people who have never played the game before. I’ll keep you posted on this as the PGA of America has programs in place aimed at increasing the number of golfers.
Until next week, keep stretching for a new swing. Get out to the Brickyard and “Pay the Temp” or visit your local course and hit some balls.
Jeff Schroeder
PGA Head Professional
Brickyard Crossing
Brickyard Crossing is set to open St. Patrick’s Day, Tuesday, March 17 with a “pay the temperature’ fee” greens fee promotion, and it is going great.
In a nutshell, players will pay the air temperature at their arrival time as their greens fee. If the temp is 55, their greens fee is $55, including a GPS-equipped cart.
By the time Tuesday rolls around, we will have close to 150 or more players. The weather forecast calls for lows in the 40’s and highs in the mid-60’s. So there will be a substantial savings for our players here on Tuesday.
We also will run some contests with giveaways, and the clubhouse also will run some traditional Irish food and drink specials. If you want to celebrate St. Paddy’s Day, come out to the Brickyard and play our “greens.”
The PGA Tour this week is in Miami for the World Golf Championships, and the rest of the tour is in Puerto Rico. Our own Chad Collins is in New Zealand playing the Nationwide Tour. He made the cut and is 29th after two rounds.
From reading Chad’s blog, I think he is ready to come home and just might show up here at the Brickyard for St. Paddy’s Day.
Down in Puerto Rico, Jim Gallagher Jr. is making his first start of 2009 on the PGA Tour. Jim represented the Brickyard on Tour back in the late 90s and has been a good friend of ours as well as IMS and racing. Jim is nearing 50 and wants to stay competitive for the Champions Tour, as many familiar names will come out for that tour in the next few years.
Last weekend, I got my 15 seconds of fame. I did a really short piece for a segment on “NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams” and NBC’s “Today” show. (Click here to watch segment.) They shot a little footage of the Brickyard at daybreak as we switched over to Daylight Savings Time last Sunday. They asked about how it has affected our business and how it has affected me personally from a physical standpoint.
Daylight Savings has been good for us since more golfers are using our facility later in the day by practicing or getting in a round before dark. From a physical standpoint, I have not noticed anything different other than we go to work in the dark and go home in the dark, which is part of being a golf professional.
Last Monday and Tuesday, we had our Indiana PGA educational and special awards meeting. I’m happy to report that we were awarded the Section Merchandisers of the Year for the resort category. This is the eighth award we have received and will be the last in that category, as we are no longer a resort due to the closing of the motel this spring.
That’s it for this week. Good luck to all our Indiana pros competing in tour events. Take advantage of an early spring and hit the links Tuesday at the Brickyard.
Jeff Schroeder
PGA Head Professional
Brickyard Crossing