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
When I last wrote, I was headed up to Firestone Country Club to do some teaching and play in a two-day Pro-Am.
The event ended up being a fundraiser for Akron Children’s Hospital. One of the major sponsors was our good friends at Bridgestone. They had their ball-fitting equipment there, along with the new golf balls and their equipment.
This ball-fitting procedure is something that everyone needs to have done. It takes about 20 minutes, and when you are finished, they will tell you what ball you should be playing.
Obviously, they want you to play a Bridgestone ball, but they test you with the golf ball that you normally play. Then after they get the data, they have you try a Bridgestone model that is right for you and compare the data. The amazing thing is that most people are playing the wrong ball, one which you are giving both distance and spin. Things that are looked at during testing are the club head speed, ball speed and the spin rate. This is tested on your driver and irons.
OK, back to the event. The tournament was played on the South Course, which is where the pro tournament is played. They are in the process right now of adding and reworking some bunkers to make a little more challenging for the tour pros.
The facilities at Firestone are first class. All the pros that came in for this event stayed up in the guest rooms in the men’s locker room, which also houses the 55th hole, better known as the bar. So each night after our dinner, we would all meet at the 55th hole and talk about the latest in golf and, of course, the economy and how it is affecting our courses.
We had pros from Pinehurst, The Homestead, Shadow Creek Las Vegas, Baltrusol CC, Sea Island and many others from some of the most prestigious clubs in the country. The message was all the same: Golf is a tough business right now, and the main thing we have to do is keep providing the best service and make sure that the golf course quality remains excellent.
Back to the tournament. We got to play two days with a different group each day, and each day I got to meet some great people and have fun while teaching them a thing or two about the golf swing. All in all, it was a great time for the three days of being there.
I need to thank my friend Jay Biggs from Firestone for inviting me to such a worthwhile event. My play was OK, seeing how for the tournament the worst score the pro could make was a par!
After the Firestone trip, our Indiana PGA Section had a pro-am out in Las Vegas at the Paiute Golf Resort. There were 55 five-man teams from Indiana that converged on Vegas.
Most arrived a few days in advance and played some golf or hit the tables, a show or just relaxed around the pool. Our group went out Tuesday and played a new Jack Nicklaus course about one hour outside of Vegas called The Chase. This is going to be part of a development called Coyote Springs.
The master plan for Coyote Springs calls for like 18 courses over the next 20 years with housing, condos and basically a town. Another course is being routed as we speak, and it could be something of golf history. The course is being done together by Jack Nicklaus and Pete Dye, who designed Brickyard Crossing.
The Chase golf course is very good. Right now, the only bad thing is that it is in the middle of nowhere and the clubhouse is not built yet. It is worth the drive, though, and staff there is very accommodating and courteous.
The next day, we played one of the best and exclusive courses in Vegas called Cascata. It is in Henderson, which is a little bit of drive, but this place is five-star in my books.
There is a waterfall that runs through the course and then right into the clubhouse. The view is spectacular. The course is always in pristine condition, with the greens’ speed off the charts. The course is expensive to play and is owned by Harrah’s.
Then it was on to the tournament at Paiute golf resort, which happens to have three courses all built by Pete Dye. The courses there are all you want, seeing how they sit out in the open and it is always windy.
The first round for us was on the toughest course there, The Wolf. The winds that day started at about 30 mph and then started gusting up 45 or 50 mph. The temps were warm, which was good, but the wind was just brutal. Our team shot 8-under in the wind, which was good. The format was one net and one gross best ball of the fivesome. My group consisted of Bill McClain, Alan Shaw, Bob Lyon and Larry Sinks.
The next day, we played the Snow Mountain course. There was hardly any wind for the first part of our round, and we ended up shooting 17-under and finishing tied for third overall.
So that was the golf. Now onto the night activities of our group. We ate at all the best restaurants, and we were in bed early. Right.
Sorry – remember: “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.”
Jeff Schroeder
PGA Head Professional
Brickyard Crossing
This week, the Brickyard is hosting the Women’s Mid-American Conference golf championships.
Weather once again looks like it might be a factor. It is windy and warm, but the forecast is calling for falling temperatures and a chance of rain.
My alma mater is here, Ball State, and today my old coach for the men’s team, Earl Yestingsmeir, came by, and I chatted with him for a while. He was men’s golf coach at BSU for 35 years. Besides being the golf coach, he also was the Sports Information Director at the school.