Cold and dreary weather sums up the last week here in Indy. The weather was a little better over in Columbus where I played at Scioto CC last weekend. The golf course was great and it definitely has the character to hold another major. The format over there was a two best ball of a fivesome at scratch, no handicap.
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.
Fall has definitely set in here in Indy this week, with high temps around 60, cold winds and a chance for some heavy rain. That’s slowed down the golf here at the Brickyard.
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
Sorry for not writing a blog last week; we were a little busy with a few events surrounding the race. A few of the drivers played last week in the Chevrolet Media Day golf tournament. It seems like more drivers are playing than in the past. This takes in account drivers from Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Craftsman Truck series.
Not a whole lot going in golf with the exception of the U.S. Senior Open out in Colorado this week. One of my good friends, Bob Stephens from here in Indy, qualified and shot a very respectable 71 in the first round. Bob does a little practicing here at the Brickyard and has won numerous amateur tournaments here in Indiana.
Speaking of the Senior Open, the Senior Open comes to Crooked Stick Golf Club in suburban Indianapolis next year, and the tournament is looking for volunteers. Contact the tournament office at (317) 571-8742 or visit www.2009ussenioropen.com if you would like more info on being a volunteer.
We have some events coming up here at the Brickyard. The annual IGA-PGA Challenge Cup is Thursday, Aug. 7. This event pits the top amateurs in the state against the top PGA Professionals.
The event is 36 holes in which the morning round is a two-man team best-ball match play, and the afternoon is single-match play. This similar to the Ryder Cup but is only one day. The amateurs have been beating us here lately, so the professionals need to step up and lay one on the amateurs.
I am fortunate to be able to play in this event and am honored to be on the team and to also host this event that is sponsored by the Greg Norman Collection. Speaking of Greg Norman, how about his play in the British Open and the Senior British Open?
The PGA Championship is coming up in about a week. The venue this year is in Detroit at Oakland Hills. This is a very long and demanding course, and I am going to give you a couple of picks I think might do well in next week’s blog.
The Tour is at Firestone CC this week for the Bridgestone Invitational. If you haven’t heard, we are a Bridgestone-exclusive facility and have been now for two years. You can read more about this on our Web site.
Back to the tournament at Firestone. Last year I was invited to the tournament as a guest of Bridgestone. They rolled out the red carpet. I got to stay right at the course in the guest rooms above the clubhouse. Then on the first round of the tournament, I was an honorary observer with Sam Foley, our business manager here at the Brickyard, and walked inside the ropes with a group. Our group consisted of Michael Campbell, Paul Casey and Scott Verplank. They were all nice. Not a lot of conversation, but they hit some golf shots.
Being that close, you watch every move they make, then immediately try to copy that shot or swing. I watched really close when they missed a green to see if I could pick up anything that would help me with my short game.
I did notice that on their shots around the green out of high grass that the clubface did not necessarily open up as much as what I thought it would, so I came back to the Brickyard and practiced that. It did help my short game a little.
Firestone CC is an awesome course that I got play about a month after my visit, and it is one tough, long golf course. The thing people don’t realize is that there are two other courses there that are just as good, and it is definitely worth the visit to play.
I’ll give my picks next week for the PGA, and if you get a chance, try some Bridgestone products. Their golf balls are as good as it gets, and their irons are pure.
Don’t forget that golf is a game of a lifetime.
Jeff Schroeder
PGA Head Professional
Brickyard Crossing
The British Open has started, and the weather is just brutal for the players. Greg Norman, at 53 years of age, led as of early Friday morning.
What wild conditions they are having, and if you listen to interviews with the players who are playing well, they are not complaining about the weather. They’re just playing the course and what it will give them.
That raises another good point on the mental aspect of golf: Don’t let things that are out of your control influence your game. Play each shot and each hole at a time.
The Allstate 400 at the Brickyard starts next week, and the course has a few events related to the race. But this weekend we host The Golf Channel’s Drive, Chip and Putt. This event is for junior golfers age 7-14, both boys and girls. It is a great event and one that is we look forward to hosting every year.
On Wednesday, July 23, we kick off the race week with Business at the Brickyard. This is an event that we stage in partnership with the Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce.
It is one of the most unique events in the country in that we have a tournament with business leaders from the city, and we also conduct a golf school for those who need to learn golf as a business tool. As everyone knows, the majority of business deals are now being made on the golf course.
After that event, we have Chevrolet media day on the course Thursday, July 24 and then our friends at Miller Brewing have the course Friday afternoon for a little golf. Saturday and Sunday the course is closed due to race activities.
Today, Friday, July 18, I head over to Meridian Hills CC for their annual PGA Pro Shootout. Meridian Hills is one of the nicest clubs in town, and every year they have this event in which 20 pros are invited and split into two-man teams for a nine-hole shootout.
In a shootout, a team with the highest score on the hole is dropped from the competition until there are only two teams left on the ninth hole, where a winner is determined. If there are ties on a hole, those teams participate in a chip-off to determine which team advances.
The membership at Meridian Hills really puts on a great show, and there are upward of 200 spectators watching. Needless to say, it can get very nerve-racking, and some funny things (shots) will happen.
I have a pretty good track record in this event. I have won it six times, so I really look forward to playing.
Got to go for now. Keep your eyes on Greg Norman as he tries to make history and win the British Open. Also Jeff Overton, formerly of Indiana University and a Hoosier resident, also did well across the pond. Here in the States, a couple of other Hoosiers did well at Milwaukee, Chad Collins of Cloverdale and Jim Gallagher Jr., formerly of Marion. Andy Winings of Brownsburg also qualified nicely in the US Publinx tournament in Denver.
Jeff Schroeder
PGA Head Professional
Brickyard Crossing