The U.S. Open is over, and Lucas Glover is the new national champion. Congratulations to Lucas.
To me, The Open ended with not much drama. The only drama was if Lucas was going to hit a 5-iron or 6-iron off the tee? I can’t imagine that on the 72nd hole of a major that you could hit a 6-iron, which is what Glover decided on, and then hit a 9-iron on the green and win the U.S. Open.
Other good stories emerged from the Open such as David Duval’s return to form and his bid to win the Open. Then you have the go-for-broke play of Ricky Barnes.
But without a doubt, the play of Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods down the stretch will be talked about. In Tiger’s case, I think it was the putter. He made no putts and missed more putts inside 10 feet than he has in his whole career. Phil was definitely charged by the New York fans, and he obviously feeds off that. His preparation for this event was more casual than usual. His wife’s health is his main concern and the golf has become secondary, so the theory of trying to hard sometimes is definitely in play. We wish the best to Amy and Phil.
Tragedy also has struck here on the Indiana golf scene as Beth Smith, wife of PGA Tour player Chris Smith, was killed last Sunday in a car accident. Their two children also were in the car and are hospitalized. The Smith’s are one of Indiana’s best-known golfing families, residing up in Peru. They own Rock Hollow Golf Club. Our thoughts and prayers are with Chris and the entire Smith family.
This Tuesday, June 30, is a big day for me as I attempt to qualify for the U.S. Senior Open. The good news is the qualifier is here at the Brickyard. The bad news there are 101 players attempting to qualify for three spots.
The U.S. Senior Open is being played at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Ind. It would be special for me to qualify as I was an assistant at Crooked Stick under Jim Ferriell back in 1985. I think a 4-under 68 will get the job done.
After the qualifier, the Indiana State Open begins July 6 with a Pro-Am and then the actual tournament will be July 7-10, all at Brickyard Crossing.
Remember the Brickyard is one of America’s best public courses you can play, so book your tee time and come out and play the Brickyard.
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
The big argument in golf after the PGA Championship is: Who is the No. 2 player in the world? We all know Tiger is No. 1.
My thoughts are Padraig Harrington. Paddy wins two majors in a row, and Phil Mickelson stumbles, so it should go without saying that Paddy is No. 2.
Do you think Tiger was sitting home these last two majors wondering, “What if?” Probably not, but I bet he wanted to be there and play two of the most difficult courses in championship golf.
This now leads me to another question: Why is golf not an Olympic sport? Golf has been around forever.
The PGA Tour resumed last week without a Tiger, and some old names showed up on the leader board, with Stewart Cink winning the event.
If you remember, Tiger beat Cink in the match play tournament at the beginning of the year. So if things happen the way they should, we will have some new faces winning tournaments and some familiar names winning.
This week at the Buick Open, which was always a stop on Tiger’s schedule, a Hoosier is atop the leader board after two rounds. Bo Van Pelt, a Richmond Ind., native, is leading at 14-under par. Good luck to Bo over the weekend.
Weather. We are back to that theme this past couple of weeks.
Brickyard Crossing has been closed for 3½ of the last 11 days. On every one of these days, Little Eagle Creek overflowed its banks and flooded the adjacent holes.
The first day we were closed was Saturday, May 31 – what a good way to end a month of rain already. All of our bridges were under water and impassable.
Believe it or not, we were open the next day and were able to get carts in the fairways by mid-afternoon. Then Wednesday, June 4, rain hit again. It looked much worse this time.
The Masters has started, and the stars are circling the top. But young guns seem to be trying to stave off the notion that Augusta is for veterans.
The thing about The Masters is that the tournament really doesn’t start till the back nine on Sunday. Most players are just trying to keep within striking distance for Sunday. My pick for the title, Tiger, is just where he needs to be for Sunday, hanging around.
Hate to say this, but there is nothing exciting going on in the golf world right now here in Indiana.
The PGA Tour is in Florida, Tiger is not playing, Ernie Els finished off a victory last week, and Brickyard Crossing’s opening day of play has been pushed back due to weather.
A couple of weeks ago, the Professional Bowlers Tour was in town, along with my good friend Randy Pedersen. He is a 13-time winner on the PBA Tour and is now a broadcaster for PBA Tour telecasts on ESPN.