It looks like this golf season doesn’t want to end. Once again, the weather here in Indy has been better at the end of the year than the beginning. This weekend the temps are going to be in the middle to upper 50’s, which is really good for the week before Thanksgiving. If you can get and play this weekend, I would recommend it because it looks like next week the temps drop to normal for this time of the year. Still, November definitely has been better that October for golf.
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 10th 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
I’m back from the tournament grind and glad to be at my desk after playing in our Section Championship.
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 21st, 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
Congrats to the Giants. It was a popular win here in Indy, beating the Patriots!
Now that the Super Bowl is over, all golfers’ attention turns to the Super Bowl of golf, The Masters. Right now, four-time Masters winner Tiger Woods looks like the Patriots before the Super Bowl, undefeated so far in 2008.
I don’t know if anyone caught Tiger’s come-from-behind victory last weekend in Dubai, but it was amazing. Tiger admitted he did not have his best stuff on the weekend, but mentally he beat them on the back side of the final round.
During my last blog, I talked about putting and not making anything. Well, if you watch Tiger, he somehow wills crucial putts into the hole.
Tiger has such great mental strength, and working on that side of the game is something everyone can do during the offseason while waiting for golf weather.
Editor’s Note: Brickyard Crossing PGA Head Professional Jeff Schroeder is blogging from the PGA Winter Championships sponsored by Taylor Made-Adidas in Port St. Lucie, Fla. He is playing in the tournament with friend and former Champions Tour standout Larry Ziegler.
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The old saying, “You drive for show and putt for dough,” is definitely the adage of the week for us as we finished up the Senior-Junior Championship on Friday, Jan. 25.
After the first two rounds, we needed to make up some ground to have a nice finish for the first tournament of the year for us. We started out the third round tied for 37th and slipped back some after posting a 2-under-par 70 for the third round. We hit the ball so much better than 2-under, so it was really frustrating.
As a team in the third round, we hit 17 greens and only made two birdies. It was like every time the ball looked like it was going in, it stopped just short or broke just out of the hole.
Editor’s Note: Brickyard Crossing PGA Head Professional Jeff Schroeder is blogging from the PGA Winter Championships sponsored by Taylor Made-Adidas in Port St. Lucie, Fla. He is playing in the tournament with friend and former Champions Tour standout Larry Ziegler.
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The first two rounds of the tournament are done, and we have successfully made the cut. The field started with 144 two-man teams and has been cut to the low 65 teams and ties. Our scores for the two rounds were 68-67, for a 9-under total of 135. The leading team is at 128, which is 16-under par. So we need to do some making up to get in the hunt for the championship.
Our first round on Tuesday, Jan. 22 was somewhat uneventful. We started out with eight straight pars, and then I happened to chip in on our ninth hole for our first birdie.
I have to thank my partner, Larry Ziegler, for the great chipping lesson he gave me before we played. He noticed something as we were warming up for our round, and it has made a huge difference in my short game. He basically got me to stop trying to help the ball up and had me somewhat “pop it” to get the ball to come off the club face faster, but with control.
Editor’s Note: Brickyard Crossing PGA Head Professional Jeff Schroeder is blogging from the PGA Winter Championships sponsored by Taylor Made-Adidas in Port St. Lucie, Fla. He is playing in the tournament with friend and former Champions Tour standout Larry Ziegler.
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Now that the PGA Merchandise Show is over, one of the nice things that the PGA does is to offer a series of winter tournaments for us to play. They are called the PGA Winter Championships sponsored by Taylor Made-Adidas. The tournaments are held at the PGA Village complex in Port St. Lucie, Fla.
I am fortunate enough that the Brickyard allows me to stay down and play in one of these events this week. The event I am playing in is the Senior Junior Team Championship. I am playing this year with my good friend Larry Ziegler. Larry is a past Champions Tour member and a huge racing fan. Larry played all the Senior Tour events at Brickyard Crossing and now only plays in a few events during the year.
Editor’s Note: Brickyard Crossing PGA Head Professional Jeff Schroeder attended the 55th PGA Merchandise Show from Jan. 17-19 in Orlando, Fla., a huge gathering of PGA Golf Professionals to preview new merchandise for the upcoming season. This is the final installment of Schroeder’s blogs sharing his impressions of “The Show.”
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The 2008 Show is in its last day, and, as usual, a lot of the attendees come early and then try and sneak out and play some golf if their schedules allow. Today the aisles are not as crowded, so moving around is a lot easier. I’m going to head down to the new product display area and see what’s new.
The new product section is always kind of fun because you see some good new products, and you also see some products that make you wonder, “What are they thinking?”
In the new product area, you see everything from teaching devices to facial masks for skin care. Some of the more innovative products come from the teaching aid area.
Editor’s Note: Brickyard Crossing PGA Head Professional Jeff Schroeder is attending the 55th PGA Merchandise Show from Jan. 17-19 in Orlando, Fla., a huge gathering of PGA Golf Professionals to preview new merchandise for the upcoming season. Schroeder will share his impressions through this series of blogs.
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Day 2 (Friday, Jan. 18) here at the show is a little more subdued and quiet, which is normal after the opening day. Today we are going to spend some time just walking around and looking at some different items.
The big buzz in equipment is adjustable shafts. Club manufacturers now make woods so that shafts are interchangeable. It has been approved by the USGA and is conforming to the Rules of Golf. This will allow golfers to have multiple shafts and be able to remove them and put in a different one to fit their game without having to send it away to be reshafted. Most of the major companies offer this, including Callaway, Nike and Taylor Made.
At the show, the busiest place seems to be the Equipment Test Center. This is a 180-foot deep indoor hitting area that allows the show attendees to try the new clubs being offered this year. There are 45 hitting bays, and more than 400,000 golf balls have been hit into the nets.