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
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