MONDAY
Two weeks ago the Frys.com Open, one of five official PGA Tour events making up the Fall Series, was held at my home course – Grayhawk Golf Club. The players in the field at any PGA Tour event are selected based on their current status (money list, world golf ranking, etc.). As of late, my career has really focused on teaching and not so much on playing, so I don’t have the same status on Tour that I used to during my playing days. Without a definite spot in the field, I decided to try the Monday qualifier. Brings back memories of “rabbit” Mondays on the PGA Tour!

This year the qualifying round was held at Southern Dunes Golf Club in the city of Maricopa, just south of Phoenix. I was a little nervous heading into it and still recovering from the previous Friday’s return from 10 days in Madrid, Spain. But, I was fortunate enough to have the first tee time of the day (8 am) and a great playing partner in Frank Lickliter II. There were 80 guys who, just like me, were trying to Monday Qualify. Looking at some of the other names in the field, I knew that scoring in the mid-60s was necessary to even have a chance of making the tournament field since only the top four players got invites into the Frys.com Open event. My prayers were answered and we played our round without a breath of wind, which is very unusual on this particular course. I was able to make 8 birdies and 1 bogey for a -7 score of 65, which was good enough for third place and a spot in the 2009 Frys.com Open.

TUESDAY
I was asked by a company called Geos Communications, Inc. to put on a little short game clinic for some of their employees and key customers. Geos Communications is a leading developer of global mobile applications. They’ve got a product called MyGlobalTalk which provides low-cost calling from any device. It’s endorsed by PGA Tour veteran and 2009 Presidents Cup Captain Fred Couples, as well as Tom Pernice Jr.

The clinic was a great success. I taught and told stories for about two hours to a group of about 25 participants. As with every clinic I teach, the skill levels of the participants were all over the map. However, every player had an awesome can-do attitude and it made my time spent with them a real pleasure. At the conclusion of the clinic, everyone played a round of golf on the Talon Course at Grayhawk (Raptor was getting set up for the Frys.com Open), but not before they gave me a warm round of applause and some nice compliments which I really appreciated. What a great bunch of guys! I look forward to working with Geos Communications in the future. Below is a video clip taken from my short game clinic with Geos.

Tuesday afternoon I was able to get in nine holes of practice on the Raptor Course at Grayhawk Golf Club with good friend Tom Pernice, Jr. Since it is my home course, I’m familiar with the layout. But, it’s always nice to get out for a little practice because the set-up is pretty close to tournament conditions. This gives you a chance to get a feel for the course with bleachers, corporate tents, TV camera positions and things like that since they do alter the way your eye usually sees a hole versus playing the same course for fun. Practice rounds are really, really important.

WEDNESDAY
I got in some light practice, but didn’t play the course. I had a good friend of mine in town, the singer and recording star Paul Colman, and we went over to TPC Scottsdale so I could watch him hit a few balls. I kept the day a light one getting ready for the tournament kick-off on Thursday.

THURSDAY
Round 1 started great for me. I had a wonderful pairing of Jamie Lovemark and Peter Tomasulo, two young up-and-comers who just pound the golf ball. I don’t hit the ball as far as they do, but it sure was a treat watching them navigate around the course and hit approach shots from places I didn’t even think possible. We started on the back nine and I was even through 10 holes with 10 straight pars. I finally got to red numbers with a birdie on the 2^nd hole, my eleventh of the day. I made another birdie at No. 6 before making my one and only mistake of the tournament. I carded a snowman (8) on the No. 7, finishing my round at 2-over par (72).

FRIDAY
Round 2 was a catch up day for me – that was the plan at least. With so many scores under par in the first round I knew the cut line was probably going to be around even or 1-under par. That being said, I needed some birdies. I came right out of the gate and birdied the first hole and the sixth hole before bogeying No. 7. Whew…THAT hole again! It got the best of me all week, but in any event I was 1-under through nine holes and playing exactly how I had hoped.

Unfortunately, I played the back-nine 1-over to shoot an even par round of 70 on the day. My two-round total was a 2-over 142, and I ended up missing the cut by three shots.  I played great for 34 holes. Hole No. 7 got me both days and was probably the reason for the missed cut. Playing a single hole at 5-over through two rounds is…well…not fun. If there is any consolation at all, it’s that No. 7 played as the hardest hole all week for all the players since it usually plays as a par 5, but during the tournament it played as a 500+ yard par 4.

All in all I was really happy with the way the tournament played out for me. I was able to get a peek into the future of golf with Jamie and Peter in my pairing, and we had a lot of fun. By the way, Jamie Lovemark went on to tie for first place with Rickie Fowler and Troy Matteson, only to lose in a playoff on the second hole. Keep up the good work Jamie.

Back to teaching for me now since this is our wonderful teaching season here in Scottsdale. I have a few pro-am tournaments I’ll play over the winter and, who knows, I might just tee it up in a tour event again sometime in 2010.