I’m down only if Bo will meet me at Red Lobster.

Have someone I play with trying to qualify Wednesday down in Naples. Probably a longest of long shots but one round you never know. He is a 0.6 cap.

Isn't the fact, that your qualifier grants fours spots an indication, that it might rank pretty high or am I missing something doing the total math on the full starting field :-)

Well, first round today of the US Senior Open and I'm obviously not in the field. Although I had a better chance than I thought.

Received an email from the USGA a couple of weeks ago reiterating the alternate procedure and also the re-allotment ranking of my site. It was #32 of 33 sites, which basically indicated no chance.

But today I see Clark Dennis on the course, the first alternate from my site. I go through the alternate list and compare it to the field and determine only 5 alternates got into the field, all of them first alternates. But all four qualifiers from my site are also on the course. What the hell?

I email the USGA contact wondering how this transpired. Come to find out, my site was originally the FIRST re-allotment site of the 33 qualifiers! Clark had already accepted his spot in the championship (as had one other alternate) when the email went out which is why it showed my site as 32 of 33.

So unbeknownst to me, I had moved up to first alternate from my site and had any of the four qualifiers from my site had to WD, I would have been in. Probably a good thing I was blissfully ignorant, might not have slept much the last two weeks had I known. I also might have been tempted to meet someone at Red Lobster!

Currently all five from my site in the top half of the field. Player from California whom I beat in the 7 for 1 playoff at Q school shot 83. Course playing pretty tough it appears.

After personal matters required me to be at home for the duration of 2022, I am now able to get back on the road and chase the dream of beating up on old guys on the golf course. Have kept my game in decent shape the past year, also trying to get the body in a little better condition by walking every casual round the last several months as well as some light work in the gym and stretching.

As always, there are some good two day events to play in during the winter here in DFW for those pros of all ages who are looking to get their game in shape before the season starts. I decide to see where I'm at competitively by playing against the flat bellies at Stonebriar Fazio, a course I've played several times in the past.

The plan was to play 18 holes Monday and 18 holes Tuesday, however the forecast for Tuesday was 40 degrees with a 100% chance of rain. So on Sunday I get word that in an attempt to complete all 36 holes we would be playing as many holes as we could on Monday with no break between rounds. This is a good decision, and I want to get in 36 holes for my money, but I think the last time I played 36 holes in one day was in 2005. That was walking in a U.S. Open Sectional, this time at least we get to ride.

Because I'm old, I needed to plan out what all to take. There will almost certainly be a frost delay so I need several layers of clothing for when we do get started. Then I want to take a change of shoes because I'm not that satisfied with my new ones and of course a change of socks. Plan is to change both after the first round. Then food and drink, make a sandwich, thrown some granola bars and nuts in the bag. Also several bottles of water in case they don't have coolers for us out there and a little bit of Dr. Pepper as a just in case.

It's about a 45 minute drive to the course and as I get started I get a text stating there is an hour frost delay, no real surprise. The delay turns out to be 90 minutes once we do get started. It's cold, but at least it's sunny with very little wind starting out.

Start on #10, a medium length par 3 with the pin tucked behind a bunker. Hit a crappy iron shot well left of the hole leaving 60 feet which I promptly 3 putt. Great ****ing start. Sloppy pars on 11 and 12 then hook a drive on 13 under a tree. Able to punch out to 100 yards, hit a quality wedge to 8 feet and make it for par. Sloppy par on 14 then on 15 lip out 6-iron from 180 yards and a tap in birdie. OK, the swing is in there somewhere, lets find it a bit more frequently now.

Birdie on the par 5 18th to turn in 1-under after hitting the ball what I felt like was dreadful. Stiff wedge on 1 for birdie, make a 25 footer on 6 for birdie after a crappy iron shot, then birdie the par 5 7th. Solid pars on 8 and 9 into the wind and I somehow shoot 4-under 68. It certainly didn't feel or look pretty, but it's still a 68. Cool.

Intentionally didn't look at the online leader board because there's 18 holes left and there was still a lot to focus on the rest of the day. Turns out once everybody finished the first round I was T4 two back of the lead. Signed the card, given a new one, and sent immediately to 10 tee. Didn't even think to change shoes or socks. While I've been drinking water also haven't thought to have any food. We've got exactly 4 hours of daylight left to finish another 18 holes, I don't know if the other two guys in my group will push hard to get done but I'm certainly going to try to shepherd them around quickly. I don't want to drive 45 minutes back first thing in the morning and finish holes in pouring cold rain.

Very mediocre golf starting the second round, pars of varying ways until 16 where I make a very sloppy bogey on a birdie hole. But then make a 30+ footer for birdie on the very next hole from just off the front of the green. Par 18 and shoot even on that nine. With nine holes and two hours left I am fading both physically and mentally. My swing is predicated on aggressive body rotation and it's getting more difficult to fully accomplish.

Play 1 well but miss a good look at birdie. Hit ugly iron shot on 2 that ends up 5 feet away but then miss that. That miss was a clear sign of mental fatigue. On 4 I finally crack after a loose iron shot and a 3 putt from about 40 feet. Horrible iron shot on 5 leaves me short sided in a deep bunker. I am still a wedge wizard and blast to 4 feet and find a way to make the putt for par. Pretty good iron shot on 6 and an easy two putt par. Good drive on 7 leaves me with a chance of reaching the par 5 in two. Shove the 3 wood well right barely missing an area which would have left me struggling for par. But a crappy pitch to 35 feet. Then make the putt for birdie. Hilarious.

Solid par on 8 in semi-darkness. Once our first player finished the hole I sent him immediately to 9 tee to tee off and guarantee our finish even if they blow the horn while I was finishing on 8 green. A weak iron shot on 9 leaves me on the wrong tier 60 feet from the hole in almost total darkness. Not surprisingly this leads to a 3 putt. Frustrating but at least we finished. Shoot 1-over 73 on the second round. 3-under for the 36 holes.

We were the last group to finish, 5 groups behind us will have to come back and finish in the cold rain the next morning. When it's all said and done I finish T16 of 54 players and cash a check. John Senden, who is exempt into almost every Champions Tour event played in this and I beat him. Also beat a lot of guys less than half my age who are about to hit the mini tours and PGA Tour and Korn Ferry qualifiers. Think I was the oldest guy in the field at 54.

So overall a solid start. I really wish we could have had a standard schedule which would have put me in the penultimate group the second round so I could have seen how I handled that type of pressure. Also because I wouldn't have had to play 36 in one day. I was beat equally physically and mentally. Had a good dinner on the way home and then spent an hour in a hot bath so I'd be able to move the next day.

Cliffs – ugly but can still play.

Bravo! Fun recap.

BO - i'll keep reading as long as you keep posting

Thanks. I’ll have another one within 24 hours that will be one of the most interesting in the thread. A great example of the highs and the lows.

/teaser

Same.

Even though I mainly slogged through that one because I dreaded that a fall off a cliff was looming. Pleasantly surprised that it was only a sharp speedbump. Nice writing skills!

GL going forward.

What's in the bag now, Bo?

February 10th, pre qualifier for the PGA Tour Champions Chubb Classic in Naples, FL. First open field event of the season and usually draws a little over 100 players. Parents live in Naples so it's a no-brainer to play. No hotel or rental car expenses and I get some quality time with the parents regardless. I draw a very late tee time, only one group behind me. (technically there were three groups behind me but the last two groups were filled with regulars who can't break an egg and never turn in a card) So I'll know what the number is coming down the stretch.

Wind probably blowing 15mph at tee time which makes for some interesting clubbing. First off, the ball travels next to nowhere at sea level. Second, the wind is heavier and in my opinion, affects the ball more. So the calculations can be tedious.

First hole I shove a drive into a fairway bunker leaving 5-iron in. Catch that heavy leaving it well short of the green. Bad pitch well past the hole and did good to get down in two for bogey. Another great ****ing start. Sloppy par on the unreachable par 5 2nd, but then a decent shot into 3 and holed a 12 footer for birdie to get back to even. Solid par on 4, good looks at birdie on 5 and 6 but miss them both. Really good pars on 7 and 8 both tough holes fighting the wind. Somewhat disappointing par on 9 and perhaps reachable downwind par 5 and turn in even.

This is the third straight year the qualifier has been here and both previous times 2-under plays off for the last spot(s) and 3-under gets in clean. I am expecting something similar today. Scores are posted online once a player completes his round, I looked at the board before teeing off and there was already a 2-under and two 1-unders.

10 is an unreachable par 5 into the wind, hit a good pitch shot in to 9 feet, hit the putt exactly like I wanted to and it skimmed the edge. A good up and down for a par on 11 after a bad drive and missing the green. Another bad drive on 12 leaving a handing lie in the rough, crappy iron shot to the left fringe probably 70 feet from the hole. Misread the putt leaving 9 feet for par but drilled it.

Another terrible drive on 13 settling on a cartpath, take a drop still leaving a tough shot to a tight pin over a deep bunker. Really good shot to 20 feet and then can the putt for a lucky birdie. Bad iron shot on the par 3 14th missing the green but hit a decent chip to 8 feet and make that one. Finally a good drive on 15 leading to a 7-iron that almost flies in leaving 5 feet downhill and make it for birdie. Now somehow 2-under for the day.

Bad drive on 16 in the rough, pretty good 5-iron to 30 or so feet, the pin was all the way back on a narrow green more than 50 yards deep. Decent 2 putt for par. 17's a par 3, bore a 7-iron through the wind to the back fringe leaving 40 feet. A really good lags leaves less than 2 feet for par and hole it. Still 2-under.

18 is a reachable par 5 with an accessible hole location and nothing in front of the green. There is OB left and hazard right but both far enough away that only a really bad shot would find it. The plan all along was to wait until 18 to look at the scoreboard and that what I do before teeing off. One guy at 4-under, probably 7 guys at 2-under. Easy, the playoff will be a 2-under, birdie gets in clean guaranteed.

Hit a decent but not great drive down the right side of the fairway leaving a longer than expected shot in but still only 230 yards. Normally that's a 5-wood but at sea level for me it's a 3-wood. Didn't think twice, took aim at the middle of the green and flushed it. Lands short and rolls out to 15 feet for eagle. Clutch. Slightly downhill putt with some right to left break, nothing fancy. Pick my line and hit the putt I wanted. Has dying speed, sniffs the left edge but doesn't fall leaving maybe 2 inches. I can make that. Birdie. 3-under. I'm in.

Check my card multiple times and turn it in. Score posts on the leaderboard, all those at 2-under now pissed because I just took a spot away from the playoff. Too bad. Load my clubs in the car and go inside to wash up, get a bottled water and hit the road. Chat for a moment with one of the guys I played with and hear a conversation next to me. Player was pissed that he had a crappy lie on the cartpath on 18 and had to play it because that's what the rules stated. Uh-oh. Go back to the car and look at the rule sheet that was in my bag. This course (like many in Florida) has a lot of crushed shell cartpaths and the rule sheet stated that these were not obstructions which means no free relief.

****. Needless to say my head was now spinning. I know what needs to be done but it's like walking into a firing squad. Return to the scorer's table and tell him we have a problem. Explain that I took free relief from a crushed shell path on 13. We both know what the outcome will be but he radios in to clarify. 2-shot penalty for playing from the wrong place. My 3-under 69 is now a 1-under 71. From 1 inside the number to 1 outside the number. ****.

I picked up a copy of the rule sheet on the first tee and actually went through most of it like I always do. A little surprising that the starter did not mention it because usually they do mention unusual things on the sheet. Then on 13 I looked at it again and saw the words shell cartpaths and obstruction and instinctively took the drop while confirming with one of my playing competitors. How the hell did I just miss this more than once?

But in the end, it's 100% my own fault. Nobody else to blame. And after thinking about it rationally, had I played from the cartpath I almost certainly would not have made birdie. The lie was just too crappy and the ball would have been significantly below my feet. I probably would have made par because I was just finding ways to make ugly pars at that juncture but could have very easily made bogey. Or I could have hurt myself hitting from this mess of a cartpath, it wasn't the nice pretty fine grained shells, it was ugly.

So perhaps 2% of the time I make birdie from the path, 65% of the time make par and 33% make bogey. 2 out of 3 times I'm in the massive playoff and the other third I miss by one. I guess we will never know.

But I'm OK, I know I'm more than good enough to compete out here and will have plenty of other chances. It's a good lesson and perhaps I had gotten complacent about some of the details. Off to Tucson in two weeks for the next one. Bring it.

All Ping.

Driver - G410 9* w/Graphite Design BB 5s shaft at 47.125 inches
3W - G410 14.5* w/Graphite Design BB 6s shaft
5W - G410 17.5* w/Graphite Design AD DI 7s shaft
4h - G410 22* w/Graphite Design AD DI 8s hybrid shaft
5-PW - i210 w/Nippon Modus 105s shaft +0.25"
50(SS),55(SS),60(TS) - Glide 3.0 w/AWT 2.0 stiff shafts +0.25"

New Glide 4.0 wedges arriving any day with same specs.

Going to the G430 woods possible in the near future as is going to the i230 irons. Shafts will remain the same regardless with the possibility of going shorter with the driver.

Rough but right. Good on you, BO. Karma will give you a boost somewhere down the line.

Wow i felt that way over here.

Sacking up and taking responsibility is becoming a lost art. Integrity has a delayed effect. Doing the right thing doesn't always feel good when we're doing it. Sometimes its not until the dust settles and we become grounded that we are able to breathe relief knowing that we did the right thing. I think thats integrity carrying us.

gg

we should all probably do more of the uncomfortable things instead of taking the easy path, especially me.
tip of the cap BO. i appreciate you sharing the 'negative' experience which in the end is likely a positive.

Fair play to you, integrity is a massive part of this game and in many sports, like Bob has said it seems to be going out of date, I do feel though golf is great for integrity more so at the pro level maybe cause there are so many eyes watching but I'd rather see them as being a half decent human being.

Cheers for a good read and Good Luck in the future events!

Is this allowed? Is there a 46" limit coming soon?


What index do you play off vs amateurs?

The USGA has made this an optional model local rule. G-10 to be exact. In reality this rule is only applied in PGA Tour and USGA events. But this rule does not apply to any of the qualifiers.

So I can use it in my pre Q’s and Monday Q’s, but if I qualify then I am required to use a 46” driver. Furthermore, I could use it in all stages of Q school except for the finals. Pretty goofy for sure.

However I am probably going to switch to a 46 incher as my gamer in the near future for various reasons.

Play off a +5 in games against my buddies.

Time for an update, unfortunately no good results to brag about.

Two weeks after the Florida qualifier I head to Tucson for the next one. The section caps the field at 92 players with another 20 on a waiting list. It’s always one of the more popular qualifiers as everybody wants to play golf in Arizona in February.

Qualifying course is Sewailo, a Notah Begay design and a damn good track, perhaps the best course I’ve played in a Champions Tour pre Q. Part of this is it can be difficult for a section to secure a good course on a Friday for a pre Q. It’s much easier to get a good course on a Monday for the main Q.

You can’t fake it at this course, a poor shot will be penalized in most instances because of the sharp edges. But at the same time a quality shot will be rewarded. Greens are good and a little firm. It’s the type of setup where you can both take it low and also shoot your temperature.

My pairing was beyond crappy, one a known hack who rarely turns in a card and the other an unknown local who’s only result I could find was ugly. No question the known hack won’t turn in a card, this course will simply be too much more him.

Draw an early tee time and warm up in 40 degree weather although there was no wind and plenty of sun. I was in short sleeves by the turn. Start on #10 which in my opinion is the only crappy hole on the course. Par 5, dogleg right around a lake initially, second shot must carry a chasm and then doglegs back left to the green. Can take less than driver off the tee and completely take the water out of play but that leaves little margin for error on carrying the chasm on the second shot especially when the ball isn’t flying as far due to cold.

I decide to be aggressive off the tee and cut a driver around the lake a bit and pull it off. Decent enough second shot over the chasm leaving 8-iron to the green. Not a good third barely missing the green, a good chip to 5 feet but miss the putt. Bogey on a par 5 is not the way to start.

Good drive on 11 and another craptastic iron shot left of the green. A good chip over a ridge followed by a made 8 footer for par. And this trend continued, I just couldn’t hit the ball worth a crap. On 14 a lay up with a 5-iron finds the water. On 17 an approach shot finds the middle of a lake. Just beyond ugly, on 18 hit my first green in regulation, no exaggeration.

Here’s how bad I hit the ball on the first nine, I shot 4-over par while my strokes gained around and on the green was a little over 2! Yes, I lost more than 6 shots ball striking in 9 holes. Pro tip, that’s not good.

However compared to the other two I am looking like Tiger in his prime. They are all over the place, the unknown is so far out of his element it’s nuts. Thankfully, he claims injury at the turn and leaves. I was riding with the known hack but now I claim the unknown’s cart so I can at least be at peace alone in a cart during the second nine. He was planning on taking his cart to the parking lot to unload his stuff. No such luck chop, get the **** out of the cart I’m taking.

On 4 I hit was I thought was a good drive but went through the fairway and stopped just on the other side of a cartpath. Shouldn’t be a big deal but my ball was sitting on 2-3 inches of sand that had obviously been pushed off the path a couple of days prior when they had a rainstorm. Have a little less than 150 to the green but it’s all carry over a lake and this lie is flat out impossible.

Luckily there’s a rules official by the green, we flag him down and he comes over. I show him the situation and ask if I get a drop from abnormal ground conditions. He says no. My initial response was shall we say, surprise. He admits the sand had been intentionally pushed from the path and shouldn’t be there, but no relief. I ask him to radio the situation to another official for a second opinion. No dice, I have to play the ball from multiple inches of sand in the general area.

Had I been in the hunt I would have pushed much harder for relief, and in the end chipped out for a clean third over the water. But in this situation, **** that. I try the impossible and naturally the ball ends up in the water. About the time the ball splashes I had uttered at least 5 f-bombs and not quietly. Just couldn’t believe was forced to play from that situation which obviously should not have existed. At least in the end it didn’t matter. Still need to consult the decisions book to see if anything similar is mentioned.

Actually hit two quality shots on the next hole and tapped in for birdie. The last holes were uneventful except for the known hack losing multiple balls in the desert on one hole and finally saying **** it. He just rode the last three holes scoring me, probably would have shot high 90’s.

I shoot a 5-over 77 with four 6’s on the card and log my worst finish ever in a Champion Tour pre Q, just had less than nothing tee to green. That had not happened in many years, but it’s just a reminder of what can happen on any day on the golf course. Didn’t lose any sleep over it, just logged the round as usual to see where I gained or lost shots.

Awesome as always to hear how these qualifiers go - thanks for the update.

US Sr Open qualifying coming up or what's next?

Yeah, nice write-up!

Yes, my Senior Open qualifier is this coming Wednesday, May 10th at an average public course here in the metroplex. Played a practice round there Tuesday and it's certainly a course I can play. Decent fairways, off the fairways it's pretty rough with a lot of bare ground from cart traffic. A few of the greens have some poa annua in them so there could be some dribbling putts.

Two of the three years I've done this I've gotten an alternate spot which got me nothing. Time to take the next step. Took some time to get my swing sorted out as I had gotten into several bad habits. Part of that was body related as I had a minor lower back issue which had caused me to make some compensatory moves and we all know that never ends well. But I thought it through and took the time to refocus on my basics in order to grind it back together. Ball is currently launching out of the window I like with the feel I like. Powerful trajectory.

A little over a month ago went through a driver fitting with my old boss. Gaming a 47+" driver just wasn't paying the dividends it used to. Had to do everything just perfect in order to get the desired results and the body wasn't always up to that.

So going in we decided to game a driver at 46", the legal limit for any event. Didn't want to just go 2" shorter all of a sudden, that's a bit much. So we settled on 46" as a good compromise.

Three of us entered the simulator at 4pm, the third being his other teacher/fitter. Three of us exited the simulator at 6pm with me hitting drivers non-stop for two hours. The easy question was which Ping G430 head to go with and the LST definitely did better for me than the Max. Was just spinning the Max a bit much on average and thus the ball flight wasn't quite what I was looking for.

The interesting part was which shaft and at what weight and flex. Due to my current swing speed, many options were on the table. 55 vs. 65 gram shaft, and believe it or not, R vs. S shaft flex. While I can still get it out there around 300 yards at times, that doesn't necessarily mean a stiffer shaft is the best for me, it's all about how the golfer loads the shaft.

I hit no fewer than a dozen different shafts with differing specs. In the end we agreed there was a clear winner, the numbers were just right, the ball flight was just right, and most importantly, the feel to me was just right. Oban Kiyoshi White at 55 grams, regular flex. Head 10.5 LST set down to 9.5 degrees.

But there was one thing we now had to take an educated guess at. I'm going to game this driver at 46" but all shafts in the fitting matrix are 45.25". That extra 0.75" is going to make the shaft feel and play weaker than standard. So do we want to stay with the R flex or move up to the S? Wasn't too difficult of a decision to go with the S which would play like a weak S at 46". Just too much chance of overpowering a weak R(even with a Kiyoshi) when I can still find ball speeds in the 150's.

The educated guess turned out to be correct and the driver at 46" feels amazing. While I don't carry it quite as far, I make up for it with the roll out due to lower spin, flatter ball flight, and flat out finding the center of the face much more often. Best thing is, I can work it both ways very easily. Fun to be able to hit a flat tumbling fade on command.

It's an unwritten rule in fitting that you don't fit yourself, impossible to remain impartial. So once we got in the sim, I told him to just put stuff in my hand and I'd swing it. I didn't want to know the shaft details, I just wanted to dummy up and beat drivers. Of course I knew the brand of shaft I was hitting by the paint scheme, but had no clue as to the weight and flex. I didn't ask about heads either although I could tell that because the 430 LST head has a carbon composite crown while the Max does not. I did do my best not to think about any of that during the session however.

Really looking forward to testing the new driver under pressure along with the rest of my game. Feeling really good mentally right now, felt like my brain was just taking so much in during the practice round and that I can methodically connect the dots on course when game time arrives. Only one way to find out.

The results. Had to wait out a 90 minute weather delay after my 5th hole.

https://www.golfgenius.com/pages/4186851

119 guys for only 2 spots. In past years there's been the same number of players for 3 spots and 4 spots last year because the field had so many tour players in it. But you know what? **** em!

Next step taken!

Nice! That is truly awesome, congrats!