And the dumbest question ever goes to....

Micheal from Houston.

Q: Is there a rule prohibiting cell phone usage on the PGA Tour? I understand the desire to block advice from being given, etc., but I was wondering if a cell phone would be permitted in a special circumstance.
Michael, Houston


I read this on a ESPN story from Bob Harig. Usually his articles are pretty good, so I was puzzeled as to why he would even entertain this question. How stupid do you have to be to think that PGA players have cell phones and can call someone anytime during the round. O.k. maybe if they are playing a tournament with no officials, no fans, no media coverage, in the middle of no where and their caddy suddenly has a heart attack and has to call 911. Under any other circumstance why would it be necessary to use a cell phone. Also why would any fan or person even care if there is a rule prohibiting cell phone use on the PGA. Yes, they might carry one in their bag for some reason, most likely they got to the tee and realized they forgot to leave it in their locker. If any one can come up with a "special circumstance" that would require a PGA pro to use a cell phone in the middle of their round I'd love to hear it.

Micheal Godard

As i mentioned in my last post, I bought a piece of art by Micheal Godard. Here is a link to all his work. It's great stuff. If you look through it you can see the one i bought, It's called "Nervous Grapes 502"

https://www.artifactsgallery.com/art.asp?!=A&ID=759

Family Cruise

I just returned from my first Family vacation in 10 years. The whole clan took a cribbean cruise for my fathers 60th birthday. all the aunts and uncles, sister and brother in law, parents, and myself.

We were on The Caribbean Princess. It was a vey nice ship. Basically seemed like a luxury hotel on water. Rooms were a little small, but i had one all to myself with a balcony so it was much nicer then most other rooms. The weather was extremely hot and humid. Whenever we stopped at a port it was almost unbearable, but on the open sea there was always a nice breeze so it wasn't that bad. I probably gained about 10 to 15 pounds from eating all day long, and drinking way to much.

We stopped at 3 islands. St. Marteen, St. Thomas, and a private beach in the Bahamas. all 3 places were very nice. The beach was just that, and the other 2 were just a lot of shops. Seemed like jewelry was the big thing to buy down there. I didn't get any, but i did come out with some great pieces of art for my home. I bought a couple small prints from come artist in St. Marteen. My sister and mom bought this beautiful pieces from an artist in St. Thomas, and part of the deal was getting 2 smaller prints that I was lucky enough to get. I also bought my first piece of real art. I bought a piece by one of the most popular artist around right now, Godard. e paints all these really cool pictures with olives and grapes almost like a cartoon. The series of painting is called "Don't drink and draw." Very cool stuff. I had nothing on my walls so it's was cool to find a bunch of stuff that i really liked all in one place. Very satisfied with the purchases.

Not much else to say. Had a great time with the family, relaxed the whole time, and now it's just back to work. Missed 2 weekends of golf, so looking forward to getting back on the links.

No words to describe it

I'm absolutly devestated about the Niagara Mens tour. As much as I would have liked to come on here monday morning and tell you all about the great round I played at Penn Lakes on sunday it just wasn't meant to be. I ended up blowing it again yesterday and I'm really pissed at myself.

I started off really well. Making par on the first 2 holes. I was feeling good after getting through those. Then on the first par 5 i pulled out my driver. I wasn't hitting it at all on the range and couldn't figure out how to fix it before my tee time so I thought i would just figure it out on the course. Big mistake. I hit the very first drive left and out of bounds. I ended up making a 8 on the hole. No problem, i'll get it back i thought. Then on the next hole I go back to the 2 iron rescue club. Pure it down the middle. I was 200 out for my second shot, and I made the first mistake of the day. Instead of hitting a light 3 iron or rescue to the green, I figure I can hit a full 4 iron into the wind. Of course i over swing and push it right into the water. I ended up making another triple boogie on the 4th hole. I didn't get out of control. I took a few breaths before my next shot into the 5th par 3. I hit a great 3/4 6 iron 173 to about 2 feet to make birdie. Ok one stroke back. Then on the 6th I kind of worm burn my rescue to about 170 yards. I hit another perfect 6 iron to about 6 feet and drain the putt for birdie. I'm feeling much better at this point. My putting was phenominal all day. I ended up paring 7 and 8 and made a boogie on 9 to shoot 41. I wasn't upset at this cause I was playing so well after those 2 triples that I figured I could shot a sub 40 on the back.

Well this is where I fucked up. On the first hole 430 yards with a huge lake on the left I hit a slight draw (I never do this) with my rescue and my ball just barely rolled in the water. O.k., i'll take the drop and make boogie. No problem. Except, i skulled it across the water, luckly skipped it all the way across, but it was up against the bank and i had no shot. I ended up with an 8, 4 over par. Then i made boogie on the next par 3 and I'm 5 over. I settled down on the next hole. I was o.k. with parring out from there to shot 81, so i wasn't pushing it or worried about my score. I made a few more pars in a row. I was grinding like I was Matts protege or something. Up and down, one after another. Then we get to the 6th hole par 3. Pretty straight forward. 200 yards no trouble except for the water way right. The first to guys in my group hit awful shots, one in the water, the other a pure shank. I decide to hit a 3/4 4 iron to be safe, and I still over swing, push it right, and into the water. I make 6. Now i'm mad. I fully throw it away. My only hope is to birdie the next 2 par 5s and par the 9th and hope some people went high. I pull the driver back out for the second time on the 16th hole. This time i smash it straight down the fairway. I'm 260 out so i use the 2 iron rescue and get it pin high, but left of the green. I had about a 25 yard chip and I played it very nicely and lipped it out for eagle, still made the 1 foot birdie putt. Next hole I pull the driver again, but miss hit it badly. I recovered with a nice lay up to 130 with a 7 iron. For my third shot I try to get real close with my 52 degree wedge. But i pushed it slightly right and the pin was tucked up against the right side of the green. So i try to make the perfect chip and I ended up leaving it short of the green and eventually made a 7. In hindsight (which means absolutly nothing) i should of just hit the middle of the green and taken a par. Made my par on the 9th, but it was too little to late. I shot a 45 on the back to come in at 87.

I shot a total 182 over the 2 day qualifier. Ended up being 5 strokes off of making the tour. And now I'm stuck playing st. catharines every single weekend, with no competive golf except for a few matches and the championships. I'm really gonna miss the whole challenge of the tour. I didn't believe I was going to win any events or anything this year, but I did think I was going to compete. Or atleast make the tour. I really wish I played better. I was hitting my irons so well. I couldn't miss a put within 8 feet, i grinded when i had to, made my up and downs. I just screwed up about 4 or 5 shots and it cost me everything. I really didn't deserve to shot 87, but i did, and thats the way it goes.

Life is good

Yesterday The boss and I took Harper and Toro (my moms dog) for a walk at Burgoyne Woods. When I got there I found out that they have put a dog park in. Luckly no one was there so I was able to take both of the dogs off their leash and let them run free.

Harper has been on walks off leash ever since I got him so he was very comfortable. As soon as I unhooked him he ran to the first available stick he could find and took off. He was going nuts, as usual for him, and had a lot of fun. My moms dog on the other hand has never been off his leash so he was a little scared. Kind of funny actually. He just stood there when i took him off, wasn't sure what to do. Eventually he sniffed around a bit, but when I sat down to relax in the sun and listen to some music, all he wanted to do was sit on my lap, while Harper lost his mind running laps around the fenced in area. Still, as i was sitting there in te perfect weather with boss and some new John Butler Trio concert I downloaded, all I could think was how nice and perfect it was out there. I was so relaxed, not a care in the world, Harper was having a blast, Toro found some joy in it, and it was great. This was one of the very few times I actually was glad I lived in St. Catharines. Having such a nice place to hang out with the dogs was great.

Nothing else going on in my world. Just waiting for Sunday to come so I can get to work on qualifing for the Mens Tour.

I blew it

I followed my game plan on saturday perfectly, for 1 hole.

In the saturday qualifier for the Niagara Mens Tour at Lookout Point I got absolutly killed by the extremely tough conditions. Things started off o.k. on the first hole. I drove far right into the 10th fairway, but far enough right that I was able to hit it back over the tall pines and still make a boogie. I wasn't upset with this cause i thought I could get it back. Then on the second hole of the day the wheels fell off. The same thing happened to me last year at Grand Niagara. The first par 3 of the day, one of the holes I felt was going to be important, i duffed my drive, the second, shot, and the third, to take a 7. At this point I had to completely abandon my game plan. Except on the very next hole, I duffed my drive. I made 2 nice shots after that to get to the green but couldn't scramble for a par. On number 4 I hit a nice drive down the middle to 140, hit pitching wedge to about 25 feet from the pin, and then made a long putt for birdie. Alright, i'm back in this. Then another par 3, i managed to make a 5. 5 holes in, 2 par 3's, and I'm out of the tournament. I started to push for birdies which made things even worse and the next thing I know, i'm finished 9 holes with 1 birdie, but no pars, and I shot 50. I haven't shot that bad on 9 holes in many years. I guess it was the nerves.

Finally on #10 I made a par. Thinking I could make the back 9 a respectable score and come in around 90, i was brought back to earth by the 11th par 3 where i managed to make an 8. I couldn't believe it. Completely lost composure and i totally gave up. The next hole was a long par 5. I hit a nice drive, followed by a 240 yards 4 iron rescue to about 15 feet left of the stick. I made a great chip off the side of a hill and it stopped about a foot from the hole for a tap in birdie. after that I actually started to play a little better. I can't remember exactly but I think i made 4 out of the next 6 pars. With 2 more bogies, I found myself at 95. So disapointing.

My driver had been so good up untill this round and all of a sudden i lost it. I couldn't hit it if my life depended on it. I probably should have just abandoned it, but because I was so far in the hole I guess I was just trying to get a wedge in my hands on every hole cause that was the only part of my game that was good. Needless to say, I have to play much better this sunday at Penn Lakes. It's a really short but tough course. I plan on playing just like Hunter Pointe. I'm going to hit my 2 iron rescue off every tee. Just play a safe conservative round, and just trust my short game to save me. I think I'm going to have to post a good score like 80 in order to have a chance at making the tour. I'll be pretty disapointed if I don't make it.

Sunday golf was a little better. Playing a St. Catharined with Matt and Cal on a very nice sunny day. I was up late watching the De La Hoya vs Mayweather fight saturday night and woke up not really feeling the golf. Luckly there was a frost delay, and I was still able to make it on time to play. I physically showed up, but mentally wasn't there untill the 6th hole. I went double, double, double, boogie, boogie, to start. I was so freaking pissed. Somehow i turned it around. Finished the front 9, par, birdie (2 or 3 inches from a hole in one), par, par. 43 on the front. Then opened the back with another birdie, but then made boogie, double. Luckly I made another birdie at 16 and finshed 39 on the back for an 82. Pretty good considering my horrible start.

What did I learn from this? i'm not as good as Matt and i can't show up 2 minutes before my tee time and still play. I have to warm up a little before playing. Right now though, I'm thinking about next week. I just want to concentrate, be conservative, and amke the cut.

Game PLan

The first qualifing event for the Niagara Mens tour is tomorrow at Lookout Point in fonthill. It's a classic golf course, probably one of the best private courses in our area, and should prove to be very challenging. I've played quite a few times, never that well, but I feel with how i'm playing right now, i should be able to post a decent score. My only concern is teeing off at 3:00 pm. Not once was a round last year finished in under 5 hours, and thats all the time I will have before it gets dark.

So what the game plan you ask? Well I'll tell you. First of all, I must concentrate on 3/4 shots for accuracy. The greens are very small and quick and most greens require being in the right spot or else there will be trouble. I must remember to club up 1 on all shots outside of 100 to 120 yards.

Secondly, i want to continue to be aggressive, but conservative at the same time. I know for sure there is one par 5 where you can get there in 2, but the green is tiny sloping massivly backwards, with bunkers all around it. I will be laying up on that hole for sure. Also I don't plan on hitting driver on every hole. Although my driver has been the most solid club for me this year, I don't think it will be necesasry to blast one every hole. I'm looking for pars tomorrow, not birdies.

The most important part about tomorrow for me will be the par 3's. I feel that if I can make a par on all the par 3's i'll be in great shape. While this is the desired result on any course, it's especially true at lookout. Note to self, hit a 3/4 shot of all par 3 tees.

Other then that, putting will be tough all day. Lookout has a reputation for illusions on the the green. Many times you'll look at the putt and think it's downhill only to find out after you hit it that it was uphill. Don't ask me how they made this possible, but it happens quite a bit out there. I'll be drilling my dad (member there) with questions tonight to try and get a better feel for the course. Also, out there you never get a flat a lie. It will be important to compensate for that on every shot.

Motto of the day will be think before you hit, something I have troubles with.