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The course we played this week (Vista Verde) was much tougher than the last. I played bad once again, but my game is much closer to being good. Although my scores haven't showed it (not even a little), I'm nearing mid-season form. I'm right on the edge of some low scores.

Round 1 was a debacle. I got the duck-hooks out of nowhere. I tried everything to get them to go away, but I wasn't able to figure anything out until the 15th hole. +7 79 left me needing a very good round to make the cut.

Round 2 was completely different. I actually played really well, and with a couple better breaks I would have made the cut and some good money. I started out with a terrible bogey on the par 5 3rd. I was greenside in two with a good shot at an early birdie, but I left it in the bunker to make 6. I came back with three straight birdies, including a nice chip-in.

I made it to the 12th green at -2. I proceeded to horseshoe a 12 foot putt for birdie. Another awful bogey on the next hole (par 5) where I was pin high in two. I horeshoed another putt for birdie on the 14th. By the time I got to the long par 5 17th, I had to get too agressive to make the cut. There was nothing to lose. I needed an eagle to have a chance. It should be a 3-shot hole, but I had to try to rip 2 onto the green. I gave it a little extra and hit a bad drive. It was the only time all week I left my game plan, and I made double. I played good, but still ended up with a dismal 73.

These types of rounds seem to never happen mid-summer. I can much more easily save the high rounds and shoot around par. The good rounds turn into really good rounds and I can take it low. I feel like I'm about to cross over that invisible line, though.

One thing I learned on this early sampling of the Gateway Tour is I know I can compete down here. These guys are good, very good, but they're not doing a whole lot different than I have done the last couple of years. Playing badly and missing cuts is HARD. I need the money, and I need the confidence. But if I can take this all as a learning experience, I'm in for a good summer.

Off to Parker.

Luke Swilor

I'm Luke Swilor and I'm On the Internet

I forgot to mention that I did an interview for Dave Berner's podcast over at Travel Golf. You can hear me stammering towards the end of the 4/24 podcast. Here is the link to this week and the rest of the podcasts:

http://www.travelgolf.com/blogs/travelgolf.this.week

Dave does a very professional sounding podcast that seems to cover a lot of issues in golf. Check it out.

Thanks to Will for reminding me.

Luke

Gateway Spring - Raven Recap, Vista Verde Preview

NASCAR was in town last week. I didn't get to go, but they sure bring a lot of people into town. Room rates skyrocketed way too high. If you're not going to see it live, stay away from travelling anywhere during race week.

I still felt rusty in my first Gateway Tour event of the year. The track we played (gotta love the puns) was the Raven at Verrado in Buckeye, AZ. It is your typical desert course: desert everywhere. Unfortunately, I was in it way too much. I grinded the whole way in round one, but only hitting 4 fairways comes with a huge price on a course like this one. 79. Hey, at least I got off to a good start. Ho-hum birdie on 1.

I played much better the second day, but I still gave up way too many shots. I was able to birdie 3 of the last 4 to get it back to even. My 72 wasn't close to bringing me back to the cut line, but it gives me a lot of confidence heading into the next tournament.

I finally feel like I can control my ball a bit (still a ways to go), and I'm going to need to. The course we are playing tomorrow (Vista Verde) had the highest scores I've seen at a Gateway event the last time they played there. I got to play it the last couple of days, and it's pretty tough.

The course isn't very long (mostly because the ball goes a long way in the heat and the fairways are fast), so good shots will produce birdies. 3 of the 4 par 5's are reachable, and the last one may be with two big hits. Once again it is a course surrounded by desert, but the toughest part will probably be around the greens. They are very firm, and if you miss the green you will almost certainly have a difficult pitch. Every green is elevated quite a bit, so misses will roll down the hills into collection areas. The key is going to be to hit greens, and hit a lot of them. The best game plan I can see is to play more shots than usual to the center of the green, give the putt a chance, and get out.

Hit greens, birdie par 5s, and keep the putt total to 29 or better. If I do that I'll give it a good run.

--Luke Swilor

Confidence Returning

I hit the range today for a few hours with the best teacher I know, my dad. Turns out I was swinging pretty good. There were a few very minor things going on, mostly in my setup. The biggest thing is that my clubface was open at address. How did that happen? Anyways, that was making me pull the club a little inside. My misses of late have been mainly to the right, until I try to hook it, when I would hit a BIG hook. Most people might call this a "duck-hook." The open clubface sounds like the culprit. The rest of my setup was also a bit sloppy. I just needed to get into a more athletic position (less slouch), and I started to stripe it.

So it was a good session. I feel much better about my game, and I am looking forward to playing this week. I needed some confidence. I'll be going up against a strong field at the Gateway events in Phoenix. Three tournaments in the next 14 days. This is also what I need. Getting to play so much "real" golf in such a short period has always been good for my game.

--Luke Swilor

Golden State SCGA

Well, I was awful for 2 days in Murrieta at the Southern Cal Golf association Golf Club. 74-77 left me way back and not feeling very good at all.

I got off to a bad start both days , and I was fighting back the whole time. My ball striking was pathetic in the early parts of each round. By the end of the round my timing seemed to come back, and I finished off each round fairly well. I putted pretty good, but the greens were coming back from the punch-job, so it was hard to make anything. The rest of the course played about as easy as it could have with almost no wind.

Back to the drawing board for the next couple of days. I am at the beginning of a long stretch of tournaments, so my game should be coming around. I just haven't been good at the beginning of the year. I need to work on coming out of the break a little bit faster.

APRIL 18-20 Gateway Tour
APRIL 25-27 Gateway Tour
APRIL 28-30 Parker Open

--Luke Swilor

Anti-venom

I've been a tad snake-bit by southern California golf. I've played in Socal 4 times as a pro, and I've missed the money 4 times. Weird. Perplexing. Understandable? Maybe, maybe not. I think it is probably because the only time I've played down there as a pro is in the winter/early spring. My game is just not sharp that time of the year. Maybe it's the greens (you have to admit, poa is not the best surface), but I've played okay in the north. I don't know.

Whatever the reason, I'm planning on changing that this week. I'm playing a little Golden State Tour event in Temecula on Monday and Tuesday. My game still has a little rust on it, but I think I'm ready to play some real golf. I truly haven't played enough tournament golf to know much about the state of my game, but the next few weeks should tell me exactly where I'm at. Next week I'll be going to Phoenix for a couple of Spring Gateway Tour events.

Oh yeah, I'll be playing a practice round tomorrow while every other sane person will be watching some great golf on TV. I guess a guy has to do what a guy has to do. Have fun watching the Masters.

--Luke Swilor

Press?

I've gotten a little bit of PRESS (keep reading to be amazed at my wit) over my career in golf, but rarely in the "off-season." So it was cool when William K. Wolfrum asked for an interview for an article he was writing about me. It's up now, so you can check it out by clicking these words.

I got another chance to play with Tony "the Mediaguru" yesterday. It was a trying day in a steady 25-30 mph wind, but we had a good time (I think). I had to grind all the way to eke out an even-par 70, which wasn't a bad score. I convinced Tony to PRESS (see, the whole double meaning thing) our bet on the 17th. We tied the press, but I won the original to put my record at a solid 2-0 in the battle of Guru-Swilor. Tony definitely left his "A" game at the range, but I only had to loan him one ball :).

Luke

Heres a picture of me nearing impact courtesy of the Mediaguru. Nice timing Tony: