One Down, Three to Go

Talk about some pressure. I made it much harder on myself than I needed to, but I made it. By not going low in the first three rounds, I needed a good one today. I got off to a rough start, but solid play in the middle and late in the round left me with a -3 69. The qualifying number ended up at -1 (I was -5).

I've never felt the heat like I did today, and I think that will help me out in the rest of the qualifiers. If I was way out in front today, I would not have felt the pressure that I did on the last 6-7 holes. But I struggled all week, so I put myself in a position where bad things could very easily happen. I birdied two of the last four holes. It was close. I was nervous. I learned a lot about how I can handle heavy pressure, and I came out on the right side of things. BIG confidence boost. I know now I can play very good golf when it matters most.

So I'm on to first stage (my second). I'll need to get off to a better start, but I seem to have worked out the swing problems that hampered me early this week.

Oh yeah...I can't tell you the high I felt when the round (which seemed to last FOREVER) was over. Very, very fun.

--Luke Swilor

Until....As I was basking in the glorious feeling of advancing, I decided to go check out downtown Houston. Unfortunately, I had a little accident on the way. A huge piece of a thick plastic/glass sign fell out of a truck and destroyed my windshield. I'm okay, everyone's okay, but it was a major pain to deal with. Accident reports, dealing with rental car companies, convincing the guilty to give me their information. Bummer. So I decided the trip downtown wasn't in the cards (btw, Go Astros). I'm now chillin' (look at me with the rad words) out in the hotel room waiting for the baseball games to start. But I'm still in better spirits than anyone who has ever had to deal with something like this. Fly home tomorrow. Late.

OUCH! Could've chopped my head off. Came right at me.

Round 3

Was a battle. I didn't have my good stuff. I grinded my butt off, and with birdies on the last two holes, I ended up with a -1 71. I hung in, once again. I (now at -2) am now one below (to the good side) the qualifying number, so I need a good one tomorrow. I had a great practice session this afternoon. I feel good. We shall see what tomorrow brings.

It is a very hard qualifying number to figure out. After day 1 it was -1, after day 2 it was +1, and after today it was back to -1. I figure the number will fall anywhere between -2 and +2, with it most likely being about even par. Who knows, but par or better should do it, so thats my goal. Go get Old Man Par.

I've made it more difficult than I should have, but 42nd place is as good as a win.

Ready.

Luke

Round 2 "Pre Qualifying"

In the books. I played much better today, but a few silly things kept me from shooting much better (two three-putts come to mind). 71 leaves me right on the pace through two rounds. I'm in solid shape, but I need a good one tomorrow to make things a little easier.

I did miss a couple of shortish putts today, but I didn't hit them bad. Either mis-read them or something went wrong on their short travel to the hole. That happens, so hopefully I've used up my short misses for the week. Need to make a couple of long ones too.

Ball-striking is coming back, I felt very comfortable on the course, and the short game is coming around. So I still feel good. With my trouble clubs (ie 2 irons from the tee), I just hit punch/stinger shots to get them in play. I drove the ball wonderfully with the ol' 1-wood, and the short irons were pretty good, too. Go at 8:09 tomorrow, more later.

Luke

Round 1 "Pre Qualifying"

I hung in. I got off to a very rough start. I hit a shot on 2 just like I'd been hitting it the last couple rounds in Phoenix. Led to a double. I guided it around for the next 4 or 5 holes, then I found a better swing. I played pretty good the last 13 holes, but a couple of close putts didn't go in. I ended up with an even par 72 to put me right on the qualifying number.

I'm better than this score, but I made a solid comeback. Things could have gone very wrong if I would have let them. I didn't, so that's a good sign.

It was a different feeling than I've ever had on the golf course today. It started last night, but ramped up this morning during warm-up. I can't really explain it, but it was definitely different. On the first tee I was more nervous than I've been in a long time, but it worked out, striped it down the middle. There's a lot riding on this week, and never going through this tournament before made it extremely...new. The poet in me won't come out, so just know that. Odd. Exciting. Just plain different.

Got a good in me for tomorrow. Late.

Luke

Let's Go

I'm ready. I played another practice round today, and I hit it better than I have in a while. Things just feel good. The course is very easy from the fairway, 130-140 into most holes. If you are missing the fairway, you will have to hit some very creative recovery shots from the trees. Pitching around the greens is also a bit tricky due to the soft (for now) and grainy greens.

After the round, I took a little break before heading back to the course to do a little more work. The game feels a lot better. It's not 100%, but my shot pattern has been narrowing a great degree the last few days. I hit it to 6 feet or in 6 holes in a row today, which is always good. Anytime you go a stretch like that you definitely gain a lot of confidence. That's what it is all about. Hit it at a target, feel it. That's the best way to play, so that's how I'll do it.

Hasta Manana,

Luke

Cypresswood GC

Got in a nice practice round today with an old college buddy. The course is the kind of course I really like. Classic style, tree-lined, tight off the tee. This is the kind of course I like. It isn't very long, but it should be a solid test. I got very tired of the desert courses because you had no chance to hit a great recovery if you missed the fairway (desert course fairways are wide, but if you missed you were taking an unplayable or pitching out). So I like it.

My game is coming around. I hit a lot of shots today, and while I'm not hitting it great, I'm hitting it much better than the past couple of weeks. There will be a lot of trust involved this week, but I am regaining confidence.

Another practice round tomorrow morning. Have I said I'm pumped?

Luke

Houston

Got into Houston last night. Had a chance to drive over to the course. It was dark, but it looked great from the parking lot. I'll be working hard the next two days to get ready. Tournament starts Tuesday. I'll let you know how the course is. I'm VERY excited.

Luke

Working on It

We had a hard time figuring out exactly what was going wrong in my swing. There were some little things, but nothing so drastic that it should cause the shots I was hitting. My natural ball flight has always been a slight draw, which my current ball flight is nothing close to. It seems that my timing has gone bad, along with the accompanying loss of confidence. So there is nothing major wrong, I just have to hit enough balls to feel comfortable again.

I feel good about things, though. I hit a lot of balls yesterday, and I feel like I got closer to hitting it good again. It's not there yet, but I'm not as worried as I have been.

I've got some balls to hit.

Luke

Gearing Up

I'm back in Salt Lake for 3 days before I head off to Tour School (pre-qualifying, the first of my 4 stages) in Houston. It's good to be back, and I've got some work to do. I'll be hitting to ol' range with my pops for some much needed tuning of the swing. It's cold and rainy here (high 57), which is quite a change from the past 3 months. I'll be battling the rain for some of that "work" I have to do on my swing.

I've really struggled the last 3 weeks. After a very solid summer, with a lot of consistency, I suddenly cannot hit it. I've been trying everything, but can't get it figured, so it will be good to get another set of eyes. I am missing shots so drastically that it has to be something obvious, I just haven't been able to find it on my own.

I'll try to post some daily updates on what I'm working on and how much progress I make. Should be a fun week, qualifying starts Tuesday.

Luke

My View Right Now

See previous post.
--Luke

Lightning

Well, I'm sitting in my car waiting out a lightning delay at the Gateway Tour event. I didn't get off to a good start this week, shot a 73 yesterday. I struggled, but at the end of the round I started to hit some good shots. A little momentum right about now would be nice. I'll see what I can do.

--Luke

A Little Recap

I finished up okay at Desert Mountain. Ended up a solid T19th. Just plodded along with four solid scores (72-71-71-70). I got spoiled, though, on the great greens/courses we played.

This week we were at Talking Stick. For some reason, I've always struggled on the greens here. I have a hard time reading them, and that can make it very tough to make a lot of putts. In the last Pepsi Tour event, it didn't matter because I had so many 2 footers for birdie. This week it did cost me, and my 74-70 had me missing my first cut in awhile.

Missing the cut is no fun. Since I hadn't missed a cut for so long, I almost forgot the feeling. But all is well. My game is still in very good shape, and I have some big tournaments/opportunities coming up. I'm pumped.

--Luke Swilor