First Nationwide Tour Start

I Monday Qualified. After missing by either one or two shots in every Monday Qualifier I have ever entered, I got through one yesterday! My 67 at Toqua Golf Club held up quite nicely and even had a couple shot to spare. So I'll be making my first Nationwide Tour start this week in my home-town event, the Knoxville Open. It's really cool, and I'm excited!

I played a practice round today at Fox Den Country Club, the event's host course, and I really liked what I saw. It's an old-school type of Country Club with a lot of dog legs and narrow fairways. The greens, which are medium sized with a lot of suttle undulation, were already starting to get medium firm today, and if the forecasted weather for the week comes to fruition, they could be very firm later in the week. The course will definitely require precision both off of the tee and into the greens, but birdie opportunities are available at nearly every hole. The course suits my game very nicely, and I'm pumped to tee it up on Thursday.

Because of the Wednesday Pro-Am, I will not have much access to the course tomorrow. I'll be able to get in some good practice, though, and will definitely have my game ready to go Thursday.

This is an exciting opportunity, but I'm really just going to think of it as another day at the office. I tee it up at 2:20 on the 10th hole Thursday afternoon, and you can bet that I'll have a smile on my face! I have a feeling it's going to be there all week... Maybe even late on Sunday!