Great Practice Right Now + A Look Ahead into 2011

My last three days here at Callaway Gardens have been fantastic. Every aspect of my golf game is feeling good and seeming to improve everyday. I'm still a little bit inconsistent with my ball-striking, but my percentage of good shots increases each time I go out to the course. My short game was already starting to feel pretty good towards the end of last week, but has continued to improve over the past few days. I've been spending a lot of time on and around the practice green, and it is really rewarding to already feel a great deal of comfort with my short game so early in the year. I definitely still need to further sharpen all aspects of my game, but I am extremely pleased with the way my game is coming around so early in the year.

The last two days have been really great because I have had the chance to play and practice a little bit with a fellow E-golf Professional Tour player. I met Taylor Hall last year at Callaway Gardens when we were paired together for the first two rounds at the First Stage of PGA Tour Q-school. He's a nice guy and a really good player, and he lives just 20 miles down the road from Callaway Gardens, so we have been able to have a couple of matches the last two days. It is nice to get those competitive juices flowing again, even if it is only on a small scale. I have played really well, too. We've played the Mountain View Course, which is the tournament layout here at Callaway Gardens, each of the last two days, and I have shot 70 and 71 on the par-72 course. I've thrown a away a few shots with some early-year goof-ups, but for the most part have played really solidly. I've gotten the best of Taylor both times so far, but I have a feeling I better continue to improve if I want to keep beating him! It is really nice to have some competition as I prepare for the tournament season that lies ahead.

Speaking of the tournament season that lies ahead, I have compiled a tentative Competition Calendar of my planned events for the year, and I'm excited to share that with you. I'm trying to figure out a way to post a PDF version of my calendar here on the blog, but haven't exactly nailed down how to do that yet. For now, I'll just tell you a little bit about what to expect. It's going to be a busy year for me, but busy in the best way. I will continue to play the E-golf Tour (formerly the Tarheel Tour) and plan to get some wins out there this year, but will also be dedicating a lot of time, money, and effort to getting into Nationwide Tour events. Last year I played in very few Monday Qualifiers because I thought that they were a long-shot and not a good investment of my resources. One week in late August changed that thought, however. I now know that I don't have to do anything special to be successful in Monday Qualifiers or in the actual Nationwide Tour events; it simply takes good solid golf. Therefore I will be mixing a lot of Monday Qualifiers for Nationwide Tour events into my E-golf Tour schedule this year.

I have some lofty goals for the year, and in my next post, I will talk about some of the process goals that I am going to set in order to achieve my larger goals. My biggest goal for this year, and the one around which almost every other goal will be based is this: I want to play in the season-ending Nationwide Tour Championship the last week in October. In order to do so, I have to be in the top 60 on the Nationwide Tour's money list after the last regular season event in mid-October. To achieve this, I will have to be successful in some Monday Qualifiers and string together some good tournaments, but I honestly believe that I will do just that. In my next post I will talk about some more goals that I have for the year and the process goals that I will set in order to help me achieve them, but my overarching goal for the year is to play in the Nationwide Tour Championship the last full week in October.

It's going to be a fun year! Keep it right here and enjoy the ride with me!