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(video below) After my 4th back surgery in December of 2014 I missed most of the 2015 season (click for my bad back history), then still struggled in 2016 as I tried to strengthen my hips and back with daily workouts. I still had to watch the amount of practice I put in, as too much would just mean more pain and stiffness and thus was counterproductive. As 2017 rolled around I was getting ready to head to Florida after thanksgiving when I felt something funny in my right elbow as I hit a shot in cold weather on the range. It never would get better and I ended up having elbow surgery December 30th to repair the medial epicondyle and the ulnar nerve. It wasn’t until April 1st that I was able to hit any, and so I started the year very rusty, trying to get ready for my first event, the qualifier for the Maryland State Open on May 8th, a tournament I had won 3 times (1994, 1995, 2005) but for which the rules did not offer me an exemption. It was 42 degrees and breezy that day but I managed to birdie my last hole to shoot 76 and qualify on the number. I didn’t hit it all that great but I ground it around and got through with a decent short game and good putting.
Next up was the U.S. Open local qualifier a week later, and once again it was cold and windy with the temperature in the 40’s. I doubled the first hole with a thin wedge over the green and a 3 putt, then got it back to even before finishing with a 4 over 75, missing a playoff by 2. The other good news was that this was a walking event and I got around fine, so my back was holding up nicely as I tried to increase my practice regimen. My next event was the Central Chapter Championship, a Middle Atlantic Section event that was scheduled for 27 holes but riding in carts. I finished the first round at 73 and in 3rd place in the regular division (I chose to play from the back tees instead of the shorter senior tees) with 9 to play, but my back was getting pretty stiff and sore by the end of the round so I decided to end it after 18 and withdrew. It has taken me many years to realize that soldiering through pain is not really a great idea, and there are only a few events (such as the National Club Pro) that would even merit the thought of risking more time off for injury in order to finish. I was still not that happy with my swing or my ball striking on the course, although I was seeing some better results on the range.
I still had a few weeks to get ready for the trip out to Oregon and the PGA PNC (Professional National Championship) which used to be called the CPC (Club Pro Championship). Having won in 2001 at the same course we were playing this year I was exempt until I turned 60, which happens this August. Thus, this was my last year of exemption, after which I will have to qualify by finishing in the top 12 or so in my Section Championship in mid-August. The National is a walking only tournament, and Rick Buonincontri, my website partner, always likes to come out with me to caddy. I had a nice run of success in the event from 1995 up to 2003, a period in which I had a 5th, a win, a 7th, a 13th and a 20th, all good enough to qualify for the PGA Championship. I had not made the cut since 2008 (it’s a very tough cut at low 70 and ties out of 310 players) but it is our major championship and I always like to give it a go. It’s a tough test for me to walk a practice round and two tournament rounds (I get to ride in a cart in the pro-am the day before the start of the event) but I have no choice if I want to play. It’s been 2 ½ years since my last back surgery and I feel like I’m stronger and in better shape than I have been for at least 10 years so I was hopeful that I could at least give making the cut a run. The courses were quite long (although at 4,000 ft. of elevation the ball did travel a bit further than usual) at 7580 yards and 6950 yards, but I had been practicing from the back tees at Lakewood and had played back with the younger guys in all my events leading up to this, so I felt like I could handle it. I shot a decent 75 on the tougher Crosswater course in round 1, and it looked like and even par or one over round would be the cut line. I was one over for the day heading to 14, and when I hit two good shots and had 10 feet for birdie I felt like something good was going to happen. I left that putt short, but hit 2 good shots again on 15 and had but 6 feet to get the round to even and under the cut line. I hit what I thought was a perfect putt, but it failed to break and grazed the left lip before finishing behind the hole. 16 was a 200-yard par 3, and I felt good over the shot until a truck went by right behind me, causing me to back off and start my routine over again. I didn’t settle in well and miss-hit the shot off the toe into the front bunker. I hit a great bunker shot to about 4 feet past the pin, and was left with a very quick downhill putt. I hit it what I thought was perfect again, but once again a misread left the ball on the edge and it was a bogey. 17 was a fairly long par 5 that I could get to within easy wedge distance in 2, so I just needed to drive it in play and get it down in front of the green to have a chance at birdie. Alas, I pulled my drive into the left rough, but it wasn’t far enough left to run across the cart path into the deeper fescue, from which there is rarely a chance to advance very far. What we found when we got to the ball was not what we expected. There was a 12ft. by 12ft. area of fescue under the lone pine tree that had not been mowed, and my ball was visible but with a shock of grass a foot tall and 2 inches thick directly behind it. My only chance was to try to move the ball forward under the tree and down the fairway far enough to have a shot at the green, so I selected a hybrid and gave it a go. The club never really got to the ball through the grass and I only moved it about 10 feet into more tall fescue, and after the next attempt moved it another 10 yards I punched it down the fairway, knocked it on the green about 12 feet away, and two-putted for a double. Just like that I was done, and a bogey on the last gave me a 76 and a total of 151, with the cut coming at 147. I was heartened by at least having a chance at the end, but disappointed in the fact that I did not finish it off. All in all, it was a good trip and left me encouraged to continue to work on the things I had prioritized in my swing.
Next up was the Maryland State Open at Woodholme CC, a great unknown gem of a golf course (designed by Scottish architect Herbert Strong in 1927) where I had worked as a teaching pro for 15 years (1991 to 2005) and where I had won the Maryland Open the last time it was played there in 2005. Woodholme is a hilly track and a tough walk, but my back had been feeling strong and while my ball striking was still a little suspect I felt good enough to think I could play myself into contention. It’s a 54-hole tournament with the cut from 150 to 40 coming after 36 holes, so after an opening 72 where I hit 16 greens and 12 fairways I was in great shape to make the cut and move up the leaderboard. I had a late time for the first round and an early time for day two, so with not much time to recover the question was whether I could hold up without tiring out. I played well through 11 holes, but hit the wall with 4 missed greens and 3 3-putts on the last 7 holes to shoot 80 and miss the cut by 2. I know my caddie was disappointed with my play, but he had another story yet to unfold.
Evan (my caddy) you see, works out of Caves Valley, the Maryland club which happened to be hosting the Senior Players Championship that same week. As the field is limited and all the players bring their own caddies, Evan did not have a bag for the tourney, and if I had made the cut he would have been back at Woodholme on Wednesday to loop for me in the final round of the Maryland Open. Of course, due to my inept finish, he was now free to head back to Caves (only 15 minutes down the road) and when he got there Tuesday afternoon he found that one of the players had lost their caddy due to a family illness. Evan gets the bag for the Wednesday pro-am, and being the excellent caddy that he is (though not good enough to get me to make the cut…just kidding) ends up being hired for the tournament. Well, the player happened to be Scott McCarron, and if you watched at all you know that he won the tournament. Thus, Evan earned 10% of the $425,000 first place money, plus his weekly fee and probably a nice tip, so I’m thinking he wound up with something between 45 and 50,000 bucks. All thanks to me.
There is one thing I tell my serious students consistently, and that is that to learn about your game and to figure out what you need to focus on to get better you must compete. Eventual success arises out of the ashes of failure, and it has become glaringly apparent that I need to free up my swing on the course with a better pivot, freer arm swing and fuller wrist cock. When I am under the gun I tighten up, and with my back issues by swing gets narrow and stiff and I lose a lot of distance. My shots, even the ones that go straight, feel held off and guided, more like small pull-cuts instead of flushed straight or slightly drawing shots. My next tournament is my Section Championship, and I have 3 weeks to work on it until then. It is important for me to play well there as I am no longer exempt for the PNC (my win was in 2001 and I turn 60 this August, which is the cutoff date for the exemption) and I will have to finish in the top 12 to make the trip to Monterey next June. As always, I look forward to the challenge and will keep grinding.
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