Worst-Ball

With no money games going on, I have to come up with some creative ways to make each round interesting. Today I tried a one-man, worst-ball scramble. It's just a scramble, but instead of picking the best shot, you pick the worst. This doesn't sound so hard at first, but when you think about it for a minute, you'll start to see how tough it can be. Each hole is a potential disaster, and you always have to make a putt twice to end the hole. If you want to make a birdie, you better stack a couple of shots in there, because you're not going to be making any 25 footers.

I played this way for 9 holes and shot even (which I thought was pretty good). Made one bogey (couldn't make two five footers) and one birdie (par 5). I was really grinding over every shot, just trying to get old man par. A couple of loose swings while playing this format will make some high numbers, so you really have to bear down.

Anyways, it was a pretty fun (but frustrating) way to play. Tomorrow morning I'll be playing for a bit of money, so it should be the first semi-real test of my game. Nine days to the first tournament of the year.

--Luke Swilor

Back to Work

I hope everyone had a good Christmas. Thanks for the feedback I asked for in my last post. It looks as if those who cared enough to comment want to hear it all. You ask and you shall receive...most of it anyway.

Right now my routine will vary more than it would with warm weather. When the courses are open this time of year, I like to pay more attention to actually playing golf and working on shots around the green. I can always hit range balls at the heated ranges. It doesn't matter how many balls you hit, if you haven't been playing you will have some rust when you start up.

Today the temperature was fairly warm, but there was some light rain and wind to make it less fun. The course was still packed, though, and I can't wait until people have to be back to work (sorry if that includes you). I didn't want to slog through a 5 hour round, so I chipped and putted for a couple hours, hit 50-60 yard pitches for another hour, and snuck in three holes before I called it a day. I try to go to the gym 6 days/week, alternating between weights and cardio, so I did that too.

The weather is supposed to be colder tomorrow, with a mix of rain and snow. I think this might be a good thing; the course should be mine for the day. I don't mind playing in rough conditions if I can pull the 1 1/2 hour 18. Plus, I get to hit shots from any spot on the course to any other spot. We've come up with some pretty tough par 7s on rainy winter days in the past.

--Luke Swilor

A Question

I've gotten a bit more traffic the past week thanks to a post from Rich at Eatgolf (and others who have linked because of his post, Thank You), and the Travel Golf Leaderboard.

So, to any new readers:
Would you like to hear more about my daily preparation in the off-season?

It seems like it would be a bit dull, and I'm not sure if anyone wants to hear about it. If you do, let me know. If you don't, I'll continue to write when something interesting happens and from tournaments.

I'd appreciate the feedback. Thanks for reading.

--Luke Swilor

Cooperating Weather?

It looks as if the golf courses will be open tomorrow, so I'm going to actually play some golf. It will probably be quite soggy, but it beats the hell out of hitting balls into the snow. I think there may even be a few money games on Thursday and Friday. A little extra Christmas money will be very nice. The weather is supposed to stay warm for at least the next week, so I'll be much better prepared the next time I tee it for real. Who's up for $10/hole, auto one-downs?

--Luke Swilor

The Plan - 2006

Okay, it's snowing, so I can't practice. It would be a waste of money to make a trip south for a tournament because of my lack of recent play. So for the next few days (or weeks, c'mon weather) I'll be taking it easy. Once we make it to the new year there will be no rest. I came out of last winter with a lot of rust on my game, and I'm not going to let that happen again. Right now I've got two tournaments scheduled for January: The Coral Canyon Open in St. George, and the Southern Arizona Open in Tucson. February and March are up in the air. I'm looking at playing some Spanos Tour events until the summer months, but I'm not sure. Once we get to May the bigger mini-tours aren't quite worth the steep entry fees ($1000+). There are enough tournaments in the summer with equitable purses that have entry fees around $300-$400. State opens are where you can make a lot of money with much less risk. So my summer schedule will be much the same as last year. I'll play state opens, some Dakotas Tour events (last year I played about half the events and ended up 16th on the money list...dakotastour.com), a few Nationwide Monday qualifiers, and some of the bigger pro-ams.

One thing that might make a major change in my summer schedule is if I decide to play the Canadian Tour. The Tour School is at the end of February, and if I played decent golf I would get through. The problem with the Canadian Tour is that it can be expensive. It's a great learning/proving ground, but the purses aren't that great (similar to mini-tour purses). If I had unlimited money behind me I would do it for sure. You get a real feel of Tour Golf at the Canadian Tour events. There are more crowds than a lot of the tournaments I've been playing, they are on TV, and they treat you like a tour player. A lot of doors can be opened with a good season on the Canadian Tour, but I don't think it's the best way to make money.

So I'm getting ready for what I hope to be a great year on the course. It all culminates with the 14 round grind of PGA Tour School, so I'm going to be ready.

--Luke Swilor

Nevada Open

Well, I got down to Mesquite and I was 6th on the waiting list. Going to bed the night before the tournament, I was down to 4th. So the tournament director sent two "waiters" to each course, and as luck would have it, I got in at the last minute. I'm still wondering whether it was good luck or bad. Let's just say I didn't play my best. I had much more rust on my game then I thought I would have, and I made WAY too many bogies. 77-75 and I'm slammin' my trunk on the way out of town. The shining part of my game was my driving. I didn't hit one tee shot even close to out of play. It was one of my best driving tournaments ever, which is a bit weird because I hit maybe 3 solid iron shots. I missed a ton of greens, and I never felt right over an iron shot. So...I've got some work ahead of me. I plan on winning the Coral Canyon Open the first week of January. Gotta start somewhere, might as well be in the new year.

Merry Christmas

--Luke Swilor