Hasta Luego

I've got my phones set up to work in Mexico, we'll see how that goes. Flights are arranged, hotels are booked, entry fee's are paid, I bought four new books to bring along, and I've got a dose of antibiotic just in case. I think everything is set up for a month south of the border. It's a long time by yourself, but I'm sure I'll make some great friends along the way. I don't see myself spending a lot of time away from the golf course and hotel, but it should be a great trip.

Communication might be sparse, I don't know. My phone should be able to get email, depending on the service each stop. But if the posts suddenly stop, you might have to wait a bit. I'll get around to it. In the meantime, scores should be posting at cantour.com.

Hasta la vista, I'll be back, cliche, cliche. What a great trip I'm in for.

Luke Swilor

Hard to take

I played good today. Birdied the last hole to give myself a chance. Waited around all day to miss the cut by a shot. I miss WAY to many cuts this way. 73-68. Can't shoot over par to start the week. It'll burn you every time.

The game's coming around, so I'm very much looking forward to Mexico. Tonight's rough, but I'll get over it.

Luke

Northern California Classic Round 1

I hit it pretty good today, but I struggled around the greens. I got off to a good start, making birdie on two of the first five. I then missed some makable putts, and all of the sudden I was three over. I gutted it out to birdie two of the last three, but it was a frustrating round.

Scores were low, so I need a good round tomorrow. The greens were pretty chewed up this afternoon, and that is where I struggled the most. It wasn't easy to make putts. I need to take advantage tomorrow when I get a shot at the early morning greens. I feel like I'm playing good, so I'm looking forward to some low scores. They're overdue.

Luke

Northern California Classic

I'm so excited for this year. There's already been plenty of ups and downs, but it all feels good right now. This week is big, but they all have the chance to be big. I'm going to work hard to take advantage.

This week's course is much more to my liking than last week. It is a classic style course (Robert Trent Jones, Jr) with more forgiving landing areas, thick rough, and small greens. This is the kind of golf I like. There are some tough holes, especially down the stretch, but smart golf should pay off. I like to use my brain.

I might have a few swing kinks to work out, but nothing major. I'm a little quick, and my clubface has been a bit shut. Left has been the main miss, but at least I know where I'm missing. Hasn't been that way much this year.

The crowds this week should be bigger too, which I like. I need to get off to a good start, work my way into the leader groups. I thrive up there, especially with some crowd support. It's been awhile (the Gateway Tour had zero gallery), so I look forward to it.

After this week I start my four week jaunt to Mexico. Talk about exciting. If I can keep myself from getting too sick, it will be an amazing trip.

NASCAR FAN UPDATE: I thought the 8 car was going to get a win this week. Unlucky, but the team seems solid. I can't believe how deep I've gotten into racing, but I love it. Missing the races while in Mexico will be tough. I guess I'm going to have to make enough money to go to a few :).

LISTENING TO: The Strokes, You Only Live Once. Nice, happy song.

Luke Swilor

Reading Comprehension...F-

I did some work on the range, and my swing felt more comfortable today than it has in a very long time. I wasn't worried about hitting it into the junk, missing greens, any of that. I was aggressive again. It felt good. I didn't hit the ball perfectly, but it's nice to know where the ball is going.

Unfortunately, I had a bad struggle on the greens. I was starting it online, but I couldn't get a good read. If a guy's putt went right, mine went left. I wasn't seeing it right. I missed way too many putts that were struck well. Money down the drain.

It was weird being out there feeling so comfortable while scoring so badly. I didn't let things get to me all day, but it just didn't come together. Very frustrating. I didn't lose any confidence, though. I'm thinking I'll be in contention next week.

I'm not sure what I'll do the next few days. I guess I'll head over to Stockton to get some early reconnaissance on the course. I don't know. We will see.

Oh, another 75 for me today. Scores were much lower, less wind, so that equals a missed cut. Yuck.

The US Pro Golf Tour has continued its suspension of the schedule, so it's a good thing I found my way out here. Now I just have to start scoring again.

Luke Swilor

Eh, Well

To quote Padraig.

Eh, well, I didn't play all that bad. Not that good, either. 75 left me right on the cut number.

The course is tough, and when the wind blows it gets really tough. I told you it was severe, but the wind brings out the teeth. We saw the wind (and cold) today.

I got off to a rough start. I hit a bad 2-iron into my first hole (10), but I managed a par from the hazard. I got it under control until I missed a shorty on my 5th hole for par. I then putted it off a ledge to make double on the next hole. Ugh.

I righted the ship soon after with a good save and a birdie. I played solid golf the rest of the way, but I made a terrible bogey on my last hole. The ninth (my 18th) is a reachable par 5. I was in the front bunker in two. All week I've been leaving my bunker shots short, so I got a little more agressive here. Of course it went over the green into another bunker, which left me with a ten times more difficult shot. I ended up "saving" bogey with a chip-in. At least I was grinding. Dissapointing finish to say the least.

Scores are high. -4 is low after the first day. The course is so severe that many groups didn't finish 18 holes today. Long rounds, but there isn't much of an option to remedy that. The cut looks to be +3 after today, so a decent round will keep me in it. I'm playing good enough that I believe a comeback is possible, so don't count me out yet.

Luke Swilor

Canadian Tour Preview

The first round of the 2007 Canadian Tour begins tomorrow. This week is the San Jose International Open. The course is severe, but if you keep it in play you could shoot a low score because it is not all that long. The greens are tough and fast, so you have to be careful everywhere. Big numbers loom everywhere, but you can find the birdies if you try hard enough.

I'm looking forward to getting off to a good start this week. My game has been very good the last little bit, so I have a lot of confidence. I expect very good things.

Having a caddy is a new experience. I've only played in one other tournament in my life where caddies were mandatory, but it's been fun. I have the captain of the local high school team on the bag this week. He's a good kid who's excited to be with me, and he knows his stuff. We're going to make some birdies and have a good time.

I'm pretty much set for my Mexico trip, but the travel arrangements have been tough. I'm 2 for 4 so far on booking rooms. One place doesn't know about the tour discount, and I'm having a hard time communicating with the other. I couldn't find anyone to speak English (I can't blame them, I can't speak Spanish either). So I'll continue to work that out over the next two days.

I'm excited. I feel like things are coming together, and I want to take advantage of this new opportunity. I'm not sure if there is live scoring this week, but scores will be up at cantour.com.

Luke Swilor

Let the Madness Begin

The next 6 weeks are looking to be a whirlwind. I haven't set my schedule in stone, but here's what it looks like:

This week-Canadian Tour San Jose, California
Next week-Canadian Tour Stockton, California
The next week-Canadian Tour Mazatlan, Mexico
The next week-Canadian Tour Culiacan, Mexico
The next week-Canadian Tour Vallarta, Mexico
The next week-Canadian Tour Cancun, Mexico

6 weeks in a row on the road, with 4 of those weeks roaming around Mexico. Pretty exciting, and a little intimidating. Right now I'm scrambling to get all my ducks in a row for what looks to be a very interesting trip.

The Canadian Tour website is cantour.com if anyone wants to check it out.

Luke Swilor

I've Got a Tour Card (Canadian)

I played very good today. I was choking all day long, but I hit some really good shots. 70 on the tough Carlton Oaks should get me in easily. More when I get a hotel.

Luke

Canadian Qualifier Round 3

Well, I remembered how to make birdies today. I had six of them, along with an eagle. Unfortunately, I continued to make too many silly bogies. But it was a successful day, as I climbed back into the top 30 (qualifying number) with a 68.

The biggest difference in the last couple days is that I remembered how to putt. Making putts sure does make the rest of the game seem easier. Confidence is the biggest difference, but I've made some adjustments to my setup that have paid off. 22 putts on Wednesday, 26 putts today. VERY good. One more of those numbers would be the ticket.

So I'm on the bubble once again in a Q School. Not the best place to be, but not the worst. A solid round of even par will get me a card. I'm ready.

Luke Swilor

Canadian Qualifier Round 2

I was out of it after nine holes. The silly mistakes continued on my front nine, and I was 3 over after 9. Not good. With the qualifying number coming around even (or better), I was in a bad spot.

My thought process heading into the back nine was that I needed to make up one shot every six holes (needed to go -7 in my last 45 holes, one every six was close enough). I got one early with a chip in on ten. Then the game was easy again. 3 birdies later and I had turned another bad round into a pretty good one. My 71 leaves me with a chance to come back.

Oh yeah, I had 8 putts on the back nine. 8. I think I'll take that. 22 on the round. That goes a long way.

Everything felt good again coming home. I drove it good, got a good break on my 15th hole, and hit my putts where I wanted to. More like normal. I still missed an easy birdie opportunity on the last hole, but I grinded my butt off to shoot a good score. This is the tougher course of the two by far, so things could have gone bad. I hung in to live another day.

Probably more drama to come tomorrow. Hopefully we'll get closer to a happy ending. Stay tuned.

Luke Swilor

Dug My Hole, Now I Dig Out

I've been making so many stupid mistakes lately. Today was no different. Nothing in my game has been that bad, but my scores are basically pathetic. 76 today on the easier of the two courses left me with a lot of ground to make up.

I'm going to make an extra effort tomorrow to take a little more time on each shot. Make sure I've gone through the possibilities, then execute. My swing has had a tendency to get fast, too, so slowing everything down should be the ticket to playing some good golf again.

I'm definitely not out of it. It is early, so it is hard to say what it will take to get into the top 30. I think even par is a good number.

Better tomorrow. 'Lotta golf left.

Luke

Canadian Tour Qualifier Preview

The Courses:

Carlton Oaks. It's tough. This Pete Dye course is long and severe. As most Dye courses are, it is very visually intimidating. There are big numbers lurking, so avoiding them is key. The length pretty much forces driver everywhere, and long irons into greens will be the norm. Par is very good here, so it will definitely be a grind.

Cottonwood-Ivanhoe Course. This is a classic park style course. The main defense is tight, tree-lined fairways. It isn't as long, and there are plenty of birdie holes. You can't let up, though, as erratic play will still result in plenty of bogies. The par 3's are all good holes, too.

There are 143 of us playing for 30 tour cards. Mediocre play won't get it done this week.

I seem to be playing well through the practice rounds. My ball striking is better than last week, and I've put in a lot of work around the greens that seems to be paying off. I'm very confident that if I let it all come to me I will put up some good scores. I start off on the Cottonwood course, so starting off with a good one will be important. I'm sick of being around the bubble, so I'm planning on getting off to a good start.

Luke Swilor