Frustrated Inc.

I hit it quite a bit better today. I didn't make the putts I needed to, but I was still in good shape after 12 holes. I pretty much blew it coming in. I knew the cut would be -3, and after three birdies in a row, I had it to -4. I hadn't made a bogey, and it felt like a bogey was an impossibility. Well, not so much.

My long game has been quite erratic the last couple months. I've never had this much trouble with my ball striking. A horrible drive led to double on 14. Then on 16 I made a bogey from the greenside bunker (par 5). Missed a couple 20 footers on the last two, and I missed the cut by two. 71 left me at -1 for the tourney.

My game is very frustrating right now. I just can't seem to get over the hump. Overall, things aren't all that bad. I'm just not scoring. It feels like if I can get one good round to pan out, things will fall in to place. It just hasn't happened. There is no reason I should be on the bubble every week, but I have been. I'm not going to let it happen again.

Luke

Calgary Round 1

I got off to a rough start with the driver on 1. I made a pretty great par, but my bad driving continued. Amazingly, I was able to keep my round under control. I was -3 through 12 holes with just 2 fairways. It caught up with me, though. I bogied my next 3, including a reachable par 5. Not a good way to end the round, but I'll count the round as a "save" in my book.

Scores are low, as expected. The greens are just too soft to put up much of a challenge. The cut will be under par, probably -2. I need to hit some fairways to play the weekend.

Luke Swilor

Nightmare Post

You know about nightmares. Mine have always centered around being unprepared in some way, or not competing at a level I know that I can. I still have dreams where I show up to class not knowing what is due, not ready for a test, like I have missed class for weeks. I was a good student, so this wasn't a concious fear. I did, though, miss a lot of class in high school and college to play golf, so I can see where these come from. Weird, still.

Now that school isn't on my mind, my bad dreams are mostly focused around golf. Sometimes I'm running late for a tee time, and nothing I do will get me to the course. Sometimes I miss a cut (when I know I just made it the preceding day...last week I had this one). Other times I can't get back to my hole after a rain delay, or nobody tells me to go back out.

There is one dream that comes more often than others, and it is quite odd (although my dad admits to having this one too). I'm on the tee, last to hit, and there is something making it hard to swing. Could be a sign, bushes, ropes behind me. I can't make a full swing. Sometimes we're teeing off from some sort of room through a tiny window. Impossible shot. Each time I have this dream, the guys teeing off before me stripe it right down the middle, with no difficulty whatsoever. I'm left floundering for what seems like hours trying to find a way to get it in play. I never hit the shot. Eventually I'll wake up, but it is the most frustrating thing. Where does this one come from? My other bad dreams are somewhat grounded in reality, but this one? Bizarre.

I was thinking about this because last week in the pro-am I had to take down some ropes behind the tee. They put the tees a little further back in practice rounds/pro-ams to save the tee for the tournament. They really weren't all that close, but with my crazy dreams I made sure I was safe. The brain is pretty wild at times.

Don't worry about me, I have good dreams, too. I've won quite a lot of money in my head at night. I've played some amazing/surreal courses that I can't quite remember the next morning. The good dreams just don't seem as out of place.

Anyways, I'm off to bed. I think I'll go to a good place tonight.

Luke Swilor

Calgary

I made the 10 hour drive from Vancouver Monday, only to be bumped from the pro-am early Tuesday. No biggie, just have to make a little more money in the tournament. The drive over the mountains was Amazing. I wish I knew I wouldn't be playing Tuesday morning, because I would have spent a little more time admiring the scenery. If you ever get the chance, the drive from Vancouver to Calgary is a can't miss. Lakes, rivers, cliffs, pines, fog, rain, sun. It runs the gamut. Pics soon.

I'm looking forward to this week because the elevation is similar to Salt Lake. It is fairly cold, though, so the ball isn't going quite as far. The wind has been up the last couple days, so that should push the scores up closer to "normal." The course will play short, but I don't see the scores being really low. We'll see.

Luke

Got it in

72 with an 8. Pretty frustrating, but I feel like I'm due for a good week. Moved up a couple spots.

More from Calgary.

Luke Swilor

Rainy

It's raining hard, the course is under water. Four groups got off before they called them in, and that was about an hour ago. Each minute of rain makes the course worse, so we might run out of time. We'll see, I'm looking forward to playing. Hope we get it in.

Luke

Vancouver Round 3

No birdie run today, but I played a very solid round of golf. 69 moves me up a few pegs heading to Sunday. Very few mistakes, and when I made them I was able to make some good saves. I'm starting to hit it more like normal, and I'm hitting good putts. Still waiting to get hot.

It was raining for about 9 holes today, and that is when I really find the value in having a caddy. I'm pretty solitary in my approach to each round, so I don't need/like a whole lot of input. In the rain, though, a caddy does a lot. I'll normally go through 3-4 gloves when I'm alone in the rain, but I only needed the one today, and it barely had a drop of water on it. As long as it's not too heavy, rain becomes a non-event with a good caddy. So that was nice.

TOMORROW is the birdie run, then over the mountains to Calgary.

Luke Swilor

Bubble Boy

I struggled with silly mistakes today. I hit the ball fairly well, but made some bogies where I shouldn't have. A couple were from inside 100. Not good. 74 has me making the cut close to the bubble once again. I have to get away from that. Too much stress.

I'm sure hitting the ball better the last couple days. I had an extreme miss infect my game when I got back from Mexico. That seems to be disappearing, so I feel like I can get hot again. The tournaments I played around home had a disaster waiting every hole. Hopefully I've curbed that.

Here's a picture from the rainy ferry ride from Victoria. The ferry system from Victoria to Vancouver is a major operation. Giant ships take off every hour on the hour. It's an amazing 1 1/2 hour ride.



Birdie run tomorrow.

Luke

Vancouver Canadian Round 1

Another tough course set-up this week. I like that. I got around in 71 strokes today at Hazelmore CC, which is pretty solid. A few more putts could have gone in, but that'll happen.

I worked really hard on my swing the last couple days, and it seems to be paying off. I'm not hitting it all that solid, timing is off, but it's going much straighter. My putter has continued to be very solid, which makes every hole fun.

Waking up early tomorrow, but I'll have a deeper recap tomorrow.

Luke Swilor

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day dad.

Well, the US Open was fun to watch. I really like Tiger, Badds.com, and Angel, so I had a good time. When I caddied for my dad in the '99 PGA at Medina, my dad was registering right as Angel Cabrera and Eduardo Romero were pulling in. I had watched them both on the European Tour, so they were the first larger than life figures I saw that week. Angel is an intimidating figure without any game, but now he is a Major Champion. Big time now. Johnny Miller said he is like Seve's little brother. I think he is more like the Tony Soprano of professional golf. "Got yourself a gun......"

I guess I was playing golf this weekend too. I struggled a bit/lot yesterday. I haven't been hitting it as good as I normally do. Funny, because I've putted good all week. Switcheroo, but I think that means good things this summer. My bad ball-striking caught up with me yesterday, and I ended up with a dismal 76. I hit it better (at least more confidently) today, but could only manage a 73. Moved me up a bit, but left a lot to be desired. T54. Ehhhh.

I made some strides, though. I had a tough week on and off the course, but I think I made some improvements in my swing. I am catching the 7 am ferry tomorrow for the Pro Am in Vancouver, and I can't wait to get back to the course. I'm hoping I will be able to enjoy the week more than I did this week. Off the course issues have a way of bleeding into your fun on the course, and hopefully I'm through with that.

So goodbye from Victoria. See you on the mainland (sort of).

Luke Swilor

Uhhhh...

Well, it was a bit of a struggle off the tee today. Wild, really. I managed to get by with my short game for 16 holes, but my erratic driving cost me the last two. If it wasn't for two days of good putting, I wouldn't have sniffed the cut.

As it is, I "squeaked" by (told you, see two posts previous). I made the cut on the number. Nothing to get too excited about, but after my last couple days, it's wonderful.

So I think I'm ready to have some fun up here. It's so beautiful, how could you not? I go at 8:03 tomorrow, and trust me, I will stop to smell the roses/blue bushes (whatever they happen to be, I haven't figured it out). Living the dream :).

Have fun tomorrow, and make sure to say thanks to dad this weekend. I know I will.

Luke Swilor

Ready to Play Some Golf

Got my car. I did get ripped, but as I said I needed my car too badly.

Now it's time to shoot a low number. I'll leave the other stuff for later.

Luke

The Aftermath

OK, it's not over until I'm driving my car home from the shop, but hopefully things will get worked out. I'm pretty sure I'm getting ripped, but I'm on an island out of the country with places to be, so there wasn't much choice. Pretty big hit to my bank account, even with help from home. If I wasn't broke enough when I left, I am now. I'll be squeaking by the next couple of days.

Hopefully I'll get my ride back in the morning. Either way, there's golf to be played. The tournament is a good one, and the scores are pretty high. The greens are very firm, and the winds swirl around. A good round tomorrow will get me close to the top. -4 looks to be leading after today.

We'll see what happens tomorrow. Me in a red car and red numbers next to my name sounds like a good enough plan.

Luke

New Fuel Pump

Near worst case scenario. Walking back (1.5 miles) to hotel. Should've flown.

Gave in

And called a tow truck. Too much for me to figure out. Hopefully they'll treat me well and I'll be back running soon.

Car Won't Start

Woke up and my car wouldn't start. It's not the battery, but I don't think the engine is getting any gas. Never had a problem before with it. A good samaritan gave me a ride to my 7:30 tee time, and now I have to figure out how to get my car moving again.

Oh yeah, I played golf today. 72, pretty decent score here.

Luke

I Really Want to Play in the US Open

I love hard courses where everyone has to grind. Baked greens and fairways, deep rough, pressure. I can't wait 'til I get there. I'll be watching TSN (basically ESPN Canada, Sportscenter and all) after my round tomorrow. The recorder is set up for Friday.

I'm back in action this week after being snubbed in the last local tournament. I'm looking forward to it. My game is ok, but it's not great. I'm hitting some good shots, but there is room to improve. I'm ready to grind out four good ones, though, and I'm ready to get hot. It's been awhile.

Juuuuunnnnnnnniiiioooorrrrrr (Dale Jr.) made his anouncement today that he's going to Hendrick Motorsports. I don't know If I've mentioned it, but June Bug is my man on the NASCAR front. Hendrick puts out some great cars, so I'm looking forward to it (if you're not a fan of NASCAR, give it a shot. It sucked me in last year, and now I don't miss a race).

I go early tomorrow, 7:30. Virgin greens, let's make some putts.

Luke Swilor

Victoria

Saying goodbye to the US for awhile.

Hello Canada

Right to the range.

Full slideshow and album at lukeswilor.com/gallery

Luke

Heading North

I'm on my way to Victoria, BC for the first tournament in the Canadian part of the Canadian tour. I'm driving to the first five events, so I'll get to see a lot of the country. Should be fun, and it will be nice to have all my gear with me the whole trip.

So I'll get up to about Olympia, Washington tonight, then drive onto the ferry to Victoria in the morning. Never been ferried onto an island. Kinda cool.

Once again I'm leaving the US for an extended period. I have a feeling I'll be a little more comfortable north of the US than I was south of it (the whole language thing and all).

Luke Swilor

No Gladstan Open

I have been looking forward to two home events, but a call I got today put an axe to that plan. Despite multiple calls to make sure I was eligible to play, the pro called me to let me know only club pros and apprentices are playing this week.

Now it's too late to get to another event this week. Not a very good thing to do to someone who counts on a tournament every week to pay the bills. I was really looking forward to getting back to a course I used to play in high school. Oh well.

So I think I'll be putting in some heavy practice sessions this weekend. I'm looking forward to getting up to Canada.

Luke Swilor

I Promised Mexico Pics...

So here you go. I'm experimenting with Picassa albums, so I'll start to put more up at http://picasaweb.google.com/Swilor/LukeSwilorOnTheRoad

Cathedral, Culiacan, Mexico

The tiger "guarding" the hotel in Vallarta

Find the Iguana

Chillin' on the beach in Mazatlan

Luke Swilor

Provo Open Final Re-cap

Not a good start. I thought I hit a decent drive on one, but it missed flying the hazard by about a foot. Bogey, bogey start. I hung in there, though, getting it back to even through 10. I chipped in to save par on 12, then missed some makable birdie attempts on the next few holes. I had a lot of putts that could have gone in today, but that's how it goes sometimes.

Even par doesn't do much at this course, especially when you're near the top of the field, so I was in danger of losing ground with three holes to go. It got better when I made an eight footer for eagle on 16. Birdie on the last gave me a -3 69. Salvaged a pretty decent score, managing not to lose too much ground. Probably 5th or 6th.

My ball striking is coming around. Getting back to non-bermuda greens has brought my putter back to life. So I'm feeling very good about my game. Most importantly, I know what I need to do with my swing to sharpen it up. I've been searching for awhile now, and my practice sessions should become very productive now that I know how to make it better.

Another local event, the Gladstan Open, is next weekend. Then up to Victoria, BC to re-join the Canadian Tour.

Luke Swilor

Provo Open Round 2

A good score. Finally.

I tried a little something different on the range, and the swing started feeling a lot better. I made sure the club was opening up a bit on the way back. Just like that the big left miss was just a little left. Much more manageable. On the course, I made sure to focus more on a good target. That also freed up my swing.

So I got off to a good start, making birdie on the first two. After 9, I had gotten it to -5. Very good start. I made bogey on ten, but followed that with birdies on 12 and 13. I played solid coming in, just missing a couple of more birdies. It could have been a great round, but I'm very satisfied with a pretty darn good one. Six under 66 gets me back in the action. -7 Total.

So I should go in one of the later groups tomorrow. It's been awhile, and I'm pumped. Playing good makes things a whole lot more fun.

Luke Swilor