Luke Swilor`s Road to the Tour

I played a very small event this last week in Utah.  I didn't play great, but I finished ok and ended up losing in a playoff.  Pretty fun, until the losing part.

Right now I'm in Rome.  Rome, NY.  The PGA Tour stops here this week, and the Monday Qualifier is, yep, tomorrow.  This is the last chance at a full week event before tour school, and I can't think of a better way to go into qualifying than getting a taste of the real thing.  Could be more than a taste, as a great week could open everything up. 

So that's the plan.  The course is phenomenal for a qualifier, so that is a bonus.  The area I'm in is beautiful too, especially this time of year.  I feel good. 

Luke

It didn't go well in the qualifier.  I got off to a good start, but stagnated during the middle part of the round.  Birdies are big in a qualifier, and I was -1 after 12.  13 was a reachable par 5.  I hit a good drive, got a good break on my second shot which left me 80 yards to the pin.  I had to hit a super high shot over a tree to get it anywhere near the hole.  It wasn't all that tough a shot, but I over-did it a bit and landed it in the right fringe.  It took a hard right bounce into the hazard.  I tried to get it out, without luck, and ended up with a 7.  Bad.

That was pretty much that, and things snowballed coming in.  I kept trying, but the fire wasn't there.  I missed by a ways.

There has been a little tour following the Nationwide qualifiers the last couple weeks (Cleveland Pro Golf Tour), so I entered that this week.  It hasn't quite caught on yet, but it's a nice place to get some confidence back.  Qualifiers are known as confidence killers, because one day makes or breaks your week.  So it was nice to have a place to play for a few days.

I played really good yesterday, hitting some great irons and making some putts.  I was one shot back of the lead heading into today.

I played fairly well again today, giving myself a chance to win coming in.  It was nice to feel the pressure of being in contention again.  Really nice.  The juices were flowing in a positive way for the first time in a while.  I was positive I was going to win, but ended up 3rd, 3 back.

Anyhow, the confidence killer failed to kill my confidence.  It may end up being a break, as I was able to get into contention for a win.  My long game has come around, and my putting work the last few weeks is really paying off. 

Moving in the right direction.  BIG test in 5 weeks.

Luke

Back in the states.  I struggled on Saturday last week, played good on Sunday.  A pretty mediocre finish to the year.  I've come away from Canada with a lot of positives in my game.  I'm hitting it better than ever before, and I've diagnosed the problems with my short game.  They should be easy enough to fix...

I kept my Canadian Tour card fairly easily, but I'm hoping to not be playing up there next year.  It's a great tour, but hopefully I'll be on to bigger and better.  It's definitely a nice fall back, but I have other plans.

I'm in Oregon right now.  The Monday qualifier for the Nationwide event is, well, Monday.  Looking forward to getting in, and getting a taste.  Then two weeks from now I'm back in New York for the PGA Tour Monday qualifier at Turning Stone Resort. 

I'm really looking forward to the next month or so heading into tour school.  I have the opportunity to get into some big events, and I have the time to fine tune some things before the biggest tournament of the year.  Hopefully I'll be posting more updates than I have been.

Go Utes

Luke

I got off to a decent start this week, but some poor short shots left me in a rough position heading into today.  74 yesterday left me a couple back of the cut.

I wasn't too worried, because the course is pretty tough, and the weather was supposed to get bad.  I was looking forward to the opportunity to make up some ground.

Well, I got the chance today.  It was windy, with periods of rain.  It made the course get that much harder, and I knew a par or better round would have me playing the weekend.

I was off to another good start, but the short game let me down in the middle of the round.  I've been hitting the ball better than ever, just not converting anything.  My putts were tentative all day, so I decided to have my caddy, a 20 year member of the British armed forces, give me a second eye.  We never differed on our reads, but I was more confident with some confirmation.  I made some very good putts coming in, and ended up with a -2 70, making the cut pretty easily.

I hit some really good shots from every area of the game coming in.  Drives, irons, chips, putts.  My decisions were good as well.  I feel like everything is coming together right now, and I can't wait to get back to the course.  I'm a ways back this week, but nothing some great golf can't take care of.  The way I've been playing has me more excited for the "fall classic" than I've ever been.  Nothing can cap off the year better than a good finish at tour school.  That's my main goal, and I think I'm working on the right things.

Low tomorrow

Luke

Sorry no updates of late, just haven't been able to get in the groove.  I've been working hard on my game the last couple weeks.  Results are showing, in spurts.  My confidence is on the rise for sure, and I need that heading into the major job interview I have scheduled for the end of October: Tour School.

My scores have been a bit odd the last two events.  I finally got of to a good start in Mississauga two weeks ago, but I didn't keep it up for long.  A disappointing weekend left me around 60th.  Last week I just didn't make any birdies, when everyone in the field was blitzing the course.  I had no bogies in the second round, but had only one birdie.  That wasn't enough when we were hitting wedges into every hole.

It might have been a blessing in disguise.  I was able to make use of the great short game facilities at the course the entire weekend.  I fixed some flaws in my technique, and came away from the all day short game sessions with a lot of confidence.  My long game has been coming around, so getting sharp around the greens will make my scores come down.  Way down.

So, this is the last week on the 2008 Canadian Tour Schedule.  The Canadian Tour Championship is the biggest event of the year, and the course it's played on is top notch.  It may be the best course we play all year, and you have to hit every shot in your bag.  I'm really looking forward to it, as a good score carries more weight.  This is the type of course I tend to do well on, so I'm planning on going out on a very high note.

After that, a couple of qualifiers, some work, get married (Oct. 11), then tear it up at PGA Tour Qualifying. 

Luke Swilor

It didn't go good this week.  I don't know why things went awry, but I know where they did.  Ball striking, especially iron/wedge play.  I didn't hit a solid iron shot for two days, many times coming up 15-20 yards short.  There was some water in play to, so I got a little wet.

I haven't played as much as I had been the last few weeks, and it showed.  I'm not as good when I haven't been playing full time.  I stop hitting it solid, and my results show it.  I worked some things out this weekend, and I'm not too worried (actually, I'm excited) about the next few weeks.

Along with working out the full shots this weekend, I found a little thing to key in on putting.  It's nothing big, just a feel/swing thought that is getting the ball started on line.  That's good.  You can't get hot without making some putts.

Montreal is a great place to come for a week.  It is so much different, it can get frustrating at times.  Seeing new things is important, though, at least to me.  If everything was the same everyday it would be a pretty boring world (unless that "sameness" was shooting 63.  I'd take that).

On to Toronto tomorrow.  Got seats for the Yankess/Blue Jays this week.  The tournament should be fun too.

Luke

Southwest Kansas didn't go well.  I never got anything going around the greens, and let some things bother me that shouldn't have.

These little small town pro ams are a great thing for guys trying to scrape a living playing golf.  You usually get more purse for your entry fee, and the people really come out to support the event.  It's just a different type of tournament than what I've been playing lately, and I just didn't prepare my mind.

I made a charge on the back nine Saturday, and got up and down from 30 yards on the last hole.  I thought that was to make the cut, but scores were a bit better than I had calculated.  MC.

So, made it back home last night.  I've got a fairly local tournament this weekend about two hours down the road, the Roosevelt Open.  I haven't been able at this tournament since my first year as a pro, and I'm really looking forward to going back.  I'm sure I'll see a lot of guys I haven't seen in a while too.

After that, back to Canada.  A big goal right now is to get my game in shape for the Fall Classic, Tour School.

Luke Swilor

Well, I took some time off for the first time this year.  I really took it easy while I was home, just doing family stuff and running some errands.  It was a nice break, as I'm not likely to get another before the end of the "season."

Today I made most of the drive to Garden City, Kansas.  I'm about three hours away, so I'll be able to get a practice round in tomorrow.  The tournament has the pro am format, two days playing with amateurs, the final day with pros (after the cut).  The BIG difference is that you don't play with the normal 3 amateurs in a foursome, but with 5 amateurs in a sixsome.  This will be new to me, and I expect the rounds to be very long.  Patience will pay off this week, that is one thing I'm sure of.  We'll see how it goes.

Luke

I made it back from Winnipeg.  It was a long drive, but it's nice to be back in familiar territory.

I didn't play great last weekend, but it was a decent finish.  I'm so excited about how I've been getting the ball around the course, now I just need my putter to cooperate.  I told you if it's not one thing it's the other...

Me and my caddy Chris (eyesrubbed.blogspot.com) on the final day:

So I'm home with a few days off.  Might as well make it exciting, eh?!  I decided to propose to my girlfriend Nicki! She even said yes! Wow, pretty crazy/exciting.  She's been waiting a long time, and was quite excited and surprised.  Here we are at Mt. Rushmore on the way home:

So...Back to golf now.  On my way to Kansas next week.  Great results to follow.

Luke

I've played solid golf so far in Winnipeg.  I have yet to get hot, but I'm staying out of trouble.  70-69 after two days.

I'm in a tie for 21st, a much better start than I've gotten off to lately.  Another good weekend and I'll be right there at the end.

I'd be there already if not for a few miscues on the par 5's today.  They are the real scoring holes at this course (Pine Ridge), and to play them at +1 for the day is unforgivable.  That won't happen again, though, so I'm expecting a low one.

Like I've said, I'm very comfortable on this course.  I'm really looking forward to the weekend.  Late wake up call on Saturday for once.  That should be nice :).

Luke

I had a rough go of it last week in Edmonton.  The course really fit my game well, but I had trouble getting it going in the first round.  I was left with some ground to make up on day two, but things kind of snowballed on me and I fell quite short of the cut.

I didn't hit the ball as solidly as the week before, but I wasn't hitting really poor shots.  I wasn't able to take advantage of my good shots, and my short game really let me down.  I'm hoping to have that remedied before we tee it up this week.

I'm in Winnipeg now, two pro-ams out of the way.  I'm a bit worn down after a few long days in a row, so I'm planning on taking it easy until the tournament starts.  I should be fresh and ready to tear it up Thursday morning.

I really like the course, and I had some success here last year.  It fits me well, and I am comfortable with all of the shots we have to hit.  I'm very much looking forward to getting in contention this week!

Luke Swilor

It was a big week for me.  I've been struggling all year.  Sometimes it's the driver, sometimes the irons, sometimes the short game, other times its putting.  Sometimes I don't know the reason, but my scores weren't very good.

Despite some bad stretches, I hung in there all week.  I finally hit on all cylinders and shot 63 today.  Got me up on the leaderboard, in the clubhouse, early.

So, 66-73-72-63--274 (-14) left me tied for 4th this week.  It does a lot.  I made a decent check (finally), I pretty much earned my Canadian Tour card for 09, I got some more world ranking points, and put myself in the position where a couple more good tournaments can get me into some big events. 

I'm pleased with the results of a tournament for the first time in a while.  I didn't win, but I was able to hang in and had a bit of a chance.  My game has been getting better, and it was VERY frustrating not seeing any results.  I can once again see the results of my work, and I can only set my sights higher.

Luke

Oh yeah, once again it's really weird being in Canada for the 4th of July.  I haven't even seen any fireworks stands!

66 today. Scores are low, so that is just keeping pace. It got really windy this afternoon, so I am very pleased.

I had a good swing thought today, just tried to keep the club in front of my body. I had fun. The weather should be better in the morning, but the mosquitos???

Luke

It's been a struggle the last two weeks, and I'm not exactly sure where the hole in my game is.  There are no glaring mistakes, but I'm not scoring at all.

My goal tomorrow is to hit more greens.  My stats are down here.  Middle of the green all day tomorrow...

Luke

Made it into Canada. Victoria (and the rest of BC) is beautiful. The weather hasn't been great, but I can handle a bit of rain.

The Canadian portion of the Canadian Tour starts tomorrow, and I'm fired up. I'm stuck without the internet this week, so a couple of phone posts will have to do. Suffice it to say I'm fired up and ready to go.

I'm looking forward to some gallery and giving the title a run.

Luke Swilor

Before I leave the country, I better recap the last two weeks...

I feel like my old self.  I've been doing a lot of work the last two weeks at home, on both my physical game and my mental game.  I feel like I'm much better prepared heading up to Canada than I have been lately, and my confidence is extremely high.

Along with the work on my game, I've put in a lot of work on equipping myself to play better.  I put some new shafts in my irons, got a new driver, new shoes, new clothes.  I got some things that I need to succeed.  Why I didn't already have them is beyond me, but I righted that ship. 

I solidified a place to practice/play/hangout when I'm home, too.  A lot of the people who have helped me as I grew up have moved on, so I needed a good place to practice and play.  The guys at River Oaks GC have really helped out there.

So, I am pumped to play some good golf.  My mind is in a much better place, a place where I feel like I can do great things.  I saw some results this week while playing with some buddies.   My scores are ready to go down.

And somehow I had a win/place/show on Da' Tara at Belmont.  That made me happy.

I'm catching the ferry to Canada in the morning.  I'll be in the great white north for 6 straight weeks.   Talk to you from the other side.

Luke Swilor

The course won the battle this week.  It played extremely tough, and I wasn't able to overcome a couple of bad breaks the first round.  My putter let me down in the second round, and I ended up missing the cut by 1.

I've said it before, but it is hard missing cuts.  I've missed a lot in a row now, and need to break out of this rut.  I really started to hit the ball well this week, now I need to start scoring.

I gave my mind a bit of a reset during this two week trip in Mexico.  I haven't been thinking in the proper way to play great golf.  I wasn't even thinking of cut lines my first year as a pro, and I rarely missed one.  The cut has become way too big a part of my thought process, and my scores tend to be right around the cut number every week as a result.  Not anymore.

So I'm making my way back to Salt Lake for a couple weeks of work on the game.  The second week of June is the beginning of the Canadian portion of the Canadian Tour schedule.  I'm looking forward to preparing for it.

Luke

It's been a wild trip in Mexico. I struggled off the tee last week, and it wasn't the type of course you could get away with that. I ended up missing the cut by 3.

We then had a charter flight from Cancun to San Luis Potosi. Over 100 people, all with the Canadian Tour. As we began our taxi down the runway, we saw 4 full baggage carts that didn't make it. I brought out the positive thinking, and I was one of maybe 15-20 guys who got both bags. I felt bad for the guys without luggage, but hey (the bags didn't arrive 'til late Tuesday night).

I got in two practice rounds on Monday and Tuesday. The course is very steep, and the ball goes a long ways. We're somewhere above 6000 feet, so that's high. I have a bit of an advantage having grown up playing at elevation. I feel really comfortable with the elevation, the grass, and the elevation changes on the course.

Needless to say, I was looking forward to round 1 today. Well, it didn't quite go off. The wind was blowing a little bit too hard for golf to happen. Balls wouldn't stay on the greens. So, after 30 minute delays for more than 3 hours, the round was postponed until tomorrow.

During the delay, a guy named Jack Nicklaus made an appearance. THAT was cool. He came out, no warm up, and ripped a tee shot off the tenth tee. I can't believe I didn't have my camera.

It really has been a crazy trip. I got sick, too, on Tuesday. No fun at all. I really don't know if I'm better or not, I'm just trying to get by. I'm just looking forward to playing tomorrow. We can't get out there too soon!

Luke

I'll tell you the thing about being on the coast near Cancun. The days are wonderful, but the nights get you hooked.

I'm not talking about parties or anything like that. I'm too far away from the city for that nonsense. I was just down on the beach at my hotel, the only person there. It was like a movie. No sounds except the natural. No light. It was the most peaceful hour I've spent in a long time, maybe my life.

The travel today was rough. The festivities at the Cancun airport alone took 2 hours. Now that I'm here, it seems like a breeze.

I'm really looking forward to this trip. . I felt a switch flip last week, and I'm expecting some really good scores. Either way, I'm living the dream.

Luke

Not just the playing part, but the gigantic loss you feel every time you miss.  It's tough.  It's like losing a playoff when you don't make it.  Crushing.

I played really solid today.  I didn't get anything going until making birdie on 15 and 16.  That put me at -2 with a par 5 remaining.  Pretty good shape.  Disaster struck on 17.

17 is an island green par three, 170 yards.  The pin was in the back (178), so I pulled an 8 iron, trying to hit it in the middle of the green.  I hit it right at the pin, landing pin high, bouncing over the green into the water.  That hurt.  Really bad.  I had to drop at 103 yards, didn't get it up and down, made double.  I ended up with a 72, while 70 was going to advance.

It was a weird feeling at the end of the round.  I was pissed off at the near miss.  It's really frustrating not getting through qualifiers.  But my game was better today than it has been all year.  I made a confident, aggressive swing on every shot.  A few bad breaks cost me, but I really played well.

I think I've been trying to guide the ball around.  I made it a point to make a really confident swing on every shot, and it paid off today.  I didn't have anything resembling a "big miss."  That is a very good sign, as the "big miss" has been a major drain on my game lately.

Mixed feelings today.  Major downer, but there are some positives.

Luke

I got in a practice round this morning. The course is good. There's a whole lot of room, which is a bit different from most of the desert courses down here. The fairways are perfect, but the greens are a bit on the slow side. Scores will probably be pretty low, depending on the wind.

My game feels pretty solid. I hit a few loose shots today, but nothing severe. I drove the ball better than I have been, and I don't feel like there is a big miss lurking on every shot. I feel better about the game this week, so I'm looking forward to getting hot again.

On the way home from the course I stopped by the Casa Grande National monument and saw me some 14th century ruins. Pretty cool.

(I don't think the big structure covering the ruins has been around since the 1300's. Too much steel, but I may be wrong :)

Luke

This Wednesday is the "local" qualifier for the US Open. I'll be in Mexico for Utah's real "local" qualifier, so I'm down south of Phoenix this week. Big plus ---- WEATHER. I haven't had a chance to check the forecast, but it was in the low 90s today. Much better than it has been in Salt Lake, and I love the heat. It just feels more like golf in the heat. Not sure why that is, but that's how I feel.

The drive down here didn't seem too bad. It's been a couple months since I made a 10+ hour drive, but it didn't seem hard or long. I've got two satellite radios going these days, so there was no lack of entertainment.

I've really been getting pumped the last week or so to play golf. I hit the heat this afternoon, and I got really pumped. I can't wait to get to the course tomorrow.

We're playing in a small town I didn't even know about. I basically lived in Phoenix in 2006, but I never ran across this course or town. Poston Butte GC in Florence, AZ. 84 players for 7 spots. The successful qualifiers move on to one of the sectional qualifiers in a couple weeks.

Practice round early tomorrow.

Luke Swilor

I struggled with my ball-striking last week in Mazatlan.  It is very frustrating because I putted as good as I ever have.  Hitting 15 greens over two days isn't going to cut it though.

So I'm in the states for a couple weeks before heading back down to Mexico for a couple more Canadian Tour events.  I've got the US Open qualifier next week, so I'm always up for that.  I didn't get to play last year, as I was down in Mexico for four weeks straight.  It's nice to get a break this year, as traveling down there can be tough.

Ball-striking will come around.  It always does.  I just need to dig it out of the ground.

Luke

I've left the country. It never seems normal, but I've made my way back to Mexico. Mazatlan, to be exact. It's not my first time this year, but there's still a culture shock. Last year was a completely new experience, and I was stuck down here for a month. This year I know a bit more of what's going on, and I'm going to enjoy every minute. The weather is wonderful, and I'm hitting the ball well. I'm going to have a blast.

No good last week. I was hitting the ball fairly well, but I really struggled with the greens. California poa has always been tough for me. It's just so bumpy in spots, and I start to lose the trust of my reads. Anyhow, I'm over that.

I had a decent weekend, though. I got to go to the minor league hockey playoffs in Stockton. Then on Sunday I made my way to Oakland for an A's game. It's always fun to see new parks, and the A's routed the Royals.

I'll try to keep you posted. If not, scores are at cantour.com.

Luke