Summer 2010

Warning: Another long blog post.  I promise they will get shorter soon.  Just trying to catch-up from the past 18 months.  I hope you enjoy the post!

The summer of 2010 was a summer of firsts for me.

I just finished my redshirt (freshman) year of school, and was determined to improve my golf game.  I did not want my redshirt freshman (sophomore) year of school to be a repeat of the previous year.  I started practicing every day trying to improve all parts of my golf game.  I had my first qualifier of the summer in May.  I was hoping my two weeks of hard work would pay off.

I traveled to St. Louis excited and not really sure what to expect.  I got to the course and started warming-up.  I made my way to the first tee where I met a former Mizzou golfer.  He asked if I would like to join him for the practice round and I said, "sure!"

We teed-off, and I could immediately tell he was a really nice guy!  (There are a lot of golfers who aren't the most fun to be around while on the course)  We started talking and after a few holes I could tell he was a solid Christian.  We talked about golf, life, and faith.  I quickly realized he was a really good golfer too.  A LOT better than me!  We kept talking and I told him about my freshman year of golf.  I didn't go into a lot of detail, but he could tell I didn't have a great year.  He gave me some great tips and encouragement.  We finished our practice round and wished each other "best of luck" for the qualifier the next day.  Playing the practice round with him really calmed my nerves.

I came to the course on the day of the qualifier with a great attitude!  I was excited and ready to play!  It rained quite a bit over-night, which made the long course even longer.  I don't hit the ball real far, so I knew I would have to rely on my short game if I wanted to be one of the guys who qualified.  I began my round with a great start!  I hit my first shot down the middle of the fairway and hit my next shot to about 25 feet of the hole.  I made my putt for birdie, so I was 1-under par after my first hole.  I was doing great!  I played my next few holes okay... and then it began to rain.

We were allowed caddies for this qualifier, but it was only an 18 hole qualifier so I figured I would be okay.  It turned out a caddy would have helped a lot!  The rain began to fall and so did my golf game.  I was having a difficult time getting yardages, staying dry, and keeping my clubs dry as well.  The grips on my golf clubs got wet really fast which made it difficult to swing.  It's not fun swinging a golf club and having the thought, "Oh boy, I hope the club doesn't go flying out of my hands."  I started hitting the ball everywhere.  I would hit it left, right, in the water, in the sand, and in the trees.  You could say I got my monies worth.  I saw every part of the course there was to see.  Needless to say, I failed to qualify for the tournament.  I think I shot 87.  A score that seemed rather normal for the past nine months.

I drove home trying to stay positive.  If there was one thing I learned from this qualifier, it was that I needed to play better in bad conditions.  The next week there was a day when it started to rain.  I put on my rain gear and went to the course to practice.  I knew if I wanted to be a good golfer, I would have to be able to play well in all conditions.

The summer continued and I kept practicing.  I played in another qualifier in St. Louis a few weeks later.  This time, instead of 80 guys playing for 3 spots, there were about 50 guys playing for 25 spots.  I knew I had a decent chance of qualifying.  I had learned my lesson; for this qualifier I had a caddy.  I asked my cousin if he would like to caddy and he agreed.  I kind of struggled the whole day, but kept a positive attitude.  I continued to keep my focus and played hard.  I came in with a score around 79, I think.  Not a great score, but better than the last qualifier.  I was in a playoff with I believe, five other guys.  There were six of us playing for four spots.  The playoff ended on the second hole.  I was fortunate enough to be one of the four that qualified.  I was very excited!  I just qualified for my first non-junior tournament, the Missouri Match Play Championship.  To celebrate, me and my cousin went to the closest gas station and got a couple 44 ounce drinks for one dollar (we're big spenders).  I drove home pumped that my golf game was improving!

This is where the "Summer of Firsts" begins.

It was time to play in the Missouri Match Play Championship at Twin Oaks Country Club in Springfield, Missouri.  I played my practice round with a couple buddies who knew the course really well.  They gave me some great tips on where to hit the ball and where not to hit the ball.  I was thinking to myself, "Gee, I just want to hit the fairway."  I didn't hit the ball that well in the practice round which really concerned me.  The name of the golf course is pretty deceiving.  It shouldn't be called "Twin Oaks," it should be called "Thousand Oaks."  There are so many trees on this course.  If you miss the fairway, you are definitely trapped by a gazillion oak trees.  I knew I would have to hit the ball a lot straighter if I wanted to play well.

The first day of the tournament came, and I was ready to play.  I was thinking positive, and had in mind I was going to play well.  My dad was nice enough to skip work in the morning and come watch me play.  I absolutely love it when my parents are able to watch me play.  It reminds me of all the junior golf days when they drove me around the Midwest, trying to help me earn the chance to get a golf scholarship for college.  Anyway, it was time for me to tee-off.  I parred my first hole and was off to a great start!  The next hole was a par three that was about 200 yards.  I pulled out my 3 hybrid club.  I swung, and the ball went waayyyyy left!  I missed the green about 40 yards left.  A terrible shot.  After my round, my dad said he didn't even see where the ball landed because it was so far left.  The rest of the round didn't go so great. Once again, I was hitting the ball everywhere.  I finished my round with a score of 79.

This is where the story becomes entertaining.

I walked to the scoring tent to sign my scorecard to verify that I shot 79.  In golf, you trade scorecards with the other players to make sure no one tries to cheat.  There were three of us in the group that day, so we all kept someone else's scorecard.  I got my card from the kid who kept my score, and checked over the scores to make sure he had them written correctly.  As I was checking over each hole to make sure the score was correct, someone said something behind me and I turned around.  When I turned back around to check my scorecard, I failed to check over the last few holes.  I signed my scorecard real quick to verify that it was correct, and I went to go eat with my dad and caddy.  After I ate, I went to the driving range to practice, and my dad went back to work.  Later that day, as I was driving home, my dad called me.  He said he was checking the scores of the tournament online and they had my score as a 78.  I knew I shot a 79, so I began to worry.  My dad told me the scores online showed that I got a 4 on the 18th hole.  I knew I actually had a 5.  I was hoping it was just a typo when the tournament staff entered the scores into the computer.  I called the tournament director and he said he would find my scorecard and call me back.  I was hoping it was just a typo.

He called me back about 15 minutes later.  I asked him to see what my scorecard said for hole 18.  He looked at the scorecard and told me there was a 4 written on the card.  My heart sank.  I knew I had just been disqualified from the tournament.  In golf, if you sign the scorecard for a score lower than you actually shoot, you are disqualified.  This was the first time I had ever been disqualified from a tournament.  I was so mad at myself!  I couldn't believe I had done something soooooo stupid!  All I had to do was focus when checking over my scorecard and I would have noticed there was a 4 written down for hole 18 instead of a 5.  Instead, I just kind of glanced over the scores without paying much attention to each score, and it ended up costing me big time.  People would look at the scoreboard and see a "DQ" next to my name.  I'm not sure if there is anything more embarrassing in golf than seeing a "DQ" next to your name.  I was so mad that I had just wasted all that money to play in a tournament that I didn't even get to finish.  My dad joked with me and said, "Well Kyle, it's a good thing you're an accounting major."  That made me laugh.


This was the first time I had ever been disqualified from a tournament... and hopefully the last time.

The summer continued and so did my poor play.  I struggled to break 80.  When I was in high school, I was breaking 80 every day.  My game had definitely taken a step back.  I continued to practice and tried to stay positive.  I kept quoting James 1:2-4 in my head.  I kept telling myself that God was just teaching me a lesson in perseverance.  So, I continued to persevere.

I signed up for the Missouri Stroke Play Championship in St. Louis.  Mid-July came around, and it was time to play in the tournament.

On the first day of the tournament I didn't play very well (surprise, surprise).  I knew if I played well the second day I would have a chance to play the third day.  There were about 156 golfers, and after the first two rounds the field gets cut down to the top 60 scores.  Those 60 golfers play another 36 holes on the third day.  I was hoping I could play well enough the second day to get into the top 60.  I was playing alright the second day.  Whenever I hit a bad shot, I just tried to hit a good recovery shot and minimize the damage.  Our group had about 6 holes left when we came to a par three.  I stepped onto the tee-box with confidence because I just birdied the previous hole.  The hole was about 210 yards, and about 60 yards downhill.  I pulled my 3 hybrid club from my bag (the same club I hit on the par three at Twin Oaks).  I set-up to the ball and was ready to hit.  I swung the club and sent the ball flying through the air.  When I looked up, I noticed the ball was not heading toward the green.  Instead, the ball was flying 50 yards left toward the next tee-box.  I noticed one of the guys in the group in front of us was standing on the tee-box.  I yelled, "FOOORRRREEEEEEE!!!!"

The course we were playing was next to the Lambert-St. Louis International Airport and next to the interstate.

When the ball landed, I saw a guy run out to the right.  I thought, "Phewww, he dodged it!"  I was wrong.

After I put my club in my bag I saw a golf cart driving toward me.  I was about to find out one of the guys had a few words for me.  A guy drove up and said, "I'm going to try and say this as nice as possible, but next time you hit a ball at someone (explicit) yell fore!  You just nailed that guy in the nuts!"  I was rattled.  I said, "Sorry sir, I didn't mean to hit it at him.  I did yell fore though.  I'm so sorry.  I guess you didn't hear it because of the planes and the cars."  The guy calmed down a little bit and drove away.  I drove my cart down the hill and went over to apologize to the guy I just hit.  I went up to him and said, "Sir, I am sooooo sorry!  I feel terrible!  Where did it hit you?" (I was hoping and praying that I missed his manhood.  All I thought was "WOW, I just ruined this guys chance to have kids.")  The man replied by saying, "Don't worry about it.  It hit me on the thigh.  I'm alright."  This was a huge relief to me.  My golf ball missed his manhood by about 2 inches.  Thank you, Lord!  The man said, "It's alright.  This is actually the second time I've been hit today.  Hit your next shot close and get a par."  The man's dad was watching him play and said, "Yeah, he's been hit twice today and it's his birthday."  I was trying with everything I had not to laugh.  How unlucky is that?!  This guy got hit with a golf ball twice in one day... and it was his birthday!  I couldn't believe it.


The man drove off and I tried to refocus to hit my next shot.

Needless to say, I played terrible the rest of the round.  I think I played the last 6 holes at 8-over par.  That's some really bad golf.  I felt terrible for the guy I hit, but I couldn't stop laughing to myself that he was hit twice in one day.  It is extremely rare for someone to get hit by a golf ball.  I was rattled that I had just hit someone for the first time in my life.  I finished my round, checked over my scorecard VERY closely, and signed the card after I was SURE it was correct.  I failed to place in the top 60, so the tournament was over for me.  The next day I drove home.

I played a couple more tournaments the remainder of the summer, but didn't play very well.  Sometimes I would shoot 85, and sometimes I would have "flashes of greatness" and shoot 71.  I never knew how I would play day-to-day.  Golf began to get extremely frustrating.  I was still questioning God, saying, "What have I done to deserve this?  Are you seeing how frustrated I am?"  I continued to pray and trust God; knowing He had a plan for my life.

It was mid-August, and I had been in a slump for the past year.  School was quickly approaching and I had definitely not improved over the past four months.  My summer was highlighted by being disqualified from a tournament, and hitting a guy on accident with my golf ball.  I tried to keep a positive attitude and tell myself that my golf game would return soon.  I honestly was not excited at all to head back to school.  I was disappointed because my coach at school resigned earlier in the summer to help a friend with his new business.  I really liked my coach.  He was always very encouraging to me.  I wasn't sure what to expect with the new coach that was hired.

After a couple weeks of practice, it was time to head back to Oklahoma for my redshirt freshman (sophomore) year of school.  Maybe, just maybe, my game would return in the fall!