Mini Tour Play

[youngskip40]

Awesome! That's some nice playing. Way to stick with it on the first day, it's always awesome to not let a disaster get to you.

[TheWookie]

Are you looking at any of the SCPGA tournies? I know the good ones are few and far between but they do offer some serious competition and good payouts if the sponsors line up. I mainly played in those when I was in the business.

[enis750]

u always have some great posts about your tourneys Ben
so whats ur deal? I mean your story? is it in your Blogs from start to finish?
id like to read about it.....so are you trying to to go Q-school and earn ur card?

good luck w future tourneys bro!

Edit: just read all 17 of your blogs
Asian Q-School sounded cool

so where now from here?

[Shindig]

I'm glad to hear you have good memories of the place now. Congrats on good golf.

[Ben]

Are you looking at any of the SCPGA tournies? I know the good ones are few and far between but they do offer some serious competition and good payouts if the sponsors line up. I mainly played in those when I was in the business.

I am actually on suspension with the PGA for taking too long to finish Level 1. That being the case I can't play the tournaments either. Bum deal for me. But oh well, there is plenty of opportunity on the GSTour.

u always have some great posts about your tourneys Ben

Thanks for the words.

From here, just what I'm doing keep on the Mini-Tour grind. Build confidence in what I'm capable of. Try Asian Tour of Japan Tour or Korean Tour Qschool next year. More than likely it'll be Asian Tour again.

[Ben]

Thanks to everyone who is following!


Well, today was an odd one. Good but bad but good at The Golf Club of California for the Golden State Tour event. 4-over, 76. No under par, no money!

The bad: Another goofy start, 3-over after 5 and finished the front at 3-over. 3 penalty strokes from poor drives. (I can't wait to get my shaft replaced, things will be so much better!). And, a double to finish the round.

The good: Hit a lot of really solid approach shots, made a few good up and downs, destroyed the course with my favorite Diablo Edge 3wood (I LOVE this thing!), and made an eagle on the par 5 10th (3wood came into action with this one.) The bogey on hole 2 was a lost ball birdie on a par 5. And I saved another stroke on the Par 5 14th after hitting a tee shot into a red-staked hazard.

I'm back to Temecula Creek Inn on Monday. Should be fun!

[ApocG10]

Great thread, and great work Ben! Nice to see things going well for you!

[Ben]

April 5th, 2010 Golden State Tour at Temecula Creek Inn (again). Man, my car is putting in some work!

Anyway, my first ever event in the rain. Sometimes light, sometimes steady, sometimes calm, sometimes windy. Sometimes all four scenarios on the same hole!

The bad news first. Two 3-putts. One extra stroke from not sticking to my game plan. One shorty putt missed. Trees were my enemy.

The good news. I never used the weather as an excuse nor lost my head, even after doubling the first hole. haha (That's the shorty I missed.) I played better as the weather was getting worse. Sharp control of my wedges; birdied two of the four par-5s with wedge in my hand. The practice with my rain jacket on all day yesterday paid off. I rarely felt uncomfortable in it today.

Shot(s) of the day: 8iron from 150y in to the 6th green. Tucked in the back behind a bunker, rain was steady on this shot. High fade to 2 feet, made the putt. Shot 2: Bunker shot on 12. Front bunker, sitting on an up-slope, bit of a lip in front of me. Had about 15y to the pin. 1 foot, nice par. That was after I'd just 3-putted for bogey on 11. Feel good up and down for par.

Hole of the Day: My par on the par-5 4th. Tried to get a little fancy on my second shot. Was laying up with a hybrid from 250 hitting out of the rough. Hit a solid shot, but a limb on top of a tree grabbed my ball and knocked it straight down to 235y and still in the rough. Pinche trees. Nailed a 3 wood to pin high from there! Still had a bit of a putt in front of me. I was on the fringe and somewhat up against the rough with a left to right breaker of about 45'. Solid 2-putt

That being said I finished at 2 over par for the day. Kind of a let down, but in retrospect, I feel good about this round.

The best news: I got to clear my mind by cleaning my car when I got home. puuurty

[jwolf02]

Always enjoy the updates. Thanks Ben.

[Quinn07]

Nice Ride Ben! Thanks for the update!

[Giospro]

what's a good mini pro tour to play in around the west coast area?

[Kicker]

http://www.guestlife.com/media/Guest...pen-Qualifier/

Ben, Didn't know if you knew about this one.
Should be pretty nice out here and the course has been in excellent shape the last few times I played there

[Ben]

what's a good mini pro tour to play in around the west coast area?

I know of two that are in California. The Pepsi Tour plays in Northern and Southern California. Arizona as well. The Golden State Tour plays throughout Southern California. I've got this site bookmarked:

http://www.dmoz.org/Sports/Golf/Orga...ns/Mini-Tours/ its a list of mini tours in the US.

http://www.guestlife.com/media/Guest...pen-Qualifier/

Wow, I should have thought about trying Local Qualifying at a course near Pebble. Sheesh, I just checked USGA's website and I there is still room to sign up there. But, I've already signed up at a course near me. Looks like a great course to play regardless of trying to qualifying or just fun.

[Kicker]

Wow, I should have thought about trying Local Qualifying at a course near Pebble. Sheesh, I just checked USGA's website and I there is still room to sign up there. But, I've already signed up at a course near me. Looks like a great course to play regardless of trying to qualifying or just fun.

If you ever decide to come up this way to play before the Open. I'd love to play a round with you. I suck but I get out there to have fun and make my game better. Plus Bayonet or Blackhorse will definetly tighten up your game as there is not a lot of room for errors on either course

[Ben]

Freakin' Finally! After three different shafts in my FT Tour I found one I can manage. From the Aldila Voodoo 70g X, to the Aldila VS Proto 60g X.

Played on the GS Tour's Monthly Sponsors Shootout today at the Mission Hills Pete Dye Course in Rancho Mirage. By the 15th hole I really figured out how to put a swing on a driver, after a month of struggling, and boy do I feel good again. Although I finished with a piddly score of 1-over, only eight shot off the lead, hahaha, because of some really great tee shots, I finished strong with three birdies on the last four holes. Bad news is that I threw a 3-putt in between in there too. yay golf. Had only 82y left on the 423y 17th. Those three of the last four holes were my only real highlights. I did have a birdie early on the par-5 6th. But I only had 5-iron in to the green so it was a birdie or a broken 5-iron.

I love golf in The Desert (Palm Springs). Its just feel good golf on awesome courses in perfect weather. 92* with a breathe of wind all day today.

http://www.westinmissionhillsgolf.com/courses.php

[Paz]

Freakin' Finally! After three different shafts in my FT Tour I found one I can manage. From the Aldila Voodoo 70g X, to the Aldila VS Proto 60g X.

Ahh you're making me so excited for this weekend!! I have a place down in Palm Desert and I'll be there this weekend for four rounds of absolutely perfect golf and to top it off, this PLAYERS is going to be very exciting I think. A lot of people can't handle the desert heat this time of year (and especially once it starts reaching 110+) but I actually enjoy it even more than winter weather in the desert. Cooler full of ice, a large water, and a damp towel and I'm ready to go!

Yesterday my father and I went to play a round here in WA and no more than 5 minutes after we paid it turned from partly cloudy to an 8 hour downpour. My passion for golf has been increasing rapidly lately and I feel I can no longer stand the state of Washington and its miserable playing conditions. Apart from a few months a year, it seems to be a true gamble to go play a round and receive good conditions.

[Canuck]

Hey Ben,

Palm Springs is pretty nice for golf thats for sure. I jut got back from a week there and I love driving the ball down there. How did you enjoy Mission Hills? Theres a local Tour up here in Vancouver called the Vancouver Golf Tour which i play on when I can and they have an allegiance with the HI5 Tour out of Spain, have you thought about trying some Euro golf. I would like to play an event next year. Great experience and some nice travel.
http://www.vancouvergolftour.com/
www.hi5protour.com

[Ben]

Hey Ben,

Mission Hills has some fun courses. The player course that I played that day is not terribly long, not much defense either. Greens are all pretty flat. All my putts but one were inside the the cup. Start it outside and miss. I'm playing the Pete Dye course in a two-day event Thursday and Friday.

As far as Euro golf goes. Never thought about it really. It'd be nice to play the loop of western europe, Spain, Lisbon. Other than that, I'm not much for the cold. Asian Tour is more my speed, that's why I tried their QSchool last year, and not Euro Tour Q School.