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The Monday qualifier was at a course called Stony Creek Country Club. I played my practice round with a guy who wore a NASCAR driver’s hat, couldn’t have been a single digit handicap, but had “quit my job to chase my dream” (in the southern-iest twang possible). https://twitter.com/bypeterrobinson/status/1252616326264258562">https://twitter.com/bypeterro...
The Monday qualifier was at a course called Stony Creek Country Club. I played my practice round with a guy who wore a NASCAR driver’s hat, couldn’t have been a single digit handicap, but had “quit my job to chase my dream” (in the southern-iest twang possible). https://twitter.com/bypeterrobinson/status/1252616326264258562">https://twitter.com/bypeterro...
I was out first off the 10th tee. Made a bunch of birdies and bogeys early on. Then I couldn’t find my ball on the steeply uphill 17th...turned out to be in the hole for an eagle 2. Birdied 18 and 1 and all of the sudden I’m 5 under. Two more birdies and I finish with 7-under 65.
Now, I’m a baby in professional golf at this point. Not only am I pretty terrible, I also have zero clue if 65 is good at a PGA Tour Monday qualifier. At this point, I had played 4 events on the Canadian Tour (in Myrtle Beach), made one cut, and generally had played poorly.
So I made a BUNCH of phone calls. Parents, brothers, friends. I’m sure they were all excited but also unsure if I was going to get in the event. They knew less than I did about pro golf at this point. I must have checked every single group as they came in. It was a 156 man field.
By the end of the day, not only had I qualified, I had beaten the next best score by 3 shots. It was one of those days where at the end of it, I thought “well it didn’t seem that difficult so surely the scores will reflect that.” See? I knew nothing.
I had to drive about 80 miles back to Buies Creek ( @GoCamelsMGolf), where I was hanging my hat in the winter/spring, to grab a week’s worth of clothes. I may have called my entire contact list on the way. Had to figure out where to stay, who would caddy (little bro), etc.
It was way harder to figure this stuff out back then. Barely anyone even texted at this point (spring 2001). It was still mostly all phone calls. No smart phones. We still used MapQuest for driving directions.
Tuesday/Wednesday was a “let’s see how much equipment we can demo” competition. Or that’s how it seemed in retrospect. I tried every single company’s driver that week. This was in the middle of the driver wars. Every company was paying a tee-up bonus for playing their driver.
I settled on a TaylorMade 360...which worked well when I happened to hit it straight. I think I was top 5 in driving distance that week. I probably led in tree-limbs-hit and chip-outs too.
Basically the entire week my head was disconnected from my body. I had zero clue, in a broad sense, of what I was doing. My game was unrefined. I shot a great round to qualify, but these guys were several classes above me. I think I knew that, but I would try my best nonetheless.
I was paired with Kevin Johnson and Rocky Walcher. I didn’t know either but they were both courteous and offered encouragement after the two days were over. I think i shot 74-73, with 7 birdies and an eagle. 
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="😂" title="Face with tears of joy" aria-label="Emoji: Face with tears of joy"> Like i said...unrefined.
I remember shanking a PW out of bounds on a par 4. My dad ran into someone’s backyard and argued that it was his ball to take. Later, a little old lady picked up my ball as she walked past it on the cart path, and put it in her purse. My college coach Detective John Crooks...
...was on the case. I’ll never forget his booming voice, “MA’AM!!! Did you pick up a golf ball!?!?!” Saved me two shots ... possibly caused the little old lady to have a stroke.
So I missed the cut by a lot, but came back on the weekend with a couple of friends....MAYBE with a girl I was trying to impress? https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🤔" title="Thinking face" aria-label="Emoji: Thinking face"> And just tried to soak it all in. This was brand new to me, and exactly the place where I wanted to be - but it’d be six years until I played again
Point is, I’ll have these memories forever because I was so out of my depth, yet so in awe of @PGATOUR players at the time. I have trouble remembering tournaments where I’ve played multiple times...but this one, I’ll never forget.
