Arrowhead Pro-AM Rapid City, SD

Another Win!! Can't put into words how great of a stretch of golf I've had these past three weeks and I am very thankful for all the support I've had over the past couple years!!
This week started off for me in a great way as I stopped in on my drive across SD to see the Badlands National Park and Mt Rushmore in the Black Hills. They were both very amazing places and definitely didn't expect to see that in SD. I took some time getting away from golf and just enjoyed the drive and checking out what great Mother Nature is capable of creating! When I made it to Rapid City on Tuesday I played a couple practice rounds to see the golf course and start preparing for the tournament. The first round was on Thursday morning for me. I teed off at 6:30! Was definitely an early morning as I can't remember many tournaments beginning before 7am. The day to say the least went very well. I made three birdies on my opening 9 holes. I was hitting it very well and carried some good momentum into the back nine where I had a five hole stretch where I went birdie, par, birdie, eagle, birdie! Hit some great shots and made some nice putts. All of a sudden I was -8 on the day. I ended the round shooting a opening 63 and had a one shot lead. Round two I teed it up in the afternoon and again played a good round of golf. I shot five under 67 on the day and maintained a two shot lead heading into the final round! I have never lead a tournament the entire week so was going to be a first for me if I was able to get it done on the final day. The final round began Saturday at 11am. My first tee shot found the fairway and made a great birdie on the opening hole which was a par 5. This got me going and feeing great about my game. I played a very solid round the final day, played very smart and took advantage of opportunities when I had them. Ended the day shooting a final round -4, 67. My 3 day total was 196, 17 under for the three rounds and won by four shots. It felt so good to get another win under my belt!
I'm not there yet but I am looking forward to great things in the future on the golf course. Lots of work ahead but I'm getting back on the right track!
Thanks for following my progress, and thank you for all the great support and encouragement!!

Hillcrest Yankton Pro Am

Last week I played in the Hillcrest Pro-Am in Yankton, SD. I played this event 5 years ago just out of college and remember it being a lot of fun so decided to make another trip back! The event started off for me on Tuesday since I had to qualify for the actual tournament. The qualifier round went well as I shot 2 under to make it into the event. I was a little tired after driving up from Iowa the previous day and also from an emotional high off the win in Cedar Rapids. On Wednesday we had our practice rounds I had a light day of practice and played 9 holes to get ready for the first round.

The tournament started early Thursday morning for me and found the course to have by far the fastest greens of the year! I was one of the first groups out in the morning wave and the greens were pretty close to putting on glass, they were fast! Most of the events on the Dakotas Tour are Pro-Ams just like this event and is definitely a different way to play since your aren't playing with other pros in the event rather Amateurs that are mostly members of the club or clubs nearby. For the first three rounds I played with three different groups of Ams and we had a good time every day. I played some solid golf all week shooting 69 - 70 - 64 in the pro-am portion if the event. After the first three rounds there is a cut and the final day we are paired back with the pros. The final round I was in the final group sitting in third place, 4 shots back of the leader. The final round didn't go as planned for me as I ended up shooting an even par 72 on the day to finish 6th place. I felt as if I played well all day it was just one of those days where a few bad breaks and some missed opportunities turned a solid round into a relatively average one. Overall had a great week in Yankton! The members at Hillcrest put on an excellent event as I remembered from 2008. I got to stay with the family I stayed with in 08 and it was great to see them and their kids! Next week I'm playing in Rapid City, SD looking forward to seeing another new place.