I just finished up my tournament at Southern Dunes. I ended up finishing in 44th position and pocketed $600 for the tournament. The only problem is the entry fee for the tournament is $800 so you can do the math. It was a frustrating final round where I started the final round in 14th place in great position to really have a strong finish. Unfortunately I played the par 5's the last day in two over and got absolutely lapped. It was unfortunate because the first two rounds I was 4 under and was really hitting it solid. To be honest the 1st two rounds were annoying as well because I hit it so much better and should have been more like 10 under if I hadn't made some STUPID mistakes. What I can take from this week though is an arsenal of remarkably quality shots that can go into the memory bank for confidence. I have a good friend named Jay Woodson who is also a professional golfer. Jay has a voice from God. I tell him all the time that he could realistically win American Idol. We have another good friend that can play the acoustic guitar. Well Jay is a really good improv singer where he can just feel the beat and make up lyrics as he goes along. In the Winter of 2007, with the help from our other friend strumming the guitar, he sang a song he is famous for called the "Hooters Winter Series $600 check". This is the check that goes to all players who make the cut and finish 40th or higher. Well I can laugh about that today because I just lived it! Sometimes you have to be able to laugh at yourself or life just wouldn't be all that interesting. Well that wraps up my 2009. Still looking for my maiden victory in the professional ranks. I have a real good feeling that I will get that 1st trophy hoist in 2010. I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday season and I will touch base in early January. Thank you for your ongoing support in helping me live my dream.

It has been roughly a month and a half since my Q School let down has come and gone and in between now and then I have had a lot of time to contemplate my past, present, and future. In 2008 after I had a similar 1st stage exit I was extremely depressed and actually put my clubs in the closet for 28 straight days. It was the longest break I had ever taken from golf since I first put a club in my hands at the age of 8. At the time that was the best thing for me to do because the game had really gotten stale and monotonous at the time and I had lost the enjoyment out of playing. Well flash forward to a year later. After Q School I knew I was going to have a heck of a lot of down time to think about where I wanted to go with my game in 2010. Sure I was devastated much like in 2008, but this go around I have absolutely grown stronger as a man from this. Instead of taking the easy way out and taking a break, I have decided to keep moving forward in the right direction. Golf is fun again and I am enjoying going out to the course every day and getting better, so I had no reason to gather dust on my clubs by hanging them in the closet. Not but a few days after Q School ended I began to get back to work with my instructor Brian Mogg down in Orlando. From about December-February this is the part of the calender year where I have the best opportunity to really get very mechanical with my swing and work on the elements of my swing and game that hold me back. Since I began seeing Brian in the Fall of 2007 we have worked on many of the same things. I have always fought my draw bias, so we work on getting the golf club in front of me in a more efficient way that allows me to start the ball on line, with an ability when needed to work it from left to right. Essentially the way I do that is to quiet my leg drive and become more aggressive with my upper body rotation. I have played in 5 tournaments since my last update and have made the cut in 2 of them. The three cuts I missed were by 1, 3, and 1 shots collectively. I was proud of myself actually for the mini run I went on where up until the first cut I missed this winter I had made 13 consecutive cuts in tournaments where a cut was made. The fact that my bad golf, which I have had a bit of lately, is still producing scores that allow me to be competitive is a major hurdle it looks like I have begun to climb. A 77 in pro golf is disaster. A 73 is something you can battle back from. Consistency in golf comes from being able to weather the storm during the bad times and turning those days where you don't have it into scores around 72 or 73. Currently the item of greatest concern for me is to be able to quiet my mind in competitive tournaments. I have a lot of swing thoughts from my work with Brian, and the challenge is to limit those to the practice range and keep it as simple as possible on the course. In the summer I play a lot more feel golf and trust in the changes that I make during my winter training. It is more of a maintenance issue I deal with on a day to day basis during the summer. Now is the time that I really put my head to the grindstone so that come next year I know that technically my swing is where I want it to be and I can focus on my mental game. I have one more tournament in 2009 which begins tomorrow at Southern Dunes, about 40 minutes south of Orlando. This is one of my favorite stops over the winter series because it is a course that really suits my game. I have had a very productive last week of practice and really look forward to going out tomorrow and giving myself a chance to play my best golf and have fun. My goal for this week is to really use this tournament as a spring board into next year. This year, as I have previously stated, I didn't get things going until July. In 2010 I want to have things clicking from start to finish and that will all begin in the early stages of January where I polish off the rest of this Winter Series in the Orlando area.Cheers, and here is to a bushel of birdies this week!! Always moving forward, John.