Navajo Trail Open

The Navajo Trail Open wrapped up yesterday and I fired a final round 72 to tie for 2nd place. It was a very disappointing finish to such a fantastic week of play. On the bright side, an amateur came from behind to win so I was able to share first place in the pro division and cash my biggest check as a pro. After a $300 entry, I can't be too upset with a lot of good play, and a check for $4,000. It is nice to see my game back to it's old form now for quite some time. I fired rounds of 67, 65, 72 for a 9 under total. The first 2 rounds I played smart, solid, and my putter was on fire. I had a 3 shot lead going into the final round and was looking to notch my first win as a professional. The front 9 I played well. Definitely fought some nerves in the beginning, battled some bad breaks, bad lies, and a couple missed short putts, but still fired even par on my front 9 and had a 1 shot lead. The altitude finally got me on number 10, a par 5 into the wind. I hit a 350 yard drive right down the middle, into the wind. I was left with 196 yards and hit the best iron shot of the day. A pure 5 iron drawing RIGHT at the flag. It was way too much club, and I walked away with a par when a birdie was much needed. Still, I just focused on making smart decisions and good swings. Unfortunately this good thought process was not executed and I hit my next tee shot out of bounds on the drivable par 4, 11th. I made birdied on my next ball to only drop a stroke but was now 1 off the lead. 12 is a 198 yard par 3 over water with a pin tuck on the right with wind coming out of the right. I hit a hard 8 iron to 7 feet, leaving me a perfect uphill putt. Again, another short birdie putt just missed. Things would only get worse when I would hook my next drive into a creek and make double bogey on 13. The next few holes I hit a lot of good shots that just didn't end up as good as they easily could have. At this point I was 2 down to 2 players with 2 holes to go. 17 was a dogleg right 565 yard par 5 into the wind with out of bounds to the right. I put my drive in the fairway and left myself 245 yards, slightly uphill, into the wind, over some trees. I hit a high, fade hybrid to 30 feet pin hi. Before I putted, the amateur, Luke Tanner, chipped in for eagle. I knew the tournament was his but I wanted to give the other pro a run for his money. I made my 30 foot curler for eagle and experienced the most exciting moment ever on a golf course. 18 is a challenging par 4 and it was getting dark and some rain began to fall. I left myself a 20 foot birdie putt uphill for the win in the professional portion of the tournament, but the ball veered right at the end. Although it was disappointing to not win the tournament, I was pretty excited to eagle 17 and split first place prize money.
Looking back on the tournament as a whole, it was such a positive experience and a great learning opportunity in my young professional career. It is nice to walk away with a nice size check and feeling good about my game.
This was by far the biggest event I have played in throughout my entire golfing career and I will take away nothing but positives from this. Although I would have loved to share this week, and father's day, with my family and dad, I was able to spend this final round with Randy Kahn and his family. There hospitality and support have always been incredible, and this trip has been nothing but the same. I would not be where I am today in my golfing career without Randy so it was nice to show him where my game has come and to have a good showing in his hometown.
Again, thanks for the support and hope you enjoy following my adventures. This week I will be playing in the San Juan Open in Farmington, New Mexico. It is a 45 year old tournament which will draw 80 professionals from all over the country and will award the winner with a $16,000 check and a Rolex watch. Stay tuned to see how the San Juan Open unfolds. Feel free to email me if you would like a daily update.

New Mexico/Colorado

I am currently in Farmington, New Mexico visiting my good friend Randy Kahn and his family, while playing in the Navajo Trail Open and the San Juan Open. Prior to this, I played in a 2-day Pepsi Tour event at Callippe Reserve and took my P.A.T. The first round at Callippe was very solid. I shot a 2 under par 70 which included 2 missed 4 footers on 2 and 3, and bogies on 15-17. 15 is a 505 yard par 5 so I threw away a bunch of strokes at the end. Still, I was glad to see my solid play was continuing. Unfortunately I followed up the 70 with a smooth 80. I double bogied 2 driveable par 4's and made a 9 on my last hole. I try not to make excuses but I think working 45 hours over the 3 days prior to the tournament took its toll on me. I felt very tired and weak and my swing felt out of control. This was very frustrating but I knew what really caused the 80 so I was able to let go of the score and move on.
Since arriving in New Mexico, I have had a couple solid days filled with plenty of practice and 2 rounds at San Juan Country Club where I will be playing the San Juan Open. Although my putter has yet to show me anything better than it's C game, I have fired a couple solid rounds of 68 and 67 on a course I have never seen before. My game feels solid and I am excited to play in the 2 events while I am out here. Tomorrow is the pro-am round for the Navajo Trail Open in Durango, Colorado, with the tournament actually taking place on the 19th-21st. You can follow my progress on www.golfhillcrest.com or wait for an update blogg after the tournament concludes. Thanks for the support and stopping by to see what's been going on and check back in soon.

It has been a while since my last blog and updated the website. I continued to struggle with my game throughout the spring months and became very frustrated. After a few tournaments with no checks, I decided to step back and reflect on everything in my life. I came to many conclusions but the bottom line was, I had no routines in my life. I was also very stressed financially and was not being efficient with my time. I took the last couple months to make changes to all of this. I moved back home with my parents to save rent money every month. I started working 5-7 afternoons a week between the golf course and Kepler's, and started getting back in the gym and on the golf course more routinely. I felt my overall strength had decreased considerably over the winter/spring months. With the help of my brother Trevor in the gym, I have been able to get into the best "golf shape" of my life. Once that started taking shape, along with having fewer financial burdens, I then attacked the golf. My days have become filled with practice in the morning, followed by a couple hours in the gym, followed by work in the afternoons. Gradually my game started to show signs that it was coming back into form. It didn't all come back over night, but I knew I was starting to feel different on the golf course.
A turning point was my practice round for U.S. Open qualifying. I went out with good friend Elliot Paylor who plays on the Canadian Tour, and his good friend Tony who is an accomplished amateur golfer in his own right, and shot a 5 under, 67. Both Elliot and I are sponsored by Kepler's Golf Repair so there was a lot of pride and bragging rights on the table that day. I have never felt like the underdog before, but I don't think anybody in the shop, including myself, thought I had a chance in hell at beating Elliot. This feeling bugged me a lot and I knew it was time to put an end to my poor play. I went out that round extremely focused and played the most solid round of golf I have played in many months. After that 67, I felt like the old Brett. The last piece of the puzzle was finally settling in on my equipment. I had felt so uncomfortable with all parts of my game for so long this winter/spring, that it seemed like there was no golf club that seemed to be right. After finding a good head/shaft combination in my new driver, and going away from blades for the first time with my irons, I feel like I am back to my old form.
This past Monday I played a Pepsi Tour event at Poppy Ridge Golf Course where conditions were tough and the field was strong. I hit 16 greens in regulation in very windy conditions and was in complete control of my entire game. It was one of those days where I hit a lot of good putts, but they just wouldn't drop. I finished t2 and took home my first check in quite some time. I am excited and confident for my upcoming events and will be updating the site, and blogging more frequently.