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.