Q-School: Sectional Qualifying Stage: Mission Hills, CA

74-76-75-72

Missed by 4

Could I have cleaned up one shot per day? Absolutely.

I will have to pack up and head to Venice Florida next week for my 2nd crack at getting to finals. I didn't get the job done here at Mission Hills, but I did improve over my finishes here over the past several years. Am I disappointed? Not really. I mean, it would have been nice to get this out of the way and be able to focus on getting ready for finals (okay, well who am I trying to kid--the start of NHL training camp haha ;)), but if I have to go get the job done in Venice, that is what I will do.

I could go through a blow by blow of what happened over the last 4 days, but we all know just how boring that would be so I will spare everyone the mundane details and just say that I needed to play 'cleaner'. Over the first 3 days I will say that I could easily been 8-10 shots lower just by chipping more proficiently and cleaning up the few 4-5 footers that I missed. I got better in terms of ball-striking every day, and today was the cleanest that I played, but I still left 2-3 shots out there.

The best thing about this, however, is upon reflecting on how and why I didn't chip it as well as I would have liked to, I know what I need to do differently.

So, that closes this chapter of Q-school and after taking a day or two off hit the practice tee and then I will head down to Venice, Florida next week. I am actually quite excited to go because I feel really good about my game and my ability to nail it in Florida. Also, the top 30 players (and ties) from this week will not be in Venice, therefore weakening the field to a degree. Strike when the prey is weak? You bet.

Thanks to everyone for the well wishes and the good luck you sent. I actually saw some of it come to fruition on the course today!