Royal New Kent was not kind to me this week. I probably had one of the better ball striking weeks of the year, and got some horrific breaks that resulted in a 11th place finish. The golf course was fine, but it appears that the place is having some financial problems because there were very few maintenance workers and the bunkers were not raked one time during the tournament. The fairway bunkers are very severe in the first place, and you make huge footprints getting in and out of them. I avoided them the first 2 days, but was in three the final day and had no shot each time. We're talking about being unable to move the ball more than a few feet! I was in footprints that were 4 or 5 inches deep. What a mess. The greens were good, but soft, and some had a lot of slope. I had one putt on the 6th hole the first day where I was about 60 feet for birdie and had to putt up a slope about 7 feet tall. The pin was cut about 8 feet on top of the slope, and my ball got to the rise, stopped, started coming back to me and I had 70 feet for par!. As you can guess my next putt was hit hard enough, missed the next one as well and made a routine 4 putt! I actually putted well, missing only one putt inside 4 feet all week. My lag putting was good. (except for #6 1st day) My short game was good as well, getting up-n-down 6 out of 9 times. The issue was that a few drives were severely penalized, and that led to big numbers.

I am off now until Labor Day, and I will be playing 2 events in Myrtle Beach September 5-13. More after that trip.

Bogeys, bogeys, bogeys. That was the theme of my most recent tournament on the Sunbelt Senior tour this week. I shot 72-74-75 and placed 10th. I made 11 birdies for the week, but had way too many bogeys that seemed to stop any momentum that I had. The first day I had 3 birdies and 3 bogeys, and actually hit the ball well. The middle round I hit the ball better, was close to the pin all day. I couldn't make anything over 5 or 6 feet, and got a bad break on 18 when my second shot to this short par 5 took a terrible bounce and found the hazard and I made 6. The final round I air-mailed the first green and made bogey. I hung tough and was even through 11, and made a few dumb swings coming home as well as a three putt on 13. It seemed that every green I missed yesterday resulted in a difficult chip, and I was leaving myself tough putts for par that I was unable to convert. I birdied the last hole for 75 by making a nice up-and-down from a tough lie, so I ended on a good note. I was close to putting it all together, and I am continuing to see positives that I can take from each week, and I am close to taking the next step. I am seeing evidence of better course management, and my execution is better although I continue making a sloppy swing or 2 which result in bogeys. I am learning from playing with better players, and my decision making is improving.

Next week I am back in Virginia with the Sunbelt Tour at Royal New Kent, a very hard course outside Richmond. The played the Crown Royal there, which was a big PGA Section event ($100K purse), and the scores will most likely be high, depending on the tee and pin placements. We have been playing at about 6700-6800 yards on this Tour, and if form holds the course will be set up tough but fair.

Ann Howell is due back in Chapel Hill over the weekend, and I will take her there before going to Virginia. I can't believe that she is starting her second year in college. She has had a good summer, and been helpful at home. She is really looking forward to returning to her new favorite place and being with her friends. She is planning on rushing this Fall, so that should be a fun experience.

Young Peter Champion continues to do well also, even though he seems to need very little sleep. This is proving to be somewhat disruptive to the overall operation of the Brown household, but a small price to pay for such a wonderful addition to our family! The other children are doing fine, and Barrett and Toddy (and Mom) are looking forward to school starting next week. (anything to get out of Mom's hair)

More after Royal New Kent.