Brian Quackenbush Golf

Good playing…bad break. That sums up the Nationwide qualifier for me on Tuesday in Salt Lake City, UT. I shot 4-under 68 to miss the playoff by one shot. With an 11:30 tee time in the last 1/3 of the field, I was fully involved in both weather delays and the high winds that increased in velocity after each one. It was blowing sustained 30mph for about my last 12 holes. Of the 10 players who shot 67 or better (good enough to make the playoff), 8 of them teed off before 10:00 and none of them teed off after me at 11:30. If you look at the scoring stats for each third of the field, scores stay about the same between the first and second wave, however WD’s go from 6 to 13. So, 7 more players didn’t turn in a card (and presumably played very poorly). From the second to the third wave, WD’s stay the same but scoring average went up by 3 shots. So, the third wave was at a minimum 3 shot disadvantage compared to the first. Unfortunately, I was in that last wave.

Even with the bad draw, I played well enough to have a shot. On the second hole I hit the flagstick with my approach from 92 yards. It was a great shot with the wind howling down and off the left to a front pin tucked over a bunker. The ball landed an inch in front of the flag and caromed about 12 feet right and I just missed the putt. A slightly better bounce and that’s a one or two shot difference right there. On the fourth hole I hit 4-iron from 195 yards into a gale with water short. It flew about 5 yards long (I hit it incredibly well) and bounced into a bad lie where the best I could do was chip to 15 feet. I hit a great putt that lipped out. Those shots were the difference between missing the playoff and shooting the low score (65) of the day.

That’s the nature of these qualifiers. You pay your money and hope for everything to line up and a good round. Fortunately, I’ve improved my level of play this year so that the good rounds are happening frequently, and I just need to have the good breaks. In 10 qualifiers this year I have made it or come close in each one:

I’m following Tiger and Phil’s leads and taking a small break. I feel like I’m just hitting a bit of late-season fatigue and taking a couple weeks will recharge my batteries heading into a very busy Q-School season.