It’s the last day of November and this is only my second update on my yoga/run challenge month!  I haven’t had much time to sit and reflect on what has been happening this month due in large part to my very busy work schedule.  Working two jobs for the past 6 weeks has been very difficult on my time management.  In short, I haven’t had much time to do anything outside of working.

I realized very quickly that maintaining this work schedule would be too much over the coming months home in Ottawa.  I’ve stepped back my work at the restaurant and I’m happy with my full time hours at lululemon.  Freeing up more time will allow me to put in the proper effort on hitting balls indoors and maintaining an intense fitness regiment.

As for the yoga/run challenge…it was great.  I averaged 3 classes a week for the month which in total is more yoga than I have done in my life leading up to November.  My flexibility has increased dramatically! I’m very happy with where I’m at, but still looking for improvements!  My cardio endurance has increased a great deal as well.  Thanks to the breathing techniques form yoga, I can run for a longer period of time and stay focused on the stride as opposed to getting caught up on how many minutes I have left to run.

The month was great but it certainly re-opened my eyes to the words of my trainer from back in ‘07; “there isn’t one sole way to go about getting in great shape, we need a combination of it all”.  This was very apparent when I worked out with him this past Thursday.  My muscle endurance fell off a great deal thanks to no time in the gym and too much time in a yoga classroom.

Looking back, the objective of the month was met, along with many things learned and re-learned about myself and my off course training.  From here on out, I’ll take 2 yoga classes a week, mostly yin classes to work on flexibility in the connective tissues of my muscles.  My gym routine will get back in motion along with a more diverse cardio routine.  I’m very excited to use the coming months to see just how fit I can get in preparation for the 2010 season, which kicks off on the Can Tour in April in Mexico!(more on that later…)

I hope this blog finds you well,

I’m 12 days into my November routine and things are going great!  The dive into nothing but yoga has been both very fun and very challenging.  Last week, after 4 straight days of yoga, my body and mind gave up on me and yoga was the last thing I wanted to do.  I wouldn’t have expected that to happen so quickly but surprisingly enough it did.

Looking back, I’m glad the burnout hit me so quickly because it’s forced me to dig deep already and stick this out no matter what.

I find that doing nothing but yoga is great but I still need to work on upping my core strength in order to get through some of the more intense classes and postures.  So the plan is been re-vamped slightly so that I’m still working on my core at the gym on the days I’m working through my running program.  This is all for the better because it’s forcing me to really increase my attention to a total fitness makeover.  After this month I’ll have laid a great foundation to work on building more strength throughout my swing in Dec-Jan.

Back to the present… I’ve done 2 classes so far this week, and hope to do 2 more.  I’m looking to keep up the 4 classes a week routine, just spreading them out a bit more.  So far, I’ve noticed a huge increase in my flexibility, I can get deeper into certain postures that have really challenged me in the past.  It’s great overcoming minor milestones with each class because it shows me that things are moving forward.

Ultimately the goal of this is to aid my journey toward greatness on the the golf course, and every step forward is very encouraging even if it’s in a yoga studio.  Mental and physical breakthroughs are just parlayed into motivation for the golf game work coming in Dec-Jan…very exciting stuff!

It’s November, my off-season is officially underway.  Part of paying my dues and grinding through the process of making it to the PGA Tour is working “real” jobs in the off-season.  This winter I’ll be working two jobs; one retail job at Lululemon and a serving job at Boston Pizza.

The job at Lulu has given me greater access to the yoga culture that I was introduced to this past January.  This leads me to my latest endeavor towards improvement as a golfer.

This November I will devote all of my fitness work towards yoga and focused run training.  I want to switch it up to see how my mind and body can benefit from a total change of pace.  Yoga has been amazing for my flexibility, core strength, and most importantly my mental strength.  I’m hoping that a concentrated effort with yoga over this month will  add to my growth as a player.

The running kick is an effort to increase my stamina and endurance.  I’ll be training with the help of the Podrunner Interval podcast with specific goals in mind.  If I commit mentally to reaching these endurance goals, it can only help my mind and body when it comes to staying strong over the course of 72 long holes in a tournament.

I’ll still lift once a week to maintain my muscle mass, but I’m not at all focused on increasing my strength through weight training but solely through yoga.

To keep myself engaged and keep my blog active, I’ll blog my way through this experience.  I’ll be open and honest about what I can notice happening throughout this process, stay tuned…

As the title suggests, I was DQ’d for the first time ever in my golfing life this past Monday.  Not exactly the return to competition I was anticipating after Q school.

Monday was the first round of a 36 hole platinum event on the Great Lakes Tour.  Thanks to overnight and morning rains, the round was delayed and my tee time was pushed from 10:50 to 1:20.  I was actually quite happy with this since I have been battling a terrible cold since Sunday.  We played 5 holes before the horn was sounded and we had to come in and wait out some more weather passing through the area.

This is where my DQ fell.  When the horn sounded, my two other playing partners had already holed out and I was the only one left to putt.  We were all unsure as to whether the horn was signaling us to come off the course or hit our next shot and take shelter.  I erred the wrong way.  I made my par putt after the siren, which promptly disqualified me from the event.  5 holes in and I was playing well, it’s very unfortunate to say the least.

What’s more is the fact that the second round was cancelled due to an unplayable course.  I was in prime shape to post a solid first round which would have cashed me a nice check and moved me up the order of merit.

I held my place on the order of merit and need a great show at the year end tour championship next week to finish in the top 10.  This was one of my goals for the year on this tour.  Considering that I will only play 10 events compared to most others playing 15, this would be a respectable campaign out on the GLT.

The tour championship is in Brantford on the 6-7 of Oct.  I’m heading for a 4 day getaway to Calgary tomorrow.  I’m excited to head out there and spend some time with one of my closest friend and his family.  It’ll be a nice change of pace to not be in the same city as my golf clubs for a few days!

I’m back home in Ottawa enjoying some rest after the grind of Q School.  I’m happy to report that I got my Can Tour card for next year!

The week was a long and stressful one to say the least!  I did a very good job of dumbing down the importance of each round of golf and just focused on having fun and enjoying the pressure that Q School brings.

out of the bunker in round 2

Here’s a brief recap of the week:

Round 1
I shot a two under 69 and was sitting in a tie for 12th.  This was a great way to start the tournament.  I was very calm and patient all day.  Some adversity came up after a double on the 7th but I handled it well with a birdie on the 8th and 3 more coming home.  The week started in the right direction!

Round 2
I shot 70 and moved up to a tie for 9th.  I was so happy to break par in this round!  I started off very slow with 2 bogeys in my first 4 and shot 2 over on my front nine.  I drew upon my patient play form the first round and just plotted myself along my second nine and finished with two straight birdies to shoot 70!

Round 3
Much like round 2, I shot 70 after a slow start, being 3 over through 8 holes.  I stayed patient and battled back with 4 birdies in my last 10 holes to post 70 and climb to a tie for 7th.

Round 4
This round didn’t go like the first 3, which was the plan! I hoped to start strong and finish strong for the final round.  I knew that no matter what happened, my strong mental state and putter would keep me in it and ultimately get my card locked up!  I was tested all day on how well I could stay focused on never giving up.  I never seemed to get any momentum and also got a handful of very poor bounces on the rock hard greens.  I finished bogey-bogey to shoot 75 and finish at even par for the tournament.  I was very disappointed to finish so poorly, but nonetheless I still hung on to a card for next year with a tie for 22nd.

I was very proud of myself on how I managed the struggle in the final round.  I could have easily gotten frustrated, lost my focus and missed a few putts and completely missed a card for next year.

My tie for 22nd gives me a conditional card for next year, which isn’t all bad.  If I play well I will shuffle out of my category and be granted more starts as the year goes on.  I’m excited at the fact that I have a card for next year.  I’m also excited that my card is conditional because it will force me to keep working hard and keep me focused on improving and not taking anything for granted like I did in 2008.

Thanks to all of you who’ve been encouraging and supporting me through your comments and emails! It’s all really helped me stay motivated and focused on working towards this goal.  Now I’m excited to make some new goals for the off-season and 2010 and look forward to sharing them with you all!

It’s been some time since my last blog…and I do apologize.  Having said that, there hasn’t been a whole lot to write about of late.  My last 3-4 weeks have been a very focused and at times very repetitive run.

I haven’t played any competition in a month so I’ve been using the time off to work very hard on my entire game.  I’ve used the time to improve my swing, and stay on top of my short game.  I’ve also shaken up my fitness routine in an effort to aid the work I’ve been doing on my swing.

What has this all looked like? Well, it’s been early mornings followed by long days of work that lead to early nights in bed.  My social life has certainly taken a hit, but it’s a necessary sacrifice in the quest to get back out and get competitive in 2010.

Canadian Tour Q School begins on Wednesday, and that’s been the motivation for the intense training regime of late.  I’ve had to look back over the last two years and draw on all that I’ve been through to help me prepare for this Q School, my 5th in two years!  I feel very sharp mentally and physically.  One major improvement is how much calmer I am approaching the event.  I’ve down-played the significance and by doing so, I feel much less pressure going into it.  My Achilles heel has been to put far too much pressure on myself before a Q School, so  through much work on my mental approach I feel great!

I’m heading down to Burlington on Tuesday to play and practice at Hidden Lake, putting the final touches on my 100% preparedness for Wednesdays first round.  My key for Q School is TRUST.  My goal is to trust myself, my game, and all the work I’ve put in since last year when I crashed and burned at Q School.

I’ll keep constant updates on my play with my twitter and will sit down to reflect on the rounds with blogs has the tournaments progresses.

I hope this blog finds you well!

Last week brought some amazing news!  On Tuesday I was picked up by Puma Canada, and I’m now proudly a Puma athlete!

I’ll be wearing Puma clothing, head wear, and footwear on the golf course and I’m very excited about this opportunity!  Puma has always been a brand that has caught my attention both on and off the golf course.  Needless to say, I’m very honored to represent  the brand and I hope to do a great job!

Check out my main site in the coming weeks for a fresh look representing the Puma gear!  Until then head over to Puma.com and have some fun!

I hope this blog finds you well,

I’m sitting here on a rainy Sunday afternoon, reflecting on what’s taken place in my last month of competition.  I’m very very pleased with the progress that’s taking place in my game, and I’m also very determined to continue improving and working on the things that haven’t been so great this past month.

Most recently, I had my best finish in a Great Lakes Tour platinum event last week in Burlington.  I fired two 71’s and finished in 9th place, 6 strokes back of the eventual winner.  It was nice to have a top 10 finish, but I was not totally pleased with it because I putted very poorly both rounds.  My ball striking was great and really kept me in contention; unfortunately, my putter was ice cold and didn’t want to cooperate in letting me make a charge for the win.

I’m very encouraged and confident after this event.  I hope to carry this confidence over into this coming week’s event on the Canadian Tour outside of Toronto.  I’ve worked very hard on my putting over the past few days and feel very confident with the progress being made.  I hope to continue hitting the ball as well as I’ve been lately, and follow through with a few more dropped putts.  If the putter falls in line this week, I really think it can be a very great tournament!

I’m heading down to Toronto tomorrow and I’m very excited to tee it up Thursday.

Here’s to a great week!

Well, the Players Cup didn’t go as well as last year!  I missed the cut by 4 strokes this year in the difficult high winds.

My head is still held very high.  I hit the ball great both days!  Fridays round was the most fairways I hit all year, which is a great feeling.  I still missed a few greens from the center of the fairway thanks to a lack of commitment to the shot, which is never fun.

Again, my putter let me down.  I felt much better over the putter Friday and my mind was much clearer than on Thursday.  All that translated to was more putts!  It’s very frustrating to be in great position to make birdie or even save a good par, and not convert.  Over the two days I had 67 putts, which is terrible!  My goal is to be under 30 putts every time I play and I was nowhere near that this week.

It’s extra frustrating because I’ve been putting great all year leading up to the event last week in Saskatoon.  My average was hovering just over 30 putts per round, which is okay.  In these last 5 rounds out in the prairies, I never putted better than 32 putts per round!

I have to keep telling myself that it’s just a phase that will pass and to keep working as hard as I’ve been.  Now more than ever is the time to focus on the process and trust that good practice, good attitude, good routine will get the ball in the hole.

I’m so close! I can feel everything coming together and preparing to burst out in the form of great rounds of golf.  I’m remaining patient for that time to come, because I know it will very soon!

Next on the schedule is 2 Great Lake Tour events before the next Can Tour event in Milton on the first week of August.