What a surprising Open championship with Tiger missing the cut and Tom Watson leading heading into the final round! It has been a great week weather-wise and the final day today is no exception. Unfortunately, Matt Kuchar missed the cut so we have had the last two days off. Yesterday we ventured up to Prestwick to play. Prestwick is rich in golf history having hosted the first 12 British Opens with Old Tom and Young Tom Morris winning eight of those. The golf course is entirely different than those days with the exception being #17. It is a 390 yard tight hole with heather on both sides of the fairway. From there you are faced with a blind second with a forced carry over a large bunker fronting the green. Being on the same grounds where the British Open originated was quite the experience. Today I am in for a real test as we head up to play Troon with the famous Postage Stamp par 3.

Recently, one of our Certified Instructors, George Porter, asked me where the concept of the “inner circle” came from. After finishing my response to him, I thought other folks might be interested to hear how it came about. Often times, we as instructors come up with ways to explain concepts to others that seem to stick. This one did and the story behind it is interesting. Hope you enjoy….

We are currently en route to Glasgow, Scotland where it is 5AM, six hours ahead of CST. We left the Moline, IL airport a little late, departing at 9:30PM Sunday evening. The duration of the flight is 6 hours 45 minutes which puts us into Glasgow at 10:15AM Monday morning. The John Deere charters a plane for players, wives, and caddies to entice players to compete in the John Deere Classic prior to heading over for The British Open. This year 23 players took advantage of the all first class seat, direct flight charter. The John Deere picks up the tab for the flight and players make a donation to the John Deere charities for every seat they book. We have a star-studded group on board! Players on board include current U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover, current John Deere Classic & Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial champion Steve Stricker, current Travelers Championship champion Kenny Perry, Quail Hollow champ Sean O’Hair. Also on board are 2004 British Open champion Todd Hamilton, 1998 British Open champion Mark O’Meara, and 1996 British Open champion Tom Lehman among others.

Sorry it has been a while since we’ve put up a blog post. The summer months are busy times for me as Jim Hardy spends much deserved time with his family in Colorado. I wanted to give you all an idea of what I will be up to over the next couple weeks. I have quite a busy, but exciting travel schedule coming up. On Monday night I will be traveling to the John Deere in the Quad Cities to work with Scott McCarron and Matt Weibring. As you know, Matt is a student of mine and Jim is Scott’s instructor. When Jim is unavailable I assist with his students. Another student of mine, Matt Kuchar, may also play. However, at this time he is unsure as his wife just delivered their second baby boy. Prior to leaving I will be spending the day with Peter Jacobsen in Dallas as he continues to work his way back from multiple surgeries.