April 2002

Tuesday April 2 - Atlanta, Georgia
Jill and arrived into Atlanta yesterday after a great week relaxing in Spain. It was wonderful to see our parents and I also enjoyed the chance to play some social golf. Now it is back to business at The BellSouth Classic here in Duluth, Georgia. The course, The TPC at Sugarloaf will play to all of it's 7293 yards after a few wet days here in Georgia. It is a par 72 and I have memories from last year of a stop start event with terrible weather. Let's hope they get lucky this year. I actually technically made the cut last year with average scores of 71 and 74, but didn't get to play on the weekend as the field was cut to 52 so that everyone could get around. Let's hope for a better start and a good week to move back up the Money List. Congratulations to Glen from Texas for winning this months hat - a tricky question this month, (number 3) that may require a little research. Good Luck. Catch up with you in the week, Per

Wednesday April 3 - BellSouth Classic, Duluth, Georgia
It's a high quality field this week as you would expect the week before The Masters Tournament. Scott McCarron is defending and the weather forecast I have seen is calling for more sunshine than last year! I practiced today as the pro-am was taking place and then Jill and I were planning on having dinner locally. The tee times are out and I am in my now traditional spot off first off in the afternoon on Thursday and first off in the morning on Friday. I am playing with Richard Zokol form Canada and Heath Slocum from the US. My times are 1150 off the 10th and then 0700 from the 1st. I'm excited about the week and ready to play. I'll give you all an update after each round. Until then bye for now, Per

Thursday April 4 - BellSouth Classic, 1st Round, 74(+2)
It really is a great golf course here in Georgia. You can tell they have been trying to set it up like Augusta with no rough and perfect greens. I Shot 74 but felt I played better than that and I need a good one on Friday to get back in the hunt. Starting from the tenth I made a quick bogey on 11 and then got it straight back on 12. I then traded birdie and bogey on 16 and 17 before making a bit of a mess of 18, a good par 5. Another bogey followed on 1 before birdieing 6. Coming down the last I was one over and annoyingly finished with a bogey to shoot 74. This puts me in 110th position and with the cut looking like 2 under I need to get going. I have a very early tee time so it will be a quick dinner and an early night! Bye for now, Per

Friday April 5 - BellSouth Classic, 2nd Round, 72 (Level)
Unfortunately, I have the weekend off after signing for a 72 today for a 2 round total of 146, which is 2 over par. The cut fell at even and I am very disappointed to be heading back home to Florida. I was out in 38 today with a couple of bogeys on 4 and 7 and no birdies. I got them back on 12 and 13 and needing a good finish to make it I gave one back on 15 before making a birdie on the 18th. It was really on Thursday that I did all the damage, especially with those three bogeys around the turn. I actually played reasonably but I now have a week off to practice and I'm sure I will end up watching some of the Masters on TV! I will be back for Hilton Head and hope to see you if you are coming to that one. Watch out for Jesper next week at Augusta - he's starting to play really well! Don't forget to enter this months competition. You might need to look in an Augusta book to find the answer to question 3, but so far 90% of entrants have got it right! Catch up later in the week, Per

Monday April 15 - Hilton Head, South Carolina
After a relaxing week off in West Palm it's time to get back to the golf course and play! We had a great time with friends having dinner and continuing our quest for furniture this week. We arrived in Hilton Head this afternoon and I took a look at the wonderful Harbour Town course. It was designed by Pete Dye and Jack Nicklaus and is a joy to play. Last year I missed the cut by 3 so I am obviously hoping for an improvement on that this year. The famous lighthouse (an imitation as it turns out!) on the 18th is one of the most famous sites in golf and the course is in excellent condition. Well, another Masters is over and Tiger continues his domination of the event. After his birdie on 3 there looked to be no going back for him and with the rest of the leaders struggling it looked on TV like one of his easier wins. He is an incredible player, both physically and mentally and congratulations to him on his 7th major win. I will be keeping you updated all week from sunny SC. Catch up later, Per

Wednesday April 17 - WorldCom Classic, Hilton Head
Our break was just what Jill and I needed. We didn't leave the house for two days! Jill was organising our office, painting the deck and we ended up doing all of those jobs you always mean to get around to. We are staying with Brett Quigley this week at the course. We have a kitchen and Jill has been cooking every night which has been great. Craig Perks came over last night and we had fish and rice. It was a nice healthy dinner after one and a half hours at the gym. I played today and it felt ok but not perfect. It's good to be back playing but it always takes a couple of competitive rounds to get the feeling back. I felt a bit stiff and am thinking about doing some yoga everyday to help my flexibility. Catch up on Thursday after the round, Per

Thursday April 18 - WorldCom Classic, 1st Round, 69 (-2)
I played well today and my putting with the Odyssey 2 Ball was really good. I was in the bunkers a few times but got it up and down a number of times. I thought 69 was a reasonable score today , until I saw Davis Love shot 62 - now that IS a good score! As usual the wind picked up in the afternoon,( it always does that here!). When I got back from the course, Jill, who was walking around told me she saw her first alligator. There are quite a lot of them out there. After the round I hit the range for an hour and then drove the short distance to our house. Jill was cooking tonight as well, chicken and potatoes. Last night, Craig Perks and Geoff Ogilvy and his girlfriend came over for some Turkey bolognese. I have a later tee time on Friday and am looking forward to another solid day. Catch up with you later, Per

Friday April 19 - WorldCom Classic, 2nd Round, 67 (-4)
I shot a solid 67, which is 4 under today. I could have gone lower with a couple more breaks. That said I also made three really good puts for par. Starting from the first I started well with an eagle at the par 5 second and followed this up with a birdie at the next par 5, the fifth. My only bogey of the day came at the 14th, which is a short, but tough par 4. I hit my tee shot left on the fairway and I really needed to be on the right side so as not to have the trees in my way. Unfortunately, I hit one of them and ended up in the bunker. Result - bogey! A good finish with birdies on 13 and 16 got me back in one under and in great shape to challenge this weekend. After the round it was back to the house for dinner. Sadly, our housemate, Brett Quigley didn't have a great week so Jill and I have the place to ourselves this weekend. Speak to you later, Per

Saturday April 20 - WorldCom Classic, 3rd Round, 71 (Level)
It was another hot day at the Harbour Town course. I played well, but unfortunately had one really bad hole. After making a good start with birdies on 2 and 5, I made a triple bogey on the eighth. I hit my tee shot right and got an unlucky bounce and hit a tree, the ball then kicked further right and OB. I then made a bogey with the second ball - resulting in a 7! It was great to make a birdie on 9 after that. I made a further couple of birdies on 12 and 16 but gave them back on 13 and 17. I played with David Frost who had a good start and was 10 under for a while. He struggled on the back 9 and finished -6. It looks like we will play tomorrow as well as we both finished on the same score. I am still in or near the top 20 and a solid round tomorrow will earn me a decent cheque. Looking forward to a good round on Sunday and a climb up the board, Bye for now, Per

Sunday April 21 - WorldCom Classic, 4th Round, 74 (+3)
Sunday became a very frustrating day although I actually played much better than the score suggests, but I couldn't buy a putt. As you may have read I had been putting well all week but today they just didn't want to disappear. After a poor start with bogies on 3 and 7, I had good chances to make amends on 9 and 10 and lipped out for birdie on both. I birdied 11 and then on 12 I was in the bunker but missed a 5 footer for par. I missed another good chance on 13. After that I had birdie opportunity on every hole but only made the one on 17. It was one of those days and I kept on trying to the bitter end. Even at the last hole I had a 6 foot birdie chance to move out of a large group in a tie for 32nd money. Surprise, I missed it! I ended up winning a cheque for around $20, 000 which puts me in 64th position in the money list. I will now take a week off before playing 4 in a row beginning with New Orleans. All of the events at this time are good and it is really hard to choose what to miss, but I have to take some time off at some point and recharge my batteries. After the final round, Greg Norman very kindly gave us a ride home on his plane (Wow! What a plane it is!). Thanks very much Greg, it saved us several hours and although we are supposed to be immune to this sort of thing - it was really cool! Catch up with you later in the week, Per

Sunday April 28 - West Palm Beach
We arrived back home last night after a few days away on the boat. We sailed over to the Bahamas and island hopped, which was just fantastic. We were with the Parneviks and we all had a relaxing time. We swam with the sharks (on one day - they looked friendly enough, just small reef sharks!), snorkelled and ate well. It was great to do something completely different and I have now re-charged my batteries, ready for the next few weeks leading up to the US Open. Thanks for all the competition entries this month. The winner will be announced shortly, but you still have time for one final entry. I plan on practising on Monday and then Jill and I will head over to New Orleans on Tuesday morning for the Compaq Classic. I missed this one last year, so I'm looking forward to playing English Turn. I'll catch up with you from Louisiana, Bye for now, Per

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