My first year as a professional golfer has come to an end and the last three months have been filled with lots of great accomplishments. The G-Pro events in South Carolina and Georgia went well even though I missed the cut in Georgia as I still managed to shoot -17 combined in the two events (-12 & -5). Upon completion of those two events it was time to prepare for PGA Tour Qualifying School in October.

I chose to play my First Stage of Q School in Mobile, Alabama. After signing up, I became aware of a mini tour event on the Emerald Gulf Coast Tour at RTJ Magnolia Crossings where my First Stage of Q School was also going to be played. I chose to sign up as a warmup event and to get a closer look at the golf course in tournament conditions. Although I didn't play my best golf in rain and wind I built my confidence for the following week at First Stage of Q School. I came into First Stage after a week of prepping with my coaches and playing some of my best golf all year. The conditions for the event were perfect, sunny and in the 80s everyday. I played well every day thanks to making some clutch putts shooting scores of 69-67-70-66 to finish tied for 8th at -16. It was good enough to easily finish in the top 19 and ties necessary to move on to Second Stage of Q School.

In between First and Second Stage I played in the DEV Series Final sanctioned by PGA Tour Latin America. This event was in Mazatlan, Mexico and was only available for players who lost their Tour status, but were able to earn points in PGA Tour Latin America events in 2023. This event offered full status to the Top 3 finishers and conditional status to the Top 10 and ties. Coming off a great week of play at First Stage I was determined to continue playing well and attempt to guarantee myself status on PGA Tour America's for 2024 regardless of any status I could earn from getting through Q School. I arrived in Mexico ready for the week, but unfortunately it was without any of my bags. I spent two days waiting for them to arrive and luckily they did the day prior to the event starting. Not having my clubs was a blessing in disguise because although I did not play a practice round, it gave me some time to get over a nagging ear infection. I played well the first day aside from a bad finish due to my caddie quitting after 14 holes and having to carry my bag the last 4 holes in the 100 degree heat and humidity. With a new caddie for the last three rounds I was excited and ready to earn back my status. I shot 66 and 65 in the second and third rounds after shooting 69 in the first round to put me in a tie for 4th. A prime position to make a move in the final round and secure full status. In the final round I got off to a bad start and put myself in a hole. On the 11th hole I was at -11 and two over on the day needing to make a strong final charge to have any chance of securing status and I did just that. I made birdies on holes 11, 14, 15, 16, 17, and lipped out on 18 to shoot a back nine 31 and tie for 7th place. This was the last place that received any status for the following year. Although I did not earn full status for the first half of the 2024 PGA Tour America's season, I still was able to birdie 4 of my last 5 holes to earn conditional status which is better than the PGA Tour Latin America status I started with in 2023.

Flying back to the States with PGA America's Tour status in hand it was time to prepare for Second Stage Q School and try to earn Korn Ferry or PGA Tour status. The Second Stage Q School site I chose was in Savannah, GA at The Landings - Deer Creek, only an hour or so from Hilton Head Island. In the middle of November the weather on the coast can be rough and it was exactly that for Second Stage. In a strong field full of 2023 Korn Ferry Tour members and some current and past PGA Tour players and champions. I knew that it would be a challenging week on top of the expected weather forecast of cold temperatures, high winds and rain. I did not get off to my best start shooting 3 over 75 the first day, but was able to battle back the second and third rounds to put myself in red numbers at -2 heading into the final round with the cut being at -6 after the three days. I knew I needed to go low in the final round to have any chance of moving on to Final Stage of Q School. Unfortunately the aggressive shots I played didn't go my way and I missed qualifying for the Final Stage of Q School. With missing at Second Stage my season was over and it was time to start my off season and prepare for 2024.

This first year included a lot of important learning and important achievements that I am very proud of. However, I have even higher goals and expectations for 2024. Building for the future of my career was one of my priorities this year along with continuing to play great golf. In college, I had many resources provided to me that I used extensively. Resources such as physical therapy equipment that my college teams traveled with to events and used at school, workout equipment for golf swing specific movements, and most important tools of all were the team owned launch monitors which I utilized every day to improve. Therefore, with my success from my first year, I chose to make some asset purchases with capital I had on hand in order to personally own and have some of the same resources that I did in college. This year has been incredibly successful for me and considerably more successful than the majority of first year pros. My highlights came when I won the second largest purse in mini tour golf at the Waterloo Open (-21) only 6 months into my career, its second to only the Colorado Open. I made it through First Stage of PGA Tour Qualifying School shooting 16 under par and becoming one of only 200 players out of 900 to advance to Second Stage. When my back was against the wall after losing my tour status on PGA Tour Latin America, I went to Mexico and shot 16 under par to finish in the top 10 and earn my status back for 2024.

I cant wait to get back after it and have an even better and more successful year in 2024!

My most recent trip consisted of me playing in three events over three weeks. I played in two GPro Tour events in Greenville, NC and Martinsville, VA as well as the Delaware Open in Ocean View, DE. The first event in Greenville, NC was not so much fun on the golf course as I shot 73-71 and missed the cut by one, but it was a fun one for me off the golf course for many reasons. I had the opportunity to stay with my grandparents who live in Greenville and was lucky enough to have my dad and girlfriend both travel in to watch me play and compete. One silly triple bogey in the first round set me back and made it harder for me, but was able to rally and get back to 1 shot outside the cut line as I played my last hole of the second round prior to the cut. I hit a great drive just short of the green, but was not able to get my chip up and down to make the cut. It definitely stung but in Pro golf that will happen from time to time you just have to keep moving forward and cleaning up the mistakes.

I then traveled from Greenville, NC to Martinsville, VA for one of the GPro Tour Major Championships. After playing well in the practice round and having clear weather for the week I was ready to go. I shot 68-64-68 (-10) T-4 on a very tricky golf course, especially on the fast sloped greens. It was great fun to be at the top of the leaderboard on the final day and I ended up missing out on a playoff by 1 shot. It was still a great result although I was looking to get the win, but continuing to put together great finishes is what I am looking to do heading into the rest of the fall.

After finishing up in Virginia, I drove home to Pennsylvania and visited with my mom, dad and sister and some extended family who was in town for a weekend as well as my friends from high school who I get to see a couple times a year. It was a great reset break in the middle of a trip prior to heading to the Delaware beaches to play and compete in the DE Open.  I headed down to the beach to play my practice round with some friends and was able to put together a very nice round with a couple hole outs which gave me some great mojo heading into the event. I started out well, but did not shoot nearly what I could have in the first round. I shot 68 (-4) hitting all 14 fairways, all 18 greens, two 3 putt pars along with 35 putts in windy conditions. 35 putts is far more than my average of around 28-29 and was the culprit of not having a lower score. The next day I finally got some putts to fall and shot 68-69 to finish the event at -11 and in 3rd place. It was a fun week consisting of lots of positives, especially battling back in the final round after starting +3 to shoot -3 (-6 in my last 15 holes with two eagles). It was also great to have one of my friends from back home, Ryan, caddie for me at the event - it definitely made the week more enjoyable. Upon finishing the event I headed back to Hilton Head Island and have since been working hard on my putting and maintenance of my long game and wedge game.

Looking forward to getting going in my next event in Rock Hill, SC in a couple weeks!

During my time in South America I met many great guys and our tournaments are among the many things we talk about. One thing in particular we talked about was what events everyone plays in during the summer when most tours have breaks, aside from Monday Qualifiers. Many of my friends said they play in two events every year in Iowa if they work with their schedules. These two events are the Waterloo Open and The Greater Cedar Rapids Open which just so happen to be back to back weeks. After some research of these events I decided to make the trip and added in the two Monday Qualifiers in Springfield, Missouri and Chicago, Illinois. During the two weeks I spent in Hilton Head Island I got a lesson in with my coach and worked on every part of my game, but spent the most time on my wedges. With lots of practice, my swing and game was starting to feel really great. So with my trip mapped out and my 6 different stops it was time to hit the road.

My trip began on July 15th by driving from Hilton Head Island, SC to Oxford, MS (8 hours) for a night to break up my trip to Missouri. The next day I drove to Springfield, MO from Oxford, MS (6 hours) for a practice round and the Korn Ferry Tour Price Cutter Charity Championship Monday Qualifier. There was some scheduled rain on the day of the qualifier and with my afternoon tee time I had to come back in the morning to finish my last two holes of the day. Altogether I shot 68 (-3) and missed a playoff by 3 shots. Even though I played well and shot under par, I missed many short putts and felt like with the way I hit the ball I should have qualified easily, but it was not meant to be. So I hit the road north from Springfield, MO to Waterloo, IA (7 hours) to prep and get ready for the Waterloo Open.

Based on my putting woes in the qualifier, I pulled out my secret weapon and reached out to a friend of mine and current PGA Tour Player Denny McCarthy to get an insight into the putting methods and strategies of the best putter on PGA Tour the last several years, especially inside of 10 feet. With his insight and drills that I practiced for several days before the event and my continued fantastic ball striking I felt like it was my week. Everybody in the field was gunning for the big $50,000 first place prize and it was off the the races. I started the tournament off very strong, I shot 66-66 the first two rounds to sit at -12 and three back of the lead heading into the final round. I started off kinda slow in the final round and was only -4 thru 11 holes and 7 back of the lead, but I turned on the big guns and birdied the next 5 holes in a row to shoot a final round bogey free 63 and tie for the lead at -21 after the leader made a late double bogey. After putting the pressure on him on the first playoff hole with both of us making birdie, I was able to make a 5 foot par putt on the second playoff hole to secure the victory and the $50,000 first place prize. An absolute incredible ending to the week and it was surreal to play the way I know I can under pressure.

After lots of congratulatory messages, I had to drive from Waterloo, IA to Chicago, IL (4 hours) Sunday night to play in the Korn Ferry Tour NV5 Invitational Monday Qualifier on Monday morning. My cousin, Parker, who lives in Wisconsin drove down to caddie for me and together still riding the high from my win, I shot 71 (-1) and missed qualifying by 5. After the qualifier, he and I both drove back to Waunakee, WI from Chicago, IL (3 hours) to visit with my aunt and uncle for a couple days before heading to my next event. We played their home course outside Madison, WI - Blackhawk Country Club and I was able to shoot the course record 60, -12 , my lowest round ever with everyone in my family watching. It only continued to build my confidence, especially coming off a win. After a couple days of good visiting I left Waunakee, WI for Cedar Rapids, IA (3 hours) to prepare for the Greater Cedar Rapids Open. I played in the Pro-Am and shot 65 (-7) which placed me 3rd and was great practice for the event. I went on to shoot 69-69-67 (-11) in the event to finish 5th. This finished my midwest trip and after the final round I drove from Cedar Rapids, IA to Hilton Head Island, SC (17 hours) thru the night to get home and rest from a long couple of weeks trip.

After running the stats from my two weeks on the road and I played a total of 10 rounds of golf, I shot combined -55 par and had a 66.4 scoring average including my course record 60. This trip was huge both financially for my professional career and in building my confidence heading into Qualifying School and my other events scheduled in the fall. On to my next trip of three events up North!

Recently, I competed in the final regular season event on PGA Tour Latin America. It was the Jalisco Open GDL in Guadalajara, Mexico. Based on my sub-average play (by my standards) throughout the season in the events that I Monday Qualified for and was exempt into, I needed to finish Top 3 in order to qualify for the Tour Championship in Tulum, Mexico and keep my card for the following developmental season. After the first two rounds I was in a great position to do so. I stuck to my game plan of hitting fairways and greens and shot 67-68 (-7) to easily make the cut and was T-7 heading into the weekend. However, as I started to push and move up the leaderboard it only resulted in bad shots, bad scores, and ultimately me shooting 75-74 on the weekend to finish even par and T-49. It was incredibly upsetting to throw away such a great start, but with my PGA Tour LA season complete it was time for self-reflection to learn from my mistakes and be better from them in the 2nd half of my calendar year and into the future. I returned back to Hilton Head Island to play in a Rolling Red Tour event in Augusta, GA. It was my backup event to the Tour Championship if I didn't qualify. Although my return was far from easy, I ended up losing my luggage (clothes) and with a day turnaround I was not able to get to Augusta for a practice round. Once my luggage arrived (the next day) I was able to get over to Augusta (2.5 hour drive) and get prepared for my event. The event is structured as a 1 day and 2 day event over 3 days, therefore I used the shootout the first day as my practice round. On the first day I shot 72 even par and missed the money but I learned enough to shoot 68-70 (-6) the next two days to finish 5th for the event. It was great to finally get a finish at the top of the leaderboard and was fun to get the juices flowing on the back nine. However, still not what I was looking for due to me being -5 in the final round and 1 back of the lead with two to play and making a triple on my second to last hole to finish 5th. The big numbers were the negative theme in Latin America and now my Achilles heel stateside, it needed to be resolved. Once I got back from Augusta, I spent a few days off celebrating July 4th with friends which I have always noticed helps clear my mind before getting back to work with my team of coaches to find the best way to move forward and get better.

The last two week on PGA Tour Latin America I traveled to Bucaramanga, Colombia and Bogota, Colombia. The first week in Bucaramanga was to compete in the Colombia Classic presented by the Rocha Brothers at Ruitoque Golf & CC. I arrived on Monday the 22nd of May and began my preparations for the week. The golf course was at 4,500 feet of elevation and was located on top of a mountain with 360 degree views of the surrounding mountains and the cities hundreds of feet below. the views were truly some of the best views I have ever seen in my life. After getting lots of practice in the first several days I was there, the tournament began on Thursday with my morning tee time. After playing 9 holes there was a 2 hour delay for weather that called us off the course and when it passed play was resumed. It was a full 12 hour day on the golf course with several warmups and for a 4 hour round of golf. I shot even par 70 and played well although I bogeyed two par 5s and made an unforced double bogey. No matter I was still in good position and needed a good second round to make the cut. The following day I had an afternoon tee time that was pushed back due to players not finishing their first rounds on Thursday afternoon, therefore I had to come back on Saturday morning to finish my second round. I was -2 thru the 14 holes I played on Friday and was 1 or 2 shots off the cut line, I knew Saturday morning needed to be good if I wanted to have another tee time on Saturday and play weekend golf. Saturday morning I came out and unfortunately bogeyed my first hole, but I locked in and made 3 huge birdies in a row to finish my round and shoot -4 66 and make the cut. The feeling after completing my round was euphoric and really showed me that I have the game and talent to make birdies whenever and wherever especially under pressure when I have to make a cut. After spending some time to celebrate it was time to lock back in and focus on going as low as I could on the weekend. I came out in the third round and played solid, gave my self lots of chances and made a few silly mistakes but was still able to shoot -1 69. The final round I got off to a hot start and was -3 thru my first 3 holes, but was unfortunately more of the same and a poor finish to my round resulted in another -1 69. Although the weekend did not go as planned, I still look at a lot of the positives that my game showed. I had 4 straight rounds at par or better which is always a good sign, especially when bad rounds still result in under par scores. Additionally, this was my first event with a brand new putter that I had been breaking in for the week and a half prior to leaving for Colombia. I had 3 rounds of total putts in the 20s which is very good for 18 holes. I also only had two 3 putts all week which is another huge improvement in my game. All in all, the week was great and although I did not place like I wanted to, it was another great step in the right direction and a huge improvement. It was time to prepare for the second event...

The Monday after the first week's event I arrived in Bogota and got settled in to compete in the Inter Rapidisimo Golf Championship presented by Volvo. The course, Club El Rincon de Cajica, was very different from the first week. It was at a higher elevation (~8,000 ft) and the rough was much longer than what we had seen most of the year. Additionally, the grass on the course consisted of zoysia fairways and poana greens rather than all bermuda like most South American courses. This was due to the colder climate as it was sub 70 degree in the middle of Colombia's summer. The green complexes themselves were also very undulating and required precision into the greens. Overall, I made lots of birdies and eagles but also made way to many big numbers (doubles and triple). Some were unforced errors, some were from being too aggressive, and some were from just simply terrible breaks (losing a ball in the rough). But my first round showed me what I need to clean up in order to really take my game to another level. I had 3 doubles and a water ball par and still managed to birdie 5 of my last 8 holes to shoot -1 71. Unfortunately, the second round after being at -3 overall and on the cut line thru 8 holes, I managed to have some poorly timed bad breaks that led to the round slipping away and to me shooting 77, missing the cut, and flying home early. Not the ending to the week I was looking for, especially because I felt so good on the course with the amount of birdie holes and opportunities I had.

There is one more event in Guadalajara, Mexico before the end of the regular season for PGA Tour LA. Hoping for a big final event to help me qualify for the Tour Championship in Tulum! Lets keep getting better!

P.S. Check out my Photo Gallery to see lots of pictures from all of the events and countries I have visited on Tour so far this season!

My first guaranteed starts of the season on PGA Tour Latin America came in Lima, Peru and Quito, Ecuador. These were the first two events of the back half of the season. I arrived in Lima for the Diners Club Peru Open on Sunday the 23rd and began my week of prep leading up to the start of the event. The hotel I stayed at was across the street from the golf course and was affiliated with the club. One of the best parts about Peru was the food, the entire week the food was incredible, lots of fish and good eats. Each day there were lots of locals that came out to watch the event, it truly was a fantastic experience and one of my favorite events of the year. The one problem was, I played absolutely terribly. After putting in a great couple days of work with my caddie I felt very prepared to attack the course and play well. Unfortunately bad golf happens and it makes you have to look in the mirror and figure out yourself what went wrong by being brutally honest. Very simply, I did not hit the fairways off the tee which resulted in very difficult shots into the greens from the rough which consistently had "flier" lies. Ended up making lots of bogeys and high scores.

After learning from my mistakes and wiping the slate clean, I arrived in Quito, Ecuador. My first time being at extreme elevation (9,000 ft above sea level) proved to be very difficult to adjust to, altitude sickness plagued my friends and it was difficult to walk the golf course without having to catch your breath. But, I adjusted nicely and was able to play much better golf than in Lima. The views were stunning with lots of volcanoes and mountains as far as the eye can see. My friends and I went to the Equator and to Telefrico which I have attached in pictures on my Photo Gallery page. I played solid the first two days and made the cut at the tournament on the number shooting -3, but on the weekend with multiple great opportunities, I ultimately couldn't get much going and finished at Even par for the event. Looking at the positives I did very well with determining my numbers, but when I hit the green I couldn't make anything.

The beauty of golf is that you'll never be too good and there is always room for improvement and I realized that even with how well I had been hitting the ball, I needed to be better on and around the greens with my short game. So it was time to make some drastic changes. When I arrived back to the US, I didn't feel comfortable with any of the putters I owned, so I went and had a fitting done which resulted in buying a brand new putter and developing lots of confidence it my ability to hit great putts.

On to Colombia!

After my first week in Argentina, I had two more weeks on the road traveling for events on PGA Tour Latin America. The second week was in Buenos Aires, Argentina for the Roberto de Vicenzo Memorial 100 Years and the third week was in Porto Feliz, Brazil for the JHSF Aberto do Brasil.

For the second event I needed to play in the Monday Qualifier in order to play my way into the event, after successfully shooting -3, 68 in the Qualifier I was ready to play in my first event on PGA Tour Latino America. The course was fun to play and required precision with wedges in order to score. After a good first round of -1, 70 I was in good shape to make the cut with another great round. The following day I was -3 thru 10 holes and -4 for the event, which put me in the top 15. However, some unfortunate shots and poorly timed bad play resulted in a second round +3, 74 and me missing the cut by 3 shots. This was a real gut punch given the opportunity I gave myself but there was no time to feel sorry for myself or how I played as I had to get refocused and travel to Brazil for the next event.

After arriving in São Paulo, Brazil for the third week and taking a 2-hour drive to the location of the golf course (Porto Feliz), I got settled in and prepared myself to play my way into the third and final event of the trip again via Monday Qualifying. After successfully shooting -1, 70 in the Qualifier I had my last opportunity, so I had to make it count. On the first day of the tournament I came out and played great golf, I shot -4, 67 bogey free and was in the top 20. It was an awesome way to start the week and put me in great position to make the cut and play the weekend. The second day I had the first tee time of the day and got off to a horrible start. I was +5 thru my first 6 holes with a triple bogey and outside the cut line by 3 shots. I knew that I had to do something great in order to make the cut or else my season on the Tour would be over. I proceeded to play my next 12 holes in -3 par, making a clutch 5-foot birdie putt on my last hole to shoot +2, 73 and make the cut on the number. Now we play the weekend! The third round I couldn't really get much going, but was able to make a couple of putts and shoot -2, 69 which moved me up the leaderboard into the top 40. With one round to go, I knew I needed a low one in order to crack the top 10 and have a great finish to my trip. I came out in the final round and got off to a hot start, making a birdie and an eagle in my first two holes of the day and I finished my front nine shooting -5, 31 putting me in the top 15 of the event. I needed just a solid back nine with a couple birdies to have a Top 10 finish. Unfortunately, this did not happen. I made a couple big mistakes on my 3rd hole of the back nine and made a 9, ouch. Filtering a couple more birdies and bogeys I finished the day shooting even par 71 with 7 birdies, 1 eagle, 5 bogeys, 4 pars, and a quadruple bogey - tied for 35th place. Definitely not the way I wanted the week to end. But looking at the positives, I led the field in under par scores, making birdie or eagle on 30% of the holes I played. Made plenty of birdies to win, just made to many bogeys.

BUT, all in all I did what I needed to do on this trip. I went down with conditional status and three goals in mind that I hoped to achieve. First goal was to Monday qualify for multiple events (I was able to qualify for 2/3, missing at the first one due to food poisoning the night prior), my second goal was to make the cut at the events I Monday qualified for (I was able to do that for 1 of the 2 events), and the third goal was to play well enough in the 4 day tournament after making the cut to qualify for the Tour's reshuffle, improve my conditional status to full status, and secure guaranteed starts in the second half of the season (I did this). No more Monday’s this season!

My new goals for the second half of the PGA Tour Latin American season are to play well enough in the next 5 events to qualify for the Tour Championship which means I will keep my card for next season (top 60 on the money list). Another goal is to reduce the number of Korn Ferry Q-School stages I would need to play well in during this coming Fall to achieve Korn Ferry status for next year. I can achieve this by finishing top 25 on money list which would exempt me into Second Stage of Q-School. Lastly, I want to win! After this last week in Brazil, I know I have the game to compete on this Tour and I am making plenty of birdies to give myself opportunities to win.

Along with these 5 starts comes more expenses that will need to be paid for in order for me to stay on the upward track that I am on and get to the next level as fast as I can. My team is growing as I am having success in fundraising and finding investors, however there is always opportunity for there to be more. Please reach out if you are interested in being an investor in my golf career!

Check out my Schedule page on my website to see the locations and events I will be playing for the rest of the PGA Tour Latin America season! Check out my Career Highlights page on my website for all of my stats and results so far this season in the two events I have played on PGA Tour Latin America. And also check out my Instagram @evanwbrowngolf for great pictures that were taken from my three weeks on the road in South America!

I left for Argentina last Friday March 10th from Miami and arrived after a full day of travel across two different countries in Termas de Rio Hondo, Argentina on Saturday night. I got settled in to the hotel and saw some friends who were playing in the event for dinner. On Sunday morning after a full nights rest I was ready to start my preparation for the Monday Qualifier. The weather here was sunny, hot, humid, and dry with temperatures close to 100 degrees, this region in Argentina has not seen much rain in close to 3 months. I picked up a local caddie, Adolfo, who travels to some of the PGA Tour Latin America events to caddie for me. Some friends and I had lunch at the course and played a practice round and after a full day I was back to the hotel. Sunday night I did some more unpacking and my typical routines after dinner to prepare for my 9:10 tee time on Monday morning and that is when the unexpected happened, food poisoning. The entire night I was up only getting about 2 hours of sleep, by the time morning came around I felt so bad that I wasn't sure I was going to be able to tee it up in the qualifier. All of my electrolytes had been flushed out, I had barely anything in my system aside from a protein bar and some water (all I could get down), I did everything I could to give myself enough time to get to the first tee and give it my best shot. In 100 degree weather my dehydration set in quickly and I physically wasn't able to perform the way I know I can. I was nauseated, exhausted, dehydrated, and mentally disoriented, but I did everything I could to complete my round to the best of my ability and give myself a chance at getting into the tournament. Ultimately, I finished shooting 76 (+4) with two double bogeys and a triple bogey, the cut was 70 (-2). Obviously, I was upset and discouraged about the poor timing to get uncontrollably sick, but I still look at the positives from the day. I made 5 birdies in my last 10 holes when I was feeling my worst and felt that my putting was better than it has been recently. All in all I didn't qualify for the tournament in the Qualifier, but because of my Tour status and being one of the few players on-site and available if players withdrew, I still had a chance to play in the event. I went back to the hotel after the round and slept for close 15 hours, with taking some medicine and refueling my body on electrolytes and safe foods I began to feel better and still practiced/prepared for the event on Wednesday on the off-chance I got the call saying I was in. Today was the first round of the event and I waited at the course from the first tee time until the last in the 3rd alternate position, but unfortunately there were no withdraws from the event. I know that sometimes in golf and especially in life I will run into bad luck at the worst possible times, but it is how I'm able to learn from it, adapt to it, and overcome it to allow there to be zero effect overall on my end goal. I have another opportunity this week to play my way into the second weeks event in Buenos Aires, Argentina and I am in much higher spirits. I am feeling much healthier, better rested, and excited to play the great golf I know I can play! Time to hit the reset button and get focused on the next Monday Qualifier! On a brighter note below pictured is my Tour membership card for the 2022-23 PGA Tour Latin America season and a swing video from Wednesdays practice session.

*Full Disclaimer*

This 3-week trip I am on I will be playing in all of the Monday qualifiers due to only having conditional status on PGA Tour Latin America. Reason for spending the time and money to do this is because if I am successful qualifying for an event and play well enough to make the cut I will get into the "reshuffle" for the back half of the season. For those that don't understand what that means, my status currently may get me into 1 or 2 events later in the season, but if I can successfully Monday qualify and make a cut in an event I would guarantee myself 7 or 8 starts out of 12 which gives me a better chance of A. keeping my card for next season (top 60 on the money list) and B. playing my way into the top 25 on the money list for this season which has numerous benefits especially in moving up to higher level tours.

This last week was an extremely busy one. I played in 3 separate events, 1 in the Miami area and 2 in the West Palm Beach area. I started the week in Miami on Monday and Tuesday playing at International Links of Melreese Country Club on the MLGT. The conditions were tough with high winds and tricky greens and I did not play my best golf. It was also a sad couple days because the course is to be closed for good on March 19th after 62 years and this was the last event ever played at Melreese. I shot 73/74 (+5) with 3 doubles and some poor up and down misses resulting in bogeys. All in all I felt like I was playing very good golf, especially flighting the golf ball in the wind, just needed to clean up the mistakes.

On Wednesday I played in Lake Worth at Fountains Country Club West for another one day event on the MLGT. Conditions were again tough as it is always windy in South Florida, but I knew my game could stand up to the test. After having a fairly slow start to the day playing a lot of the first 6 holes directly into the wind making 6 pars, I finally made my first birdie on hole 7. I continued to have good up an down saves and narrow birdie misses until it all began to change on the last 7 holes. I ended up hitting some fantastic short iron and wedge shots that led to me birdieing 4 of my last 7 holes to shoot -5, 66 bogey free. All day I stayed very patient and let the course come to me. I did a great job of not overpowering the course, not fighting the wind, and not getting upset over missed putts. I just played great consistent golf. At the end of the day it ended up being enough for a 1 shot victory in a very good field of 95 players. Below is the write up from the Tour and pictures of my scorecard and win.

I was right back at it Thursday morning playing in the Honda Classic Pre Qualifier at Wellington National in Wellington, Florida. It is a course I have played well on in the past so I had high expectations going into the day, especially after winning the day before. After having a slow start with a bad par 5 bogey, I rallied to make 3 straight birdies and was -2 thru 8 holes. I ended up having some more poor bogeys in the middle part of the round, but made 2 more birdies to get back to -2 thru 15. I knew I needed a couple more birdies in my last three holes to make the cut, but I made some bad swings under pressure which led to bad poorly timed bogeys and I finished the round shooting even par 72. Story of the day was simply making to many unforced errors leading to silly bogeys and in a one day qualifier that will not get the job done.

I have another busy tournament schedule coming up this week. My golf game feels great and with some structured practice on certain areas this weekend, I know there will be many more wins and great finishes in the future!

This past Friday I made the trip down to Naples, FL from Hilton Head Island, SC. I will be spending the next 6-7 weeks in Naples competing in events all across South Florida after spending the last 6 weeks in my off-season preparing. My first several days in Naples have been spent practicing at TPC Treviso Bay. The professional practice facilities there are state of the art and truly allow me to improve every facet of my golf game. Treviso Bay is where I finished my preparation for my first event of 2023 on the Minor League Golf Tour (MLGT) which concluded today. Today's event was hosted at Wellington National and the weather was absolutely perfect. The course was tight and tricky and required precision in order to score and play well. I ended my round shooting -6, 66 (bogey free) and finished 4th out of 66 players. This was a HUGE step in the right direction and will only continue to build my confidence heading into the rest of the year. All of the work that I have been putting in both in the gym (off the course) and on the course is only just starting to pay off. The link to the live scoring from today's event is listed below. My next event will again be on the MLGT on February 8th and 9th.

https://minorleaguegolf.com/leaderboardlive.asp?record_ID=3420

Additionally, for those that follow my golf and want a deeper inside look at the type of lifestyle I am living, I encourage you to check out the first two episodes of "The Grind". This is a series developed by the Firepit Collective to give an inside look at "The Grind" of professional golfers and their trials and tribulations. From sponsors, expenses, travel, family life, and everything else in between, its an incredibly intriguing and interesting series. Ryan French aka "Monday Q Info" on Twitter has helped to develop this series and is featured in the episodes. Below is the link to the first two episodes, and I have added the YouTube links below for easier access. I hope they are insightful and a joy to watch.

https://firepitcollective.com/videos/?playlist=ba0d64d&video=1e21f28

Like I said before, this is only the beginning and I could not be more excited and motivated to continue playing great golf in 2023. Onward!