BRUCE SUMMERHAYS, CHAMPIONS TOUR

2007 Blog:

June 3rd

“After play on Sunday of Kiawah, we hurried to the private airport in Charleston to fly to LaGrange Georgia to play in a 1^st Tee fundraiser for Allen Doyle. We enjoyed a day of play and then rushed to the airport again to fly to Sandestin, Florida. Sandestin is a beautiful resort on the panhandle of Florida. It is noted for some of the better beaches in the world. The sand is very white and very soft—like flour. This beach is also known as a place to collect sand dollars but we didn’t find any. The course here is wonderful. It has a bit of everything –long holes and short holes, left to right holes and right to left holes, and wind and water. Every morning I walk for an hour with my wife, Carolyn. This is great exercise and a beautiful place to walk. These last two weeks have provided wonderful places to walk and that makes for a nice change from the gym. My son Bruce Jr. is the caddy for this week and he brought his whole family so that made for a really fun week. The week began with a nice surprise as another son of mine, Bryan and his wife welcomed a new baby to the family—Charles Bryan. This makes grandchild #31. I felt I had good preparation for the tournament but the first day I got off to a shaky start missing two makeable putts on the first two holes. Never fear though, I got it together and beat old man par to shoot 68. I kind of stunk it up on the second day but on Sunday it all started to come together again and I shot another 68. All and all it was a good week and I can really feel my game coming and I am looking forward to the rest of the season. Next week: Des Moines Iowa.”

May 23rd:

“After an extended time off I am excited to get back at it. This week we are on Kiawah Island playing in our first major of the year—the Senior PGA. This course is fantastic. It is ranked as one of the more difficult in the world. It is tough, yet it can be very rewarding. I had a late tee time on Thursday and had to tee off in a 5 –that’s right a 5 club wind. I hit the ball fine, but I 3 putted the first 5 holes. My playing partner, Jim Colbert, even suggested that the conditions were unplayable as the wind was blowing our balls on the green. That is golf, though, we play it like it lies and I always maintain that any tee time on the tour is a good tee time- It means we are playing with the big boys. I skied to an 81 the first day and since I was in 121^st place, I knew that I would have to play well on Friday if I wanted to play the weekend. I went out focused—golfers never give up—and played one of the better rounds of the field shooting under par and climbed 57 spots to make the cut. Saturday I continued my good play and shot 2 under to move up another 27 spots. I like the windy, gusty challenge that we are experiencing this week. It means I better be at my best. The 17^th hole is a long par 3 with deep pot bunkers on the left and water on the right. The bunkers have deep sand on the sides and hard pan on the bottom. I hit my ball in the bunker on Friday. I didn’t even have to think about what to do. I couldn’t go at the pin. I hit it backwards to the back of the green and 2 putted for bogey. It was confirmed to me just how good this decision was when after the round I learned that three of my friends, Ben Crenshaw, Bob Gilder and Dana Quigley took triple bogey on the hole from that same bunker. They aimed at the pin and two hopped the ball in the water. Always remember that there is more than one way to get it to the hole.

Kiawah is a wonderful place. We are staying in the beautiful Markers home and have 2 alligators for neighbors. Every morning Carolyn and I get up and walk for an hour on the beach. In the afternoon after golf we go on bike rides and in the evening we sit on the patio and enjoy the native wild life. But we remember we are here to work and so the bulk of the day is playing and practicing. I use my practice routine formula according to how much time I have. The golf course is everything you want a golf course to be. I have to be mentally tough as each shot requires focus. It is a thrill to be here. I finished the tournament on Sunday and rushed out to catch a plane to do an outing for my friend and fellow competitor, Allen Doyle.”

February 28th:

"When our family started this great adventure on the Champions Tour, we wrote up a contract or mission statement. One of the agreements was that if anyone in the family needed me, I would be there. They have called me on it a few times and this month was one of them. We flew from Hawaii to Florida (major jetlag) to adjust to the time and for some practice before the Allianz tournament the first week of February. The first morning in Florida, our son Bryan called and asked if I could come home for him that weekend. It was difficult because I needed to be in Florida on Monday for a pro-am I had committed to, but I also needed to be with my son. We were able to arrange a night flight home on Saturday and a return to Florida on Sunday evening. I flew from Hawaii to Florida to Utah back to Florida in less than a week, but I was able to be with my son and make my obligation in Florida. We always love our Florida swing. The Allianz was a new tournament for us in Boca Raton. I am familiar with the area because I play in a pro am for Bob Murphy there every year. The week started with a Drive for the Wives pro am where I played with a Nascar driver and 2 amateurs with the money being donated to our wives charities. There were 18 pros and 18 Nascar drivers and some great celebrities. It was Super Bowl weekend in Florida so it was very bust. My son, Bruce Jr. flew in to caddy and he had a stomach ache, but he was tough and was able to really help me. The Monday following the tourney I played in Murph’s pro am and then my wife and I made the 4 hour drive to Tampa. Tampa is one of my favorite tour stops all year because this is the course I qualified for the tour on in 1994. We also love the volunteers here and look forward to seeing them every year. This year the weather was freezing and I didn’t score well but I am pleased with how I am hitting the driver. When I get my irons figured out---watch out! From Tampa we drove to Naples, Florida. We have been playing in Naples for several years, but this year we are at a new venue. It is always fun to play on a different course and this was no exception. It was a long walk for the gallery though. My wife’s pedometer recorded over 18,000 steps—a good 8 miles. My son Joseph caddied this week and last. This week he was down with a bug as he trudged the course with me. I think I must be making my caddies sick. As far as playing goes, I can feel the putter and the irons coming. Although it was just a fair tourney for me, I can really feel it all coming together. I am excited to get home but I am also excited to get to California for our March swing…"

January 31st:

“January found us winging our way to Hawaii to prepare and play in the years first tournament. We went 10 days early so I could practice out of the snow and Carolyn and some of my kids could bask in the sun. I felt pretty good going into the week as I had worked really hard on my physical conditioning during the winter and had a good practice on the pastpallum Hawaiian grass. We started our week in Kauaii but flew to Oahu for the tournament at Turtle Bay. Turtle Bay has interesting grass that can be watered with salt water. Low and behold I woke up Friday morning with a stiff neck. This played havoc with my game and it ended up a mediocre tourney. I did have one great and not so great stat after Saturday, I was second in birdies made for the tournament and second in double bogies! But fortunately for me I am exempt and so there is always another tourney for me...”