CB Golf

Klauk paired with Singh in PGA Tour Playoffs

CB — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 00:07:24 +0000

Anticipation and excitement are in the air as the PGA Tour Playoffs begin this week at Liberty National Golf Club near New York City. Players are competing on a new course that features magnificient views of the NYC skyline, situated approximately 1000 yards from the Statue of Liberty itself. Eight PGA Tour rookies qualified for the playoffs with Jeff leading the way, ranked 60th on the season long Fedex points list.

Interestingly, the field for this tournament is paired for the first two rounds in accordance with their standing on the points list. Jeff will be playing with veterans Vijay Singh (59) and Scott Verplank (61). It will be the first time Jeff has the opportunity to compete alongside one of his friends and mentors. Vijay has been a Ponte Vedra Beach, Fl resident for almost 20 years and practices regularly at TPC Sawgrass–the same club where Jeff grew up and currently practices.

Last week, Jeff finished t32 at the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, NC. He really did not hit it very well throughout the week but somehow managed to post four rounds in the 60′s. This has been a critical difference in Jeff’s game over the past three years- on days that he is struggling he has become much better at managing his game and limiting his mistakes. Immediately following play on Sunday, Jeff flew to Atlanta for a Monday morning practice session at White Columns CC. After four hours of swing work he felt much better about his chances for success over the next couple of weeks in NYC and Boston.

One of the cool things about the Barclay’s tournament this week is how the players get to work each day. Jeff is staying in one of the designated player hotels in New Jersey and there are water taxis available for the players to shuttle back and forth to work each day. Thankfully, Jeff and his caddie Tim don’t suffer from motion sickness so they can skip the infamous metropolitan NY/NJ traffic throughout tournament week. Be sure to watch Golf Channel for live coverage of the first two rounds!

Bolli victorious in Springfield!

CB — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 23:16:43 +0000

With a stellar final round score of 66, Justin Bolli claimed his third career Nationwide Tour victory recently at the Price Cutter Charity Classic in Springfield, Missouri. His four round score of 267 (-21) was good for a 1 shot victory over two other players and guarantees his return to the PGA Tour in 2010. The victory earned Justin $112,500 and pushed him to 7th on the current money list with $246,900. Justin previously was a member of the PGA Tour in 2005 and 2008.

Justin’s come from behind victory featured 7 birdies in the final round, with 5 birdies over the last 7 holes. While his putter was certainly working well throughout the tournament, it was his ball striking which put Justin in position for success. For the week, Justin hit over 85% of the greens in regulation, ranking first amongst all players in the field.

This week the Nationwide Tour is in Scranton, Pennsylvania for the Northeast Pennsylvania Classic. Justin won this tournament in 2007 and looks forward to returning. There are 9 tournaments remaining on the 2009 schedule and the top 25 players on the season ending money list earn their PGA Tour cards for 2010.

For additional information on Justin’s victory, visit this PGATour.com link: http://www.pgatour.com/2009/tournaments/h022/08/16/recap.round4/index.html

Preparing for Greensboro and the Fedex Cup Playoffs

CB — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 20:14:41 +0000

This week Jeff will be working on his game in preparation for next week’s PGA Tour event in Greensboro, NC. Although he came closer than any other first year player, Jeff is not participating in this week’s PGA Championship. In fact, there aren’t any PGA Tour rookies who have qualified for the final major at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Minnesota. Qualification for big tournaments on tour is different depending on the event. For the PGA Championship the eligible players are derived from a PGA Championship points list (related to money earned) which begins right after the preceding year’s PGA Championship. So the rookie class each year is at a big disadvantage because they have fewer tournaments in which to play and earn points.

Jeff will be in Atlanta for 3 days of preparation before departing for Greensboro and the Fedex Cup Playoffs. The four playoff tournaments have decreasingly short fields based on the current Fedex Cup points list. The Barclays event in NJ features the top 125, followed by the Deutsche Bank event in Boston with the top 100, the BMW in Chicago with the Top 70 and concluding with the Top 30 players at the Tour Championship in Atlanta. Currently Jeff is ranked 59th on the points list and expecting to qualify for atleast the first two tournaments of the playoffs. Obviously he has hopes of qualifying for the third, and if he’s very fortunate, possibly earning a spot in the Tour Championship. Something substantial will have to happen over the next four tournaments for that to happen–keep an eye out for the rookie!

T-4 in Milwaukee!

CB — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 00:04:11 +0000

On Sunday Jeff Klauk finished tied for fourth place at the US Bank Championship in Milwaukee, with a four round score of 269 (-11). He finished two shots out of the playoff between John Mallinger and Bo Van Pelt. Van Pelt earned his first victory on the PGA Tour vith a birdie on the second playoff hole.

Jeff opened the tournament with a fantastic round of 64 on Thursday. He was the co-leader with Australian Greg Chalmers on a day where the scoring average was 71. His round was highlighted by a front nine score of 29 where he only needed 9 putts. A score of 69 in rounds two and three was followed by his closing round of 67. The strong finish for the week resulted in Jeff earning enough to retain his Tour card for 2010!

Click here for more from the US Bank Championship:

http://www.pgatour.com/2009/tournaments/r029/07/19/recap.round4/index.html

The John Deere Classic

CB — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:19:19 +0000

This week the PGA Tour is in Moline, Illinois at the John Deere Classic. It is one of the favorite tournaments for PGA Tour players because of the many interesting family activities held throughout the tournament. In fact, Jeff’s father, Fred, is caddying for him this week while his wife and children arrived today. Every year John Deere hosts “The Big Dig” where all the families are invited to come out and play on the heavy equipment–the kids especially love driving the tractors, loaders, etc. As you might imagine the Klauk family has a long history with the John Deere company since they are the official agronomy equipment supplier for the PGA Tour and Fred recently retired as the Superintendant of the PGA Tour’s flagship property, the TPC Sawgrass.

Unfortunately, Jeff did not play well last week at Tiger’s tournament. He missed the cut and diverted back to Atlanta the following day to get in some extra time on his swing at White Columns CC. Hopefully the extensive work he did on Sunday and Monday will be evident this week. He’s not far off, but after three weeks away from the game he didn’t feel comfortable during the first two rounds at Congressional CC. Let’s hope the TPC at Deere Run treats him a little nicer!

4th of July at Congressional CC in D.C.

CB — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:56:14 +0000

This week Jeff is playing in Tiger’s tournament, The AT&T National, at Congressional Country Club near Washington D.C. This is a special event with a small field (120 players) which serves to honor the committment made by the men and women in our US Armed Services. As you might imagine every detail has been considered and the venue is second to none. Congressional CC will be hosting the 2011 US Open and preparations will begin as soon as this week’s tournament is completed.

Jeff wrapped up his 3 week break from the Tour with a visit to White Columns CC to prepare his game for the next five weeks. We worked hard Fri-Sun and then flew into D.C. Sunday evevning. One of the nice perks for the players this week is a Mercedes-Benz courtesy car, and we had a driver meet us at the airport in the new S550-nicer than what we usually find in the emerald isle at National!

This week Jeff is staying with friends of a friend, very near Congressional CC, and they were most gracious to host us for the week. The house is great for many reasons but the location near the club is especially helpful. Monday and Tuesday were long practice days as we continued the progress we made over the weekend. Late Monday, Jeff played the front nine for the first time and liked it alot. Early Tuesday, he played all 18 and was joined by Kevin Streelman and Charles Howell III. When we made the turn we passed Tiger and 1500 of his closest friends around the practice putting green. This course has poa annua greens which are particularly challenging if you hit it above the hole–so Jeff and Lewis will try their best to stay below most flagsticks. By the way, Lewis Puller is Jeff’s caddie this week since Tim Quinn is getting married. Lewis is a great substitute, which Tim arranged, and he will work well with Jeff since he has been on the bag for many professional wins. Most people don’t know this, but Lewis’ grandfather was Chesty Puller the most decorated US Marine in history. That is certainly something important to note during this week.

Jeff is rested and ready to play so the next few tournaments will be fun to watch. Thanks again to everyone who has supported him, and us, during the first half of the 2009 PGA Tour season!

Bolli, Cotner finish top 20 in Arkansas!

CB — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 21:26:55 +0000

On Sunday, Justin Bolli and Keoke Cotner both finished inside the top 20 on the final leaderboard at the Nationwide Tour’s Ft. Smith, Arkansas Classic. Bolli finished at 14 under par, 1 shot out of the playoff with a final round 67. Cotner fired a 65 in the final round to finish t-19 at 7 under par.

Justin heated up quickly in the final round with 3 birdies on his opening nine holes, claiming the lead for a short period of time during a fast finish that involved 6 other players. Keoke posted 65 in the final round for the second consecutive week and made a big move up the final leaderboard.

Both players now head to Bridgeport, West Virginia for the Nationwide Tour Players Cup at the Pete Dye Golf Club. This is the 14th event of the 29 tournament season. Justin Bolli is currently #16 on the money list while Keoke Cotner is ranked #115. The top 25 players on the season ending money list earn their PGA Tour cards for 2010.

Keoke Cotner finishes t-11 in Knoxville

CB — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 23:42:06 +0000

Keoke finished t-11 at the recent Nationwide Tournament in Knoxville, TN. In only his fourth start of the season, he fired a 7-under par round of 65 on Sunday to move up in the final standings and claim his highest finish of the year.

Thankfully this high finish should help Keoke’s status when the . . . → Read More: Keoke Cotner finishes t-11 in Knoxville

Klauk looking forward to family vacation

CB — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 06:19:05 +0000

Finally, Jeff is enjoying some time off the PGA Tour. He is mentally and physically exhausted and needs a break. He is taking the next 3 weeks off and plans to return to action the first week of July at Tiger’s tournament at Congressional Country Club in Washington, DC.

The past 3 tournaments have been quite a learning experience for Jeff. The exhaustion reached its’ peak last week at The Memorial Tournament in Ohio. After playing hard just to make the cut, Jeff realized he simply had no mental or physical reserves to compete like usual over the weekend. This is a lesson every rookie on the PGA Tour must learn and, thankfully, Jeff has good friends in Rocco Mediate, Lee Janzen, Vijay Singh, Matt Kuchar and Bubba Watson who all advised him to shut it down for a minimum of two weeks and, ideally, three weeks.

So as we go to press, the hope is Jeff is catching a few fish with his family down in the Florida Keys and enjoying some well-deserved time away from the Tour. There is a lot to try and accomplish in the second half of the 2009 PGA Tour season.

Bolli finishes 2nd in Maryland

CB — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 05:55:36 +0000

Justin Bolli finished t-2 at the Prince George’s County Melwood Open on the Nationwide Tour this past Sunday, June 7th. It was Bolli’s highest finish of the season and moved him into the Top 25 on the current money list. The Top 25 players at season end receive their PGA Tour cards for 2010.

After a slow start to his final round (+3 through first 10 holes) Justin birdied 5 of the final 7 holes and posted a final round 70. He opened with rounds of 69,68,68. It appears that he is fully recovered from the emergency appendectomy that forced him to withdraw from the Nationwide tournament in Athens, Georgia just 7 weeks ago.

Justin has been working hard on his shortgame and the results are starting to surface–for the week he made 20 birdies and finished in the top 5 in putts per green in regulation. Hopefully the putter will continue to heat up as his season progresses!