2010: A New Golf Odyssey

"Reality is an illusion. Albeit, a persistent one." ~Einstein

There is no sport more indicative of this statement than golf. Imagine: you are playing the best round of the year, you can do no wrong. You step on the 18th tee and stare down the par 5 you've birdied 100 times. "Oh yeah, I've got the perfect baby draw working today. What water hazard on the right!? All I'm seeing is that perfect angle into the flag about 300 out."

You tee your ball up and feel a slight gust from the gods moving the hair to the right side of your head. As you take your practice swing and feel the breeze pressing your shirt into your back (you are right handed of course), it occurs to you to aim farther left to account for the breeze. You open your stance slightly too much and now aim farther left than you would have advised yourself, just to be safe.

"A miss left is better than a miss right," you subconsciously rationalize.

Your swing is a bit more aggressive than normal causing your upper body to move outside "the slot." The club face moves across the ball along your toe line, starting left and cutting. The wind accentuates the ball spin and that minor setup miscue now has you playing your next shot in knee-deep mud.

This is the golf and this is life. In my world, the two are intertwined. Previous attempts to move up the pro golf hierarchy have ended this way. The "I was so close to..." is an all too familiar story.

With 5 months of golf education in Birmingham with my coach, I am ready to rewrite this story. Tournament finishes in the past months are as follows: 5th, 2nd, 4th, 1st. This week I will play the Emerald Coast Tour in Ocean Springs, Alabama in an effort to add a second consecutive win to this recent resume and to strengthen my preparation for that final tee shot with everything on the line.

Twitter Postings

Follow my Twitter postings for more frequent updates on my practice sessions and thoughts. Click on the Twitter button in the right column and start following my Tweets.

Happy New Year Toast

My New Years toast for everyone:

The decade is over and I raise my glass,
to a fresh do-over filled with success and class,
but first we must pay our respects,
for fallen idols to be politically correct,

Walter Cronkite and Ted Kennedy,
Michael Jackson's moonwalk inspired me,
Heath Ledger awed us with the Joker's wild craze,
a tragic introduction to al-qaeda left towers ablaze,

While Bush and Agassi said farewell,
Michael Phelps swam Beijing on a mission from hell,
The Chinese bought America's excessive debt,
we fell in love with a new president's cuddly pets,

While Jon Stewart rewrote the news,
Hurricaine Katrina had New Orleans singin' the blues,
Curt Schilling snapped the curse and bloodied a sock,
Boss Brice Springstein continued playing inspired rock,

While it seems the decade of financial loss,
we better understand greed and excessive cost,
What's most important to our resolutions and now we can see,
in 2010 surround yourself with the love and care of friends and family.

Happy New Year!

Updates

Happy Holidays to everyone! The week before Christmas I played three days of competition in Florida on the Moonlight and Next mini-tours. The one day events were held on three separate courses in Orlando, two of which I'd never played. I posted 67 on day 1 for a 2nd place finish and bore through the strong winds of day 3 en route to 69 and 1st place. During the final day I edged PGA Tour member Patrick Sheehan by 1 stroke to pick up the victory. My game is improving as I've developed minor swing changes this fall. The changes require me to compensate less athletically for previously inconsistent movements because my swing is less complex. A less complex movement at a high speed equals improved consistency.

I will continue to work hard on my game playing mini-tour events to prepare for the coming season where I plan on breaking through on the Nationwide Tour. Thanks for your thoughts and Happy New Year!

The Journey Continues

I've frequently received the same question lately: "why aren't you at Q-School?" An update on the Mark Baldwin golf journey...

I'm in Birmingham, AL making some swing changes with my coach that will make me a long term, consistent and successful player. After some great advice, I decided the time to risk who I was today for who I could become tomorrow, had come. We've been working on these changes for a couple months now and I am beginning to see the the light at the end of the tunnel. I played a round where I hit 18 greens in regulation this week and I am planning a competition trip to Florida this month. When all goes well, I will up the anti.

I've never been more committed to and faithful about the successful outcome of this journey. These minor breaks in competition are essential to improve the areas that have lacked in the last year and a half. This will be an exciting year and I look forward to breaking through on the BIG Tour.

Korean Tour Dreams

As the 2009 PGA Tour Q-School tournament approaches, I have been preparing my game. There are a few essential components to a successful professional golf career. The first is the continued and ever-improving ability to shoot low scores; the second is unyielding patience and self-belief, especially in the face of challenge and adversity; the third is the financial support that provides opportunities to remain competitive.

As many of my friends are aware, I spent 2008 playing pro golf in Asia. Every few weeks I found myself in a different country. It was a brilliant adventure that required me to constantly learn and adapt to survive. One such adventure took place in South Korea during the Johnny Walker and Heavenland Opens. My camera was rolling and a documentary has been created titled, "Korean Tour Dreams."

In the film, I give you the rare opportunity to travel with my caddy Christine and I, to the exotic island of Jeju; tour street sights and marketplace sounds in the capital city of Seoul; experience simmering, steaming hot bugs as delicacies and play the challenging host courses of the Korean Tour.

For a preview of the film, check out the Youtube clip on the right side of this blog or visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXqans30PZM.

As PGA Tour Q-School draws near, I am launching a new fund raising initiative as a means to pay expenses for my coming bid. By contributing an amount of your choosing, with a minimum donation of $10, I will send you a copy of my documentary, Korean Tour Dreams. Your support will greatly help towards giving me the opportunity to compete for a spot on the 2010 PGA Tour and you will get an exciting and unique perspective of international tour life on the DVD.

You can easily and securely contribute by clicking on the PayPal icon on the right side of the blog. Please send me an email with your mailing address and I will send your copy of Korean Tour Dreams. The DVD will be available for distribution Monday, August 24th and will be sent out within 3 business days of your donation.

The competitions that await give me the opportunity to turn a childhood dream into a reality. Thank you for your support and being a part of this exciting time.

~Mark
markbaldwingolf@gmail.com

Final Round Providence Open

I was so thrilled with the result of my final round, it took me three days to post it. I scraped my way to a score of 73 and a disappointing finish at the Providence Open. I have driven straight from the tournament to my coach's house in Birmingham and am on a mission to be ready for the 2010 PGA Tour Q-School. I am here indefinitely as I improve my game and my life towards becoming a world's best golfer and competitor.