F&J Exclusive: 2007 Golf Season Preview

Well, we are less than one week away from the official start of the 2007 Golf Season; Senior Editor Franklin Stubbs sat down with Eric to preview the upcoming tournament season.

FS: Eric, you have 8 tournaments on your schedule, the first being next week. How is your game 6 days away from the Ohio State Amateur Qualifier?

EZ: Getting better. Took a trip to Nashville with some church friends this weekend, played 4 rounds of golf. It's amazing what improvement you can see if you just concentrate on golf (and beer) and play, play, play. I feel like I actually have an idea where the ball may go off the tee and with my irons. Putting still is a little shaky - can that be turned around in a week? We'll try.

FS: What is it going to take to advance to the States?

EZ: Not a great round, just a solid one. Don was an laternate with a 78 last year; something along the lines of 76-77 should be fine. The formula is simple; hit 10 greens, don't 3-jack, get up and down 50% of the time I miss a green, and no doubles. That's a 76.

FS: Any others playing in the qualifier?

EZ: Kermit is playing the same day up in Cleveland; we'll compare stories that night,I'm sure. I certainly don't want to hear of any 92's or something like that. Don is not playing this year, because he is a dumb ass. I will post a separate topic on how he screwed this up. I don't think Jeff M is playing.

FS: Next up is the US Publinx Qualifier on June 18. How many more years are you going to do this?

EZ: Well, this is my 12th shot at this - the tournament I've played in the most years. It's only a matter of time until we join the club here in our neighborhood - next year? 09?, so this may be it. I like the idea of playing 36 in a day - it's a tradition. It will take 144-146, which can be done on that course.

FS: Are others playing with you?

EZ: No. Get this. Craig Higgins, a Cincinnati friend, is playing in Evansville; Don is playing in Toledo, and Kermit is playing up in Cleveland. There is a Cincinnati sectional, but why play in that? Because it will take in excess of 12 hours.

FS: The next week after that is the Cincinnati Met. Is this the year you make the field of 64?

EZ: God, I hope so. It's 2 rounds of stroke play to determine a match play field of 64. +12-+13 was the cut last year; it's not like I need 2 act-of-God rounds to qualify. I need to play solid, good golf, and NOT MAKE ANY FUCKING 8's ON THE SHORTEST HOLE IN CINCINNATI TOURNAMENT GOLF.
*ahem*
sorry about that.
I consider myself something like, oh, Oregon State, Wyoming, or Providence. If those teams play solid, not doing a whole lot but taking care of business, they're in the Big Dance. I need to do the same. 76-78 should be fine. If I get the nerves out of the way, I'll be ok.
And then I want the #28 seed matched up against the #37 seed Don Hershey. Hoo boy, would that be fun.

FS: The next is a local event, the Vineyard Classic. Thoughts?

EZ: Looking forward to it. It is a 2-day weekend tournament where we can form our own group for round 1. I hate to be the 4th in the group of Don, Craig and I. Hopefully it is some 17-year-old hotshot that we can piss off.

FS: On a side note, you seem to have a grudge against any teens playing in your tournament. Are you jealous?

EZ: I don't think it's jealousy - it's that they haven't grown up learning the same things about golf that I did. When I played as a junior, it was all about the score - what did you shoot? There were no style points. It was learning to get the ball in the hole. That's how I became so good at the short game - it was the only way for me shoot good scores and compete. I believe that's how Kermit learned the game too.
Nowadays, it's all about the long ball. These teens can hit the ball 300 + yards, but can't get up and down from 5 yards off the green - and will have 2-3 3 putts per round. It makes me sick to see that talent wasted.
Put mine (or Kermit's ) short game with those teen's full swing, and we are on the mini-tours today.
Can they learn it? Yes, of course they can learn a short game. Will they practice it? No. That's too much work. They'd rather bomb balls on the range for 3+ hours. They've never been forced to work on their game - they can get by with the talent they have - so the short game is a part of the game that has never received attention under pressure. And when they are forced to make shots under pressure, they can't come through.

FS: My Goodness. Let's move on. Will you be going to Iowa this year?

EZ: It depends on the State Qualifier. If I qualify for the State, I'll skip Iowa. If I suck it up next Tuesday, then I'll make the trip to Ames. I really enjoyed going back there - and it helps when I hit 6 greens in the final round and shoot 70.

FS: At the end of July, you have the rite of passage that is the Ohio Public Golfers' Tournament at Apple Valley.

EZ: I don't know why I have a love affair with that place, but I do. Mom and Dad usually come in for the week, and Dad follows me around (and is starting to become known for his cigars). Lot of memories of that course. The rounds are hellish - they start 45 mnutes late and are usually 5 1/2 hours plus - but it's not a stuffy tournament at all. It's a great balance between golfing with acquaintences around the state mixed with a well-run tournament.

FS: Anyone else playing?

EZ: Well, there's a chance both Steve and Kermit will be playing this year. IF Steve plays, he can stay overnight after the practice round and not total his car driving back to Cleveland. I'm thinking about putting one of those roadside posts at the scene of the accident - but instead of a cross, have a bent 4-iron and a deck of cards. I still can't believe he wasn't seriously hurt.

Maybe Jeff M can drive to the course that week and enter as well.

FS: Can you make 4 rounds at Apply Valley once again?

EZ: Yes, I can. The 3-round cut is around 225-226 (+9/+10), which I have made once. It only takes one great round to get you on your way. You don't want to do what I did last year - struggle for 36 holes just to make the 2-round cut on the number - and then try to force a 68 or 69. I can't play that way.

FS: Then 2 Mid-Am events in August

EZ: The Cincinnati Mid-Am is mid-August, at an OK public course. Don is passing on the event as he predicts an unprecedented 6 1/2 hour round, which I think is entirely possible. But it's a local event that I can do well in - I was T-10 one year - and it's nice to see how I stack up locally.

FS: And the US Mid Am Qualifier?

EZ: Well, if I ever get to go to a national event, this would be the one. I've been close 3 times - 2001 in Pittburgh, as the 4th alternate; 2005 in Chicago, where two dumb bogies on the back killed me (I finished 3 off from a spot), and 2006 here at TPC, where I started slow (41 on the front, including a 7 on a 530-yd par 5) and finished with a 37 on the back nine. That 78 was 2 out of qualifying.
Incidentally, I should realize that that 37 has to be up there as one of the great nine's I've played. 37 on a 3600-yd course, with winds at 15-25 mph, with greens rock hard and each pin tucked.

FS: That's all for now. Andy Hawkins will be live on the scene Tuesday, May 29, from the Oasis club for coverage of the Ohio Amateur Qualifier.