After winning my first professional tournament in May, I was never able to immediately build on my momentum because of ongoing health issues that kept me out of competitive golf for a few weeks.  Although I have been feeling better, the doctors still have not determined the cause of my random bouts of severe stomach pain and nausea. Golf must go on, however, so I played in some CPGT two-day events - about 40 guys and pay outs to the top 10-15 spots.

The first was in Statesville, NC where I shot 74-70 and finished 8^th.  I putted very poorly that week and left several shots out there in each round, but it was a tight and tricky little golf course.  The following week in Kannapolis, NC I shot 71-72 and missed the money by one shot.  This was frustrating because I hit it decent that week, but once again left some shots out there and could have shot much lower. These two weeks began my stretch of not feeling my best, and escalated quickly the following week of May 26^th when I got extremely sick the night before the first round of an EGOLF Tour event, forcing me to withdraw. The following weeks consisted of multiple tests, CT scans, blood work, and procedures to try and figure out what was causing these symptoms.

After a few weeks off, I was itching to get back into competition.  As soon as the doctors cleared me, I jumped into playing two Hooters Carolina series events, but ultimately missed both cuts. Looking back, I realize that I probably began too quickly...learning the lesson that even if your mind is ready and anxious to start playing again, your body must be on track as well.  Mine was not ready at that point - I was still weak and rusty!

In the first Hooters Carolina event on June 8-10, I shot 71-79 in Charlotte and missed the cut badly.  Then during the following week in Myrtle Beach, I shot 75-68 to miss the cut by one shot. You are better off preparing and slowly getting back into the swing of things and playing one event in a few weeks than rushing into it and playing back to back weeks after an injury/sickness. I knew better than that, but I love competition and really wanted to start playing again - oh well, lesson learned. I took a week off after that and played a Pro-Am in Charlotte at Myers Park. I didn’t play that well, but shot 71-70 finishing in the top 10.

Since then, I played another two-day event near Charlotte shooting 72-71 to barely sneak in the money. Last week I had a whole lot of offense working in the CPGT event at Raintree in Charlotte. In two days I had 14 birdies and an eagle, which is 16 under par worth of offense – that’s exciting golf!  Unfortunately, my defense was BAD!  I had 2 double bogeys and 7 bogeys in two rounds, so I shot -5 for the week. With rounds of 70-69 I finished 9th, but it was a week that should have been much better.  At this point, consistency is the key for my game and mainly in the area of ball striking.  I need to become better inside of 150 yards, so mainly my short-iron game needs improvement right now.  It has gotten sloppy as of late, and that is the scoring area where I need to be taking dead aim. I am putting fairly solid and driving the ball longer and more accurately than I ever have, so I am dominating the par 5s.  I am going to take the next week or so to practice hard and tighten up the irons and wedges.

This last month or so has been a little frustrating, with health issues and playing mediocre golf, but my mental outlook is solid and I am remaining patient.  Although it’s frustrating to shoot right around par, I know the low scores will come and soon enough I will break through by continuing to work hard and have faith. I am blessed to have so many people around me helping me chase my dream.  I look forward to writing to YAPP Nation again with good tournament finishes!

God bless,

Drew Perry