Gary Finishes T 56th in 2009 Future Masters

On the final day Gary shot six over 76 with six bogeys to finish in a tie for 56th. It was a tough day with difficult pin positions, temperatures in the 90's, and the greens rolling fast. Yesterday he could have given a driving clinic with 12 of 14 fairways hit and today he had four chips within a foot of the hole. He had no double bogeys but birdies remained elusive on the beautiful fast difficult greens. In the three days we saw 216 holes played (foursomes playing 54 holes) with no one sinking any putt greater than 15 feet; and remember, these are teenage kids who can sink any putt. I will update the statistical summary when I find my scorecard.

We congratulate Gary's friend and ofttimes practice partner Charles Silverfield for a fifth place finish. Charles was fourth in the state of Florida high school playoffs a year ago. Charles started the tournament on day one with a chip in eagle on his first hole. A player one group ahead of us today had a hole-in-one on the 11th. We heard the roar of the crowd, but not even the player saw it go in as there is a large mound in front of the green!

Gary showed grit and determination and excellent concentration throughout the tournament in spite of the lack of birdies when opportunity knocked. All the kids were stymied by the difficult greens. The Future Masters is truly similar to The Masters. The course is beautiful, the fairways perfect, the rough short and uniform, the greens are true and fast, there are multiple difficult pin positions, down grain putts can roll off the green, long putts are nearly impossible, three putts are possible often, five and six footers are true, drive landing zones are often narrow, and the tournament organization tops.