The Hall and a Hall of Famer
• Time to turn pro for NAIA champion Cyr
By Parker McLachlin
Join us as we travel on the PGA Tour with Parker McLachlin, a former Punahou athlete. McLachlin and Castle alum Dean Wilson are the only Hawai'i golfers on the PGA Tour. McLachlin, Waikoloa's touring pro, will write his impressions on events that he has just completed and tournaments that are coming up on his calendar.
Hello from Columbus, Ohio, and "Jack's Event," the Memorial Tournament. This is my second year playing in this event and as I mentioned last year it's one of the very special courses and events to be invited to.
Before I go into detail about my week in Fort Worth, I wanted to mention my new affiliation with Hawai'i High School Hall of Honor. For those of you who are not familiar with the program, it identifies 12 high school athletes each year who have excelled in their respective sports and off the field as well. These individuals have been selected by a statewide committee of high school administrators, athletic directors, and the media. Each athlete will receive a $2,000 scholarship for college.
Being a former dual-sport athlete and honoree myself, it was a perfect program to be able to partner with and continue the support of these athletes. I am so excited to begin this relationship and partner with a program I feel so strongly about. This year's awards ceremony will be Sunday at the Sheraton Waikiki Hotel.
Let's get back to the golf and my experiences last week at the Colonial. As some of you know, I took a few weeks off (Texas Open and Byron Nelson). What some of you didn't know was that my wrist has been bothering me a bit. None of us out here are patient, but you have to be with injuries. It's a long year and a long career I'm thinking about and I've got to be cautious with my body. I was able to rest it a bit at home and it had improved enough to give it a go last week.
Given that I had to rest a good bit while at home I wasn't quite as sharp as I probably would have liked. It was an up-and-down week and hopefully some of you caught one of my up moments on ESPN's "Sportscenter" Friday night. Former Hawai'i sportscaster Neil Everett was announcing the Top 10 list and at No. 6 on the list was my chip-in from the grandstand on No. 18. It was pretty cool for Neil to hook me up like that and for the "808" to get some love.
I made a run at the cut on Friday until a go-for-broke 9 at the last hole skewed my score.
I'm excited to get things going here this week in Columbus. If you remember last year I spoke about the 6-inch rough and greens running at 14 on the Stimpmeter. This year the course setup is more like what we normally see on Tour with 3- to 3 1/2-inch rough and fast but manageable green speeds. Players often rave about the accommodations at this event and it's true, Jack Nicklaus really takes care of us. This place has the best milkshakes on Tour and they challenge us to order something they can't create. It's truly a first-class event.
Thanks for all the support as always and I'll check back with you all next week after my U.S. Open Qualifier and hopefully a nice week in Columbus.
Mahalo,
Parker
