July 29, 2001

PITTSBURGH, PA — Erin Walker, embarrassed by a round in the high 110s, is close to giving up competitive golf and intends to reduce an already shortened golf schedule for the remainder of the season.

"I'm going to cut it back," he said Friday. "I hate shooting a round like I did a few weeks ago.  I need to practice more.?

As Kevin Long, Sr. held the lead this past week by scoring 80 points, Erin has the 27th best handicap with a field of 29.

"Give it up? I'm getting close," he said. "I'll play occasionally in August and September and try to make another run next year.  Make no mistake about it, I'll always play the Carl Spackler Open."

Erin didn?t appear to be ready to play golf at the Indian Country Club in Indiana, Pennsylvania. "I made a major tactical error just coming on out this year by trying to play in this prestigious tournament," he said. "I should have been hitting balls in early March with the rest of the field.?

"I had no chance. My game is not in very good condition to start with and then playing this golf course with no knowledge of it was a disaster. I just didn't calculate the situation correctly."

He conceded that he was in a classic golfing dilemma of not playing enough to be competitive and not having the kitchen passes to play enough to be competitive. "I'll be 29 shortly," he said. "I said when I was 25 I would start acquiring more kitchen passes and putting more effort into my play and I haven?t been doing that. I will continue to curtail it this year and play more next year in preparation for the Open."