June 30, 2008

LOCKBOURNE, OH — Everything about Jack Schone this season screamed "end of the line."

The numbers were down, in some cases career lows. The swing speed was alarmingly slow and erratic. Even his body language signaled a 42-year-old whose best years were fading from view.

Schone, a.k.a. Hawkeye, had not broke 80 this year. Then, to cap it off, Schone finished in a tie for 52nd position in his first major championship after being unable to break 80 at Rock Hollow Golf Club.

"It was a horrible start to a horrible year," he said.

So horrible that it prompted Schone to report to the range, both visibly leaner and stubbornly determined to show that his miserable 2008 was an aberration, not a sign of things to come.

"I was not as focused as I needed to be this year," Schone said. "I ended up thinking too much, trying to do much and trying to fix it too quick. Too many ups and downs."

Hawkeye showed up at Foxfire Golf Club on Saturday. He starred over at the Players Club course thanking god he was playing the Foxfire course. It would be too much too quick and some confidence was in order. It ended up being a good choice.

Jack Schone carded an even-par 72 at Fox Fire Golf Club on Saturday morning. "It was really early to be up and playing golf," said Schone after his round. "I really did not know how rusty things would be out there today. I opened with lots of confidence and hung in there today. My game is back temporarily. [Jack smiles]"

He opened par, birdie, and par. He finished the front nine with two bogeys and a 2-over 38.

The 'old Jack' decided to come out of hiding. Hawkeye made the turn and suddenly turned into Superman. He had turned things around from a year of disappointment.

Jack carded three birdies and one bogey at the final hole to shoot a 2-under 34 on the back nine. "There were stretches out there where I felt like I was back in my prime," he said. "I was hitting it great. The power and speed were back - it was just a matter of timing and position."

"I don't have any doubt that he's going to bounce back," Chad Long said of his neighbor. "This is not, in my mind, any type of steady decline. He is probably going to play 20 or 25 more quality years."

Hawkeye carded four birdies and four bogeys on Saturday and scored a season-high 81 points. The monsterous round provided a 25-spot move up on the Leaderboard into 12th position. Jack Schone had broke 80 in both strokes and points.

In other news, Greg Long played Red Hawk Run yesterday in Findlay, OH. He played his normal game Sunday afternoon before taking consecutive nines at the 7th and 8th holes. He stepped up to the 9th hole with no confidence and his round virtually over.

Slick pulled his drive well left of the fairway into the tall heather. The ball was amazingly found. He hacked it out into the meandering creek. Long took his penalty stroke drop and hit his unlevel 4th shot into the large deep greenside bunker.

"It was one bad shot after another," Long said. "When is this going to end?"

Greg Long laughed with par just 30 feet away. He reached down for some confidence and skinned the ball out of the bunker, over the pin, and over the green by 60 yards barely missing the practice green.

Long was destined to card a record three 9's in a row. He took the cart over to the clubhouse.

"I really got some looks from the people near the clubhouse and on the practice green," Long said. "It was a third nine waiting to happen."

He spent no time waiting or sizing up the shot. He hit a frustrating looping wedge over a tall Arthur Hills mound to a blind downhill green. The ball found the hole for bogey.

"That was a strong bogey," said Long. "It turned things around and put me in position to shoot 5-over 41 on the back nine. It is a shame that 3-putting is a norm for me."

The 2008 Virtual Tournament rolls on with Bill Bateson taking over the top spot with 70.6 points per round. The half way point for the season-long tournament ends today.