The 2016 Valero Texas Open at TPC San Antonio is just five days away. The deadline for players to commit to the tournament has passed and the field is set. Some big name PGA Tour players are coming down next week to take on the difficult AT&T Oaks Course, but the biggest Texas golf star at the moment is MIA. In years past, the golf course has played firm and fast, with the South Texas wind playing a big factor in scoring. This year is shaping up to be quite different. We're expecting … [Read more...]
Valero Texas Open Volunteer Experience: Day 4
Today was the final round of the Valero Texas Open which means it was also my final day of volunteering for the tournament. I'm happy to say the tournament today announced live on air it reached it's charitable goal of $100 million since the exception of the event. On the Day 1 post below, I laid out why I enjoy doing this for four day in the sun and one of the reasons was the money that goes to local charities. I'm glad they made their goal and I feel like I contributed just a bit. Valero … [Read more...]
Chip-In’s & Chunks: Jimmy Walker Wins Valero and Tiger Still Uncertain
Chip-in's & Chunks is a weekly feature highlighting the good (chip-in's) and the bad (chunks) from the world of golf over the past week. If you have something you'd like to see added please contact me on Twitter @Front9Back9 or email me directly. We're less than two weeks away from The Masters and the fellas are in full prep mode getting ready for the first major of the year. This week the PGA Tour teed it up in San Antonio for the Valero Texas Open where I spent the last four days out … [Read more...]
Valero Texas Open Volunteer Experience: Day 3
Today is the final round of the Valero Texas Open, which means it's also the final day to finish out my four day volunteering commitment. I've shared my experience the last two days and if you've missed those posts you can check them out here: Valero Texas Open Volunteer Experience: Day 1 Valero Texas Open Volunteer Experience: Day 2 For the third round I was paired with a pretty solid group; Chesson Hadley, Jason Kokrak and Daniel Summerhays. In looking at the Valero Texas Open … [Read more...]
Valero Texas Open Volunteer Experience: Day 2
Day 2 of my volunteering at the Valero Texas Open turned out to be quite uneventful, as the group I was paired with was way back when the day started and never made a real run up the leaderboard. In fact, the entire afternoon wave of players really got the short end of the stick. I was assigned to the group of Camilo Villegas and Charles Howell III, a two some who started the day at 8-over and 7-over, respectively. I was doing the same thing as I was doing on Thursday, walking with the … [Read more...]
Valero Texas Open Volunteer Experience: Day 1
Yesterday marked the start of my third year volunteering at the Valero Texas Open. I've been with the NCB/Golf Channel Broadcast committee for three years now and it's a really cool gig. While there are certainly some downsides, I think the positives certainly outweigh the negatives. I think you have to enjoy it especially since you're spending 40+ hours at the golf course over four days. What You Get With Volunteering at Valero Texas Open It costs $50 to volunteer, which gets you several … [Read more...]
2015 Valero Texas Open Field is Set
The 2015 Valero Texas Open field is set and some of the best players in the world will be in San Antonio as the tournament kicks off in my hometown. I couldn't be more stoked to be out all four days again this year. I will be volunteering again this year all four days starting on Thursday. I will be on the NBC/Golf Channel Broadcast team as I have done the last three years. I'm curious to see what the chatter among our team is this year. I have heard from people who have done it longer … [Read more...]
WGC Match Play Heading to Austin Country Club in 2016?
I couldn't help but get excited yesterday afternoon when several reports came out saying the WGC Match Play will be heading to Austin Country Club starting in 2016, with several of these reports saying Austin will be the host for at least two years. I'm a born and raised Texan, so anytime there's news about big time PGA Tour events coming to Texas I get excited. Austin, Texas is a great place to host an event of this magnitude and if they can lock down multiple years into the future it … [Read more...]
Valero Texas Open Announces Big Name Player Commitments
The Valero Texas Open is just about a month away and already some big name players have committed to teeing it up in my hometown this year. First, Phil Mickelson has decided to give TPC San Antonio another chance after pulling a muscle last year and withdrawing from the tournament in the third round. I've lost a lot of respect of Phil over the course of 2014. He didn't play very well throughout the year and his bad season was capped off with a horrible Ryder Cup experience where he let the … [Read more...]
Chip-In’s & Chunks: An Aussie Wins, Pace of Play Sucks, and Phil WD’s
Chip-In’s & Chunks is all about the good and bad in the game of golf from the past week. Do you have something to add? Let us know on Twitter @Front9Back9 , Facebook or Google+. Chip-In's (the good) Steven Bowditch Wins Valero Texas Open Luckily it was a tough day for every golfer at TPC San Antonio on Sunday. It's not often you see a player pick up a victory in a PGA Tour event with a final round 76. Bowditch overcame gusty wins and a long golf course to score his first PGA Tour … [Read more...]
Day Four Volunteering at the Valero Texas Open
Sunday wrapped up another year of volunteering at the Valero Texas Open, and I have to admit, as of right now I don't know if I will return next year for a third year. Next year's tournament is a long ways off so maybe I will change my mind by then, but we'll wait and see. Just to quickly recap, I was on the NBC/Golf Channel Broadcast Committee. What this means is I am assigned to a group to walk with and after each hole, I radio back to the TV truck to confirm the players scores. It's a … [Read more...]
Day Three Volunteering at the Valero Texas Open
Saturday turned out to be a beautiful day for golf and an even better day for a leisurely walk around TPC San Antonio with some PGA Tour pros. I wrapped up my day three of volunteering at the Valero Texas Open at around 4:15 PM, which was 5 hours and 15 minutes after teeing off. But more about that later. For round three, I was assigned to the group of Trevor Immelman, Josh Teater and Will MacKenzie. All three players started the day at 3-under, which at the time was 5 shots off the … [Read more...]
Day Two Volunteering at Valero Texas Open
As mentioned yesterday, I am volunteering at the Valero Texas Open this week at TPC San Antonio. It's my second year working the tournament and it's quite fun. I get to walk inside the ropes with the pros and call back their scores after each hole to the NBC/Golf Channel truck. The funny part about it, with all the technology we have these days, they still depend on people actually walking with a group and manually calling back scores to the truck. I'm not complaining though, because I enjoy … [Read more...]
Day One Volunteering at Valero Texas Open in The Books
As mentioned in previous posts, I am volunteering again this year at the Valero Texas Open. It's the second year I have done this job and I have to admit it's quite fun. I am on the NBC/Golf Channel broadcast team, which means I get to wear a TV sticker and walk inside the ropes with an assigned group. It's pretty cool. What I like most is just being so up and close to the players and watching how they play golf. Today there was a 2 1/2 hour fog delay, so play didn't kick off until closer … [Read more...]
Front9Back9 Golf Picks: Valero Texas Open
I am going with sort-of a Texas flare this week with my golf picks. Why? Well because I'm from Texas and live here in San Antonio where the Valero Texas Open is teeing off tomorrow. My PGA Tour Fantasy Game standings are pretty abysmal so far this year. I have a total of 3,824 points with the leader sitting at 7,131. Ouch! That puts me in 2,811th place overall which sucks. This week I am turning the tables though. As I mentioned above my picks are all Texas proud and if my four players … [Read more...]
Valero Texas Open Adds Another Top 10 Player to the Field
I've been playing hooky today from work and with the cold weather down here in San Antonio today I have nothing better to do then check out what's happening on Twitter. The Valero Texas Open is coming up here in a few weeks and today on Twitter they have announced two more additions to the field. Yep, that's right. Zach Johnson is scheduled to play again this year in the Valero Texas Open. That's awesome and gives San Antonio two of the top 10 world ranked … [Read more...]
Early Player Commitments to Valero Texas Open
I’ll be volunteering at the Valero Texas Open again this year after having a blast last year walking inside the ropes with the NBC Golf team. This year, Greg Norman Productions has taken over the tournament management and they have promised big changes to the Valero Texas Open. I have gone to the tournament for just about every year I can remember. It moved over to TPC San Antonio Oaks Course four years ago and top players seem to enjoy the course. It’s much easier to walk then the Resort … [Read more...]
Valero Texas Open Golf Picks & Predictions = FAILURE
As I sit here and watch the ACM awards and try to recover from my volunteering at the Valero Texas Open the last four days, I can’t help but notice how bad my golf picks & predictions were last Wednesday before the tournament. Here's how I fared: Jimmy Walker will win the Valero Texas Open Well, Jimmy didn’t win the tournament and he wasn’t really all that close either. He finished with a T31 finish and $35,960 in earnings. I really had a good feeling about Jimmy heading into the week … [Read more...]
My Valero Texas Open Volunteering Experience
It’s Sunday evening and the last four days have been long - I’m sunburned and my feet and calves hurt. If you’re anything like my wife though you probably don’t want to hear my complaining – she claims it’s all self-inflicted since I didn’t use sun block on Friday and I eat too much and don’t work out enough. If you didn't know, the Valero Texas Open has just completed here in San Antonio and Martin Laird pulled off an unexpected victory and stamped his ticket to Augusta. Me on the other … [Read more...]
Valero Texas Open: 5 Players Worth Following
The players teeing it up at the Valero Texas Open on Thursday could quite possibly make up the best field we have seen in San Antonio is some years. With two of the top-1o players in the World Golf Rankings headlining, it should turn out to be quite an exciting tournament come this weekend. Below are five players worth following at the Valero Texas Open starting on Thursday. 1.) Rory McIlroy McIlroy is coming off a tough three months to start 2013. With The Masters on his mind, Rory … [Read more...]