Winter Teaching Schedule and Pro-Am Tournaments

Hey All - As of November 1st through March 31st, 2012 my winter teaching schedule will be Wednesday through Sunday from 10:00am to 4:00pm at GlenArbor Golf Club. The times are filling up quickly and I wanted to send a blog to make sure I reached all of you.

Let me know if there are any Pro-ams that you would like to participate in and I will see if it fits into my winter schedule. I have people that are already excited to travel over the winter and compete in the warmer climates to get out of the cold. There are Pro-Ams in Mexico, Florida, California and Las Vegas that would be great to play in.

I look forward to hearing from all of you soon and will keep you posted on my tournament results as well as pro-ams that we could compete in. Until then.......fairways and greens.

Rob

Metropolitan PGA Section Championship

It was a rough last 7 holes to end the tournament. I shot 73 and finished in a tie for 7th place. Danny Balin had another great tournament and took home the win.

You can see the results at www.met.pga.com. I would like to thank the sponsors of the championship and the Metropolitan PGA for their great work running the event.

Next up is the Treiber Memorial Tournament of Champions in mid October.  Until next time....fairways and greens.

Rob

Metropolitan PGA Section Championship

It was a rainy day today for 15 holes and I carded my second straight 70 to grab a tie for 5th place. Final round tomorrow. Frank Bensel is in the lead at 3 under par. Old Oaks is such a good golf course. Click on www.met.pga.com for all of the results.

The weather is supposed to get rainy in the afternoon but clear in the morning....we shall see.

Rob

Metropolitan PGA Section Championship

It was a beautiful day at Old Oaks Country Club in Purchase, NY for the Metropolitan PGA Section Championship. I shot an even par round of 70 with 4 bogeys and 4 birdies which places me in a tie for 13th place at the moment. The tournament is a 54 hole event that concludes on Wednesday. Nick Bova of Friars Head Golf Club has the lead with a round of 64.

My tee time today is 8:30 and I am paired with Greg Bisconti of the St. Andrews Golf Club and Danny Balin of the Burning Tree Country Club. The player of the year is riding on the next two tournaments. I am currently 3rd on the points list narrowly behind Balin and Bisconti. You can follow the action at www.met.pga.com.

Until tonight......fairways and greens!

Rob

96th Metropolitan Open Championship

Sleepy Hollow Country Club was a great venue to host the 96th Metropolitan Open Championship. The golf course was in great shape and the Metropolitan Golf Association did an outstanding job running the event. I shot rounds of 70-71-70 to finish in a tie for 12th place. Tyler Hall of New Jersey won the event with rounds of 68-71-67 to collect the $27,500 check.

You can check out the results at http://www.mgagolf.org/.  There are some really cool photos as well. The next event on my schedule is the Met Section Championship at Old Oaks Golf Club September 19-21.

Fairways and greens and I will speak to you soon.

Rob

2011 Metropolitan Professional Championship

Well another 70 was good enough for a tie for 9th and to qualify for next years National Club Professional Championship in Monterey California. Greg Bisconti kept up his great play and won the event. This is his second win of the season. He won the Westchester Open as well. Look for the results at http://www.met.pga.com/. Congrats to Greg and all of the qualifiers in the Met Section.

As usual the Metropolitan PGA did a great job of running the event and thanks to Rockland Country Club for hosting the event. Next up is the Metropolitan Open at Sleepy Hollow Golf Club August 23rd thru the 25th. Until the next time........fairways and greens.

Rob

2011 Metropolitan Professional Championship

We are back at Rockland Country Club in Sparkill, New York for the Metropolitan Professional Championship. This is a two day tournament and the top 12 players qualify for the 2012 National Club Professional Championship. I shot an opening round of 70 and am in a tie for 19th place at the moment. My tee time today is at 12:36. You can follow the action at www.met.pga.com.

Until tomorrow.........fairways and greens.

Rob

2011 New York State Open

It was a battle at 'The Black.'  Matt Dobyns, Greg Bisconti, and Chris Deforest were charging hard! The wind was gusting up to 25mph and it was 95 degrees with 95% humidity. In the end I was able to make closing pars on the last 4 holes to hold on to a 2 shot victory.

The results are at http://www.met.pga.com/. Here is the link to the article in 'The Journal News". http://www.lohud.com/section/SPORTS.  Thanks for all of your emails and texts of support and congrats!

Next up is the Met Professional Championship at Rockland Country Club on August 1st and 2nd. This is the qualifier for the next years National Club Professional Championship. Remember, fairways and greens!!

Rob

2011 New York State Open

The day was hotter than yesterday and today is going to be in the high 90's. I shot 67 and have a 5 shot lead heading into the final round of this years New York State Open. Matt Dobyns is in 2nd place at 4 under par and 2011 Westchester Open Champion, Greg Bisconti is in 3rd place at 2 under par.  Our tee time today is 11am.

You can follow the live scoring at www.met.pga.com. Until later today........fairways and greens.

Rob

2011 New York State Open

It was a beautiful and hot day on the famed Bethpage Black State Park. Home of the 2002 and 2009 US Open. I made 6 birdies and one bogey to shoot 66 and share the first round lead with Matt Dobyns of Deepdale Golf Club. Cory Muller and Reggie Bergholtz are tied for second with scores of 69.

My tee time today is 1:25. You can follow the action on www.met.pga.com. And here is the link to the live leader board. leaderboard.htm Just click on it to be brought to the full leader board. The weather is supposed to be hot again today.

Until tonight.......fairways and greens!

Rob

2011 WGA Westchester Open

Hey All - Brae Burn Golf Club in Purchase, NY held the 90th WGA Westchester Open. The course was awesome, perfect shape. Greg Bisconti from the St Andrews Golf Club in Ardsley, NY shot 3 under par 213 to win his first Westchester Open title. Yours truly shot rounds of 73-71-73 (217) to finish in a tie for 8th place. You can get the results out at www.westchestergolf.org.

Next up is the 2011 New York State Open at Bethpage Black next week. Need to get a few putts to fall so think birdie. Til next time......

Rob

2011 PGA Professional National Championship

Well if it wasnt for a cold putter, things could have been different this week in Hershey. I shot 73 in the final round with 36 putts to finish in a tie for 56th place. Not what I had in mind for the week but that is the way the ball rolls. David Hutsell won the tourney at 11 under par. You can follow the complete results at http://www.pga.com/. Next up is the Westchester Open at Brae Burn Country Club July 11th and 12th. You can follow the action at http://www.westchestergolf.org/. Talk to all of you soon and keep it in the fairway!

Rob

2011 PGA National Professional Championship

Talk about trying to find some magic? I need a little help today from a solid round to climb the leader board and break into that top 20. I figure that a 67 should do it, which is out there. I struggled to a 75 yesterday and am in a tie for 70th place at 4 over par. It took us 5 hours and 40 minutes to complete the round. It was nearly impossible to get any rhythm going as we waited on every shot. My tee time today is 8:40 off of the #1 tee. I need to come out firing. Talk to all of you soon.

Rob

2011 PGA National Professional Championship

Well it was a rough day on the course. 73 which dropped me in to a tie for 66th. I am sitting at even par for the tournament and 5 shots out of 6th place. The leader is at 12 under par. My tee time is 8:39 off the 10th tee. Follow the action at www.pga.com and it will be live on the golf channel from 3:30 to 6 p.m. tomorrow. Until then fairways and greens.

Rob

PGA National Professional Championship

Hey All - Here in Hershey, PA playing in the NPC and yes the town does smell like chocolate! The top 20 players qualify for this years PGA Championship at Atlanta Athletic Club.  I shot an opening round of 2 under par 70 on the West Course. Five birdies and 3 bogeys. That puts me in a tie for 23rd of the 312 player field.  I am playing the East Course tomorrow and will be for the next 3 days. You can follow the action on www.pga.com. My tee time tomorrow is 1:50. It will be broadcasted live on the golf channel from 3:30 to 6:00 p.m. so be on the look out.  Also be sure to catch the Golf Fix on the golf channel tomorrow at 7 p.m. Until tomorrow......fairways and greens.

Rob

Happy Father's Day

Happy Dad's day to all of the fathers out there! It is our special day to spend with the kids that we love so much!!! Please enjoy!!  See you a ton this week. The National Club Professional Championship starts on June 26th.

Rob

Slice Free Golf

Hey All - My very good friend and fellow PGA Professional Brian Crowell has written and published an outstanding book titled Slice Free Golf. It is the only book solely dedicated to the prevention and cure of the slice. It will be hitting the book stores this week and is a must read for you slicers. Hookers do not dare to open! You can also check out his website at http://www.slicefreegolf.com/.

Talk to all of you soon.

Rob

Polo Metropolitan PGA Head Professional Championship

With rounds of 77-69 I finished in a tie for 7th place. Charlie Meola was the champion with scores of 68-70. Fairview was in great shape! I forget how nice that place is. It is a true hidden gem! Here is a list of the top finishers.

To get the full results please log on to www.met.pga.com. Next up is the National Club Professional Championship in Hershey, Pennsylvania from June 26 through June 29. This will be televised live on the golf channel. This is the tournament that the top 14 players earn berths in the PGA Championship this year at Atlanta Athletic Club. You can also follow the action on www.PGA.com.  More to come so keep your eyes peeled. See you soon and until then.....fairways and greens!

Rob

Metropolitan Head Professional Championship

Today is round one of the head professional championship at Fairview Golf Club in Greenwich, CT. All PGA directors of golf and PGA head professionals in the Metropolitan Section will face off in a 36 hole event. The defending champion is Todd Wingerter from Burning Tree Country Club also in Greenwich, CT. I play at 8:54 with Todd and the head professional from Fairview Golf Club, Shawn Powers.

The weather forecast looks great for this championship and Fairview is a fun track to play. The course is not that long and the greens are severe. Keep your eyes posted for some results tonight. As always, you can follow the action here or for complete results go to www.met.pga.com.

Until tonight........fairways and birdies.

Rob

US Open Qualifier results

On an extremely wet Brae Burn Country club 88 players sloshed their way around the golf course in hopes of making into the top 8 to advance to the sectionals of the US Open qualification process. There was casual water on every hole but the greens held up great. I carded a 75 with no birdies on my card to miss the playoff by one shot. Ouch! The qualifiers were as follows:


U.S. Open local qualifier
at Brae Burn Country Club in Purchase
par 72

1. Gregory Bisconti, South Salem 70
2. Brian Lamberti, Granite Springs 73
3. Timothy Kearney, Poughkeepsie 72
3. Reginald Bergholtz, Harrison 72
5. John Stoltz, Roscoe 73
5. Alexandre Rocha, Windermere, Fla. 73
5. Christopher Damiano, Jupiter, Fla. 73
8. Dylan Newman (a) *, New Rochelle 74

Good luck to all of the successful players on obtaining a spot in this years US Open at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda Maryland. The next tournament on my schedule is the Polo Metropolitan Head Professional Championship at Fairview Country Club in Greenwich, Connecticut. Until then keep it down the middle! Talk to all of you soon.

Rob

US Open Qualifier postponed until Thursday

Well due to the rain, the local qualifier for the US Open has been postponed until this Thursday. My tee time is now 7:30 a.m. I am sure the golf course will be playing much longer as we are due to get rain for the next few days into the weekend.

I will keep you posted. Talk soon.

Rob

US Open Qualifying

The local stage of US Open qualifying is tomorrow at Brae Burn Country Club in Purchase, New York. The field is competing for 8 spots to advance to the sectional qualifying round. If successful, the sectional round will be at Canoe Brook Country Club in New Jersey on June 6th. If all goes well in that stage then it is on to Congressional Country Club for the US Open from June 16th to the 19th. Think birdies!!!!!

The weather is not looking good for tomorrow. It will be a challenge that I am looking forward to. I will report tomorrow after the round. Later....

Rob

Westchester PGA Championship Rd 1

Greg Bisconti was the winner of my first match 2 and 1. The course played beautifully. Carl Alexander and Joe Christianson are dueling it out in the finals today. You can watch the live scores at www.met.pga.com unveiling from Manhattan Woods Golf Club in West Nyack, New York.

The weather is finally getting consistent and nice. Looking forward to a great season. Next up is the local of the US Open Qualifying at Brae Burn Country Club in Rye, New York on May 17th.

Talk to all of you soon.
Rob

Westchester PGA Championship

Hey All - Qualifying for match play at the Westchester PGA Championship that was held at the beautiful Manhattan Woods Golf Club in West Nyack, New York. Shot 71 with 2 birdies and 2 bogeys on the Gary Player layout. It is a fun layout to play. There are all different types of shots to play and the greens are tricky.

Match play starts tomorrow with a field of 32. I play Greg Bisconti from the St. Andrews Golf Club. Greg was the low PGA Club professional at the 2009 PGA Championship. It will be a fun match. I'll check in tomorrow. Our tee time is 9:45am.

Until tomorrow......

Rob

Golf Coach Direct

Just go to the 'news' section of my site and be sure to book your online lesson to the right at the Golf Coach Direct link. If you don't have time to get to the course, let's do an online lesson. Its a great way to get some tips for the season that is finally upon us. Be sure to prebook so you don't miss out on this new technology. I'll see you there.

Rob

New site launch

Wanna get a live video golf lesson?  I'll be available to take a look at your swing on Mondays between 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. for the next 3 weeks.  Log on to www.golfcoachdirect.com and upload a swing. Great way to get ready for the season. I'll see you there.

Rob

Titleist Fitters Commercial

Hey- thanks for all of the great emails for those of you who saw my Titleist Fitters commercial on the golf channel all of last week. It was a ton of fun to do and I hope that you all learned something from it. It is now airing on the Titleist.com website and on Golf Central on the Golf Channel. You can get there directly or I have a link in my news section of RobLabritz.com. When you are at titleist.com just click on 'videos' across the top bar. You will then be able to view the commercial. Rate it if you would like by pressing how many stars you think I deserve :).

It is still feeling pretty cold here in New York. I sure hope that the weather breaks soon. Until next time.....fairways and greens and thanks for the continued support.

Rob

Getting Warmer

With the season here in the north east getting so close it is time to take the clubs out of the garage and get them ready to go for the 2011 season. Hopefully the off season was spent by most of you hitting the gym and keeping yourselves in golfing shape. I know I worked extremely hard keeping my game and body tuned for the 2011 season. Here is a preseason check list to get you ready to tee it up:

1. Regrip your golf clubs. This should be done once a year for the avid golfer. Golf Pride has a new line of grips that will fit your style and feel.

2. Get some new golf balls. Titleist has launched the new ProV1 golf ball this year that has a different core and dimple pattern for longer, higher, straighter shots.

3. Get sunscreen. With so many different types of sunscreen on the market the choice is hard but remember the basics: get sunscreen that blocks out both UVA and UVB rays with an SPF of at least 30 to protect your skin from skin cancer. Also use a daily moisturizer to keep your skin lubricated.

4. Check your spikes on your golf shoes. If they are worn have them replaced so you have maximum traction on the golf course and if your shoes look worn invest in a new pair of shoes along with shoe trees. Foot Joy has the new Icon line that allows you to customize the look of your shoes.

5. Get head wear. Throw away the old sweaty hats and invest in some new ones. You have to look good to play good.

6. New glove time. Throw away that sweat soaked glove and buy a couple new ones that you can rotate from round to round. A little baby powder sprinkled in the glove after each round will keep the glove dry and soft throughout the season. And after your round don't just throw the glove into your bag, smooth it out and place it back in its package. This will keep it smooth and soft.

7. Last but not least. Get a few preseason lessons with your local PGA Professional. If you start the season out with the correct fundamentals it will only increase you chances of playing your best in 2011. Focus on the basics and start out slow if you haven't played all winter to prevent injury.

That's a good start. Remember to check back for more helpful tips as the weather warms up. Until then......fairways and greens!

Rob

Updated Rob Labritz dot com

Hey Guys and Gals - The RobLabritz.com website has taken on a new look. I have added a few things and made the site a little bit easier to navigate. There will be many new videos posted in 2011 so watch for really cool new stuff! You can click on photos in the photo section to give you looks at live television shots that I have taken and links to stories as well as other sites that are applicable.  I have also added some links to my favorite websites as well. Each of these websites will give you a look into the golfing and fitness world that I adhere to. I appreciate the support that all of you have given the site. It is a ton of fun and I am looking forward to 2011. Feel free to contact me at any time. Thanks again.

Rob

PGA Show

Many new things this year at the PGA Show in Orlando Florida. As far as clothing, manufacturers are allowing customers to 'design their own' styles. You can pick the type of fit and colors that look best on you to help identify your own style. This works the same way for shoes. For example, Foot-Joy has a brand called the icon which you can build your own shoe and color. Very cool.

Titleist launched its new 910 woods and hybrids which are adjustable in 16 different settings to maximize your ball flight. Again, very cool. They also launched their new Pro V1 golf ball which is a little more durable and will spin a bit more with the new 'v' grooves to maximize ball control.

Guru is a software company that launched the first 3D camera that allows the instructor to get a 3D image of a student with no wires connected to the student. What's next a hologram?

So many cool things to see that are truly technologically advanced to make your golf game better. I can't wait until 2012. Talk soon.

Rob

National Stroke Play Championship Final

Well I played the last two rounds in 4 under par with rounds of 71, 69 to finish in a tie for 4th place at 285. The last day was greuling as the wind was blowing extremely hard! The 69 was the low round of the day equaled only by the eventual champion, Frank Bensel of Purchase New York. A good solid start to the 2011 year. This title has been elusive to me as I have finished runner-up twice but have never come home with the trophy yet.

Next I am off to Palm Springs, California to play a pro am with one of my members and many PGA Tour Professionals. This shoud be a fun event.

Keep it in the short grass and check out the results on Pgatournaments.com. Here is a link to the Stuart News article. Talk to all of you later. http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2011/jan/26/new-york-man-captures-pga-stroke-play-title/

Rob

National Stroke Play Championship

The National Stroke Play Championship is played in Port Saint Lucie Florida every January and is a great way to keep my game sharp and stay competitive in the middle of winter. This year 158 PGA members play at the PGA Village's Wanamaker and Ryder Golf Courses to find the champion.

I started off with rounds of 74-71 to be in a tie for 24th place. The field was cut to the low 70 and ties. My short game was a little rusty to say the least but hours of practice the last few days have tightened it up a bit. The leader is at 8 under. I am 9 shots back and tee off today at 11:27. The weather has been good, a bit windy at times but most of all very nice.

Two more rounds to go. Lets see if I can climb that leaderboard a bit today. You can follow the action at http://www.pgatournaments.com/. Just click on 'winter championships' and then 'stroke play championship. This will lead you to all of the tournament information. Talk to you all tomorrow.

Rob