Waiting on a plane: Cut players kill time in Q-C
SILVIS, Ill. — The Deere Run practice range wasn’t teeming Saturday afternoon, but it wasn’t quite empty either.
Many of the 83 players who failed to book weekend John Deere Classic tee times stuck around the Quad-Cities for the weekend.
Nine of them, of course, will make their way to the Quad-Cities International Airport tonight to catch the JDC’s charter flight to the British Open.
Matt Kuchar is among those, but he actually was making plans for a quick getaway to Chicago after a session on the Deere Run range early Saturday.
He planned to play rounds yesterday and today at Butler National Country Club in Oak Brook, Ill., the former host of the PGA Tour’s Western Open.
“I think the best work you get is on the course,” he said. “It’s so much more of a test of golf, so much more related to tournament golf than just banging balls on the range.”
Kuchar said his wife also was going to accompany him on the overnight trip to the Chicago area.
“It will give us some more stuff to do in the big city,” he said. “More options with restaurants, stuff for her to do while I’m playing golf.”
British-bound Doug LaBelle II and his fiancée figured to find plenty to do in the Quad-Cities after his planned 6-hour session on the Deere Run range. He said he is accustomed to killing time on weekends, having played on Sunday in just one of his past 10 tournaments.
“We’ll go see a movie or go see something around town,” he said. “Kind of keep it quiet a little bit. Keep it light.’’
There is no set rule of thumb to a weekend agenda after missing a cut, several pros said.
Even non-British Open-bound players were hanging around Deere Run because there also is an event in nearby Milwaukee starting Monday.
That’s why 47-year-old Tour vet Olin Browne didn’t follow his usual missed-cut routine of heading home to Hobe Sound, Fla., for a few days.
“It’s different for everybody,’’ he said of the empty weekend routine. “In my case, I’ve got kids at home, and I like to see them every chance I can. A lot of guys travel with their families, and they might go off and visit relatives or go do a little sight seeing. If my family were out here, we’d be doing something else too.”
Jason Allred worked on his game for a while Saturday afternoon, but planned to enjoy quiet time later with his expectant wife.
“We’re expecting our first child, and it’s just great to be together,” he said. “We’ll get together with friends after they get done playing or if they miss the cut. We try to make our time productive and try to enjoy this crazy adventure we’re on.”
The key to a weekend off spent on site is to get that golf game back in working order.
“On Saturdays, it’s nice to get up and keep moving forward,’’ Allred said. “The hardest thing after bad couple of days is to kind of get the energy up and get your focus back to keep moving forward and not beat yourself up too much.”
“You get a little kick in the fanny missing a cut, and you don’t want to miss any more,’’ Kuchar said. “So you put some more time in on the range.”
This week, of course, is different. Kuchar and Co. have another whole day to kill today before boarding the jet.
He doesn’t expect an overly festive ride.
“I think there will a whole lot of sleeping,” he said. “I don’t think there will be a lot of partying going on. But it will be nice and much more laidback than a commercial flight.”