DARRON STILES' BLOG

May 11, 2008
Well this will be a day that I won’t forget any time soon. I wanted to win SOOOOOOOOOOO bad!!!!! With today being Mothers’ Day, the win would have been extremely special for me and my wife. We lost my wife’s mother fourteen months ago to cancer. She was a very special lady and we miss her very much. That’s why I wanted to win today.

But my hat goes off to Colt. He played a great round of golf today. You shoot 65 on Sunday, you deserve to finish as high as possible. For me it came down to a few bad swings at the wrong time. Bad tee shots on 13 & 14, followed by a three putt on fourteen really cost me the tournament. But for me there is a silver lining. With my second place finish today I take over the top spot on the money list. That t is what we are all after at season’s end.

I would like to thank Stephens Inc. for their commitment. I would also like to thank Patricia Brown and her staff for a wonderful week in Fort Smith. Lastly, thank you fans for coming out to the course in support of the Nationwide Tour!!!!!!!!!!

Darron

May 10, 2008

Well, we managed to beat the weather. Just after the last putt of the day fell, the horn sounded for dangerous weather. For me the day started with a horn blowing for weather. I was on the 1st tee when the officials stopped play for lightning in the area. About 35 minutes later, I got to tee off.

The golf was mostly decent. I never really got anything going today. Friday my iron play was stellar with many shots inside of 15 feet. Saturday, not many shots inside 15 feet. What kept me close today was the fact that I did not make many mistakes. My only bogey came on number 8 when all three of us in my group were fooled by the wind. After that, I played steady and bogey free.

Sunday should shape up to be a good day. Matt Weibring leads me by 1, and I am 3 clear of the next closest player. My goal is the same as it has been all week. Just hit solid golf shots and add them up at the end.

By the way, Sunday is Mother's day so give your mom a call and tell her that you love her!!!!!!!!!!

Darron

May 9, 2008

Today was fun!!!!!!! Those are the kind of days you want to have every day. I got off to a fast start with birdies on 10,11 and 12. That settled me down and put me in a good mindframe for the rest of the day. I made some key par saves late in the day to keep the momentum going. I am looking forward to Saturday and Sunday. I feel really good about how things are going so far.

Come out and watch some more exciting action this weekend!!!!!!!!!

Darron

May 8, 2008

Well, round 1 is in the books!! I played well today. The bogey on 18 put a sour taste for the end of the round, but other than that, I have no complaints on how the day went. With lift, clean, and place rules in effect today, driving was probably the key today. Many balls had clumps of mud on them. Without being able to clean the ball, we would have had a much tougher day.

My tee time for Friday is 1:20 off number 10. The weather forecast looks OK, so the galleries should be treated to more good scoring. Talk to you Friday.

VIEWER QUESTION

Hi Darron, good writing, how old were you when you started golfing and how much did you practice? do you think Jr golf assocs help ? thanks HAL.

DARRON'S RESPONSE

HAL, I was 5 when I first started hitting golf balls. My father would take me to the driving range and show me what to do. The first time I actually played I was 9. It was a junior tournament. I shot 81 for 9 holes. My father gave me 33 penalty shots during the nine holes. That night he told me why I got the penalties and from then on I knew what not to do on the course. As far as the junior golf associations, YES I do believe they help. I belonged to three different area associations when I was starting out. Now with the First Tee program, I think the future of golf is pretty good.

Practice. Something I used to love to do all day as a kid. Now, it is more focused and concentrated on specific aspects of the game. In 2 hours I can get as much done now as it took me growing up to do all day. It's not that I don't enjoy it, I just get bored with more easily now. My caddie and I play games to keep me focused. Putting, chipping, full shots, anything you can do to stay interested will help.

Darron




May 7, 2008
Today was pro-am day at the Classic. Unfortunately, the morning wave was called off the course due the the weather. We did manage to get 13 holes played. I would like to thank all the participants that did play today for their support of the tournament. I would especially like to thank Stephens Inc. for their generosity and commitment to the Fort Smith Classic.

I would to report that the golf course is in fine shape, other than being a little soggy from the rain the last few days. The greens are the best I have seen them here. Hardscrabble CC should provide yet another spectacular week of golf. PLEASE PLEASE come out and enjoy the tournament.

I tee off at 8:20 on Thursday on #1. I have a good pairing, Kelly Grunewald, and former Razorback golfer, Deane Pappas.

I will talk to you tomorrow after my day on the course.

Darron

May 4, 2008

Well, another week done. This week in Valdosta was very frustrating. I scored well enough to make the cut but felt that I should have been a lot better. I putted well for pars but could not get the birdie putts to go. I got my driving under control but my iron play was very mediocre.

I feel pretty good about the coming week. With my victory in 2006 and a few other decent finishes over the years I have some good memories to draw upon.

I will be traveling on Monday to Fort Smith so look for me and my updates starting on Tuesday.

April 28, 2008

Well, Sunday in Athens did not pan out as I had hoped. I played decent, just did not get the ball close enough to the hole. Overall it was still a solid week. It is hard to be upset with a top 10 finish. We drove home Sunday night arriving around midnight. Monday morning we went back to Greensboro to pick up our motorhome. From there we headed up to Richmond, VA.

Richmond was the site of my first victory on the Nationwide Tour. In 1999 I did not have any status on the Nationwide Tour. I was having to qualify each week. I shot 66 that week to get in the tournament. After rounds of 68-70-74 I was at 4 under par going into Sunday, some 5 shots off the lead. Sunday did not start off great. I made some mistakes early and through seven holes was at 2 under for the tournament. At that point, my goal was to get back to a top 25 finish so I would not have to qualify the following week. Not only would I get back into the top 25, I had my most memorable moment in golf. From 125 yards on the 72nd hole, I holed a 9 iron for eagle to get to 9 under par, but still one back of the leader. I was about an hour in front of the leaders, so I had to sit and wait and watch on tv what was happening. In the end the leaders faltered, and I was the winner.

This past week in Richmond was not as exciting. I did not play great. Thursday was an up and down day, that I escaped with shooting 1 under par. Friday was just terrible. I did not execute well, resulting in too many bogies and a missed cut.

This week I am in Valdosta, GA. Tune in on the Golf Channel to see the tournament. I will update you during the week on my progress.

See you next week!!!!!!!!!!!

Darron

April 19, 2008

This has been a very interesting week so far. It actually started last Friday when I picked up our motorhome from the dealership. It had been in storage since December. In the process of loading all of our stuff, we ran into a slight problem. The ignition switch decided to stop working. I could turn the key off, but the engine still chugged away. That presents a problem, because with the engine running the slide outs will not move, the blinds will not go up. With those two issues, the motorhome is not driveable. So after 4 phone calls to various techs, we figured out how to get everything closed up so that I could drive it back to the dealership. The good news is that the problem has been fixed and we will pick it up on Monday and head to Richmond for the next event.

The fun part so far was Sunday and Monday in Myrtle Beach, SC. I played in the 14th annual Hootie and the Blowfish Monday after the Masters. Sunday is the viewing party for the final round followed by a silent auction and live auction. There are some spectacular items available in both. Monday is the pro am day. There are four amateurs, a pro, and a celebrity. My celebrity was George Rogers, the 1980 Heisman Trophy winner from University of South Carolina. We played decent, shooting 12 under par, but fell a little short of the winning team, which by the way was Darius Rucker and his team. Darius is the lead singer in the band, and a decent golfer.

From Myrtle Beach we headed west to Athens, GA for the Athens Regional Foundation Classic. We were supposed to be in our motorhome, but due to the problems described above we had to call on some friends of ours for a place to stay. They said no problem. It's great for us and our daughter. Our friends have a daughter a little older than mine, so they have been playing together all week. For me, so far it has been a good week. The golf course sets up well for my game, and the greens are rolling fairly nicely. I have gotten myself into contention, and with a good round tomorrow, who knows what may happen.

Well that's it for now. Tune in next week from Richmond,VA site of my first win on the Nationwide Tour.

Darron

VIEWER QUESTION FROM T. ANDERSON:
Darron, I read somewhere that you only use quarters as ball markers. What gives? Why do you only use quarters from the 1960's?

DARRON'S RESPONSE:
Not only do I use quarters from the 1960s, I also use a 1927 Mercury dime and a fifty cent piece from the 1960s. I would not call my use of these specific coins a superstition, but more of a focused goal for each round. My goal is to shoot a score in the 60s each day. As for the 1927 dime, my goal is 27 putts per round. If I have 27 putts in the round, it should lead to a decent day on the course. I hope this helps you understand why I use the coins I do.

Darron

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April 10, 2008

Hello from Pinehurst!! Well, my trip to California ended up being brief. Thursday, I played OK, but putted absolutely fantastic. Friday was another story. Ball striking was better than Thursday, but putting went bye-bye. Every putt I made to save par on Thursday, I missed on Friday including two from inside three feet. (YUK)!!! That was the first really bad putting round of the year, but I am not worried about it. I have been putting well since late last year and will not let one bad day bother me. Yeah, it stunk to miss a cut I should have made, but that is golf. I still have 24 more events this season, so there is A LOT of golf still to be played.

As for this week, I am home relaxing and enjoying time with my wife and kids. This will be the last week home for awhile. Fortunately, they will be traveling with me for the next few months. We are in the process of getting our motorhome all loaded with what we need for the coming weeks. Those of you that have kids know what I mean about getting everything that you need. Toys, clothes, toys, books, toys, etc.... Our dogs will also be joining us for most of the summer.

Next week brings us to Athens, GA for the Athens Regional Foundation Classic. This will be my first time there. But on Monday, I will be in Myrtle Beach, SC for the Hootie and the Blowfish Monday after the Masters Pro-Am. This is an awesome event that the guys put on every year. If you like music and celebrities, this is the pro-am to be at. Sunday is auction day. After the last putt falls in Augusta, the auctions begin. The silent auction has some of the best memorabilia that you can find. The live auction can get a little nutty at times. All in all, it is just a great time with some not so serious golf thrown in.

Tune in next week. I'll let you know how the Hootie pro-am went. Hopefully, it won't cost me too much money in the auctions!!!

Darron


April 3, 2008

Greetings from northern California this week. I am in Livermore, CA, just outside Oakland for this week's event. But first, let me give you an update on what happened last week in Louisiana. It was a very interesting week on the golf course. My ball striking was very Jekyl and Hyde. Fortunately, my short game and putting saved me a lot of shots. I finished the week at 289 (+1) in a tie for 43rd, not the best week, but I still made money and moved closer to the guys ahead of me on the money list.

This week started with a short trip from Lafayette to Houston. I went to Houston to play the Monday qualifier for the Shell Houston Open. I played well, shot 68 with no bogies. Unfortunately, 68 was not good enough to qualify. It took 66. So off to California I went on Tuesday morning.

Tune in next week for a recap of my week in California and a preview of things to come.

Darron


March 27, 2008

Greetings everyone!!!!! This is Darron Stiles, the 2006 Fort Smith Classic Champion. This is the first of a weekly blog that I will be doing leading into the 2008 Fort Smith Classic. As we get closer to tournament week the entries will increase until tournament week when they will be daily. I hope this helps you gain a little more understanding into the world of a traveling professional golfer.

So far this year has gotten off to a fantastic start for me. The year started with a trip to Panama, which resulted in a missed cut for the second time at that event. From there we moved on to Mexico for a new event on the schedule this year. I played fairly decent all week highlighted by a 68 on Sunday to finish T-32.

After a short visit home (3 days), it was off to the other side of the world. Christchurch, New Zealand was the next destination. If you have never been there, I recommend you try to get there. It is one of the most beautiful places on Earth. The week in NZ was filled with RAIN!!!! We were only able to get 36 holes played for the tournament. However, those 36 holes were very good for me. I shot 66-68 for a ten under par total. Good enough to win by a shot over David Smail. Unfortunately, because we only played 36 holes the win is considered unofficial as far as the Nationwide Tour is concerned, but the money counts on the money list. To me, that is the most important factor. The Nationwide Tour is money driven. The top 25 on the money list at the end of the season gain exempt status to the PGA TOUR for the following season.

From NZ we had short flight over the Tasman Sea to Melbourne, Australia. What a difference a week makes!!!! I played well, but just didn't quite have the scoring success I had in NZ. That is partly due to the 35-45 knot winds we played in all week. By far the most wind I played in for 4 straight days

For those of you I may have lost, that would be 4 tournaments in 5 weeks in 4 different countries. What a way to start the 2008 Nationwide Tour!!!!

I have been home for most of last month since returning from Australia. I made a trip down to Florida to play the Monday qualifier for the Pods Championship. Shot 72, not good enough. This Monday I was in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi for the Monday qualifier for the Zurich Classic in New Orleans. Shot 76, again not good enough to get in.

So here I am this week in Lafayette, La for the Chitimacha Louisiana Open. This will be my 11th time playing this event. Today was pro-am day. I had a great group of guys to play with. We played well, but more importantly we had fun as well. The pro-ams are meant to be fun, so those of you who are real serious about winning, thats fine, but loosen up a little and you might even play better. I know the pro-ams are a very important part of tournament week. Without the sponsors and supporters that play in those events there would be fewer tournaments for us to play in. So I encourage you to support the 2008 Fort Smith Classic by playing in the pro-ams or by becoming a sponsor.

I'll be back next week with a recap of this week's event in Louisiana, and the Monday qualifier for the Shell Houston Open on the PGA TOUR. Stay tuned!!!!!!

See you in MAY!!!!!!!!!

Darron