(rank = 30) Nathan Uebergang AUS (-1) 73 72 72 70

Results

YESSS!!! The top 32 players advance to the 3rd Stage. Paul Donahoo got through as well which is great. The three Aussies at our venue finished 28th, 29th and 30th 🙂

I’m so pleased to have got through. I was really struggling with my swing this week and just grinded to stay in it. Thankfully yesterday arvo I fixed my swing (figured out my shoulders were open at setup) and hit the ball solidly today.

After the round we had to pick our venue for the 3rd stage straight away. But being foreigners, how are we ment to know which one to pick?? ha! As I was placed 30th I had little say anyway. So Paul and I will be playing 3rd stage Nov 11-14. We’ll be looking forward to it!

It was great to play the course today, because at one stage we thought we may never find it!

For this trip I’m travelling with Paul Donahoo, a good friend whom I’ve been travelling with for most of the QLD Sunshine Tour. It’s the first time to Japan for both of us.

Paul and I arrived in Osaka, Saturday night, thinking it should be about a 3 hour process getting out of the airport and to the Maniwa Riverside Hotel. A bus, then maybe a train and a taxi… something simple like that. Easy peasy.

Well things didn’t get off to a great start that night. As we were standing behind each other at customs, Paul suggested I jump in the line next to him. So I did in an effort to speed things up.

As the line dwindled it seemed I may even sneak out first. Nope! The bloke right in front of me took 30 mins. Overall it was a 2 hour process to get through the lines at customs.

Once we were finally outside, we figured out where we needed to go on the trains. But the customs delay ment me missed the last train. So we bunked up in the airport motel for the night. At $300/night we’d be well rested for the train rides the next day. lol.

Well, after heading off at 8:30am the next morning Paul and I got a train, then another train, then another, then a taxi…. we arrived at our motel at 4:00pm. I swear the place couldn’t have been any further from Osaka. Ahhh, the joys of travelling in a foreign country with not a foggy of how far apart some places really are 🙂

So today it was great to see that the Bichu Kogen Hokubo Country Club is a very nice, picturesque mountain course. It’s a course that can’t be overpowered. You just hit to the corner of the doglegs where the widest sections of the fairway are and then stump your approach shots from there. Just like a game of chess. Plenty of birdies await those who manage the ball well.

I’m really looking forwards to this opportunity I have here. Before I flew over I made sure I had a solid commitment to competing at the Japan Tour School. So, tomorrow I will attack with a good attitude, combined with a smart game plan, all the while sticking to the recent improvements I’ve made in my golf game.

The Japan Tour is where I want to play next year. It is something very exciting to look forwards too.

I’ll be packing my bags in a couple days and heading off to Japan! It may be a surprise to some as I have not put this event into my schedule until today. So to those people… surprise!

Anyway, the qualifying tournament will work as such: There are four stages to the Japan Golf Tour Qualifying Tournament. I will be starting off at the Second Stage, September 9-12, as I’m an Aus PGA Tour member. The 3rd and Final Stages will be held in the following months.

When the Second Stage is complete, the top section of players at each venue progress to the 3rd Stage. Again, the top section of players at the 3rd Stage go through to the Final Stage. When that is completed, the top placed players will earn their Japanese Tour Cards for 2009.

My goal is to be focusing on Japan next year and combine it with some events here in Australia.