Hi Everyone,

I have finally made the decision I have been thinking about since I was quite young, and turned professional. I am currently living in the Woodlands, Texas, and will soon start playing on the Adams Pro Golf Tour Winter Series. I figure my stories might entertain a few of you, and for those of you guys that are up north, might make the winter go by a little quicker!

You can check my blog out at http://stewartbannatyne.blogspot.com.

Hopefully you guys enjoy it!

Stew

Good luck, Stewart!

Best of luck and hope you make it all the way to the big show!

Sounds really interesting, why cant the golf channel make a show about people like you! Instead of showing re runs of 'golfs amzing videos"

good luck

and just wondering did you ever play any RCGA's?

tigerphan

I like your thinking! Maybe we can push TGC to give me my own show! Hahahah, wouldn't that be something!

Stew

nice bro,
hopefully things turn for the best of you and eventually we'll see you on the real tour in a few years
best of luck stewart

I did play in four or five Canadian Ams, although very admittedly, not very well. I have seen some great improvement over the last while, and although I still have a long way to go, my head is in the right place to give this a shot!

Stew

The best to you Stew, here's to your success.

My son live just down the road from you...He works in the tallest building in The Woodlands and lives about 3 miles from Panther Trail, one of the courses he plays.

Those adams mini boys go low, so score well Stew.

I might see you at some of those adams events..

I remember being two groups in front of your Dad at the 1973 Canadian Amateur played at Summit in Toronto. Good luck!

I have seen your posts at various forums over the years and you seem like a good dude. Best of luck to you.

From my "scouting" reports , you have been a wonderful player with a great golf swing for some time now. It's going to be really fun watching you take it to the next level. Don't do too much typing, just keep making birdies!

Best of luck to you Stewart!

Kevin

My hats off to you for pursuing your passion and turning your dream into a reality. Give 'em hell and good luck.

Cardo

best of luck to you man... I hope that you have better luck finding the funding to pay for all of your expenses than I have.... $950 entry fee plus travel expenses a tournament gets pricey... play well

All I have to add is ---- best wishes and good luck to you !!!

Congrats on turning pro! I see three positives in this:

1. Playing where you deserve to be (and should've been for a while!!)

2. Giving someone else a shot at placing well in the MB Am and Mid Am

3. Giving someone a job at Caddy Shed!!!

All the best and may many more 62's come your way (especially on Sundays!)

Q: Who's Speirsy gonna play with now? he'll be lost!!!!

God Bless
Jer

I hate to be Debbit Downer, but how can someone with a scoring average of 76 turn pro ?

best of luck...and post pics.

You had to be that guy.

Obviously it's not indicative of his potential...


Anyone OP -- good luck! Keep us posted.

Good Luck Stew...hit me up sometime we will get together

Best of luck to you.

Fair question, and some probably thought the same thing. I had about a 76 scoring average this summer in the tournaments I played. I wasn't playing much, I had sort of put golf on the back burner, and I wasn't practicing at the level I should have been. This summer was by far my worst in a number of years, but the reason I have made this step into playing professional golf was because of the enjoyment I received from playing the game again.

Last summer I played pretty well, but up some great numbers, but didn't enjoy myself while I did it. This summer, even though I struggled, I enjoyed every second of it. Last summer, even if I was four or five under, I was counting down the holes in my head until I was done. This summer, even if I was four or five over, I was giving every shot my all. That is why I turned pro. The talent has always been there. Do I need a ton of work still, absolutely. I have been working extremely hard the last number of months in preparation to do this, and the scores have returned to where they should be, and continue to get better. If we could have some decent weather (even though it's beautiful today!), and not all this rain, it would be even better!

The point of my first blog was to explain why I made this choice, and the emotions and feelings that have changed inside of me over the past year. The work that lies ahead and the challenges of being in contention, trying to make cuts, just trying to get it into the house at a decent number are what I'm dying to experience.

Pro golf, like any career choice, is a journey. I feel like my game can reach the level where I can be extremely successful. There is just lots of hard work that needs to be done!

Stew

Good Luck Stew will definitely follow your progress, give em hell!!!

The guy posts his career plans for all to see, so it's a valid question. I'm not wishing him ill, I hope he's successful. Just trying to get inside his head to see what he's thinking.

good luck stew.


i love the caddy shed. and augusta pines. i really need to get back to texas.

Good Luck and hang in there!

I'm another one your neighbors. Live in Spring and work in The Woodlands. I wish I was in a position to do go pro. My game is no where near that level though. Go for your dreams man!

I've always enjoyed your posts and insights Stew. All the best to you in chasing your dream and may the golf gods shine on you! Take no prisoners!

I am an Augusta Pines member and student of Donnie Massengale, but I'm more than twice your age. I wish you all the success you dream of and work hard for. I hope to see you around the club. Hopefully these rains storms will cease for a while and the place will dry up.

If you look at my avatar, you will notice it's a pic of me approaching 18 green with the clubhouse in the background.

Stewart, Good luck on the tour!

Good luck stewart, practice hard and work on the short game, lol remember drive for dough, putt for dough. lol

Stew,

Have fun, go low, get rich and report back!

where did you go to school?

Congrats!
Once your head is right, it's a putting contest out there.
Practice putting. Practice putting. Practice putting.

Great to see you posting here again, Stewie. Good luck out on the tour!

Good luck Stewart!!!

Well BSG is down afterall All the same good luck SB, dont be flybynight overhere.

I played college golf at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, TX.






I'll be doing my best to keep everyone updated everywhere! I love this site, and hopefully I can give a few people a couple of laughs and share some good stories, as I have had many of both over the years!!

Stew

This is a really cool perspective to get a detailed view of. In one of your future blog posts would you mind doing a detailed walk through of what you hope to be a typical day or week? The drills you're working on an why and your mental state before during and after practice would be interesting to me (if I'm the only one, don't bother )

Oddly enough, I had been thinking about my next blog, and this was one of the ideas that I had in mind. It has been a big change for me to be back in a situation where golf is my only focus, and I have had to make changes to my regular practicing habits, as well as my mental outlook, in order to make sure I'm getting the most out of my practice sessions!

Stew

Im sure stew would love to,

All the best stew look forward to seeing the good results



Burke

Hi everyone!

I updated my blog again...check it out!

Blog #2 - Remembering How To Practice!

It's a little long...I'm going to have to work on condensing things a little bit!

Stew

Stewart,

Interested in knowing why you turned pro at the end of the golfing season rather than at the beginning?

To be honest with you, it had always been the way I planned on doing it. My original thought was that I would finish college in 2008, go back home, play a final summer of Amateur golf, and then turn pro. This would have allowed me to play a few more tournaments, have a little bit stronger of a resume, and also give me some time to put my finances together.

When I decided last year that it wasn't the right time for me to turn pro, I honestly thought I would remain an amateur for good. Once this summer hit, and I started to get the itch to keep improving and keep playing, I still had two jobs in Winnipeg that I could not just leave. Once I was finished my contract with one, and had given my other job enough notice that I was leaving, I headed down South.

This is the perfect time for me to turn professional though. I have never had delusions that I would turn pro, and just walk my way onto a major tour. I don't even know if that is something I would even want to do. I have seen some people that I know whom made it to the PGA Tour early, and from all of their accounts, they weren't ready. Professional golf will hopefully be my career, and just like any career, you need to learn, and you need experience to really succeed. I am using the Adams Pro Golf Tour Winter Series as my first learning ground. From there, it could be the Adams Pro Golf Tour in the summer, or potentially I will head to the Canadian Tour Qualifying Schools in the spring. I want to see how I feel when I put the tee in the ground on the first, and when I have a crucial putt on the last hole. I want to see how I will fair when I am struggling, and searching for a way to get it in the house with a decent number. I know I still have a TON of work that needs to be done on my game, and now is as good a time as any to do so. This also gives me a full year of playing before even really thinking about something like PGA Tour Q-School or anything like that. I have always thought that the fall time was an excellent time to turn pro, because it gives a player one last summer to get ready, and then a great period of time to learn, get some experience, work hard, and play a good number of events.

Keep the questions coming if there are any guys!

Stew

Hey guys,

My first event is tomorrow, and I've updated my blog with my thoughts about everything!

Check it out!

Cheers!
Stew

Have fun out there, Stewart!

Good luck and drop some putts!

Goodluck, being a fellow Texan chasing the dream i hope to see you out on the Adams tour soon!!!!