Thank you all for your support this week at Abaco. I finished in a tie for 15th (my 3rd best career finish) in some of the toughest conditions I have ever played in. We battled 30+mph winds all week, and I took advantage of the downwind holes to make a total of 18 birdies this week. We also added 14 new donors- our Curriki Team is now up to 72 and have raised $41,552 in just two weeks!

It was a wild week on the golf course. I was hitting my driver upwards of 400 yards downwind at times, and some of my best pokes were going only 250 into the wind. My first two drives of the final round (both straight downwind) totaled 781 yards. Where I hit Driver-2iron-wedge into the par5 first in a practice round, I hit Driver-wedge in the final round.

I learned a lot about how to play in the wind- after an average putting display in the second round, I found that choking up on my putter and having a wider stance in the wind gave me more stability and control, and the last two rounds were some of the best putting rounds I have ever played. My short game and scrambling were phenomenal the back 9 final round, where I took only 12 putts on the entire into-the-wind back 9.

The island of Abaco was way more populated than Exuma – it looked like Hollywood compared to last week! I attached a few photos here:

The golf course was beautiful, with several holes having views of the ocean, and the teebox of the driveable par-4 5th hole right against the beach. I birdied this hole all four rounds as well, taking driver or 3w over the water right at the green. I lipped out a chip for eagle in the final round as well.

The greens had a ton of slope, and played really firm and fast- this picture of the first green from the Tuesday morning practice round shows all the pitch and roll that made short game and putting a real challenge.

Also if you were wondering why the beaches were so pristine and clean, the Abaco Club has a “beach Zamboni” that picks up all the seaweed and debris that washes up…

Thank you all again for your support- it means the world to me, and gets me more excited to get to the golf course every day. I leave Sunday for Bogota, where I’ll be sending the ball from 8000 feet and look forward to making some more birdies next week as well! And as always, please spread the word and get as many people involved as we can. I’m so excited about what this is going to be able to do for Curriki.

See you in Bogota,

Maverick

I wanted to write to thank you all for an amazing first week of Birdies for Education. We have raised $20,462 only four days from launch! We also had a whopping 58 pledges this week.

The support has been unbelievable! We are currently in the ballpark of $1,275 pledged per birdie – if we can get this to $2,500+ per birdie, we’ll meet our goal of raising $1M for education as I work toward making my 500th birdie this season!

I finished in a tie for 65th place after a disappointing weekend, but still managed to make fourteen birdies and an eagle. I was the first player to ever be mic’d up on Golf Channel for an entire round on the first day, where I shot a bogey-free 69.

Round two was not quite as clean, but I managed to make three birdies and an eagle on my second 9 to offset two bogies and a double to stay in a tie for 14th place going into the “weekend” (we had an unusual Sunday start to the tournament).

 

The weekend was a bit of a challenge… I made two double bogies and a quadruple bogey in the third round. This golf course was really tight with hazard and out-of-bounds lining both sides of the fairway, and holes 4 and 16 had my number this week. I played hole 4 at 4-over par and hole 16 at 5-over par. Both holes have water left and out-of-bounds to the right, and unfortunately I missed the fairway a few too many times.

That being said, my good was pretty good, and I put together four really solid rounds with the putter. I also birdied 17 and 18 in both weekend rounds (after making a mess of 16), and I’d be lying if I didn’t say making some more birdies for Curriki helped pull me through. I’m excited to get my best club, the driver, back in the bag and in my hands a few more times next week and try to take it deep!

INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT EXUMA

A few interesting facts about Exuma- there is one main paved road that runs north/south along the island, and about 7,000 residents. The drives to and from the golf course were interesting, dodging potholes, hitchhikers and oncoming traffic, all while being on the left side of an unmarked road. I’m glad Travis, my caddy,  was driving.

Throughout the year I will also try to describe some local cuisine that I encounter… and while I didn’t have the heart to try grilled Conch or conch chowder, my favorite new food was the grilled plantains (similar to bananas). A typical Bahamian meal would be jerk chicken (something like Cajun bbq chicken), rice and peas (I don’t know where the peas come from, it looked and tasted like rice and beans), and plantains. Big D’s conch spot is the place to go if you’re ever in town.

It means the world to me that you all are making a difference with Curriki, but also following me this year.This is truly a fun and personally inspiring way to raise money for a great cause and give you all a week-by-week look into my year.

As always, please send this on to as many people as you can – the more we can get involved, the bigger difference we can make. Thanks again for your interest and generosity, and let’s make some more birdies next week!!

Maverick

PS I will also be giving you some updates on the progress we are making with Curriki as the season progresses.