Balancing Act Weaver's 1st year as pro starting to show promise

Drew Weaver has gone though plenty of ups and downs in his first full year of playing pro golf.

Weaver, 23, said he is experiencing about what he expected as he chases his dream by competing on the eGolf Tour, one of the top minitours on the East Coast. What has him excited, however, is the way he's played of late, despite the off-the-course struggles of his mother, Cathy, who is battling breast cancer.

"It's been tough, there's no way else to describe it," Weaver said about his mother who was found to have cancer in December. "It's forced me to take a bigger perspective on life, but that's OK."

Weaver, a former golfer at Virginia Tech who was playing a year ago in the U.S. Open on Long Island at Bethpage Black, admits that there have been plenty of other things on his mind besides golf. "It's been tough to balance everything," Weaver said.

Weaver's mom has been through two surgeries, but the latest has given the family a lot of hope, Weaver said. "She's doing well and got a clean bill of health," Weaver said. "But she's been through a lot."

Weaver, who lives in Sea Island, Ga., has spent a lot of time back home in High Point for two reasons: One is his mother's health and the other is that most of the eGolf tournaments have been in North Carolina.

His best showing came earlier this month when he was second to Tommy Biershenk at the Bolle Classic at Salisbury Country Club. Biershenk fired a 62 in the final round, a day after Weaver had fired a 63, and Biershenk beat Weaver by one shot. Weaver won almost $17,000, enabling him to move up to 14th on the tour's money list with almost $30,000.

With no status on the Nationwide Tour after he failed to advance last fall out of the second stage of PGA Tour Qualifying School, Weaver has been honing his game on the eGolf Tour.

"My confidence is growing and I kind of feel like I've been trending upward," said Weaver, who has made six of 10 cuts that includes a tie for sixth. "Finishing second was a good sign and a huge step for me."

Weaver burst onto the national scene in 2007 when he won the British Amateur, which allowed him to play in the Masters and the British Open. He also qualified for last year's U.S. Open and tied for 40th.

He has the experience of having played in three majors already, but says that the goal for the rest of the year is to get ready for PGA Tour Qualifying School.

Weaver says that the experience of playing against great competition on the eGolf Tour has helped his development.

"It's such a great tour because the courses we play are all in great shape and it really does make a difference," Weaver said.

Weaver says that it's a process of learning how to manage practice time, traveling and staying competitive.

"I think I've done a good job of learning this year and I've kind of embraced it, and I have goals each week," Weaver said. "Hopefully, I'll be in a good place in the fall when qualifying school begins."

A good summer for Sullivan

Ryan Sullivan of Winston-Salem, who will be a senior at UNC Wilmington, has switched his putting grip and has seen immediate results.

Sullivan tied for fifth at the N.C. Amateur at Wilson Country Club thanks to a switch to the claw grip that Chris DiMarco, a PGA Tour player with seven career victories, made famous a few years ago.

Sullivan shot 70-67-70-68 for the best finish of his career at the N.C. Amateur.

"I had been putting left-hand-low for the last three or four years, but just haven't been seeing the results, so I switched to the claw and it's worked out," he said.

He said he was just kind of fooling around with the claw one day while practicing and the putts started dropping. "I think I might use this grip for the rest of my life because I'm feeling very confident with it," Sullivan said.

Sullivan recently qualified for the U.S. Public Links Championships that will be held next month at Bryan Park in Greensboro.

"It's kind of awkward at first," he said about the claw, "but once I got used to it I got more comfortable."

Around the green

Registration is open for the Forsyth Junior golf tournament, scheduled for July 13-15 at Winston Lake, Tanglewood Park's Reynolds Course and Reynolds Park. Applications are available at all area courses or at www.weplay


.ws. The deadline is July 9. For more information call Dick Butler at 734-1212….

One of the oldest amateur tournaments in the country -- the 110th North & South -- will be held this week at Pinehurst No. 2. David Chung of Fayetteville, a rising junior at Stanford, is the defending champ. Among the past champions are Francis Ouimet, Billy Joe Patton, Jack Nicklaus, Curtis Strange and Davis Love III. Among those who are exempt into match play is Lee Bedford, a rising junior at Wake Forest.

jdell@wsjournal.com


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