Blake Adams has been off the PGA Tour most of this year after of a series of operations on his hip. But while he’s been recovering and rehabbing, he’s also been busy helping start the Blake Adams Academy of Golf at the Lane Creek Golf Club outside Athens.
Adams, who lives in Swainsboro, said he has been dreamed of establishing a teaching center for about 10 years and has seriously pursued it for the last two, while his career has been in full bloom. After reviewing options on where to locate, he chose Lane Creek because of the active golf market in the Athens and Oconee County markets and because of a close personal relationship with course owner Butch Foust. Adams met Foust when he was a member of the Georgia golf team.
Since his surgery in January, Adams has had a lot of time to help get the teaching center up to speed. His personal instructor, John Tillery, will run the academy. Tillery also works with PGA Tour winner Scott Brown. But Adams has been spending a lot of time on-site. Last week he arrived every day at 7 a.m. and turned the lights off around 9 p.m.
“Having hip surgery gave me the time to dive into it,” Adams said. “But I found out it is a time-consuming endeavor.”
The grand opening took place when the Buy.com Tour had its annual stop in Athens. Adams got tour buddies Josh Broadaway, Kevin Kisner, Will MacKenzie and Michael Sim to take part in the first clinic. Since then the facility has begun hosting clinics.
Adams, 37, was told in 2008 that he needed hip replacement surgery, but played through the pain thanks to a series of semiannual shots that eased the discomfort and helped with mobility. Adams was also told that the shots would eventually stop working, a reality that hit him this year as he played in the Humana Challenge in Palm Springs. He tried to play the next week at Torrey Pines, but withdrew and flew to Colorado for surgery.
Dr. Marc Philippon, who also operated on 2012 Tour Championship winner Brandt Snedeker, removed three bone spurs, a large cyst, and shaved and reshaped his femur. He then drilled holes in the femur and filled them with stem cells that are expected to grow and replace the damage. One doctor was amazed that Adams had dealt with the pain for so long, but walking away isn’t easy when you’ve made $3.3 million over the last three seasons and established yourself as a player.
Adams was on crutches for eight weeks.
“It was a very humbling experience,” he said. “To be playing on the PGA Tour one day and the next you can’t climb stairs or carry a bowl of cereal to the table.”
He’s back to swinging a club again. Right now he’s worked his way back up to a 5-iron and has set a goal to be playing on the Tour again in October. He’s even considering a test run at a Web.com Tour event late in the summer. In the meantime he’ll focus on building the academy and getting healthy.
On the tours: Think the momentum from a PGA Tour victory would carry over into a major championship? Not at the U.S. Open. No one has ever won a tour event and gone on to win the national championship the following week. Not exactly a selling point for this week's St. Jude Classic. It has happened eight times, most recently with Tiger Woods in 2007. He won at Bridgestone and followed it up with a victory at the PGA Championship. Matt Kuchar, who won last week's Memorial, is sitting out this week. …
Former Georgia Tech star Chesson Hadley has posted three consecutive top-10s on the Web.com Tour. Hadley finished second at the PGA Potomac at Avenel Farm and has moved up to eighth on the money list. … Michael Putnam became the 10th player to win back-to-back events on the Web.com Tour. One more victory will catapult Putnam into the PGA Tour with a full exemption.
Etc.: Clark Spratlin, the PGA professional at Currahee Club in Toccoa, won the sixth annual Georgia PGA Chicopee Woods Players Championship in Gainesville. Spratlin shot a 6-under 66 to win the event for the second time in three years.
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