# take a minute to read



## roanokedave

It started on a trip to Campbellsville,KY were I had hoped to get a sneak peak at JB Holmes at Campbellsville Country Club. I had heard that he would be in town that week and thought I would make a trip from Roanoke, VA to try to analyze his swing and maybe play a round with him. I got to Campbellsville and checked in to the local Holiday Inn to grab a quick nap. Sleep well and woke early and headed to the golf course. I drove in and drove up to the driving range seeing if JB was there. He wasn’t the only person there at 8:15 am was a young man hitting what looked like a crate full of balls. So I decided to park and go into the pro shop there. Talked to the assistant pro there and got some range balls for myself. I pulled up to the range and noticed that the young man hitting balls had a Titleist bag with the name Jonathan Read on it. Thought he must be pretty good considering he had a staff bag with his name. I started stretching and just glancing over at him hitting balls. Noticed the first few I saw his swing and shots looked great and effortless. Smooth swing and great ball flight. I could tell he was in full concentration he didn’t even notice me watching for what seemed to be 10 minutes. I walked over and started up a conversation with the man. He told me that he was trying to turn professional. I asked him what was holding him back and he said it was the time to go play full time and the money it takes to go play full time. I then went back to hitting and watching him hit. He began to pack up his stuff and turned told me to “hit em well.” He went down and began to putt and stayed down there for about 45 minutes. I was don hitting and went back down to the pro shop. I stood around for about an hour or so waiting to see if JB came in. I didn’t see JB but I did see his dad who came in for a little bit and brought the head pro some items in with him. I decided not to bother him about JB talk he seemed like he was in a hurry. So I decided to go out and play anyway it seemed that JB wasn’t coming to the club that day. I got a cart and loaded up my clubs, when I got down to the first tee there was the young man and what I thought maybe was his father but later found out it was his father-in-law Johnny. I asked if I could join them and Jonathan said sure. I really wanted to see what this guy had or if he was just one of those pretty good golfers with high dreams. First shot drive probably went 295 yards in the right edge of fairway. From there he hit a hybrid from 240 to the left edge of the green and made a effortless two put birdie. Thought not bad and his swing looked very pure similar to Bill Haas in my best example. Third hole he hit a 315 yard drive to the left center of fairway from there hit a 4 iron from 225 yards to about 15 feet over a bunker that was about 210 yard carry. Another easy two put birdie, two under through three and seemed like he was kind of aggravated that he didn’t make either eagle putt. One of the best shots I had seen all year came on the 4th hole, he hit a drive that went just through the fairway and had no shot at the green. I drove up behind him to see what his had, it was about 160 yards and trees blocked the line to the green. I noticed he pulled out a four iron. Johnny said watch this shot, didn’t really think anything about it he his a low shot that cut about 20 yards onto the front of the green and made a two putt par. 5th hole the tees were up and it seemed short gps said it was 335 to the center, he drove it pin high in one of the bunkers that guarded the green. The green was only about 10 yards wide and 15 yards deep. He hit it one hope and almost went in, tapped in for another effortless birdie. He pared six which was a pretty simple par 3. On number seven short par five Jonathan hit a 300 yard drive right down the middle, hit a 8 iron from 175 yards to center of green and another two putt birdie. I heard him fuss after he lipped out his eagle putt, aggravated about the greens being slow and bumpy. On number 8 gps said 340 to center, I noticed he was lined up over the trees in the dog leg. Looked like he put some extra behind his swing hit the prettiest draw over the trees to the upslope of the green. Gps measured he hit it 329. He chipped up and tapped in for another birdie, five under through eight. He then pared nine.
We stopped by the pro shop and the end of nine Jonathan wanted to order some food. I talked to a guy in the shop who asked how I was playing, and I said not to bad. He then asked me if I was keeping up with Jonathan? I kind of laughed and he went on to tell me that Jonathan held the course record of 60 there. He talked very highly of him and talked about him having the complete golf game. I am sorry to that guy if he ever reads this I forgot his name he was short, average build, and wore glasses. So we teed off on ten which is a hard hole its about 375 with out of bounds right and water short and curves around to almost behind the green. He hit a hybrid to the left fairway then a punch pitching wedge to pin high about ten feet from the hole and made a par. He then pared that 11th hole pretty straight forward 420 yard hole. On twelve is were he cranked it up a little bit. An Augusta style tee set way back in the trees he pulled out a 3 wood and hit a drawl right through the shoot just short of a fairway bunker. Then he hit a 5 iron from 210 to the front right of the green and another two putt birdie. Then on thirteen the tees were on the front box, I noticed Jonathan pulled out a driver. Though to myself what is he doing. The hole is 340 to the center but it is really a lay up hole there is out of bounds right water from about the 200 yard make goes all the way up to pass the green and it is about 10 yards from the green. On the right there is out of bounds all the way up and its about 10 yards from the green The guys in front of us were still on the green taking there time and Jonathan said he was going to hurry them up a little bit. He teed it up and flew it to the front left of the green while a guy was putting about 15 feet away. It was just a perfect drive. We get to the green and his ball was on the front fringe( I still think the guy kicked it off the green, but Jonathan didn’t fuss). He chipped up and lipped out so he tapped in for another birdie. On 14 Jonathan from the fairway hit a great wedge that took one hope and spun right back to about 6 inches from the flag. On 15 he hit about a 310 yard drive and had a 60 degree wedge in. He hit a low shot that took a big skid and stopped on a dime to about 2 feet from the hole. Another tap in birdie, so know he was nine under through fifteen. Sixteen a 170 yard water carry par three he had a two putt par. 17 he hit a driver 280 to the center of the fairway. The pin was on the back at the top platform of a severe slope. He hit a low wedge that took one hope to the top level and almost went n the hole for another tap in birdie to go ten under through seventeen. We got to the last hole and I heard him joking about needing a hole in one to tie his own course record. He hit a 54 degree wedge to about a foot,I thought it had a chance to really go in. He tapped in for a 61. I thanked them for letting me play with them and wished him the best of luck. I headed back to the hotel disappointed that I didn’t get to play and analyze JB. 
After many months of thinking about that round with Jonathan Read (who come to find out hardly anybody knows about him outside of central Kentucky and the Louisville area). I started doing some research on him, wondering how could someone with such a sweet swing that was so pure and effortless, how could nobody know anything about him. After digging for a couple of months I found this out. In high school he played behind JB. He is several years younger than him. I dug up a couple of articles from when he was in high school, one time at Lincoln Homestead in a high school match that he shot 29 on nine holes and had a double bogey on the first hole when he was a sophomore. Also came across a round of 30 at Pinewood when he was a junior. I also learned that after graduating high school and had a baby a the age of 18 and got married. I also learned that he quit golf for two years. I talked to a guy that said the first round he played after two years off he went to Pinewood with a few guys and shot 65 and decided to start playing again. He know has two kids and is still married. 
So after sitting down and remembering that round my analysis of his swing is that he has all the tools to be a great player. He has a 300 yard average drive with about a 10 yard drawl. His iron game is very tuned in to yardage. Seemed to always be around 5 yards of the hole. He hit 18 greens on the day we played and those greens were very small on average they were about 15 by 20 feet. His wedge game was extraordinarily precise. His putting seemed pretty good considering we were on greens that rolled about a 7 on the meter. I really hope that one day this young man gets his shot to play full time and be a star. He has what it takes and seemed to have the mind to play the game as well. I talked to a guy from Elizabethtown, KY that Jonathan was trying to raise money so that he could play in more tournaments and that he was trying to go to some Tar Heel Tour events this year but could go to many because he was using his own money. So if anybody reads this and is interested in helping this young man out I do have his email address but that is about it. He was looking for donations of sponsors, basically whatever he could get to help his game continue to improve and play professional golf. If anyone is interested they said his email address was Sign In Or you can find him on face book that is were I started finding out information from him. Just look up Jonathan Read from Campbellsville, KY.


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## 373

Lots of memories there. I grew up in Louisville and have played all over the state, including Lincoln Homestead and Campbellsville C.C. plenty of times.

It'll be interesting to see if we eventually hear of Jonathan Read.


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## roanokedave

*email*

sorry it didn't accept his email address....it is [email protected]


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## FrogsHair

This young man should lobby some of the golf manufacturers for sponsor ship. He should be keeping a current USGA handicap card that shows how well he can play, and include it with his lobbying efforts. If he does indeed have the skills to play big time tournament golf, some company will pick him up. They won't make him rich over night with endorsements, but they will help fund some his tournament/travel fees.


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## broken tee

FrogsHair said:


> This young man should lobby some of the golf manufacturers for sponsor ship. He should be keeping a current USGA handicap card that shows how well he can play, and include it with his lobbying efforts. If he does indeed have the skills to play big time tournament golf, some company will pick him up. They won't make him rich over night with endorsements, but they will help fund some his tournament/travel fees.


How do the great unknown golfers get that start with a sponsorship? I would think it's as easy as getting into the music and movie industry.
College or the university is the best that I can think of and with a family it's even tougher.


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## roanokedave

*mr 59*

just got word from campbellsville, kentucky a little bit ago that Jonathan Read shot 59 this morning.....all i can say is WOW....we need to get this guy on tour somewhere....


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## Big Hobbit

someone needs to email IMG with his scores etc. IMG will do the rest.


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## TheDoc88

Let's establish some facts here......

John Holmes plays the "west coast swing" on tour every year because it is where he makes the majority of his money so he did NOT have a trip to Campbellsville planned. His weeks off are spent in Naples and Orlando with instructor Matt Killen, Brandon Parsons, and fellow PGA tour member Josh Teater. Also, the snack bar at Campbellsville Country Club does not open until April due to the inconsistant weather in Kentucky and the owners do not feel it's worth spending money on food that isn't promised to sell. So why this man wasted time driving from Virginia for a rumor that could easily be falsified by a simple phone call is beyond me! I'm also very curious as to why Jonathan would go in to order food from a snack bar that clearly isn't open as he should know from spending so much time there.

Now moving on to opinions...

Campbellsville Country Club hots an invitational golf tournament every summer. It was recently renamed the J.B. Holmes Invitational and can claim a very impressive field year in and year out. Anyone at CCC is very familiar with the all-so-popular Jonathan Read method for the tournament. Show up late in the afternoon booking the last tee time possible (due to a very inconvenient work schedule of course). He will proceed to shoot a sub par (literally) round of about 67,68, etc playing along side his father and friends. This ensures good enough positioning for an ACTUAL second day round to finish somewhere mid championship flight and still low enough to blame the second day score for overall finish. Two things can be taken from this. A.) If the first day score is a legit one, then Mr. Read's lack of ability to handle pressure of any form will permanantly prevent him from tour play. OR B.) the first day score is an obvious sympathetic result of family and friends making their peer feel better about themself. 

What have we learned....

Golf is a game which many people are skilled at and many never discovered. A lot of it has to do with playing good and the right time. As the saying goes "I'd rather be lucky than good". While Jonathan Read is a respectable player of sorts he would be much better being honest and playing in local events and building a name for himself by actually competing people at the local level. There isn't a single person in Campbellsville that would take Jonathan Read to beat Tyler Sharpe, Josh Matney, Dillon Mays, or even 74 year-old George Gupton. Golf is a game for gentleman and it is best that we instill these qualities in the game by promoting honesty and not letting egos get in the way of a good rotation in our back swing.

ps. To the writer of this article, for the price of $270 you can order a Titleist staff bag, if you need the hookup I'll give it to you. It's Titleist.com - Titleist Official Site: learn about Titleist golf balls, golf clubs and accessories.


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## roanokedave

i would agree with you except it was august when i played with him and from what i heard he told josh and i believe the other guys name was ricky that he told thim when he was 4 under through seven that he would par out and win by 5 and nobody would take his bet....i do believe that 10 under on two rounds was the second best score ever posted in the club tourney there in campbellsvill....what is your name?????can you beat him?????or are you just hating to see someone else from the small town do good????let me know maybe i will come back to campbellsville and we can set a game up me and jonathan agianst you and whoevere you wat to bring.....


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## TheDoc88

My name is William. I grew up in Greensburg, Ky and I have followed many of the golfers from Kentucky for the past several years. Like i said I'm sure he is a good golfer in his own respects but even in Louisville (where i live) people who know Campbellsville and golf have said everything I stated above. I played in the Invitational in 2004 and 2005 so it's not just hear-say. I don't believe that you would honestly let me bring ANYONE from Central Kentucky against you and Jonathan though. But if so, I would be more than willing to set this up.


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## TheDoc88

Lastly, the Tar Heel Tour does not exist anymore. It has been the ETour since 2008.


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## roanokedave

as i stated we played in august when jb was on a 3 week break....and as for the etour everyone that plays there still refers to it was the tar heel tour and that is what it is know as around the mini tours...as for the others guys you mentioned i have heard of tyler sharp and know that him and jonathan are fairly good friends...both years ago were just pretty good at best...sharp has continually got better and know is a great golfer just don't think he has what you need to score low on long courses, short courses though he is one of the best...Jonathan after his to years off from 2004 to 2006 has went through complete swing change in 2009 and is just a great all around player....as for josh matney did some digging he played ahead of jonathan at campbellsville university...Head to head matches jonathan has won them all most recently club championship last year jonathan read shot two day total 9 under par, josh shot 2 under...Dillon mays i have found not much information about him just from locals that he can shoot around par, thats all i got...and for the george gupton guy i would say a 74year old has no business trying to compete with jonathan read.....


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## roanokedave

and as for josh teater, him, bradon parsons, and jonathan played last year at ccc and jonthan played josh tight till the last few holes from what i heard from a guy named mike don't know his last name but he told me that when i was down there...i think it was 65 to 66 teater winning...


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## TheDoc88

Well I apologize if it sounded like I had a personal vendetta against the young man. I'm not wishing bad upon anyone. It's clear that the are has produced many good young golfers and I can only wish them all the best. I'm still very much interested in arranging a match with all of them involved though. It would only bring positivie attention to the area. My cousin and nephew live in Campbellsville and I will be making the trip down for the Invitational this year in early July. Should be a good one. Hope you will come down to do a stroy, and we could possibly arrange a side match or two.


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## Big Hobbit

roanokedave said:


> and as for josh teater, him, bradon parsons, and jonathan played last year at ccc and jonthan played josh tight till the last few holes from what i heard from a guy named mike don't know his last name but he told me that when i was down there...i think it was 65 to 66 teater winning...


Did a bit of digging, and if it was the same comp Jonathan was 5 over after 5 but got to the turn in level par. So thats 5 under for the last 4 holes of the front 9, and out in 36. He then went on to shoot 30 on the back 9 for a 66. He was 11 under for the last 13 holes.

But after an hour of trawling the net I came with no more info. He undoubtedly has talent but wonder what in his make-up has kept him from fulfilling his potential. At the very least I'm surprised local businesses haven't seen the sponsorship potential. Equally why hasn't he played more of the bigger amatuer competitions. That said, I don't follow the amatuer circuits on your side of the pond.

Wonder what he would do on a course in excess 7200yds, typical of what the pro's on the pga tour experience on a regular basis?


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## roanokedave

jonathan did do that a coupld o years ago in a tournment....as far as long courses he played olde stone a coupld of times first time shot 73 he was 4 over through 4....second time shot 68 then shot 67...olde stone from the tips is 7400 yards....i would say they only played them around 7200 though...its a top 100 course in america....


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## roanokedave

talked to a guy about the round were he wa 5 over through 5 they said he was finaminal went birdie on par 3 eagled the par 5 hen went birdie birdie for even par then went par, birdie, birdie, birdie, birdie, birdie, par birdie, par


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## TheDoc88

WHAT? Ok I'm sorry but now this is just getting ridiculous. My son lives and works in Bowling Green and is a member at The Club at Olde Stone. The course record for the first two years was 70 shot by Justin Perry in the practice round of the Open. Kenny shot 69 the next spring and to this day the course record is shared between Kenny Perry, Matt Savage, and Scott Merill (67). The ACTUAL course record (which the USGA clearly states must be in a competative 18 hole round) is 71 by Matt Savage in the Kentucky Open. The course record at Campbellsville Country Club is 64 shot by J.B. Holmes in consecutive rounds in the Mens Invitational his last year winning it. I cant help but feel like I have wasted many days trying to disprove these dishonest and misleading posts. I wish Mr. Read the best but lying on a golf forum is not going to help!


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## roanokedave

call campbellsville country club and ask them the pro there is mike i think his last name is kehoe...


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## Big Hobbit

TheDoc88 said:


> WHAT? Ok I'm sorry but now this is just getting ridiculous. My son lives and works in Bowling Green and is a member at The Club at Olde Stone. The course record for the first two years was 70 shot by Justin Perry in the practice round of the Open. Kenny shot 69 the next spring and to this day the course record is shared between Kenny Perry, Matt Savage, and Scott Merill (67). The ACTUAL course record (which the USGA clearly states must be in a competative 18 hole round) is 71 by Matt Savage in the Kentucky Open. The course record at Campbellsville Country Club is 64 shot by J.B. Holmes in consecutive rounds in the Mens Invitational his last year winning it. I cant help but feel like I have wasted many days trying to disprove these dishonest and misleading posts. I wish Mr. Read the best but lying on a golf forum is not going to help!


Whoa Doc, think of your blood pressure.

The bit I posted about Read shooting a 66 was a deliberate lie to see what came back. Read actually posted a 69, which mean R.Dave's list of birdie, birdie eagle etc is clearly inaccurate.

There's enough independant (official) evidence of Read's scores, for example The Chattanooga Classic finished +10 T85th, to see that Read isn't the next Tiger Woods. And once you've Googled and found the official sites, both amatuer and professional, you can trawl away till your heart's content.

R.Dave may well have played with Read, and Read may well have knocked the pins out but doing it consistently in an offical comp off the back tees on a course you are playing for the first time is something entirely different.


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## TheDoc88

@ Roanoke Dave, I called Campbellsville this morning as you requested. Young man named Dustin I believe answered the phone, he said the official course record is 64 shot by J.B. Holmes in consecutive rounds in the 2005 Mens Invitational (as I said, being that I was there!) Is there anything else i can do for you?


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## jonread

*Joathan Read*

hey guys,just found this after several people have told me about it....Good to see a few good comments about me...and some not so good ones (being called a cheater)...here are some truths to what i have read in this...i do remember playing with dave it was a plesure and yes i did play really well...can't remember if it was 61 or 62..I did also shoot 59 last week, from the gold tees although most of them were up from normal locations...Ex 12 was up and not on the back tee box..The course record in campbellsville was held by me and jb posted in the pro shop now it is 59...indeed doc the tournament round record there is held by jb at 64 me and tyler sharp both had a chance to tie it but we both have come up a stroke short...as for my game i have made long strides in the last three years..i took two years off like dave stated before then i wasa pretty good hacker....around par all the time...Since i have been working hard with mike kehoe and m game has came around like a 360 turn...now normally at campbellsville i will shoot between 65 and 68 on average...I am going to some egolf or as the playes know it as is the tar heel tour...I have a few guys from elizabethtown paying for me to go...As for he round being 5 over through 5 and shooting 66 i actually shot 68 but signed the score card for 69 so i had to accept the 69...And in that round the so called work i did worktht morning i work at lowes and 4th of july weekend is very busy for us...So i went into work at 5 so i could get off in time to play...any other issues or questions just ask me iwill be more than happy to answere now that i have found this website......and doc 88 and hobbit do i know you guys, yal know quiet a bit about me.....


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## TheDoc88

Finally. The actual person clears things up for us. Like i said before I'm not wishing anything bad on anyone but I think it is important that you clear up people spreading things about you that are not true especially if you're aspiring to make a career out of golf. I will be at the Derby Day Scramble this year at CCC with George so it would be nice to meet you.


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## jonread

are you related to george, i know him very well...my dad use to work with him at KU


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## Big Hobbit

jonread said:


> and doc 88 and hobbit do i know you guys, yal know quiet a bit about me.....


Pleased you dropped in Jon, and welcome. No, we don't know each other nor have we met. I'm 3900 miles from Cambellsville, and 8 hrs flying time.

I gleaned my information from trawling the net, specifically local newspaper websites and official golf websites - I also found some other stuff on TOPIX which isn't quite so flattering. Embarrassingly, if you trawled my golf you'd actually come across a picture of me with hair... it was a while ago.

If you get across the water let me know, and I'll take you around some fierce old fashioned links courses.

Brian


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## Tim

This is a really odd thread. It looks like a bunch of guys joined up just to start an argument with each other.


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## jtrccc

thedoc88, your talking about 4 or 5 years ago, you should really see this guy play. He won the Club Championship last fall and is playing great! I think there is a little jealousy going on in greensburg,ky.


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## golfnut101

*Set the record straight*

I myself live in cville and play golf. Jonarhans swing is not pretty but he makes it work. However, i would like to know how many tournaments he has won. One club championship does not have the right to brag. Invitational he has never got close to winning. The year he played by himself and carded his way in, he then followed up with mid 70 round. Most of the time he doesnt make the championship flight. I have seen the scores on the internet when he goes monday qualifiers. The best one i saw him shoot was an 83. Im guessing dave is make believe just like his golf game. If this is what you have to do to make yourself do good then do it. But here is the challenge! $100 dollars a hole and ill bring in my player to play read on a neutral golf course. Ill show the money up front so everyone knows its for real and you bring your cash.


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