Monday, May 21, 2007

Home Sweet Home!!

There was positive and negative at the conclusion of Saturday's round in Kansas City. The negative was that I missed the cut this week (by one) after two tough days of battle with the strongest course we have played all year. The positive was that I get one more day at home. No offense to my family, but I would have rather played golf on Sunday...Sorry!!! Anyway, with the week off, and with my Dad already being in Kansas, I flew home with him and am getting to spend the week here. I will switch modes at the end of this week and be the host of my sister's wedding shower. It's a nice little break from golf, but you can definitely say that I won't be going into the wedding shower business. Not only do I get to throw the shower this weekend, but I am finally getting to see the progress that is being made on the wedding site (the house) and also am able to see the cutest little puppies ever (we have an English Setter and a Golden Retriever for those that don't know). Oh, yeah, I'm also getting to see my family!!

For the second tournament in a row, my Dad made his appearance as caddy!! I never quite know how it's going to go, because when I was younger he always used to be overly intense and spoke when he wasn't always spoken to. (As most of you know, the three up's of caddying are show up, keep up, and shut-up) Anyway, this has not been an issue at all. I have enjoyed every minute of it, and enjoy having him out there. This is almost going as far as a compliment, and generally I only write these things when it's some special day for him (i.e. Father's Day, Christmas, or birthday)...but I'll make an exception this time. I can honestly say that he has a calming effect on me on the golf course. I feel at ease and seem to hit shots that I wouldn't normally hit, but that he makes me believe I have the ability to. It's fun to have a caddy, making it feel more like you have someone on your team, rather than you against the world!! Seeing as how the majority of our tournaments are nowhere near Oregon, and my sister is taking up all of their time planning this wedding, my parents aren't able to be out with me all that often right now. However, when they are it is fun and very appreciated.

Well, next time I write I will be in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. The tournament is June 1-3 and will again have live-scoring. I have submitted a blog to the Futures Tour for the weekly player's blog that they post on the website. I will let you know when it is scheduled to be put up as I'm sure that you will all be very anxious to read it!!! Off to have a great week at home!

Sunday, May 13, 2007

Happy Mother's Day!!!

I would first like to say Happy Mother's Day to all you mom's out there. If any of you have seen the special article they have on the Future's Tour web page, you will notice that I did not have a story posted there. As it turns out, I wrote one and got it in on time, but failed to send it to the correct email address. Figures huh? My mom said that she wouldn't even have noticed as she probably wouldn't have found it on the website. Anyway, I thought I would take this route of sending a special little message to mom.
I don't have one specific special memory of my mom and I or even a golf story. I do, however, remember very well all of the time and energy my mom has put into my golf for a number of years. Traveling long distances, putting together snacks and sandwiches for the team, carrying all of my extra clothing and umbrella and other crap around the golf course, baring the not-so-kind weather that comes with being a golfer, being a constant in my support system through good and not so good rounds, even caddying sometimes....and the list could go on and on!!! What I'm getting at is how thankful I am for everything that you have done for me mom. You are very loved and very missed. Happy Mother's Day!!!

I enjoyed my short week off last week in Albuquerque. It was so weird to not be playing practice rounds or getting up Friday for a tournament tee time. However, I would be lying if I said that it wasn't kind of nice for a little break!! I drove about 4 hours on Friday night and arrived in Dalhart, TX. For any of you who have never been here, you are not missing out on much. I literally had to drive with one hand covering my nose as I drove the 15 miles into town to refrain from throwing up. I have been through some smelly towns and smelly cow smells before, but this one was in it's own league. I am not sure how people live there, but it is an understatement to tell you that it was stinky!!! I got up on Saturday morning to finish the drive to Kansas City. I had to make a small detour as the highway was closed through Greensburg, KS. The highway that I took instead ran parallel to the highway through Greensburg, and while I'm not certain, I would be willing to be that the tornado swept up through the area I was driving through. There were power lines and poles down, trees completely uprooted and laying everywhere, and huge water system lines overturned and mangled. It was very humbling to think what these people had been through not to long ago. I arrived safely in Kansas City and am fortunate enough to be staying with a host family that I met a couple of years ago when I was here for the Women's Public Links tournament. I have a one day U.S. Women's Open local qualifier tomorrow and then will begin my week for the Future's Tour tournament, which will be held in this area as well, but at a different golf course.

Happy Mother's Day again!!!!

Tuesday, May 8, 2007

Unplayable Conditions

For any golfers out there, we all know that there can be unplayable conditions in the game of golf. Lightning and thunder, torrential downpours, a course that's flooded, snow, and there are probably some others that I am missing. However, I didn't think I would ever be adding wind to that list. On Saturday, the Futures Tour made a decision to suspend play for the day due to severe winds. No really, severe winds!! They made reference to earlier this year when the PGA canceled a round due to high winds. Other than that, can any of us remember ever hearing of a professional golf tournament being canceled due to wind? No, I didn't think so.
Saturday morning I got up and battled the winds for my 8:09 tee time. I don't know the exact numbers, but it was something around 24 m.p.h. with gusts higher than that. I played great, battled the conditions, and shot the low round of the morning. I knew going into the round that I needed to have a decent score in order to make the cut, but I also knew after a 71 in those conditions that I would be fine. In fact, I figured I probably would have moved significantly up the leader board. So, after my round, I'm on the range hitting balls and we hear the horns. (The horns signify the rules official's stopping play) We were all looking at each other with very confused looks on our faces as there wasn't a cloud in the sky and it was about 80 degrees out.
Long story short...they suspended play due to unplayable wind conditions. I have never seen some of these girls more up in arms and fired up as I did when they canceled the round. Those of us who played in the morning felt that it was highly unfair that we had all just played a round of golf in those conditions and the afternoon tee times were going to get off free. It was an experience I will never forget. If you haven't read the daily wrap-up for the 2nd round in El Paso on the Duramed Futures Tour page it's a must read. They make reference to a cart being thrown to a stop when the wind blew the key to the off position, nearly throwing the rules official through the windshield. Wow, are you kidding? Truly, you're not fooling any of us. We aren't falling for that!
A little bird told me that I should focus on the fact that I played so well in those conditions and that I can't control what happens about the rest of the day. Well, I had to share my story though, because even though I couldn't control the situation, I felt that I had the right to be upset about their decision.
So, I made the cut and had a less than stellar round on Sunday again. I know you're all thinking that you should inform me that it helps to shoot a low score on the last day. When you play well it moves you up the leader board rather than down. Well, it might seem like I am missing that piece of information, but I really do know that. I am playing better golf and gaining a world of confidence. It's all a matter of putting it together and making some putts and scoring better.
I am off this week, in Albuquerque. I head to Kansas City this weekend as I have a Women's Open qualifier on Monday followed by the next Futures Tour event there later that week. I will be home in two weeks to throw a shower for my sister.
I had a great time last week with my Dad on the bag (even with all of the complaining he was doing...the bag was too heavy, the strap was too thin, it was hurting his shoulder) and Jackie down to watch. I found it comical that when we got in the car Sunday night to make the drive up to Albuquerque that they were complaining about a 3 and a half hour drive. Ha...that's a piece of cake compared to 13 hour days in the car!!! Until next time...