THE CORNING CLASSIC

CORNING COUNTRY CLUB

CORNING NY 

My player this week is Yu Ping Lin

Preview: This is without a doubt the best spectator course we play. Many holes come back to the clubhouse. Within a very short walk you can watch the 1st, 4th, 6th, 8th, 10th and 15th tees along with the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 14th, 15th, and 18th greens. The small town atmosphere, Maine Street decorated in a golf motif, is a joy to experience during our stay. They even have a leader board in the middle of town. Many players and caddies will be seen walking the boulevard and visiting the local shops. How they keep this tournament afloat in such a small market is beyond me.

Monday: Easy day. Walked the course after the Pro-Am. Must have had a bad Winter up here. As a result, the greens are not in very good shape. They will be very bumpy. Rain and cooler weather expected for the tournament.

Caddy Bobby Inman played in the Pro-Am with Carrie Wood. View their pictures and how they finished on the Talkin' Jim Contest page.

Picked up Yu Ping at the airport this afternoon. She is only 23 and can't rent a car here. After checking in the hotel, a quick trip to Wal-Mart wrapped up her day. Another early practice round tomorrow. Have to pick her up at 6:30. I will be playing chauffer this week (staying across the street) but don't mind. I get to park in player parking

Tuesday: Another easy day. Only played 9 holes and not much range work. We're in the Pro-Am tomorrow afternoon so we'll use it as a practice day.

Corning has the smallest driving range on tour and finding a spot for a long practice session takes some doing. On Monday the tees were so far up many balls were flying onto the 17th fairway which boarders the end of the range. This may be a problem for spectator safety since that is the only place the fans may walk down 17.

I took my two shots at the Talkin' Jim Contest and was not disappointed. My first shot on the 15th hole, 134 yards, found the left bunker but the second was 16 feet. Not bad considering I haven't played in years. No chance of winning though, 3-4 feet usually wins.

Wednesday: Matt Plagman, Leta Lindley's husband, won Tuesday's  Talkin' Jim Contest  with a sand wedge that came to rest 3 feet 3 inches from the hole. He will represent the LPGA caddies in next year's Monday Pro-Am. Greg Johnston finished second.

We played with 4 Corning Execs. in the Pro-Am and shot a respectable 10 under par. They were a good bunch of guys which led to a very enjoyable round. Yu Ping struck the ball well and I hope it's a prelude for the rest of the week. She switched to the Odyssey Two Ball putter and received a putting lesson on the off week. Hope it pays off.

Found out we are both Gemini's. She was born June 4th a and me on the 9th. We're also both into electronic gadgets. The only difference is she buys the latest and greatest and think about buying them.

Thursday: Glad we had an "A" pairing this week. It was 40 degrees when we drove in this morning but our tee time wasn't until 8:50 so it did warm up some.

The fairways are not in very good shape but playable. Everyone was surprised the officials decided to play lift clean and place. Maybe they were anticipating the fowl weather due the next 3 days.

Yu Ping played very steady carding a 3 under 69. Young Kim, who was announced as Soo-Yun Kang, bogeyed the last 2 but still shot 1 under. Chris Johnson rounded out our threesome and did not have a good day. She shot 4 over and needs a very good round tomorrow to make the cut.

I taped Annika's debut at Colonial and looking forward to viewing this historic event. There is a party planned on Market Street today featuring a miniature golf contest hosted by some players and live music. Might stop by.

Friday: Shot 2 under today. With a little help it could have been much better. The putts just wouldn't fall. Our playing partners both missed the cut. Chris shot 1 under and Young 2 over.

I've never seen this range totally empty but, with Annika on TV, today was the day.

Never made the Market Street shindig but did put a hurting on a Chinese buffet.

Nasty weather coming in. Could make a move with some solid play.

Saturday: Shot an easy one under but not good enough to gain any ground. There are a lot of birdies out here that are eluding us.

We played with Christina Kim with her dad on the bag. It rained most of the round and Man, Christina's father, seemed to have a little trouble with the routine. We got behind and were timed on the eight hole but caught up quickly. She bested us by a shot.

Yu Ping reminds me of Mi Hyun Kim. They share the same demeanor, have a good short game, not afraid to hit driver into a narrow fairway and utilize all the tools in the bag. The only difference now is getting the ball in the hole. If her putters gets hot , watch out!

Sunday: Three under today. Seemed like even par. The course played super easy with no wind to speak of and medium speed greens. Didn't gain any ground again. Finished tied for 25th.

I'm off to Naperville. Need to go at least half way so I can walk the course before the qualifier tees off.