WACHOVIA  CLASSIC 

BERKLEIGH COUNTRY CLUB

KUTZTOWN, PA

My player this week is Suzy Waley

Monday: No luck finding a player but most hadn't arrived yet. Walked the course and it's in good shape. The rain we had in Columbus arrived over the weekend and left this course a bit soggy but good weather the next few days should dry it out nicely.

Tuesday: Just missed Angela Jerman earlier in the day by a couple minutes. Her caddy couldn't make it and the word spread fast. Timing is everything. Spent most of the day sitting on my duff but managed to pick up Suzy Whaley with a little help from my buds. 

Had another rules meeting with Robert O. Smith as our mentor. We covered the ball drop rule with emphasis on it's use for water hazards. A few players apparently used the ball drop last week in error with one being disqualified, the next day, when she realized her mistake. You cannot use the ball drop if it is closer to the hole than the point the ball last crossed the hazard. The sad part is only a handful of caddies and ever come to these meetings.

Wednesday: An early pro-am time, just the way I like it, started our day and a pleasant group capped it off. No tippage but that's a hit or miss proposition. It seems that the decision to duke the caddy is predetermined and job performance is usually irrelevant.

Suzy was great with our pro-am partners and seemed to really enjoy the day while some players may find the pro-am as a necessary evil and just want to get it over with. They just don't realize what side their bread is buttered on and who provides the butter.

One of our guys owned a fire suppressing sprinkler company and it reminded Suzy of a conversation with Beth Daniel the previous day. During a recent stay at home, Beth decided to warm up some tortillas in the toaster. Needless to say, a toaster is not the proper appliance for such an endeavor and it caught fire! Now, this was not just some well done Mexican flat bread but a full blown inferno which spread to her cabinets. But Beth handled this bit of pyrotechnics like a pro. A well placed fire extinguisher and a cool head smothered the blaze and all was saved. Of course she freaked afterwards realizing what might have happened.

Thursday: Could not have been a more perfect morning to go low. Flawless greens, pleasant temperature and dead calm. Suzy played well except for two tee balls that resulted in a pitch-out and an unplayable costing her three shots. She finished with a respectable +1 but way back of the leaders one of which is Jill McGill, my next bag.

Not much of a gallery this morning but we had a couple special people following us. Suzy's mom and sister are hear to cheer her on and hopefully through the weekend. I'm sure Bill, her hubby, would like to be here but he has his hands full at The Buick Championship, being the general manager at River Highlands, and he has "three more days before he sleeps".

One thing that has been bothering me for quite some time is the mispronunciation of Mi Hyun Kim's name. Hyun is pronounced Hyǔn not Hyūn. Mary Bryan botched the name back in her rookie year and everyone followed suit. You would think an announcer would do a little research and get it right. I pointed this out to Suzy and she said that she would correct the record.

Friday: A case of the pulls and the lack of birdies sealed our fate. In fact, the par 5's just ate our lunch. Three of the four are reachable but we couldn't' take advantage actually playing them over par.

I really enjoyed the week with Suzy and wish her the best. She is playing in a sectional tournament on Monday and plans to kick a few of the guy's butts.

Tonya Gill, playing just in front of us, aced the 157 yard 15th hole and won a new Audi. This is the 3rd year in a row the car has been won but the first time a cash option was not available. Apparently, after Pam Kerrigan won it last year, all the TV announcers focused on was the $33,000 she accepted in lieu the Audi. This miffed the Audi people and decided it's the car or nothing. I heard Tonya will chip in a few thousand and upgrade to a different model.

Kudos for Jill McGill. She is just eating up this track. It's been a long struggle for Jill and I hope she takes home the gold.