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WELCH'S/FRY'S CHAMPIONSHIP DEL URICH G. C. TUCSON AZ
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My player this week is Clarissa Childs Sunday: Walked the course and found it in pretty good shape. The greens have more grass than last year but the Tucson Parks Division skimped on the over-seeding. The only holes that have rough are14 thru 18. The rest is dormant Bermuda which is is very tight and will run like the devil. The fairways all have been over-seeded. The ground crew is a little over zealous, filling in what they think are divot scars, but really are sprinkler heads, with sand. Besides being a safety hazard, we use the sprinklers to calculate the distances. I'm sure we'll have them all kicked out by Tuesday. With a near perfect weather forecast, warm and dry, and the absence of rough, look for the scores to be even lower than last year. If that's even possible! The wind will make the difference. It was great to get back to work after such a long off season. When I first came on tour we started in January with 3 or 4 events in Florida and headed for Hawaii and the west coast. We long for "the good old days". Touched base with a few familiar faces and expanding mid-sections. I seem to have lost a few pounds but I think they migrated to my fellow caderos. Meeting Clarissa at 10 tomorrow. Can't wait to get started. Monday: A glorious day in the desert! Near 90 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. Sunscreen must be an afterthought to some people. I witnessed a female caddy making the turn during the qualifier, which started at 1:00, who was lobster red. The sad part was she had nine more holes to go. That's going to be one sore puppy tonight. Our practice round went well. We pretty much had the course to ourselves on the first nine and was joined by Kris Tschetter and her caddy Foster on the back. An alignment problem reared it's ugly head but was quickly squelched with a short practice session on the range. We're getting about 5 extra yards with the irons which is probably due to the elevation and arid environment. The course is starting to dry, so tee balls have their track shoes on! The big hitters are going to wear out their wedges this week. Tuesday: A 12 o'clock meeting turned into 1:30 due to a few unscheduled errands. Gave me more time to touch base a a few more bodies. Hit a few balls then played nine with Michelle McGann with her dad and brother tagging along. Clarissa is hitting it well and the course is playing shorter than yesterday. A 7 wood into one of the par 5's turned into a 5 iron today with the same wind direction. A handful of tour caddies were shut out this week. The start of the season is tough to get work if you don't have something lined up. Many rookies and a few veterans brought out new caddies. Dottie Pepper let Chuck Parisi, her caddy from last year, go one day before he was scheduled to arrive. Not exactly a classy way to end a relationship. Wednesday: Easy day. A couple hours of practice, have Paul change our grips and putt a little. Another caddy found himself jobless when he thought he was set. Clay picked up Nancy Lopez yesterday but was replaced today with "Motorcycle Jim". Apparently Nancy's old caddy, Tommy Thorpe, lined up Jim but never got back to Nancy. Stuff happens! Thursday: First round jitters turned into a +2 round. The wind picked up in the afternoon and Clarissa's swing got quick and was difficult to slow down. We were one over on the two reachable par fives which made all the difference. That's a 3 shot swing. The morning had a discernable advantage with light winds. A front moved in around noon and winds gusted to a 2+ club difference. Need to get it under tomorrow. Friday: Blew in the morning and calmed down this afternoon. We definitely were on the wrong end of the draw this week! Another two over has us thinking of a better week in Phoenix. Looks like the cut will be even. Just didn't hit it very well but managed to play those par 5's 2 under. Another session on the range afterward may have fixed a few things. Played with Aree Song who lit it up today. She shot 6 under via better ball striking, club selection and course management. Has all the attributes of a winner. Just a matter of time. Saturday: Put in a few hours of practice and our day was done. Planning to play next weeks course tomorrow to get a jump on on the field.
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