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CORONA CLASSIC TRES MARIAS GOLF COURSE MORELIA MEXICO |
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My player this week is Maggie Will Monday: Yesterday's trip was pleasant for some and not for others. The Aviacsa flight, of which I was on, went off without a hitch but Continental was not as fortunate. It was about an hour and a half late, much of the luggage was left off due to the volume of golf bags and of what they did bring was stuffed onto any empty seats. Most of us are staying at either the Holiday Inn or Holiday Inn Express. WHAT A RIP-OFF! Players that were making last minute reservations online are paying $20 less per night. The tournament arranged a $98 rate at The Express and more for the other thieving establishment. To late to cancel but we'll know next year. The surroundings: Tres Marias is an absolutely fabulous facility. For the ultra rich, it abounds with almost every amenity including indoor pool, fitness center and spinning to name a few. They're available for player and caddie use alike. The course is immaculate but again, like Mexico City, is made to be played off a cart. The owner has grandiose plans for this piece of acreage. The hills are tiered with ribbons of prospective streets waiting for the lots to be developed. This will either be a jewel in the heart of Mexico or a bankrupt development with faded visions of grandeur. If it does make it, it'll be decades for fruition. This will give you an idea of what kind of money we're talking about. This lay-out has 27 holes and the grandstand for our 18th is built right on top of one of the other greens! Huge holes were dug for the support footings on about a quarter of the it. What the hey! It's only money. The course: The front side isn't a bad walk but the back is another thing. Many cart rides will be provided. With such a weak field and treacherous greens there may be a few really wicked scores. The 77 yard green on 15 will be not rally be a factor this week. Only the front 30 yards will be used. The most outrageous hole in eleven. It's not long but goes straight uphill for both shots. I'll be tough picking the correct stick for the approach. This 'n that: Speaking of a weak field, there was no qualifier as a result. It's a virtual who's who of unknowns. Another fine tribute to a new sponsor. World Tour my butt! It's more like a Third World Tour. We have two weeks off, play Vegas, and then hose a new event. Way to go ladies! Looks like we'll be wearing Masters-like jump suits. Yippee! NOT! You don't see this very often, many of the early groups were allowed to take carts for the practice round. Seems the shuttles weren't set up in time. The forecast was for sunny throughout the day and it was spot on till the thunderstorm hit! A deluge with plenty of fireworks ensued and cut my course walking short. Just need to finish the 18th though, before we tee it up tomorrow. Tuesday: Played eighteen with Denise Killeen and Stacy Prammanasudh. It took Maggie 14 holes to find her swing but ay least she did. A little putting and chipping and the day was done. The male caddies have the run of the men's locker room and it's a beauty. Lockers, showers, steam, sauna, Jacuzzi and bar. Flat-screens all around but of course, it's all in Espanol. We also have privileges in the player's lounge were the buffet is situated. Have the correct credential and you're in. There's also beer in the caddie area along with a box lunch. Too much to choose from. My goal this week is not to spend any pesos on food. Trying to make up for the hotel overcharge. There's an ill wind brewing regarding the jump suits we're required to wear this week. It's supposed to 85 degrees every day, they're long sleeve and I don't think enough larger sizes were ordered. We'll see what happens. The only computer connection is here in the lobby and it's supposed to be high speed. This is the slowest high speed I've ever seen. Takes forever to download email and many pages don't come up. It must be on siesta! Heard Kelly Robbins will be out of action till August with a disc problem in her back. Get well soon Kelly. Wednesday: I came out of the shower this morning and was greeted with a cheerful "Buenos dias". Seems the maid ignored the sound of running water in the bathroom and decided to start making the beds! This was a first for me. On top of that, our room key is inserted into a slot to switch on the electricity, so waste is kept to a minimum, and she took it with her as a matter of routine. Twenty seconds later the lights went out! GOOD MORNING MEXICO! Pro-Am: Everyone was on carts with a time limit like Mexico City. Limited amount of tee balls and no more than a bogey permitted. Leta Lindley's group started on the back nine and one of her playing partners received a call from his brother-in-law whom was playing with Laura Davies. Seems she made an ace on the sixth hole and this was his chance to rub it in a little. But pay-back is sweet. Leta topped her with an ace of her own on the very same hole! A return call was met with disbelief. Update on the caddie-wear; They ran out of small sizes so Sam (Samantha), Yu Ping Lin's looper, had to take a size 44. Sam's figure would be described as on the petit side and in that 44 she looked like Dorf on Golf! The crotch was down to her knees. On the flip side; Clint, whom works for Dorothy Delasin, is the largest of the traveling caderos and had no chance of wiggling into the largest of suits. An anonymous official suggested they put him in the first group, have him wear the scoring tent and he can leave it at the eighteenth green when finished. Don't blow a gasket! It's all in good fun and no ill will was meant. We're all fair game out here. There is an ongoing effort to rescind the mandatory jump suit requirement. More luggage finally arriving along with some missing clubs. Amy Hung had to play with a rental set yesterday in the practice round. She has her sticks today though. Plenty of laughter on the range from a group of the Korean players. Many of the parents didn't make the trip and they finally get to act like their contemporaries. All work and no play … More cart rides will be added for tournament play. I heard there will be at least eight on the back and one or two of the holes will be shortened. Thursday: I think our entire group had only one bird between us. That tells you how the day went. We shot 5 over and it was all on the back nine, our first. Seventeen and eighteen are turning out to be nightmare. Plenty of canyons to snag your ball and the 18th green is wicked. Angus was kept quite busy giving rulings between the two. That nine took us three hours to play! Montezuma strikes again! Caddies Jo berry and Danny Huber were stricken last night and Riley Rankin didn't play all week till today for the same reason. Bernadette Luce had to withdraw before finishing her round. Twenty caddie bibs came in to replace some of the jump suits and they were snatched up in a jiff. They never did make Clint wear a caddie uniform. Tee shirt and shorts for him. Starting tomorrow we have the option of having our jump suit turned into a waist coat. Off with the legs and not required to button them. We'll look like s--t! This event is not as organized as Mexico City. The first shuttle bus to the course this morning was a no-show so a few players had to take a taxi. The reasons for not coming back next year are growing in many peoples minds. My goal of not spending any pesos for food is still afoot. Scarfing up enough freebies to get through the day without a hitch. Friday: More of the same. Played well on the front nine and the back ate our lunch. Adios for playing on the weekend. Odds 'n ends: One of those cart rides almost turned disastrous yesterday. Tracy Hanson's group was on the the 14th when they were surprised by one of the shuttle drivers who flipped over trying to make a turn to fast. He survived but what if it had a player on it? There is also a little platform extending from the rear were the caddie stands. Jenna Daniels didn't notice it yesterday and gave her shin a good whack. Bad luck followed her to the next hole where she accidentally dropped her ball after marking it on the green. It hit her marker and it changed position. Add one. I little dust-devil hit the Corona tent on the 15th yesterday and lifted it off the ground strewing it all over. It also stripped the names and scores off an adjacent scoreboard. WD's: Burton-stone in the eye, Alfredsson, Rankin and Rizzo-Montezuma's revenge and Rosales-wrist injury. Saturday: Everyone is offering up suggestions on how to get better fields for the Mexico events, like a bonus pool or have them back-to-back. I found out that the second is nixed by a clause in the contract with the sponsor of the Mexico City tournament. Apparently it reads that no other event may be held within a radius of 250 miles six weeks before or after. That's why we had such a huge gap between tournaments down here. Other stuff:
Sunday: As fate would have it, another looper went down and I toted his sack today. Deb Richard's caddie, Tom Konapacki, has been ill since Friday evening and just couldn't go anymore. Deb saw me at breakfast and I was in. Talk about holes that just come up and bite you; Deb had a total of +15 for the 10th and 18th. She finished +19 for the event.
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