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Home My player this week is Naree Song
Week Off: Sunday afternoon took me just a bit
down the road to Blythe CA. No reason to drive any farther when I have six
days to get to Atlanta. It was on to Van Horn TX on Monday and was a fairly
easy jaunt except my cruise control has started acting up again. Shuts off
for no reason and can't be reset unless I turn off the motor. Bummer! Probably
the clockspring under the steering wheel. Made it to Monroe Louisiana on
Tuesday. Nothing exciting but the cruise is working again.
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And the winner is; The NCAA pool goes to
John Killeen, Meg's cadero, beating out Kathy Lawrence in the final game.
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James 'The Ripper';
Golfweek rips Wie's caddie. Read
it here. I sent him a stinging reply.
Arrived in Atlanta without a
hitch on Wednesday. Hanging at The Masters Inn in McDonough till Saturday then Ill
stay at the airport before flying to Vegas. Still looking for a bag. Had
the best night's sleep since Hawaii. A backlog of mail tracked me down and
it's nice to have a few days to catch up. The traffic here is just crazy.
While attempting to merge onto I75, an impatient motorist just in front
of me, decided to cut ahead of the line of cars backed up on the ramp. He didn't
notice the trailer a car was towing and missed by inches. The next vehicle
was an eighteen wheeler which slammed on the brakes just in time. Could
have been a beauty.
It's Friday and I'm still
running around wrapping things up. A visit to AAA, the Sheriff's
Dept., two trips to the Post Office and a stop at an auto body shop. No, I
wasn't in an accident. Just some Florida business to be taken care of.
Those in the know will understand.
Will work for food or a
song; Pays to have friends in high or, in this case, low
places. After a little networking, I picked up Naree for Vegas. Worked
for her ages ago in St. Louis. I wonder if she remembers? Sunday:
America West was my choice of travel to
Las Vegas offering the the best price and times at booking. I arrived
early and snagged an exit row seat but it doesn't recline. I'll take the
extra leg room instead. A free meal has gone by the wayside with this
carrier but you may purchase a sandwich with one caveat. An apology
precedes the service suggesting your first, second or third choice may not
be available. They did have fluids to drink and free mini pretzels.
Caught a taxi
to my abode (The Somerset Motel) which turns out to be a bit of a dump but
it's cheap, close to the course and I'm picking up someone's wireless
connection. A major plus. The driver was confused and started to take me
to the wrong motel. Maybe that half depleted bottle of bourbon in the
center console had something to do with it.
Monday:
Walked the course early and it's in decent shape. Will play hard and fast
with all the par fives reachable if the wind is right. Naree took the day
off so I just hung around till early afternoon.
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Not
including tip; Most players and caddies are staying across the
street at the Hilton which gave the tournament a rate of less than
$80. Pretty good for Vegas but watch out for those pesky incidentals.
A beer at the Sports Book bar (thee spot to be) will run $5 if you're
not gambling. Of course, the food will set you back a bit unless you
stick to the sub shop next to the bar. One cadero went down for coffee
this morning for himself and his two roommates and dolled out $12 for
the java! At that price, Juan Valdez should deliver it himself.
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Cha-ching;
Many will leave this week's check behind before they leave but there
always are a few winners. One looper already hit for $800 playing
video keno. Now if he just had the sense to walk away. Nah.
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Get
your red-hots here; Having a very
disappointing meatball sandwich at the aforementioned sub shop
yesterday, I headed for 'The Strip' for a bite to eat. Slots-A-Fun
offered a 1/2 pound hotdog for $1.29 which I couldn't pass up. Topped
it with chili and cheese and was out of there for just over $2. Wonder
where that stands on the food pyramid?
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Tighten
those purse strings; Atlanta has picked up a major sponsor but
still had to drop the purse by $200,000. As a result, the entry date
for this week was extended to last Thursday instead of the usual
Tuesday just in case some plans were altered at the mast minute.
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Crunch;
Lane Kieldsen, Marisa's caddie, was on the receiving end of some unexpected
body alterations on his Lexus. Seems the valets at The Bellagio were
in a bit too big of a hurry. You should have seen the other car!
Tuesday: Only
played nine holes as Naree's energy dwindled. Found out she enjoys a cup
o' joe from Starbucks so the game was afoot. I was one latté up going
into the ninth, a par five guarded by agua on three sides, and gave her
the best odds in Vegas. "Hit the green in two and we're even and if
you make en eagle, you're one up" I offered. A no lose situation. She
stuck it 18 inches and I conceded the putt. I'm just not very good wagering
caffeinated drinks.
Christina Kim snoozes on the
seventh tee while waiting for the green to clear.
Fairly mundane compared to
some.
Unzip its mouth and voila.
It's Stephanie Louden's
turn this week.
Wednesday:
The Song sisters played an E-9 before the pro-am in the best weather we're
going to see all week., perfectly calm. Breezy conditions expected the
next three days. A short practice session followed and this part of my day
was done.
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Get a
grip; The Future's Tour
does not afford the luxuries of 'The Show' as indicated by the sheen emanating
from the grips on Naree's clubs. If you need them changed out there it's a do it
yourself affair or trust the local repairman (hack). We finally got our
guy Paul, who has been working
out of two different trailers here in Vegas, neither one his own, to
change them before teeing it up tomorrow. He dropped off the LPGA
version in Atlanta before heading to 'Sin City' and is making do the
best he can.
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Hey, I can play;
A while back I was contacted by Clay Coalson to see if I was available
to work for him in the pro-am. Clay is an attorney from Corpus Christi
TX, follows Life on Tour and will be a volunteer standard bearer in
this week's event. Since my day with Naree was completed early and Clay had
a 12:20 tee time, things just fell into place. Our pro was Michelle
Redman with 'Coffee Joe' on the sack or should I say trunk. Get the
picture? Clay started out with a game
that was dubious at best but settled down and turned out to be one of
the better players in the group. A bird on his own ball on the third
along with an eagle putt on number nine was just two of his
contributions. Throw in a couple more birdie putts and he had a day
worth crowing about.
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Cha-ching deux;
Another success story at the tables had one looper/husband pocketing a
wad of cash (heard it was in the thousands) playing blackjack. An offer to do the town via a limo was
reluctantly turned down by a compadre due to an early tee time the
next morn.
Thursday:
Like most weather forecasters I was wrong, at least for the morning. I create more turbulence passing gas than what the wind
was blowing today. Perfect conditions and Naree took advantage
shooting -4.
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From a sows ear to a silk
purse, almost; We made the turn three under (started on the
back) but number two almost did us in. The tee ball went right of the
fairway bunkers and a Macgyver
inspired shot with a choked down three metal (pulled this off earlier
with fantastic results) was called for. Just a little punch cut and
run it up to the front but the cut didn't materialize and our pellet nuzzled
just inches from the OB wall. The only play was back towards the
fairway but that nettlesome curb bordering the cart path ricocheted
our ball off another piece of the wall into an opening under the
trees. One shot later and still off the green, Naree's overly aggressive chip
hit the pin dead center and discovered the bottom of the cup. One heck
of a bogey!
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Birthday boy; Rick
'The Nerd' celebrated his forty-fifth yesterday without dumping a
glass of water into his roommate's pasta.
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Motivate me; Time
and time again, one of the best motivations a player may have is when a
caddie dumps her for another loop. Shi
Hyun Ahn's toter jumped ship for Christie Kerr following the
Nabisco event and it looks like it's payback time, at least for now.
Ahn carded a stellar -7 for today's round but Christie is also in the
hunt at -4.
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Bye-bye Bae;
Remember the debacle with Kyeong Bae's
dad at Nabisco? Well, he was in her cadero's face after today's
round yelling something about not telling her that her stance was too
wide or some garbage like that. Another one that needs to be sent
packing.
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A must see? As we
approached our last hole, the ninth, Naree pointed to the new
attraction prominently displayed on the Hilton's marquee. 'Menopause
The Musical' was their latest offering and I heard it's hilarious.
Just seems odd it was scheduled during a lady's golf tournament.
Friday:
The LPGA's best are an advantageous lot and the morning doldrums provided
an opportunity not to be passed up. Consequently, scores dropped precipitously.
We had a few holes of relative calm ourselves but the promised cyclonic winds
hit with a vengeance but still managed to finish the day even, leaving us four
under for the event. There was also a delay in play due to a clap of
thunder too close for comfort but the field should finish before dark.
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My caddie (the devil)
made me do it;
Heard Shi Hyun Ahn ripped her ex-cadero a new one in the local paper,
blaming him for everything from her lack of aggressive play to global
warming. Some players see only a one way street in the player/caddie
relationship. They may fire you all day and twice on Sunday but how
dare you quit on them. Just another 'Princess' in the making.
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Sol-mate; I ran
across the caddies favorite beverage from South of the boarder, Sol
cerveza, at the local AM/PM convenience store and couldn't leave
without a few for the room. Brings back fond memories.
Saturday:
Never could bring it all together shooting a one over par round today
and finished T-35. Not a bad showing indeed.
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A tad short;
After walking off the distance on the par three seventeenth, I relayed
my calculations to Naree. 130 front, plus 33 (the pin) for a total of
163. As her practice, Naree repeated the front number and I concurred.
This hole boarders the huge Hilton hotel which causes the wind to
swirl in an unpredictable design so just as soon you think it's at
your back it flip-flops directly into your face. This in mind, we were
in between a seven or six iron. Naree reached for a club on the seven
iron side of the bag so I assumed that was the selection. NOT! Somehow
she apparently thought the total was 130 and not just the
front. After the shot finished five yards short of the green in disbelief,
I checked the club and it was a nine iron! If that tricky wind was not
at our back we would have rinsed it into the seemingly out of play
lake. Still made par though, then birdied the last hole for another
fantastic finish.
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Thar she blows!
The rules officials finally harpooned their 'great white whale'
yesterday, assessing a two stroke penalty for slow play to Young Kim. Notoriously
pokey since joining the tour, she always escaped punishment by accelerating
to warp speed when being timed. How they caught her remains a mystery.
Hearing of the coup stimulated one top player to remark "Yeah,
four years too late".
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