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My player this week is Kim Saiki
Sunday: Just a bit
over 400 miles door to door and made it in plenty of time to walk the
course. Their are two tracks here one designed by, the one and only, Arnie
(The Legacy) and the other by Tom Watson (Independence). We're playing the
front nines of both due to some liability concerns. A road or two may have
had to be crossed and would have been too dangerous. At least that's what
I heard. The biggest obstacle for scoring will be the greens. Humpty-Dumpty,
roly-poly, rollercoaster, how ever you wish to describe them, they're big
with plenty of slope and moguls to negotiate.
Looks like no detail has been overlooked and I heard the
budget for this extravaganza is enormous. The only other event that even
comes close is The Open. The sponsor tents adorning the eighteenth are
second to none.
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Hot water; Seems I keep stepping in it.
The previously mentioned yardage book fiasco (deleted upon request)
has been alleviated. We only have to fork out $10 instead of the usual
twenty.
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Monday, Monday...;
With Kim not showing till Tuesday and my homework complete, I opted to
tote for Yu Ping in the qualifier and will be first out of the hopper
at 1:00.
Thirty-five are teeing it up for a chance at a bite of the 2.5 million
dollar apple.
Monday: No
need to work the qualifier as Yu Ping took Kelly Robins' spot in the field
being the last alternate to get in. Set up my roommate Boston Ralph with
the bag then took advantage of the extra time to walk the front once more
and my day was complete.
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Good eats; A
party welcoming players, caddies and guests was held poolside just
across the road from the clubhouse. Featuring one of the best
selections of nourishment I've seen in awhile including jumbo prawns,
sushi, ribs, chicken kabobs, smoked brisket, fried quail, tater salad,
slaw, bbq beans, corn bread, apple pastries and vanilla ice cream,
it's safe to say no one left hungry. Completing the festivities was an
open bar and a one-man-band. Another interesting feature was the wait
staff decked out in Hogan caps, bow ties and plus
fours.
Party Pics
Cheers from Jay,
Billy and Keith. Caderos all.
Hanna Kim shooting some stick
with Gulia Sergas
Roy Smith, Cindy Rarick, Sam
Lloyd and Jan Stephenson. Roy and Sam are the caddie masters.
Tuesday: Met
Kim at 6:30, teed off at 6:48 and finished by 11:00. We beat the heat and
in just over four hours to boot. A little practice afterward and we were
done.
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Now you see it, now you
don't; A case of mistaken identity on the first hole (caused
by the mystical eyesight of our playing partner Kate Golden) had me
picking up Kate's ball on the green thinking it was ours. A puzzling
search which included the trap, over the green and right rough
revealed little in the hunt for Kate's missing egg and we were totally
stumped. While walking off, I noticed one extra pellet on the green
and it was Kim's. So I reached into my pocket and there was Kate's
ball all along. For the next seventeen holes I was on the receiving
end of stolen ball jokes and Randy, Kate's looper, made sure it
wouldn't happen again. See below.
That hurts!
I got a ticket to ride...
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Loyal following or a
cult? Apparently, many of the folks that frequent The
Ginn Club and Resorts are refereed to as Ginnites. They travel the
country enjoying some of the finest leisure lifestyles to be found. By
the way, it's pronounced with a hard G and short I.
The 18th green with a massive
condo project (adjacent to the clubhouse) starting in the $600K range.
Wednesday:
No E-9 for Kim. Just practiced for a few hours and had the
sticks regripped. Got out of Dodge before the temp. hit 90.
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Ill feeling; Paula
Creamer was not in the best of health arriving to play the pro-am this
morning and never did tee it up. Jo Head was the last minute sub.
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Sweet ride, at least it
was; As Jeff King headed to the Holiday Inn to pick up Candie
Kung, his regular bag, he never imagined he would become a crime
statistic. "I just left it outside for forty-five seconds"
was his explanation but in that short time, his car was snatched. It
didn't help leaving the keys in it and the motor running! Oh, did I
mention that Candie's clubs were in the trunk? Our resident repair
specialist, Paul Boehner, put another set together before the noon
hour struck.
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All in the family;
Christina Kim has her brother Mel on the bag this week.
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Just a stones throw
away; Jeff Steffler, one of the five sharing our abode this
week, was invited to attend a house warming party held at Maria
Hjorth's place last night. Arriving late from the course and still in
need of a good cleaning, he mistakenly loaned his car to Ralph for a
trip to the store figuring it would only take a few minutes. Not! The
party started at 6:30 and it was now past 8:00 with no car in sight.
By the time Ralph returned, after getting lost and forgetting the key
code for the gate, Jeff was in a bit of a pother but kept his
cool. A quick check for the directions to Maria's house revealed
something quite odd. They were the same we used to get back to our
place but a different address. She was just down the street and within
walking distance. DUH! Jeff wasn't the only one to be fooled. Kari
Koch and hubby jumped in the car and wound up driving only two houses
down the road. Turned out they were neighbors.
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Record setting commute;
This one is unverified but worth telling anyway. Kyeong Bae drove to
Tampa after last week's event and, after getting online to check what
she made, found something amiss. It was only Saturday and there was
still one day to go! She must have thought it was another three day
event ending a day early as Las Vegas. Back in the car she went and
made it in time to shoot 68 on the actual final day and tied for 13th.
Thursday:
An hour delay due to a storm cell too close for comfort made it
a very long day for some of us. Kim shot a respectable +1 with a very cold
putter in the bag but hitting it well enough to go low tomorrow. We'll
see.
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Now on deck;
Being a new course, the set-up may need tweaking after we put a round
under our belts and see how it plays. A perfect example is the 16th
hole. A 202 yard par three with today's pin cut five from the right, a
collection area awaiting even a slightly arrant shot in that direction
and a 20 mph wind off the left reeked havoc all day. As we approached,
there was a group on the green, another on the tee and one in the
hole. We made it four. Our first nine took 3 hours and 13 minutes.
YUK!
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Confirmed; The
previously mentioned baffling Bae blunder was for real. Wonder if her
dad took the blame?
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Just want to rent it,
not buy it; Looking for a house or condo to rent for the week
is becoming more popular, especially this year, and The LPGA
Championship at Bulle Rock seemed a logical venue. But the search undertaken
by one player displayed an unusual pattern. Every owner was asking for
the identical fee of a whopping $6000 for the week! Seems, as part of
his sale pitch, the developer assured prospective buyers this was the
amount they could fetch that week. After realizing this was not even
in the ballpark, it was dropped to 4K. Still way out of my reach.
Friday: Hung
on to finish +3 for the event. Playing the weekend but chopping up the par
fives. Need to take advantage of those scoring holes.
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Trust me, I'm a
professional; Don't know how the field staff is coming up with
the measurements on some of these pin placements. The eight hole was
off by four or five and the tenth by seven. That's almost a full cub.
The pins are determined the day before and a spot of paint indicates
their position. Most of the caderos will check them when time permits
and mark it on the yardage book. When you inform your player of the discrepancy,
some look at you as if a third eye adorns the middle of your forehead.
Tough to have faith in the club selection if you don't
believe the yardage.
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Oooh; That
welcoming party wasn't much of a welcome to some after all. Tummy
aches and the trots visited a few attendees. I really didn't think the
shrimp and crab weren't iced down enough.
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Rumor mill;
After the demise of the LPGA message boards a new venue sprung up to
voice your opinions. The LPGA Fantasy
Golf League has an intriguing entry in the forum section
under 'New Announcements'. Laura
posts the supposition that Nissan will be the new sponsor of the Tennessee
event next season and will bump the purse to 2.5 mil. This could be
one of the big announcements the 'top dog' referred to at Nabisco.
Saturday:
The swirling, gusty winds made this day a nightmare. Needed
plenty of luck in choosing the right stick. Kim managed a +1 round and
sits in the middle of the pack.
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One to watch;
Keep an eye on Katie Kim. Wait a minute, there isn't any Kim in her
name! It's Katy
Futcher. Just not used to seeing another American with
promise. We were paired together and she has plenty of game.
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Send a message;
Another fan site for LPGA posters is myLPGA.com.
Very impressive.
Sunday: Finished
strong with a 2 under par day and made a good move. Kudos for The Ginn
Open, all the volunteers and workers. A rousing success for their
inaugural year.
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Four days of music and
golf; That was the theme of The Ginn Open. There seemed to a
party of some sort every day culminating in two days of concerts on Friday
and Saturday. I took in the later event and caught Delbert
McClinton and Brooks
and Dunn. There was a rumor going around it was Mel Brooks and
Moira Dunn but it was discovered to be unfounded. The concerts were
included in a weekly ticket for the golf tournament and is the best
deal on tour. Along with the inexpensive lodging in the area, this is
a must LPGA destination for you roadies.
The crowd builds.
Delbert on the big screen.
Best of the night in my estimation.
The beer was flowing freely.
Aloha, hola, hang loose, this
Bud's for you...
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