Call us the Gypsies

Hey everyone! Sorry it's been so long since I've last updated. We are down here in Venice, FL for the LPGA Sectional Qualifier. I was in Palm Springs last week for the first sectional and unfortunately did not make the top 30 so that is why I'm down here this week, getting a second chance to make it to the final stage in December. Since I missed the cut in California, my parents and I drove back to San Diego for the weekend to stay with my aunt and uncle. It was a nice and relaxing weekend, full of home cooked meals which were amazing. The LPGA was playing at Torrey Pines so I called up my friend Petra who I met in Hawaii last year and happens to caddie at Torrey and she hooked us up with some free passes. It was pretty neat to get up close to those girls and see them play. The sad thing was, the crowds were awful. Something needs to happen fast before the LPGA disappears for good...can Tiger help some girls out??

We came home for two days and I was able to have a birthday dinner with my three best friends and another birthday dinner for my brother and our families. I had a great time with them at night but worked hard during the two days with my head pro Brent Cryer. That guy may struggle with his own game on certain days but I'm so lucky to have him help my game. A lot of credit goes to him because he works hard to help me improve my game.


My best girl friends out for Whitney's birthday dinner.


Adam was happy with the golf shoes I bought him.


Crazy Lily! She put a hole in my face two seconds after this picture was taken.

My mom and I flew out last Thursday morning to Tampa and drove down in a storm to Venice, FL. We are pretty adventurous for two girls so we found a restaurant called Sharky's on the Pier and had dinner there. It was in the middle of nowhere but on the ocean so the scenery was great. And I can't forget to mention that watching drunk old people dance is probably the best free entertainment you can get. Since Friday, I've been playing practice rounds and sweating gallons and gallons. Palm Springs was hot but this place is like a hot shower. It's rained everyday and the course can't take much more. I have a feeling that in the morning it will be lift, clean, and place.

I've gotten to play some rounds with my good friend Sydney from Edmond so we have had fun with that. Friday's round was the first time I've ever been scared on a golf course. We were on a teebox and look 50 yards down the fairway and saw a Bobcat running! What a coincidence that the course name was called...The Bobcat!!! I held on to my 5 iron the entire hole and got to the next one to see a huge alligator in the water! I promise you I will have a dream about sharks or alligators by the time I leave this place. The courses are alright and there's only 113 girls this week so good things are bound to happen. I was planning on having a caddie this week but it didn't work out so I'm doing this all on my own. I think it will be good because I will have no distractions and can take 100% responsibility for my game plan.

My dad is flying in tonight so my mom and I are driving back up to Tampa to get him. I don't think he has a clue how hot it is going to be. He's been used to the 75 degree OKC weather. I am paired up to play with my friend from Pasadena for the next two days so we should have a good time. There's a cut after Wednesday and then two more rounds are played. We will drive down to Ft. Lauderdale Friday night and get rested for the big ABC Saturday night game with OU and Miami. I'm not putting money on the game but I have good feelings for us and hopefully Sammy B can get back out there and play! I hope everyone is having a great week and adjusting to the fall season. Until next time...fairways and greens!

What I'm Reading: Play to Play Great by Dr. Bob Rotella and True Believer by Nicholas Sparks
What I'm listening to: Miley Cyrus....it's true. :(

Done in the Desert

Welp, this pretty much sums up my time spent in the desert. Temperatures reached up to 109 and my skin was loving it. It's a shame that my feet didn't get any loving.

Today was the second round of LPGA Q School and once again, I got off to a good start. Hit lots of greens and made lots of pars. I wasn't hitting the ball the best on the range so I decided to take my little 3/4 knockdown shot to the course. I think that was the smartest decision I could have made because I didn't have all these swing thoughts running through my head like I did late in the round yesterday.

My caddie and I talked about my round yesterday and came to the conclusion that I didn't play bad at all. I had an unlucky break with a lost ball off the right side of the fairway and one or two loose tee shots. I believe it was Hogan who said that you only have 5 perfect shots in a given round so overall, I was happy with how I played. I'm getting better and better on bermuda greens and my putting stroke feels solid right now.

I learned in the last two days that it takes robotic golf to make it out there. It doesn't necessarily have to be perfect golf but just ho-hum fairways, greens, two putts if not one putts. Take your pars on every hole but capitalize on the short birdie putts when they come. I know that I have it in me to do this, it's just a matter of time of putting it all together.

My caddie John was awesome this week. One of my all-time favorite caddies. He knows that course like the back of his hand and could read putts super fast. He swore he would teach me how to plumb bob but he never did. I am trying to figure out a way that I can fly him across country next week so that he can caddie for me down in Florida for my second chance. We worked well together and I think he enjoyed his time out there as well.
This is my awesome caddie John and I after the second round. He wore his Sooner red to represent for me.

After my round today we drove out to the west side of Palm Springs to ride a tram up a mountain. Unfortunately they were closed so we drove over to the northeast side of town and found Thousand Palms Park I believe. It was out in the middle of the desert and had lots of tall palm trees and some walking trails. We were the only ones out there and mountain lion signs everywhere. I was thirty years younger than everyone else so I figured I could out run them all.




My mama in the palms

My aunt way down there
We are heading back to San Diego for the weekend. Going to the beach tomorrow and cooking out tomorrow night. Going to relax and enjoy some college football. My friend who plays for San Diego State who I met in Hawaii is hooking me up with two passes to the LPGA tournament at Torrey Pines so my dad and I are going there on Sunday. We fly home Monday. I'll have a quick two days of practice and birthday dinner with my brother then head to Venice, FL on Thursday. Hopefully I can fly John out there to caddie for me once again and play solid for four rounds. I'm looking forward to it! Thanks for everyone who kept up with me this past week and sent warm wishes. I really appreciate your kind words out here on the road, it means a lot!!!!

Day One in the Books

Well, I had my first qualifying round this morning and it was one that I would like to have back. I got off to a great start. Parred the first(which was the tenth hole), birdied the second. Had some lip out birdie putts but was chugging along just fine.

I get to the 18th hole at Dinah Shore, 80 yards out, and didn't hit it, put it in the water for a double. It kind of interrupted my nice, easy round but one over at the turn was going to be okay with 9 more to play. I get to #2, par 5 and pull it almost out of bounds, I made a great par there and get to the third and pull another well out of bounds and make a triple there. I get to the fourth and push it out to the right, and we never found the ball. Kind of weird because it was just trees and grass, with 10 people looking for it. I go back to retee and hit it in the same spot, but found it just fine and proceeded on to make a double.

Best drive of the day

I get to the next hole, par 3, hit a good 6 iron to 20 feet right. We overread it and went on to three putt. Next hole, par 4, hit a chip up to 3 feet and as my caddie said "damn bermuda," missed it. Made a great up and down par on the 7th hole and 3 putted the par 3 eighth. I will tell you, I miss the bent greens but there is absolutely nothing I can do about that. Everyone else is playing on the same course with the same conditions. Thankfully I almost holed out my last shot on number 9 and made a birdie to finish off the day. A big 'ol 80. I thought those days were long over but I did accomplish one goal of starting out great. It's a shame that I started thinking/doubting my swing that was working so well for me on the first nine. It's looking like tomorrow I'm going to have to fire at almost every pin and see if I can come away with a stinkin' low round. I know it can happen, I just need to trust that little swing of mine.

My gallery of the day, plus my dad, plus Kathleen Sullivan, an ABC News anchor...don't be fooled, my mom isn't that tall.

So you're thinking my day at the course is over, let me tell you, it was far from over. We go straight to the scoring table and tally them up. One of the girls in my group easily shot in the 90s, if not in the 100s. It was a long and tedious day because of that. However, when she said "I had an 86," I did a double take, "saaayyy whhaatt?" So for the next hour, we went hole by hole, arguing, nicely conversing and finally agreeing to a 91. I'm pretty sure it was much more than that. This girl had loooonng blonde hair, not pulled back, no hat, no sunglasses, and it was 109 degrees outside. I'm not sure how she did that but I'll say it took talent! I wanted to go off but I held back and sat there for AN HOUR! If you shoot 88 or more, you are automatically DQ'ed so that's why she was trying to plead an 86. We will be in a twosome and I will be making it rain. If not, then I will be heading to Florida on my brother's big 25th birthday and making it rain over on the east coast. Until then....

Howdy from the Hills

Well, I've officially made it to Palm Springs, CA. This is my first time here and I really like it. We flew in to San Diego and drove two hours to get to our home for the next week. I met my caddie John yesterday and played in a practice round with a long time Edmond friend Sydney. The course was nice and the pace of play was even better. We finished in three hours and I was able to catch up on a little sleep in my nice Westin white down comforter bed. Heaven! If I make it big next year, I might have to invest in the whole set, it's amazing!

This morning I woke up and my mom made me breakfast. She's a good personal assistant! Got to the course and played the Dinah Shore course with two nice girls from Australia and Illinois. I liked the Aussie's accent but she apparently thought mine was much better, I have to strongly disagree with her. I wish I had a cooler one. I've played well the past two days so I'm taking the next two pretty lightly. Maybe 9 holes each day and good solid practices. My dad flies in Wednesday night and my aunt and uncle are bringing him on Thursday so that will be fun. It's going to be his first time to see me play as a professional. I'm glad I'll have both of my parents here with me. Not many girls get to have both parents out so I'm fortunate. Well, I'm pooped and that bed is calling my name!

Countdown to Q School

Well, well, well, look at me again. I have failed yet again on updating this dang thing!!! I tend to have very eventful days in my life but by the time I get home at night, I am just plum tired! I will do my best to recap the last few weeks of my life in an efficient, yet entertaining manner. Here we go:

On August 29, I was the maid of honor for my very good friend/college teammate Jaclyn Stelzer. It was a wonderful weekend down in Norman with old teammates as fellow bridesmaids. Jac was by far the most easygoing bride I've ever been around and it was sooo nice! I gave a speech that night which made the crowd chuckle a time or two. I am proud to say that my song request, "Cupid Shuffle" got everyone off their feet and had an absolute blast! It was almost like the scene in the classic movie "She's All That" with Freddie Prinze Jr. where everyone was dancing right on cue. I hate to admit it but I was sore the next day from dancing...

This past weekend I traveled down to Arlington with my good friend Megan to the OU-BYU game. We had 8th row seats which were amazing and ended up getting on the jumbotron 3 times! That place is indescribable, everyone should make it a personal goal to go see a game in that stadium. Ridiculous. Unfortunately, the Cougars came out on top and left a sour taste in every Sooner's mouth. For me personally, I couldn't be too upset because they were a classy bunch, players and fans alike. We shot ourselves in the foot and brought the loss on ourselves.

For some reason, I was not too upset. I wouldn't call it a lack of being competitive but maybe I'm maturing, or just realizing that there are more important things to worry about in this world. This is not because we are 0-1 and I think the season is a complete loss. I haven't given up hope. However, my mindset might have changed once I saw Corey Wilson rolling his wheelchair out on the field for the first time. It gave me more chills than any opening OU football video I've seen. It was so neat to see him out there, shaking hands with the other players and at the coin toss. It put everything in perspective for me. He was out there for a reason and I think we should be reminded that a loss in football is nothing compared to having a healthy and enriched life. After seeing him, I had a calmness about me, whether that be because of Corey, or the sweet comfy leather chairs we were sitting in, or the lovely BYU fans surrounding us, but I knew that the outcome was already decided before the football was first kicked off. Hopefully Sammy B will recover fast and get back out there for us.

Anywho, to change sports to the actual one I play, I have 8 official days until I tee off on my first hole of the 2010 LPGA Qualifying School in Palm Springs, California. It's being played at Mission Hills and starts on September 17. There is a cut after the second round with two more rounds on the weekend. Top 30 and ties go on to the final stage in December in Daytona Beach, FL. If I happen to not have my A game in Palm Springs then I will head to Venice, FL on September 24 and play in the other LPGA Q School Sectional on September 29-October 2. The nice thing about that trip is that OU happens to play Miami in Miami on October 3 so I will just have to finish that trip off with a football game!

I've been doing my best to use all the resources I have around me in order to prepare myself for Q School. I decided that I needed to play with some extremely good players and positive players leading up to California so I called some local pros and they were so kind to play with me this past week. Tim Fleming had me out at Oklahoma City Country Club which was great and Jim Woodward hosted me at Oak Tree National this morning. Both guys were wonderful to play with and gave me great advice about what to expect in the coming weeks. I've been working hard with my head pro Brent Cryer and I feel pretty good about going and playing solid golf.

I've got two golf dates tomorrow which will consist of 36 holes but will have a much lighter schedule going into the weekend. Quick shout out to Lucy Nunn in this weekends LPGA tournament in Arkansas. Be sure to watch out for her! Also, Milena Savich, out of the University of Georgia, representing her team well in the Hooter's Match Play tournament this past week. And last but not least, the OU Womens Golf team heads down to Bryan, TX to play in the "Mo" this weekend. Good luck girls!!!

What I'm reading: The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks

What I'm hearing: Kings of Leon