Sooners in the Desert

My goodness, where do I start? As I think back on the past couple of days, all I can think about is how much fun I have had. I was due back in OKC last Saturday but thankfully the pros at OU Jimmie Austin Golf Club called and needed me to be a “Sooner Celebrity” in their annual Sooners in the Desert golf tournament in Indian Wells, CA. It has always been a dream of mine to play in the tournament and I finally got to do it! It is a great event for OU donors to get together, play some golf, eat a bit, drink a lot, and just have a wonderful time.

I woke up Saturday morning after a late night out with friends in Scottsdale and made the 3 ½ hour drive over to Palm Springs. I thought I was going to dread the drive but it really wasn’t that bad. I had some pretty mountains to look at and some nice fuzzy Mexican music to listen to. I drove to the far west side of town to shop at the massive outlet mall. I’ve never seen so many people shopping in my life. If you saw the parking lot, you would think its Christmas or something. I found absolutely nothing I needed so I made the journey up 6,000 feet to a mountain town called Idyllwild, CA. My aunt told me about this cute town so I figured it was just a short drive up and down. Mmmm, nope, I was wrong, it wasn’t. I was an idiot and didn’t fill up before making the trek up so I was getting nervous about 45 minutes in to the drive. It was neat because there were a couple of undercover brand new cars up there getting road tested because the twists and turns were pretty intense. I stopped a lot to take pictures because the views were gorgeous. Once I got up to 4,000 feet, snow and ice started to show up. I had less than a ¼ of a tank of gas, no cell phone service, no food, and no clue if I was even going the right way. Thankfully I started to see a sign of life, human life (I had a deer jump out at me in the fog and snow and barely missed him, it could have been a Tommy Boy episode.) I found a gas station with no one working in sight so I’m sure it was 4 bucks a gallon but I didn’t even care, I was going to make it! I kept driving and shortly after found the town of Idyllwild, CA. It’s a cute place with a lot of families who were vacationing. There were a couple of creepy people so I went into a candy shop (I was hungry, but didn’t get anything) and then found a deli to pick up a chicken salad sandwich. I was in flip-flops and a t-shirt while everyone else was in Northface coats and beanies. I wasn’t prepared. I figured I saw all I needed to see and started down the hill, which was much more fun and less scary.


I probably didn't need to be up here in flip flops...


Proof I was actually up there!


This is when the deer came out in front of me, I could hardly see!

I found the resort I was staying at, MiraMonte, and my mouth dropped open. I don’t typically stay at fancy places and this resort was out of my league. Something I’m not used to, but I was pretty sure I could handle it. I met up with one of the assistant pros from OU and we went out for a bite to eat and watched a little Olympics. It was great to be in a beautiful place and not have the worry in the back of your head that you are going to have to perform your best on the golf course in a matter of a day or two, it was going to be nothing but fun!

I woke up the next morning and met some of the pros for a leisurely round at Rancho La Quinta Country Club. It was absolutely gorgeous! The PGA’s skins game used to be played out there. I played great on the front nine but put 4 balls in the water on the back! I still scored all right and won my match 8 and 6 against the assistant pro but I hate losing balls! We had to stop by and get a famous In and Out burger before the fancy hors d’ oeuvres and cocktail party. I had no clue what I was in for that night but I had a wonderful time meeting such friendly and genuine people, OU people of course. It was supposed to last from 6 to 7:30pm but I stayed close to 9:30pm!


Looking back at #18 at Rancho La Quinta


#17 Rancho La Quinta


#18 Rancho La Quinta

Woke up the next morning and headed to Indian Wells Country Club for a lovely breakfast and had a quick warm up on the range. I played with Al Cusack, Harvey Sparkman, Dick Askew, George Records and Steve Prescott. All were wonderful men and even though our golf games weren’t spectacular, we had a great time. I had Dick Askew chauffer me around and learned that he is 85 years old and has gone to every OU men’s golf tournament for the past 25 years! That is amazing!!! I ended up shooting even and the team finished near last but the wonderful thing is, it didn’t matter! No one cared! One of the guys I played with rewarded me with an hour massage at the resort spa…it was fantastic! The bad thing was I had to rush off after the massage because I had to get ready for the final dinner that was held at the golf course. I was able to speak with every OU football coach that was there and many other great OU donors and celebs. The dinner was fantastic and Coach Stoops was hilarious in his speech. After thinking back about how the weekend went, how many incredible people I met, it made me realized how proud I am to be affiliated with the University and it’s because of the people who represent it. We are having a rough year athletically but it will only make us stronger and appreciate the conference and national championships we often win.


#1 Indian Wells CC


Coach Stoops and I

I’m at the airport now heading back east to the cold state of Alaska, I mean Oklahoma. I turn 23 next week so I’ll have some celebrations coming up and will hopefully get to see a lot of friends and family. It looks like I’m going to have to bundle up these next few weeks, lose the tan I worked hard on, and get ready for a long year of being out on Tour. I’m excited to see what the year is going to bring. I feel like just in these first two months of 2010 I have improved physically and even more so mentally. I can’t wait to have consistent practices and see how far I can take my game. Thanks for everyone’s warm wishes and support!!!!

Boomer Sooner!