Ohhh. Akmont.

Ahh! Finally wifi! I had to find a McDonalds in Oakmont, PA to get some internet on my computer. We are staying in a 100 year old home this week for the US Women’s Open and they don’t happen to have internet.

For everyone who has been busy must know that the US Women’s Open is this weekend! July 8-11. It will be on ESPN2 Thursday and Friday from 3-7pm est. On the weekend, coverage will be on NBC. Set your dvrs! It’s going to be an amazing championship.

I’m caddying for my good friend, Lucy Nunn. I’ve done many caddy gigs before and I must say that I get more animated on their ball than my own. Hopefully the mics won’t catch what I have to say tomorrow afternoon when the ball is in the air or not stopping where we need it to. They claim the greens are rolling around a 15 on the stimp. Piece of cake right? It’s a shame that last week we were on greens that looked like shag carpet. I think Lucy has the green speeds down pretty good but I will feel sorry for her next week when she’s back on the Futures Tour playing in Connecticut with me and they are back to rolling around a 9 ha!

Lucy and I drove in to Pittsburgh on Sunday night and headed downtown to Square Station for the 4th of July. We took a tram up to Mt. Washington and joined hundreds of thousands of people overlooking the Allegheny River and downtown Pitt. It was pretty fun minus the fact that when it was over, it took us an hour and a half to get back to the hotel because of all the traffic. Bad move on our part and I must say that if I never see another firework again, I’m okay by that. That’s how bad the traffic sucked!

We woke up early Monday morning and went to the airport to pick up the sweet Lexus SUV courtesy car for the week. I got to follow behind in her beauty of a Honda CRV. I’m not complaining, she let me drive the Lexus that night back to the airport to pick up her folks. After we got the Lexus, we drove across town to Oakmont to get the keys, etc. for the house we rented for the week. It was a smart move because we are two blocks away from the course and it’s so nice being in a house rather than a hotel room that we are so used to being in.

Lucy and I went to Oakmont CC Monday around lunchtime to register and walk the course. We ate in the clubhouse and that’s when I knew it was going to be a fun week. Brittany Lincicome, Juli Inkster, you name it, they were all around. I had to act cool like they were normal people but they aren’t, they’re great golfers! We walked the course, which took some time but were able to see a lot of things and jot down a lot of notes. The folks flew in Monday night so our shenanigans had to end quickly.

Tuesday morning rolled around and I woke up and practiced at this pretty 1920s Donald Ross design called Green Oaks Country Club in Verona, PA, 10 minutes from the house. It’s a perfect place because it’s not ever crowded and the place is in magnificent shape! I had a quick range session then went back to get Lucy and the fam to head for lunch at Oakmont. I have my own caddie house down by the range and it’s filled with nothing but guys. The food they have is very manly, Italian sausages, bbq….stuff a girl doesn’t want to eat in 90+ degree temps. I had Lucy bring me down a sandwich from up above where the fancy people eat and drink. She warmed up and then we were on our merry way to #1 tee box.

It was a long practice round but we learned a lot from playing it just once. We played with a 14 year old who is a stud and Lucy’s old teammate Kelli Shean, who will be a senior on Arkansas’ team next year. She’s a great player as well. It was a blur of a night because we were back at the course just a few hours later (7 this morning.) A quick warm-up session and we were back walking down #1 fairway. We kept saying, “I feel like we were just here.” ….Maybe because we were. The crowds enjoy the practice rounds because they are able to get autographs, pictures, and it’s just a more laid back setting. I like to watch the men laugh when they watch the balls on the greens go sailing by. I told Lucy Monday afternoon when we were first stepping onto the property, “There’s no reason to be nervous because everyone who is watching you wouldn’t be able to break 100 out here. They are very quick to judge a golf shot but they’d never be able to do what you do out here so let’s get in our own bubble and play our own golf like we did at Lawton Country Club as 12 year olds.” …Lucy and I go back further than that but it makes me feel old when I say we’ve been both doing this for over 15 years. We may look young in the face but as a team, we have over 30 years of golf experience. Yikes. Old. I’m done talking about years now.

I have seen Lucy play thousands of golf shots and I’ve never seen her hit it better than now. She’s ready and I think our game plan is smart and doable. As long as I keep her smiling down the fairways for the cameras and calm on the inside, things will go well for us. I wish more than anything I could play this week but I know my time will come. It’s a learning process and I’m just thankful I get to be on the bag this week and see everything first hand before I tee up my own ball in the US Women's Open.

We are having a huge cookout tonight at our house with more Razorback’s (Stacy Lewis, Kelli Shean, coaches, families, etc.) This Sooner will probably be sporting an OU hat tomorrow because I’ve seen too many hog things this week and I need to get back to my roots. I hope everyone had a great week and is looking forward to watching some great golf this weekend!